Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • SUMMER 2017 • sai-national.org 32 George N. Parks Leadership in Music Education Award Developed by the National Association for Music Education and Music for All, the George N. Parks Leadership in Music Education Award is named for the late George Parks, director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band. Considered a national authority on drum majoring, Mr. Parks led the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy, including at the Music for All Summer Symposium. The George N. Parks Award honors an exemplary band director who embodies the characteristics and leadership that Mr. Parks showed his students every day. Deadline: Sept. 15 Website: nafme.org/programs/contests-calls-competitions/ george-n-parks-leadership-in-music-education-award/ International Women's Brass Conference IWBC exists to educate, develop, support, and inspire all women brass musicians. For over 20 years, IWBC has successfully worked towards its mission by: • Hosting seven international conferences • Supporting outstanding musicians through the Susan Slaughter Solo Competition, many of whom have moved on to successful careers in the music field. • Commissioning new pieces for brass • Publishing NoteWorthy, the biannual newsletter of the IWBC Website: myiwbc.org Maud Powell Society The MPS has announced that the four-volume Maud Powell Favorites collection of Violin transcriptions, Brahms Concerto Cadenza, Music Analyses and Editions, and Music Dedicated to, Commissioned by or Associated with violinist Maud Powell is available to all SAI chapters, school libraries, and string teachers at a discounted price of $95. Contact: maudpowell.org Musical America Career Center Musical America, the leading resource in the performing arts, has a Career Center offering a place to find jobs in the performing arts. Set up a free job seeker account and search today! Website: jobs.musicalamerica.com The Music Teachers National Association The Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) offers numerous composition, performance, and chamber music competitions, with age requirements ranging from elementary school through adult. Entrants must study with a MTNA member teacher or pay a non-member fee, as well as be a US citizen or hold a US Visa or resident card. Website: mtna.org/programs/competitions OPPORTUNITIES people from Newport News who have made a difference in the world. Under her direction, the production company has also joined forces with other talented individuals and companies to produce Showtime at the Attucks in Norfolk, Virginia, Sultry Soul Sessions in Richmond, Virginia, All the Way Live in Newport News and Hampton, Virginia and Heart2Heart Talk Show in Hampton, Virginia. Through SEEDAHOPE Productions, Sessoms currently serves as the Director for The Newsome House Museum and Cultural Center in Newport News, VA. Connie Shakalis Connie Shakalis was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Bloomington Alumnae Chapter in April. Shakalis is a member of the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) and has starred in 15 plays and musical-theater productions throughout the United States. In addition, she has written and performed her one-woman act in 20 nightclubs in New York City. She graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York, where she won the Raynor Wallace Award for Poetry and the Multi-Cultural Essay Contest. In Bloomington, IN, she is active in the Cardinal Stage Company's productions, as well as the Bloomington Playwrights Project. Shakalis also appears in operetta, jazz, and cabaret performances at local venues. She writes for Gentry Lifestyle magazine and teaches musical-theater technique. Abby Zarimba Abby Zarimba was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Lansing/East Lansing Alumnae Chapter in April. Zarimba worked in the Lansing School District teaching beginning and middle school band. She has also been the assistant director of the New Horizons Band, a program in the Michigan State University Community Music School that allows adults to learn or re-learn band instruments. As a percussionist, Zarimba is a member of the Meridian Community Band and the Michigan State University Alumni Band. She has previously served in leadership roles in the Meridian Community Band, including on the board, showing her passion for providing opportunities for musicians to continue their involvement in the arts throughout a lifetime. Zarimba is also on the board of directors for the Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival, which focuses on encouraging young musicians to study these instruments, enhancing repertoire by encouraging original compositions, and increasing awareness and appreciation of the euphonium and tuba by the general public. Recently, she agreed to be one of the volunteer judges for the chapter's fourth annual Paving the Way for Young Musicians scholarship competition for middle and high school students. Shakalis Zarimba

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