FMAYS Online

Click here for Jr. High Audition Form - Sr. High Audition Form

Dear FMAYS students, families,
Board members and interested friends:
Another wonderful summer---both weather & fun! I hope you all were able to attend a production of ‘Joseph’ at the Trollwood Park. Many of the FMAYS students were involved and performed enthusiastically!

Maybe you were able to attend a summer music camp and many probably went to more than one! Camps are a great way of building on what you’ve already learned from school instructors or our music directors. We would still like to have more students in both Jr and Sr High Orchestras, so encourage players to audition.

Parents: please note the parent meetings on the first day of rehearsal for students, Sept 7 and come with questions for the music directors and me. We want you to be informed!

Speaking of informed---check out culturepulse.com for all the latest events of the entire region! The Lake Agassiz Arts Council has worked hard to get lots of information out on performances of all the arts in the area, including FMAYS.

Beth Fortier, FMAYS Executive Director

Welcome to the returning musicians of FMAYS--we hope you had a wonderful summer! Great to have the new members of the orchestras who have auditioned for the first time. We really want to make your experience with the Fargo Moorhead Area Youth Symphonies (FMAYS) a great learning experience and time of musical growth.

Welcome to a new member of the Board of Directors: Kim Vance of Fargo and mom of Paige Vance who plays viola in the Jr High Orchestra.

Thank you to the Board officers who have willingly taken on the leadership of the organization: Leigh Wakefield, Bob Schieffer, Jenni Monson and Shannon Gelbart and all the committee chairs. The Board meets once/ month during the season and is active in overseeing the business affairs of the orchestras.

Important!!

Rehearsals Begin: Sunday, September 7
Sr Hi Parents Meeting: 5:45 pm on September 7 in NDSU Band Room
Jr Hi Parents Meeting: 6:40 pm on September 7 at MSUM Center for the Arts

Fall Auditions:
Aug 26 for Sr High Symphony Orchestra
Sept 5 for Jr High Concert Strings

Contact the office: fmaysrrv@yahoo.com or 701-388-4536

Music for the Jr High students will be available at the first rehearsal.

Music for the Sr High students will be available at the office on
Sept 2 - 5 from 9 am to 3 pm.

Parents’ meetings: September 7
Jr Hi: 6:40 pm - MSUM
Sr Hi: 5:45 pm - NDSU

2008/09 Season.

This is an excellent occasion for you to experience the finest orchestra in the area for very little cost. If your family also purchases tickets, you will be able to sit together, but you MUST purchase them ahead of time by going to the office or calling: 810 4th Ave S, Suite 250, Moorhead: 218-233-8397. The tickets will not be available at the box office the day of the concert.

Help Needed! FMAYS will be serving brats on Aug 29-30 from 11 am to 7 pm at the North Broadway Hornbachers. Students & parents are asked to work a few hours! Please call the office to volunteer: 218-388-4536

The FM Symphony is again offering $1.00 tickets to FMAYS students to the Masterworks Concerts

Thank you to Christian Eggert Violins
For supplying 180 music folders for all the Youth Symphony musicians!

The Central Square Cultural & Civic Center of Glenwood MN has invited the Senior High Symphony Orchestra to perform on their Concert Series for 2008/2009. Mrs. Capistran, the orchestra and Beth Fortier will be traveling there on Sunday, October 26 with the performance at 3:00 PM. It is open to the public and all are welcome. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

The orchestra will load at 11 am on that day on the west side of Reineke Fine Arts Center at NDSU and leave by 11:30 am. Students will be given permission forms for parents to sign and those must be returned. We will return by 7:30 pm and unload at NDSU.

October 12 Symposium Guest Conductor
Dr. Marilyn Seelman is Assistant Professor of String Education at Georgia State University in Atlanta. Prior to this appointment, she served for twelve years as an orchestra teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools and Dekalb, GA, County Schools.

She is Past-President of Georgia ASTA, has served on a number of ASTA national committees, and joined the ASTA National Executive Board as Publications Chair in May 2008.

Seelman conducts the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra of Atlanta (MYSO-Atlanta). In 2006 MYSO-Atlanta accepted an invitation from the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation to perform in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. In May 2008, MYSO-Atlanta will perform in Budapest, Prague, and Vienna. MYSO-Atlanta has also performed for The Midwest Clinic: An International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, Piccolo
Spoleto in Charleston, S.C., Carnegie Hall, and the GMEA state conference in Savannah.

Seelman has guest conducted the Georgia, East-Tennessee, and Alaska All-State Orchestras. Her private viola studio has produced prize-winning students, most notably the 2005 firstprize winner of the Primrose Competition. Many of her pre-college viola students have gone on to win admission to major conserva-tories such as Curtis, Juilliard, and the New England Conservatory. She has presented viola master classes at Vanderbilt University, East China Normal University, and for the ASTA National Conference.

Web contact: webmaster@fmays.org
For more contact info, visit the fmays info page.