GREETINGS FROM OUR CHAIR

I hope you'll join me in officially welcoming Dan Del Fiorentino, MLA/SCC Chair as I slide into the past-Chair position (does it recline?), and Carol Dales, our new Newsletter Editor. Congratulations to you both!

I was very excited to see so many of us at the Las Vegas meeting - I'm told our attendance was an SCC record for a chapter meeting held at a national conference. Slot machines, showgirls, and conference mayhem notwithstanding, we actually managed to discuss a little business! We may have a site picked out for our fall meeting (Don Brown will draw on connections at the library at Paramount Studios - more later), and we discussed ways to increase awareness of, and interest in our activities among our Los Angeles public library colleagues. Leslie Andersen of Cal State Long Beach also unveiled the brand-new Journal of Film Music, a peer-reviewed publication featuring contributions by music and film scholars from around the world. Its scholarly purpose and focus (film music and film composers) make it first of its kind and a very welcome addition indeed.

You can read other accounts of Las Vegas, including specific sessions and conference hi-jinks, elsewhere in this content-packed issue. Enjoy!

GREETINGS FROM YOUR NEW EDITOR

This is my debut in many arenas: as a new member of both MLA and MLA/SCC, as a newsletter editor and as a new Californian. Please let me know how/whether you like this incarnation of the newsletter (Renée is a tough act to follow) and be generous with suggestions and contributions for future issues. I definitely want to include more news of the activities of MLA/SCC members, so please tell me about your presentations, publications, exhibits, acquisitions of interest, facility renovations, treasured web links, factual gossip, whatever you have to share!

WHAT'S UP???

MLA CONFERENCE, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, 2002

The first time is always the best time, so I've heard. This could very well be true--at least as far as MLA conferences are concerned. I certainly "left Las Vegas," my first national MLA meeting, feeling exhilarated about this great profession of ours and dazzled by the great professionals who comprise it.

It seemed the most important interactions came interstitially, in casual conversations between structured events, in the hallways, at receptions, etc. How easy it was to spark a conversation about a shared concern or some back-of-the mind project, or to make the acquaintance of some fellow rookie with like-minded aspirations or with some wily veteran willing to share the fruits of his or her experience.

Like a wide-eyed debutante I reveled in the proceedings, trying to attend as many presentations as I could fit in. What I remember from all that running around is tucked away for future recall, provided the right triggering stimulus presents itself -- I'm just sure of it. I will restrict myself to describing two sessions, then, the Conservatories Roundtable and the Personnel Subcommittee, and let their magnificence speak for the rest.

The Conservatories Roundtable, chaired by Richard Vallone of Boston's New England Conservatory, is composed of librarians from institutions willing, for the sake of argument, to be identified as primarily performance schools - New England Conservatory, Eastman, Oberlin, Curtis Institute, my own California Institute of the Arts, et al. After a bit of a slow start, topics began to bubble up: how to collect scores by contemporary composers (call the composer if possible, or use Educational Music Service); what is done about donations (take them in, but without stipulations if possible, in order to sell off unwanted items); what is the relationship between the school and its affiliated "parent" institution, especially where budgets are concerned (varies, but most had autonomous control); how and whether to give public access to sound recordings (again varies, but most kept recent formats - e.g. CDs - in some kind of locked or non-public space), what do libraries do about electronic reserves (some use Blackboard, others use Real Audio and MP3s, plus print articles as html or .pdf files, for example), etc. Additionally a written survey was distributed to further collect ideas and comparisons.

The Personnel Subcommittee's "Interview Workshop: Moving, Choosing and Waiting Your Turn," moderated by Paula Elliot of Washington State University, with Geraldine Laudati (U of Wisconsin), Michael Rogan (Tufts), and our own Renée McBride (UCLA), covered this perennial topic with thoroughness, style, and in Renée's case, poise, as the room suddenly went temporarily black (an unplanned, but impressive feat of rolling with the punches). Laudati shared her experiences as both an interviewer and interviewee, Rogan addressed issues from an administrative and departmental point of view, and McBride provided an excellent summary of current trends in the job market. Made especially plain from the candidate's perspective was his or her responsibility to find out as much as possible about the job and employer before commencing the interview, or at the latest, the position itself. By investigating thoroughly and making a good match between the strengths and goals of the candidate and the actual features of the job - not just its description - a lot of turmoil can be avoided.

