North Central NATS
Our Mission:
To advance excellence in singing through teaching, performance, scholarship, and research.
To advance excellence in singing through teaching, performance, scholarship, and research.
Hello and welcome back!
August 2021 Just as we thought we could throw our masks away and head safely back to the studio, the Delta variant of the Coronavirus had other ideas. As I look at my letter from January, I'm afraid much of it doesn't need editing. "We live in uncertain times, and as teachers and leaders in our communities our students, their parents and our neighbors will look to us for answers and reassurance in terms of providing the most current facts and data as it pertains to safe group singing or in-person lessons. As administrators in the public and private schools at all levels try to plan for resumption of the academic year, it is incumbent upon each of us to do our part to provide them with talking points, current research and facts as they present safe proposals to school boards, planning commissions and the like when it comes to reopening and singing together, in particular." While all of this could be a huge downer, it's important to focus on the good and celebrate it. Our NSA numbers were up fourfold from 2020, and we had 68 students enter the national auditions from the North Central Region, three of whom ended up in the finals. Alexandra Burch (Dan Johnson Wilmot), Daniel Shirk (Christine Flasch), and Noah Strube (Mimmi Fulmer), all of whom are students in a Wisconsin school, were winners. You can watch the final auditions for all categories on the Official NATS YouTube channel. We also have a new Regional Development Liaison who will work with Bob Bryan at the national foundation office to help identify projects and sponsors for our region. I'd like to personally thank Dr. Tracelyn Gesteland (USD-Vermillion) for volunteering in that role. See below for her photo and link to her website. We take care of so many people as voice teachers - make sure you are taking care of yourselves and each other this fall. Best of luck to you all! Susan Bender northcentral@nats.org sbender@uwsp.edu 
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Back to the studio for Fall 2021... www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCnpof0zFJI&list=PLdxZ45k3IeajqgzvjN9fCKsIDoQIWeVBm NATS is responding to the needs of its members during the pandemic. Visit the COVID RESOURCES PAGE for complete information and download graphics to help promote #FightTheFatigue Campaign! |