NATS conference wrap

A little more than a week ago, I returned home from the 57th international conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

On my personal blog, I wrote a few paragraphs I’ll quote here:

What is NATS? The National Association of Teachers of Singing is a now-international organization with 7276 members in all 50 states and 44 countries. Eighty-eight chapters exist in 15 regions. I’m now governor of one of those regions.

We in NATS have just completed our 57th national conference. Ten staff members and an army of volunteers help make this possible.

One of our primary annual events is the NATS auditions, where students of all ages sing for comments. Some earn a monetary prize and go on to regional and national competition. The most recent number: 13,466 students auditioned in the current program year, representing the studios of 1558 teachers.

The Central Region includes Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois, with more than 400 members of NATS in this region.

My first work is listen, and my second is to put together a regional conference to be held in October. You may read my remarks on becoming governor here.

jeffreycarter.us

A few days ago, and continuing through mid-August, I began spending about two hours each afternoon on NATS work. Pulling together a leadership team. Working with others to plan a regional conference for later October. Building momentum for student NATS chapters. Thinking development thoughts. Pondering celebrations.

Today: meet on Zoom with a district governor.
Monday: meet on Zoom with the new Central Region leadership team.

From Chicago:

Opening weekend concert: “The day closed with a delightful concert by the songwriting team Goldrich and Heisler. I’m so delighted to have finally heard them in person! They performed favorite tunes like “Make your own party,” “Los Penguinos,” “Baltimore,” “The Alto’s Lament,” and of course “Taylor the latte boy.” And a generous dose of new stuff.”