Greetings and Happy New Year! I am honored to serve as your TMAA President this year and next. Thank you for taking the time to read the important information in this newsletter.
Transformation
Growth can be difficult, but it is necessary. One of my favorite quotes on growth comes from former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, who famously stated, “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” I love this quote because it speaks directly to the work of music educators.
Music educators become comfortable accepting risk. Each day, we make thousands of decisions that fall somewhere on the spectrum between growth and comfort. The outcomes of those decisions directly affect student growth and performance. How can your decisions push your students to grow and improve?
TMAA asks a similar question: How can our board’s actions help our judges improve and provide the highest and most consistent level of adjudication? As an organization, TMAA has not been afraid to grow, make changes, and accept risk, always with the simple focus of improving adjudication in the State of Texas.
“Context” is one of my top five CliftonStrengths, and it is natural for me to reflect on past actions to help guide future decisions. This year marks my seventh year on the TMAA Board, having served as Orchestra Division Vice President from 2017–2021 and the past two years as President-Elect. During my time on the board, TMAA has undergone significant change, and I believe it is useful to look back over the past decade to provide context.
Over the last ten years, TMAA has implemented many important changes, including:
- The hiring of Greg Countryman as Executive Secretary
- New sight-reading procedures for orchestra, band, and choir
- The creation of the Mariachi Division
- The introduction of online judging
- Significant revisions to the Marching Band judging rubric
- Revisions to the member online database portal
- Last year’s major Concert and Sight-Reading rubric revision
Each of these changes resulted from hard-fought discussions, differing opinions, and extensive collaboration among board members, state leaders, committees, and the UIL office. I’m sure each of you has your own opinion regarding the effectiveness of these changes. Personally, I believe they have positively impacted adjudication and moved our organization forward. I can assure you that every change was made in earnest, with the growth and improvement of TMAA as the primary goal.
I have had the privilege of serving on boards led by Greg Countryman, Jeff Turner, Jeff Bradford, and Jim Drew, alongside numerous division leaders across the state. In every iteration of the board, conversations consistently center on improving procedures to fulfill our mission: “A group of experienced, active, and competent music adjudicators.” While we have made significant progress, a natural question remains: What’s next for TMAA? How do we continue to grow?
Membership and Leaning Into the Rubric
The TMAA Board meets several times each year, and inevitably, many of our discussions revolve around two core areas. Regardless of the topic, these issues are never more than a degree of separation away:
- How can we improve our procedures regarding TMAA membership?
- How can we improve the rubric and its effectiveness?
Membership
If you’ve made it this far, it means you received your January membership email from Greg Countryman, opened it, and took the time to read it—congratulations! While you’re here, please complete all sections of the newsletter and submit your dues. Experience tells us that if you plan to “come back later,” there’s a good chance life will intervene.
Maintaining membership requires ongoing effort. The online database portal was designed to streamline the process by tracking judging invitations, membership status, workshop attendance, payment history, UIL ratings, and profile data. This one-stop portal provides everything members need to remain informed and compliant.
Despite these tools, members still lose their status each year due to unmet requirements. When this occurs, resolving the issue can be difficult—and sometimes the only option is to reapply entirely. Members should anticipate a January membership email each year, follow the provided link, complete all newsletter sections annually, and submit dues by the deadline. Promptly responding to workshop and membership communications is the best way to avoid complications. The best way to avoid membership difficulties is to respond to all TMAA emails and meet all deadlines.
New Applicants
Many of you may remember your own application experience and it likely wasn’t the smoothest experience. Historically, the TMAA application process has been complex due to numerous qualifications and documentation requirements. Applicants often fail to complete all sections or submit incorrect information, resulting in frustration and significant back-and-forth communication.
Improving the application process is a key growth area for TMAA.
