Dear NAfME State Leaders,

We are excited to announce that applications are NOW OPEN for the 2018 NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles. This year's event will take place November 25-28, 2018 at Walt Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, FL. The 2018 program will also include our first-ever All-National Honor Guitar Ensemble! Attached please find the 2018 promotional flyer, and ensemble selection procedure. You can find all current information about the 2018 ANHE program atnafme.org/ANHE.

Announcing the 2018 ANHE Conductors:

Concert Band: Dennis Glocke, Penn State University
Symphony Orchestra: Jean Montes, Loyola University New Orleans
Mixed Choir: Amanda Quist, Westminster Choir College
Jazz Ensemble: Todd Stoll, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Guitar Ensemble: Michael Quantz, University of Texas at Brownsville

2018 ANHE Timeline:

January 12:Auditions open
May 4 at 9:00 PM ET:Auditions close
May 24:State rankings are due to NAfME
May 26:Selections meeting
May 30:NAfME sends ensemble rosters to state MEA’s for verification
June 5:Verifications due back to NAfME
Week of June 11:Initial notifications are sent to students and directors from NAfME office
August 4:Deadline for students to accept & send payment
September 1: Chaperones from states are secured & music is distributed
November 25-28:All-National Honors Ensembles at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

ANHE Eligibility:

If your state Music Education Association (MEA) does not sponsor a particular All-State Festival, your MEA will determine which students are eligible to apply.In the case of guitar, we realize that many states do not have an All-State Guitar Ensemble. We encourage you to advertise this opportunity to your members and allow students who participate in their school’s guitar ensemble program to apply. We are hoping this new ensemble will spark more growth of guitar education across the country! Please note that due to this being the first year of the Guitar Ensemble and the limited size (approximately 60), a specific number of seats from for any given state cannot be guaranteed. Consideration will be given to having as much representation from a variety of states as possible. Selection will be based primarily on student audition media for the Guitar Ensemble.

About the Application:

Students are required to upload an unedited and unaccompanied video performing the required repertoire for their instrument or voice part. Repertoire requirements can be found on theANHE website. There is the option of uploading an additional 2-minute video. This may be a piece of their choosing and may be accompanied or unaccompanied.Students auditioning for guitar will have a slightly different audition requirement and will have 2 required selections and will not choose a piece of their own.

Please pass this information along to the rest of your state leadership and membership, and help us promote the All-National Honors Ensembles program.NAfME can supply you with print material to advertise the ANHE program that can easily be included with your All-State paperwork.Please email the Program Director, Kristen Rencher, with your request:KristenR@nafme.org.

Many thanks to all of the states who continue to support the ANHE program and share the application information with your All-State students and directors. We want to see every state fill their quota by having all eligible students apply. The success of this program relies on our ability to promote this first-class musical experience to all of our outstanding student musicians, and to ensure that their directors are aware of the opportunity for their students to represent their school, their community, and their state!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or the ANHE program staff.

Sincerely,

Scott R. Sheehan
General Chair, NAfME ANHE
Eastern Division Immediate-Past President
scott_sheehan@verizon.net
(814) 329-5815(cell)