Eastern Division Encores, Marc Greene

Marc Greene NAfME Eastern Division President greene.nafme@gmail.com

Welcome back to a new school year and all the challenges and rewards that are coming our way along with pumpkin spice, freshly picked apples, and falling leaves.

I am still waxing poetic over my experiences this past year attending state conferences in Connecticut and New Hampshire. The beauty of autumn in Manchester and the vibrancy of Hartford in spring were great reinforcements to the warm welcomes, spirited camaraderie, and superb musicianship of both events.

This school year I will have the honor of visiting with colleagues in Delaware, Europe, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. It is so exciting to know that I will be surrounded by so many like-minded professionals with a passion for music and education.

But of course, the grandest event of this year will be taking place April 3-7, 2019! We will be convening for our 56th NAfME Eastern Division Biennial In-Service Conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. This is one of the best opportunities for innovative and best practice professional development in music education in the country, so plan to take advantage of this stellar experience.

Highlights of the conference will include • An overarching conference theme of Innovation,

• A rousing conference kick-off event featuring inspirational messages from Peter Boonshaft and Tim Lautenheiser, a performance by the

Strings and the energizing a cappella stylings of

Business Casual. • A fun Thursday Gala Opening Reception in the

Exhibit Hall • The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in concert

Thursday evening especially for the NAfME

Eastern Division Conference attendees at the exquisite Heinz Hall • A thought-provoking Friday general session featuring

NAfME President Kathy Sanz, the Duquesne

University Electronic Ensemble and Anne Fennell,

• An optional run-out field trip to observe state-ofthe-art music education in action in the Pittsburgh

• A Friday evening performance by the United States

• A mini TED Talk style event on Saturday featuring

• Awesome performances by the PMEA All-State

Ensembles on Saturday and the Eastern Division

Honors Ensembles on Sunday • Over 150 workshop sessions and 47 performing groups representing states from across the NAFME

Eastern Division

If you think you may need a “special invitation” to attend this conference to present to your school administration, please contact me (greene.nafme@gmail.com). It would be my pleasure to send you a customized letter of invitation that includes a request for you to host a session or introduce a clinician!