We’re either recovering from, or planning for, our Winter Concerts and are on our way to the Bay Section Conference for educational planning and rejuvenation, networking, cheering on of colleagues, as well as supporting student experiences in the Conference performing groups. What’s next on our calendar? Festivals, of course!

The refund deadline for all Large Group Festivals was December 1; any cancellations from here on out are non-refundable. Executive Treasurer Sandy Miller and I are most appreciative of the prompt and conscientious responses to the reminder emails for late festival fees. Your attention to this financial matter contributes volumes towards the continued success of our many Bay Section festivals.
There is a misconception that your registered groups will automatically be dropped from a festival if you either ignore the fact that you’ve registered ensembles there, or lose track of the “three weeks to pay” window. Your groups will not be dropped, as it takes my human touch to delete a group from the festival database; SoloChair.com does not work on a three week time out system, but it does send red flag warnings to the Treasurer.

You will be notified before any drastic measures are taken. It will be most helpful if you could let me know whether the group you’ve registered will actually attend that festival, and fees are on their way, or if you only registered to secure a spot somewhere / anywhere and need to be removed from that site. Once you’ve completed the registration at the site you prefer, please, please contact me so I can remove you from the festival site database you don’t want to attend. This opens up a spot for another director that might be waiting for the spot you vacate.

No doubt your calendar will be shifting and changing, as will the extra —curricular lives of your students; if you find yourself in a situation that requires you to either move your group to a different festival date or site (as available), or cancel from the festival all together, please contact me and I will happily assist you with your relocation in the SoloChair.com database. In addition, if you need to change your performance preference from early to late, or vice versa, please contact your host, or me, and that change can be granted as well.

I’d like to encourage you to contact me at any time with whatever questions you might have surrounding festival logistics. I am accessible via all genres of communication; my contact info can be found in this issue of Tempo, as well as the www.cmeabaysection.org website. I welcome your communication and correspondence.

Good luck with all of your groups this festival season!