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Dear WCSMA Members,

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! It is my hope that you have had a restful and rejuvenating summer. I am privileged and honored to begin my term as your President. Currently, I am the Director of Choirs at Walter Panas High School in the Lakeland Central School District. This will be my 15th year in education, having taught at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels in all areas of music. I recently attained National Board Certification in Music (2020). Alongside my wife, Jacquelyn, we have hosted NYSSMA Solo festival, NYSSMA Piano festival, and NYSSMA Major festival. Previously, I worked with a team of music educators to coordinate Area All-State for our zone. I have also served our students as a NYSSMA Solo and Majors adjudicator. I am excited and humbled to team with our membership in this new role as President.

Please join me in welcoming the following individuals onto the Board of Directors:

• Jon Riss, President-elect
• Ricky Myint, Treasurer
• Margaret Chan, Public Relations
• Patrick Murphy, Area All-State (beginning in January 2023)

Additionally, we would like to thank:

• Bill Eckfeld for his many years of service to the WCSMA Board. Although he most recently served as Treasurer, Bill has helped in nearly all roles on the Board and is also a Past President.
• Suzanne Forman for her leadership as President of WCSMA for the past two years. Sue is now our immediate Past-President and will continue to generously help guide our organization.
• Janet Corvini for her commitment to the WCSMA Board of Directors as Immediate Past President. Janet will remain as a Special Advisor.
• Stephanie Merkado-Weiss for her continuation as a WCSMA Special Advisor.
• Kathleen Coletta-Feldman for her continuation as a WCSMA Special Advisor.
• Charlie Bennet for his service to WCSMA as our Public Relations Officer.

I would like to provide you with some information regarding our plans for festivals and additional happenings within Westchester County.

• Area All-State information will be coming shortly. We are excited to welcome back this festival, hosted by White Plains Public Schools, through the hard work of our AAS Coordinator Jon Riss. AAS Music Distribution will take place at our Fall Open House. The date and time for the Fall Open House will be announced soon. I look forward to meeting all of you there. It will be wonderful to see everyone in person. I am hoping that our high school teachers will consider volunteering to help at the AAS festival. If you are a new or veteran teacher this is an excellent way to get to know others from around the county.
• We are planning for a return of our All-County Jazz, Chorus, Band, and Orchestra festivals. Our All-County Coordinators (Jim Mullen, Jazz; Shadman Mirza, Orchestra; Jennifer Giustino, Chorus; and Caitlin Corvini, Band) are hard at work firming up the details.
• NYSSMA Festival details are located on our website (wcsma.org). Thank you to our hosts and volunteers for providing these opportunities for our students. Please note that the Piano festival is slated to return June 9-10, 2023, at Yorktown High School.
• NYSSMA has released the latest NYSSMA Manual Edition (33), and can be purchased through this website: https://www.nyssma.org/committees/manual/. Please make sure you refer to the latest NYSSMA Manual when planning for your students’ NYSSMA experience.

The WCSMA Board of Directors is committed to serving the students and music educators of Westchester County. The past few years have brought about challenges that we could not anticipate. With your support as members, as well as the tremendous dedication of our Board of Directors, we continue to set our sights toward the future. Please let us know if we can help. We will be in regular communication regarding all of the wonderful happenings throughout the school year. Keep an eye on our website for important information and news. If you have new colleagues that are not currently WCSMA members, or if you need to renew your membership, please register at https://wcsma.dacapomusicfestivals.com/. Please be on the lookout for an email from TJ Bastone, our membership director, regarding membership renewal.

Most importantly, I hope that you continue to be well and keep the music alive.

Sincerely,

Jamie Stroffolino