I've been sitting in on many committees, listening in on many sessions, and speaking directly to many people involved in decisions that will, undoubtedly, be affecting funding for arts programs in the very near future.   

It's terrifying.

In the Michigan House, there are debates happening surrounding restoring a $2B budget and what it would entail; current funding for the Council for the Arts has been slashed to around $11M.  We have some champions that are desperately trying to negotiate getting that number back up to at least $20M - those funds are regranted by the Council to arts organizations like MSVMA.

In all of this, I'm finding some consolation in re-visiting why what we do is important.  Vaughan Fleischfresser, music educator and author, has posted a few things that, I think, are extremely relevant:

"Someone is alive today because of music education.  

Someone is successful today because of music education.

Someone is comforted today because of music education.

Someone is surrounded by friends today because of music education."

And more:

"Music ensembles bring students from all year levels together like nothing else can.

Music provides the greatest PR tool a school can have.

Most academic award winners come from the music department.

Student leaders are usually musicians.

Music ensembles are often the only reason young people to go school.

Many students remember their concerts more than other content.

The ability to make music long outlasts the ability to play a sport.

Music is valued more by everyone other than the people who decide what is to be valued."

WE MUST KEEP FIGHTING THE FIGHT.  What we do is so important.

MSVMA offers so many things to its membership; educational opportunities, specialized events, honors choirs, literature recommendations, program enrichment opportunities, networking...the list goes on and on!

NONE OF THIS IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT VOLUNTEERS!  From our amazing District Managers, site hosts, festival coordinators, and members helping out in headquarters during festivals, we see volunteerism alive and well within our organization - but we need YOU to ensure our continued success!

There are many upcoming opportunities for you to help out as we start this school year. Perhaps one of our events is close to you -  either in location or to your heart!

We have a volunteer form under the membership tab to sign up for any of these opportunities (https://msvma.wildapricot.org/Volunteer) or you can simply talk to someone to get involved!

Thank you in advance for your willingness to serve. Our festival hosts, supervisors, and coordinators will surely appreciate all the help they can get!

When people support each other, incredible things happen. 

We had an absolutely incredible week at our 2025 Summer Conference in Lansing!  Thanks to everyone that was able to attend!!!! And thank you to everyone involved with the planning and set up! It takes a village...and a village we have!

We started the week with our Board of Directors Retreat - and then added in all the District Managers - and then all the Supervisors and Coordinators! Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson attended and spoke to us, from her heart, about arts advocacy and her vision for the arts community in our state. We are all so very grateful for her insight and support; it is just so amazing to have so many people involved in supporting our organization! The positivity and collaboration is truly electrifying!

We had so many MSVMA members offer sessions covering vocal pedagogy, creativity, best practices for the classroom, and so much more! We held our annual Honors Choir Reading Sessions and Specialized Choral Hour Reading Session. We even had a TTB reading session (but only the "fun" ones). Several members of our Board of Directors and DM team offered another "MSVMA 101" session focusing on The Festival Experience.

We heard from our MSVMA Music Education Scholarship recipient, Ava Davidson, and heard about her exciting plans for her future!

Our conference headliner, Dr. Emily Williams Burch, led us through several sessions with infectious energy and gave us all a true sense of connectedness and support. She was absolutely dynamic and gave us all some great insight into so many important aspects of what we do: breaking it down from process to product, communicating value, and tossing in creativity. Benefits, methods, challenges, strategies, and impact were all explored; we're all, now, masters at the "lead, demo, apply" method.

How do we communicate the value of what we do as vocal music educators with our students, with their parents, with the community? What is the value of advocacy and what are some tools we can use?

We were all reminded, in a very real way, of our mission:

EDUCATE. EMPOWER. EXPERIENCE. THE ART OF VOCAL MUSIC.

Thank you thank you thank you, Dr. Burch!

And, of course, a real highlight of our summer conference every year is to hear from our Teacher of the Year.  Julia Holt, thank you for inspiring us ALL to be the best teachers we can be! Yes, we hold ourselves and our students to a high standard, but it's equally important to make sure that they know they are LOVED. "We have such a special opportunity to help kids recognize concepts, feelings, and world views outside their own experiences." Thank you, Julia, for staying on this path and inspiring everyone you meet.

WHAT A WEEK. So so so so excited for the future of MSVMA!