The 2009 CBDNA conference will again feature rehearsals and performance by the Small College Intercollegiate Band. This letter serves as the official announcement and invitation for students to apply for this prestigious ensemble.

We are very fortunate to have Virginia Allen as the conductor of the 2009 ensemble. She is a member of the faculty at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Miss Allen previously taught at The Juilliard School in New York City, where she also served as Executive Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies and co-founded and co-directed The Juilliard Trombone Choir.

Miss Allen has conducted ensembles on stages around the U.S. and in Europe, South America, and Asia. As a pioneer for women in military bands, she was the first woman conductor of The U.S. Army Field Band and The Soldiers’ Chorus in Washington, D.C., The U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, The U.S. Army Forces Command Band in Atlanta, and the West Point Glee Club. She is former Artistic Director of the Sun Valley Summer Music Workshops in Idaho, where she founded and conducted the Sun Valley Youth Orchestra.

A published composer and arranger, Miss Allen has written music for student instrumental and choral ensembles, as well as significant transcriptions for wind ensemble. Her arrangements for wind ensemble have been premiered, performed and recorded by members of the Philadelphia and Washington Opera orchestras; Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, and Brazilian symphony orchestras; Buffalo Philharmonic; and Juilliard Trombone Choir. She is a member of the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a Board member of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and a former Board member of the Conductors Guild.

Miss Allen studied French horn and conducting and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music degree in Performance from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and a Diploma in Wind Conducting from the University of Calgary. She also completed an internship in Performance Activities at Juilliard.

COSTS AND ARRANGEMENTS

Student performers and/or their sponsoring institutions will be responsible for all travel, meal, and lodging expenses and arrangements. Students and their directors must take care of all lodging arrangements. Please visit the accommodations page on the conference website for information.

There are no pre-arranged arranged meal locations or provisions for band members, and members are on their own for all meals. As noted on the conference website, there are dining establishments near the hotel and also near the rehearsal site.

Members interested in staying at the AT&T Conference Center on The University of Texas campus should contact the center directly for reservations, specifying that they are with the Intercollegiate Band. Click here to access the AT&T Conference Center website.

There is no separate fee for participating in the SCIB, and student members will be able to attend conference concerts and sessions at no cost.

Questions? The national chairperson for this event is Craig Naylor, Wind and Percussion Ensemble conductor at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Contact him at 540-654-1959 or cnaylor@umw.edu if you have questions.