Both the 71st MLA and its heady venue were completely new experiences for me, so it seemed a good idea to jump in with both hands (?) and accompany Don Brown on the annual Organ Crawl. Although completely lacking in the historic architecture and instruments of Boston and New York, Las Vegas boasts a unique collection of over 30 pipe organs, several built within the last decade by Washington builder Steven R. Cook. Dr. Paul Hesselink was our erudite and congenial host throughout a tour of three local churches and their resident instruments. First we saw and heard a six-rank Wicks Company pipe organ in the University United Methodist Church across the street from UNLV, remarkable for glass shutters that allowed an unobstructed view of the greenery outside.

Next, it was off to the First Presbyterian for a look at a 32-rank Abbott and Seeker, formerly the largest organ in Las Vegas. Finally, our host led us to All Saints Episcopal where we saw the Cook Opus 7. En route, Bill Coscarelli, Don Brown and our host periodically enhanced the crawl experience by treating us to impromptu recitals. The afternoon wound up with a convivial wine and cheese in Dr. Hesselink's living room, where, not surprisingly, reposes Steven Cook's 10-stop Pipe Organ, Op. 9. Thank you, Don, for tracking down both interesting instruments and a thoroughly engaging guide!

MLA ended as it began, with another quintessentially MLA experience I couldn't possibly have anticipated, the appearance of the star-studded MLA Big Band at the cocktail hour. If you missed them this time around, start planning now to take in this stunning ensemble's performance at Austin in 2003!

For those of you who weren't in Las Vegas (it was great to see so many of us at our Chapter meeting!), I am now the Managing Editor of a new journal. This is truly "the little journal that could" as it has been trying to become a reality for some time now. We all know how hard it is to purchase a new journal subscription on our limited budgets but trying to get a publisher to launch a new one has that beat by far. So, this journal is being published by a number of very willing volunteers who are passionate about its merits.

This is the first and only scholarly journal on film music. Editorial scope is as follows:

The Journal of Film Music provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholars in music, film and other disciplines who share a common interest in this vital new area of scholarly inquiry. Though now represented in mainstream journals in music, film, the media, and mass communication, scholarly writing on film music is currently dispersed across many publications throughout the world. By providing a scholarly journal devoted to the subject, the interdisciplinary work of film music studies can flourish. Contributions encompassing all aspects of film music history, analysis, theory, and criticism are welcome.

The first issue will be published this summer and will include an exhaustive literature review on the subject. Future plans include a "mini-conference" this fall on Bernard Herrmann with a special issue devoted to his music.

The evaluation forms came back with glowing remarks after Kia Portafekas' presentation to teachers in Pasadena. "Music for Learning: Mining the Young Learner's Creativity" was held at the Kidspace Museum in conjunction with the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. This workshop for teachers offered simple, effective approaches for integrating music and creativity into the classroom.

Kia helps create a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere to inspire creative expression from the heart-using color, sound, movement, imagination, and improvisation. Her message implies the importance of being emotionally connected in a joyful way to all we do in life. Through the generosity of the Kidspace Museum, each participant was given a complimentary copy of Making Music with Your Child, the new book on which Kia's presentation at the workshop was based. The first part of the book describes Kia's philosophy of music making and creativity, and outlines her approach. The second part of the book offers 100 "riffs" (exercises/activities) for parent or teacher and child, many of which can be accomplished in a confined space.

Kia is a First Place Winner in the national Toyota Camry/VH-1 collaboration Making Tracks with Camry Music Teacher Contest. She has been invited to present at national and state music educators' conferences and home schooling conferences, and has been featured on radio and TV broadcast interviews across the USA.

Making Music with Your Child is available in performing arts organizations' gift shops, and music and bookstores throughout the USA. The ISBN is 1-58106-013-0. Priced at $12.95, it is available from your favorite retailer or directly from the publisher, MMB Music, Inc.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Checking Account 680.34
• Savings Account 50.00
• Certificate Account 2,628.58

Nanette Schneir, MLA/SCC Secretary/Treasurer
Santa Monica Public Library
nschneir@pen.ci.santa-monica.ca.us

• Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Vic Cardell, San Diego Public Library
• Sec/Treasurer: Joan Flintoff LoPear, UCLA
• Member-at-Large: Liza Vick, UC Irvine

MLA/SCC Executive Board

Chair: Kevin McLaughlin, California Institute of the Arts

Vice Chair/Chair Elect: Dan Del Fiorentino, NAMM-International Music Products Association

Secretary/Treasurer: Nanette Schneir, Santa Monica Public Library

Members-At-Large: Don Brown, El Camino College

Eunice Schroeder, UC-Santa Barbara

Past Chair: Kristina Shanton, Ithaca College (formerly at CSU Long Beach)