Friday, March 28, 2008

Vote!

This is the time of year when your AGO really is in your hands. The direction set for your organization by national and regional leaders depends on your making your opinion known. One of the easiest ways to do this is to vote!

This is an important election for the future of the Guild. Due to term expirations and other moves, we will be electing a new AGO President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Councillor for Education. Other positions have experienced incumbents and very qualified other candidates from which to choose.

You may cast your ballot quickly and easily on-line by clicking here to access the AGO's secure Internet voting site. You will also find expanded biographies and statements from many of the candidates there, since the space for these items in The American Organist is very limited. However, you will need your TAO to determine your AGO identification number - it is immediately above your name on the mailing label.

A special thanks to the Region VI Nominating Committee, chaired by Beverly Everett, for their work to select candidates for the Regional Councillor position. I would be very pleased to serve you as Regional Councillor for a second term. Dr. Joel Bacon, the other candidate, is a wonderfully qualified and very enthusiastic AGO member and leader, and would be a great Regional Councillor. (We should all be especially grateful to him for running in this election, in addition to directing the upcoming POE+ at Colorado State University in May!) No matter which of us is elected as your RC, I truly believe that Region VI will be in good hands.

All regular, special, student, partner, and independent members of the AGO are eligible to vote. Spread the word, and make your voice heard!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Present an "Organ Spectacular" Event

As you probably know, the AGO has declared the 2008-2009 program year as the "International Year of the Organ." Many chapters are currently planning their programs for the upcoming year, and I encourage you to plan an extra-special event on October 19, 2008, the date of the "Organ Spectacular." You will be able to take advantage of international advertising to a very diverse potential audience, and will have the excitement of participating in the "world's largest organ recital"!

In the most recent issue of The American Organist, the IYO national committee offers the following "Noteworthy Strategies for Success" in planning your Organ Spectacular event:
  • Assess your community - its people, its organs, its performance venues.
  • Plan appealing programs designed to reach NEW audiences of all ages - explore performance space options, including public venues, concert halls, schools, shopping malls, houses of worship.
  • Collaborate with others - instrumentalists, vocalists, dancers, visual artists, educators, TV/radio personalities, community leaders, local celebreties - to create and produce unique and stimulating concerts.
  • Advertise the premiere of our winning composition - a new organ and instrument work written for this celebration - be sure to invite your newspaper's music critic to the performance!
  • Visit the IYO website - for a listing of creative program ideas, as well as helpful information on publicizing your event.
  • Submit your concert information - for AGO website inclusion. E-mail it to Harold Calhoun at hc@agohq.org (and copy me as well, so that I can list it on the Regional calendar that is part of this blog).
Most of these are good tips to keep in mind for all AGO programs. Your national headquarters is working hard on the International Year of the Organ. It's going to be a very exciting year!

Let's all join together to create a "buzz" for the IYO year that will carry forward for years to come. The first step: plan now to make October 19, 2008, a special day of celebration in your corner of the world of organ and choral music!