International Tuba Euphonium Association

President’s Corner
Dr. Mary Ann Craig, ITEA President

ITEC2004 is fast approaching and what a great conference it will be to interact among tuba and euphonium players from across the world! This is our opportunity to hear great performances, to share pedagogical and performance ideas, and to interact with old and new friends, who share the same love for our instruments. It is also a wonderful chance to absorb the culture of Hungary in the performance halls, museums and churches, as well as in the cafes,and shops in the heart of Buda and Pest.

The History Committee of ITEA will be taking advantage of the ITEC location in order to interview several European teachers and performers. The committee is seeking to gain information about European masters who have influenced the development of tuba and euphonium pedagogy and performance in Europe. We will also be gathering ideas for a future Legacy Project, featuring European masters. This will be the third such project, following the Rich Matteson Legacy Project and the second project to be released in the near future.

During ITEC 2004, the Executive Committee will hold several meetings to discuss the ongoing activities and projects of the organization. Further, we will be dividing into committees in order to focus efficiently on priority areas and to focus on the future growth and development of ITEA. Members of the Board of Directors and Past Presidents of ITEA are invited to participate on these committees to bring our history and future together. Their insight, historical perspective, and vision are valuable to our organization.

If you haven’t visited the website recently, please do so. You will find that the site is developing beautifully under Journal Editor, Jason Smith. One of the projects Jason is currently working on is the development of the Members Only link. This link will be open to anyone for a period of time, and later this year it will then become a site only accessible to ITEA members. Name badges at ITEC 2004 will include the ITEA website address in an effort to promote this growing resource. Another long-term project that Jason has established is archiving our past issues of the Journal for access on the website for ITEA members. The Executive Committee views both the Journal and the website as integral resources for our membership. Please be an active participant in providing information and materials for publication on either since both are important resources for our organization.

A hidden gem has emerged through recent communication with John Wyman, who was appointed Euphonium Literature Archivist twelve years ago (Summer 1996 TUBA Journal). John has conducted extensive research throughout the United States and England for collecting euphonium literature, which is unpublished, public domain, and/or out-of-print. In this process he has also collected tuba solo literature and band literature, which he has been adding to the collection. John currently has quite an extensive collection, which he continues to build. An immediate goal is to provide an update on John’s research (Part 2) by providing a listing of this literature on the website. Persons interested in reading Mr. Wyman’s activities during his first few years in this position should refer to his article from 1996. Please contact John if you have questions regarding his work or would even like to get involved with his activity.

Most likely many of you are looking to events scheduled for 2005, which is a year we focus on regional meetings. Please take note of the regional conferences thus far solidified and listed in Tim Northcut’s column in this issue. Regional conferences are ideal for promoting the goals of our organization, because the location of these conferences makes it easily accessible for many of our ITEA members.