Mallory Thompson and I send everyone best wishes as we all start another academic season. Best of luck to everyone as you begin your rehearsals!

For many years now, the individuals who have registered as Conductors for our Symposium have mostly come from outside Bergen County — only 10-20% have been MEBCI members. And our Auditor registration, priced to be extremely accessible for MEBCI members, has been very low. This year we had only 10 Conductors for 12 spots (only 2 MEBCI members) and no Auditors at all. I’m thrilled that it has become a national destination for conductors seeking this type of workshop experience, but the original concept, to serve the music educators of Bergen County, is not producing the participation necessary to sustain it — at least not right now. In addition, it’s difficult to maintain a program that cannot financially support itself.

After considerable discussion about this with both Mallory and Allison Trott, MEBCI President, I’ve decided that we will not run this program in 2016. We’ll reassess the interest of our MEBCI membership and our state/national colleagues, and then consider skipping a year and possibly reinstating the program in 2017. This will afford an opportunity to step back and take a look at the workshop, and perhaps restructure it for the better in the future. I’ll continue to maintain this site and future announcements will be posted here. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns about this Symposium, please post a comment on this blog post or email me directly.

I’m wishing you all the best for your programs and concerts this coming year.
Curt