For most applicants, qualification is straightforward: you either meet the criteria or you don’t. Those who have served on the Committee on Standards of Adjudication and Performance Practice (CSAPP) know this well. Most applications are quickly approved or denied based on five criteria:
- Successful Teaching Component
- Employment in Music Education
- Workshop Attendance Component
- Superior Performance Component
- Adjudicator/Clinician Component
Applications that fall into “gray areas,” however, are far more challenging. Questions often arise regarding assistant directors, marching band assistants, administrators, consultants, and professional musicians. Many Assistant Directors are fantastic but have they done enough as a primary conductor to qualify? What about Assistant Marching Band Directors who may be running rehearsals? What about a music director who becomes a principal? What qualifies you as an Educational Consultant or Professional Musician? When these applications reach CSAPP, discussions can be lengthy and there is often not a clear path forward.
To address this, TMAA is developing a new application designed to clarify membership criteria and provide immediate feedback. If an applicant does not meet qualifications, the system will identify deficiencies and prevent submission until criteria are met. Applicants will get immediate feedback. We are optimistic this application will be tested and ready for the April–May membership window, dramatically improving the experience for all applicants.
Leaning Into the Rubric
Maintaining consistent judging standards across multiple groups, days, and judges remains the holy grail of adjudication. This goal lies at the heart of our Adjudication Workshops. TMAA values the rubric as the single most important tool for ensuring judging consistency.
In last year’s President’s Message, Jim Drew provided a comprehensive history of TMAA’s Concert/Sight-Reading rubric development. Since 2008, rubrics have been used across all divisions, with numerous revisions. While rubrics have undoubtedly improved consistency, their effectiveness still depends on the judge’s faithful application of descriptors when assigning ratings.
Last year’s rubric revisions focused on updating division-specific language and designing a rubric that could be integrated directly into the judging form. Those who participated in online judging saw this integration through dropdown descriptors—a critical first step. Flaws emerged, such as descriptors and ratings not matching or judges who bypassed the descriptors entirely.
Tying the descriptors to the rating is the next evolution of our use of the rubric.
TMAA is developing a new online judging form that will require judges to select rubric descriptors before assigning a rating. The form will recommend a rating based on those selections. Judges may accept the recommendation, adjust descriptors, or override the rating entirely—maintaining full control while ensuring intentional rubric use.
The rollout of this form depends on upcoming board and UIL decisions. It may be implemented this spring or delayed until next year. Additionally, this change would require all judging to be conducted online—a significant shift for some regions and adjudicators. Our Region Executive Secretaries are in the process of problem solving online judging at each of their events. Once implemented, paper forms would no longer be an option.
TMAA Board
I extend my sincere thanks to our outstanding TMAA Board for their time, expertise, and dedication: Past President Jim Drew; President-Elect Gerry Miller; Concert Band Vice President Rylon Guidry; Marching Band Vice President Andy Sealy; Mariachi Vice President Ruben Adame; Orchestra Vice President Lamar Smith; Vocal Vice President Kay Owens; and our exceptional Executive Secretary, Greg Countryman.
I also thank our ex-officio board members who volunteer their time to ensure TMAA’s continued success: UIL Director of Music Activities Brad Kent; UIL Assistant Music Director Gabe Musella; Area/State Marching Band Liaison Gerry Miller; and Region Executive Secretary Liaison Gerald Babbitt.
CSAPP Committee
The Committee on Standards of Adjudication and Performance Practice reviews active and provisional applications twice annually at the TMEA and summer conventions. We are deeply grateful for their commitment and service:
Brandon Brewer, Heather Orr, John Sikon, Gary Needham, Cody Newman, Tiffany Lisko, Nicholas Likos (Elected);
Marc Nichelson (Marching Band); Hector Bermea (Mariachi); Pete Hazzard (Band); Bryan Buffaloe (Orchestra).
The committee is chaired by President-Elect Gerry Miller.
Special Recognition
I would like to recognize the extraordinary service of Gerald Babbitt, who has retired after 50 years as Executive Secretary of Region 18. A TMAA Past President and Charter Member, Jerry served as a TMAA officer for 38 years, including 27 as the TMAA/UIL Liaison. His impact on music education in Texas is immeasurable.
Jerry, on behalf of TMAA, thank you for your leadership, service, and dedication. We are pleased to welcome Bill Duggan as our new Executive Secretary Liaison.
I wish you all a successful spring semester as you make music, change lives, and prepare future leaders through music education.
Craig Needham
TMAA President