TFMC/NFMC News

INFORMATION ABOUT NEW DISTRICT VI COMPETITION

From Brett Bachus, District VI Competition Chair

We are excited to finally launch the new District VI Competition! Please request the Competition Guide and registration information from Brett Bachus at d6competition@gmail.com.

2025 District VI Competition Dates 

Registration and Payment deadline: Saturday, April 19, 2025. 

  • Only Teachers may register participants and submit payment by check for all participants associated with their studio. 

  • Make the check payable to “TFMC”.  Memo line: Competition

Mail the check to: Brett Bachus, 10617 Denell Circle, Austin, TX 78753

Video Submissions Deadline: Saturday, May 17, 2025.

Comprehensive Theory Exams - May 1 – May 17, 2025

Theory exams will be scheduled individually in advance utilizing various video chat apps such as Zoom, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Google Meet, etc. at a convenient time for the participant and the judge. 

Who May Participate  (Grouping by Age for All Events)

  • Current TFMC District VI Members: 

    • Junior students 

    • Adult students

    • Music Teachers 

  • Non-members (any age) are also welcome to participate upon payment of the 

    • $3 annual Membership fee

    • Competition Event Fee(s).

  • Texas Residents

Fees 

  • $45 each participant, any age, in a Solo/Concerto or Theory event

  • $30 each participant, any age, in an Ensemble event

This Competition 

This is a new Competition and a work in progress, so we expect to have a few wrinkles. Please don't hesitate to ask questions or make suggestions. Thank you in advance for making a special effort to help make this new competition go as smoothly as possible and to create something unique and wonderful for everyone. Contact: Brett Bachus d6competition@gmail.com with your suggestions and questions. 

  • This competition is an independent event with independent rules and is not part of any other competition, any district festival, or any state competition festival.

  • Participants may enter this competition without participation in the District Festival.

  • Event fees for this competition are not refundable and not transferable for any reason.

  • This competition event does not contribute points to the TFMC Federation Cup Award Plan.

  • This competition does not take the place of the TFMC All-State Festival and does not provide a Superior rating for entry into TFMC All-State Festival.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

FROM Sue Bachus, TFMC  District 6-4 Festival Chair

Hello Festival Teachers, 

Why was the All-State Festival cancelled?  It takes a team of key people to make the All-State Festival happen each year. Much of the previous Bulletin-related computer work for the All-State Festival was done by Mary Thomason, who passed away almost 2 years ago. Last year's State Festival was still utilizing the previous Bulletin. The software programming for this year's State Festival is connected to the new Bulletin…. which is still a mess with significant errors and multiple updates.  

Festival cannot function without updated software and Bulletin updates are continually coming in. All of the changes with each new update must be converted and then re-coded, along with lots of other information, into the software. This is one example of the kind of work Mary did. Mary's contribution to helping make the All-State Festival function smoothly cannot be overemphasized. Mary was a great resource and her loss is still being felt.

 NFMC Theory Coordinator, Heather Rathnau, who created the Theory Time workbooks and the State and District theory exams, also passed away. Additionally, there were other experienced people, who were directly involved in making the All-State Festival happen, who have since either passed away or are unable to help due to various reasons and issues. 

District 6 Competition. This week, we will review the TFMC District 6 Competition that was created about 3 years ago. It was approved by TFMC and NFMC leadership. We have spoken to a few of our teachers and they are relieved and excited about having a District 6 Competition. We believe it will energize the teachers and students. It’s unfortunate that we can’t have a state level competition, but there’s nothing we can do about that. We CAN have a district level competition, which includes 90-100 teachers in the Austin area, San Antonio area, and surrounding towns. It should be a nice size competition that we can promote as being a positive alternative to an unfortunate situation.

 Registrations and Information. The new Competition will be ready to accept registrations very soon. The Competition shares elements with both the District Festival and the All-State Festival, but state and national leadership said the Competition must be different.

Example: Participants can choose 2 solo pieces, a concerto movement, duo, or duet, etc.

The selection of all pieces performed are at the discretion of the participant.

The composers of all pieces performed may be from any nationality.

The competition will accept unedited video submissions and may offer a limited number of in-person performances. All participants will receive a rating sheet and competition certificate (and maybe a new District 6 Competition ribbon). Monetary awards will be available for the highest scores at the upper levels. More info soon.

Timing. Registrations and payment will be online and due by April 15. Video submissions will be due by May 1. Late submissions will not be accepted. Judging will take place in May/June and results will be announced in June.

 Fees. Fees have not been finalized. Teachers will collect fees from their students and use the online form to submit payment. Payment will be due by April 15. 

 Please let us know ASAP if you and your students are interested in participating in the TFMC District 6 Competition. We will be happy to provide competition and registration information as soon as it is available.  We can make this competition work for all our District 6 Teachers and Students. We welcome your input. We welcome your help! We want to hear from you!

Competition email: d6competition@gmail. com.

JANUARY 22, 2025

NOVEMBER 10, 2024

A NOTE FROM LYNN (TFMC President Lynn McNew)

Hello, Everyone, from sunny Fort Worth! It’s good to be in touch with you again. I’ve tried very hard to find someone to help me get a newsletter out to all of you, and finally decided I had to do it myself. This won’t be anything fancy, but there is a lot of news to share with you.

I’m sure by now all of your clubs are well into a great program year. Please send a copy of your yearbook to me—I really like to see all your wonderful programs. Also send a copy to Jean Moffatt, our yearbook chair. Her address is P.O. Box 791, Seminole, TX 79360. Her email is jmoffatt60@outlook.com. And I know teachers are busy preparing for Christmas recitals and soon after that it’s festival time. Thanks to all of you who work so hard to turn your students into great performers.

There are many things going on in our wonderful organization this year. Mark your calendar for April 3-5, 2025, for the state convention in Lubbock at the MCM Elegante Hotel. Our very special National Guest will be Jean Moffatt and the 2023 winner in men’s voice, Micheal Celentano, will be our Young Artist. We will also be hearing a young man, a student at Texas Tech, who was in the cast at Opera in the Ozarks last summer. He will surely have an interesting story to tell about his experiences. We will be electing new officers, so if you would like to serve in some capacity, let us know. I will be asking District Presidents to serve as a nominating committee. Last year I asked for short reports from clubs to put in a packet for convention goers. I don’t need your report forms until they are due— all I want is a few paragraphs telling what your club is doing this year. On that note, if you have an outstanding program this year, let me know. We would like to see it at convention.

Equally exciting is the announcement that Texas will be hosting the NFMC National Convention in Austin, June 10-14, 2025. It will be at the Hilton Austin Airport Hotel and I hope many of you will attend. There may be a special incentive if you do and I will need the help of many people for hospitality and to help with table decorations to name a few. You will definitely want to be there on Tuesday night with your boots and hats as we will be going to Cooper’s Barbecue for a real authentic Texas barbecue and line dancing and then a trip to Congress Ave. to see the bats. There will be luncheons, informative workshops and interesting speakers. Plus the music will be outstanding; there will be new Young Artists selected and performing during this time. We also are working on the possibility of Texas hosting a Lifer’s Breakfast for all national life members, as we do at our state conventions. I am asking each club, if it is possible for you, to donate $100 to help defray some of the expenses of hosting this convention. Any money left over after the convention goes to the host state and we will make sure that all the clubs who donate will get something back. If $100 is more than you can manage, please give what you can. Also I’m asking each club to come up with something to include in the gift bags given to all the attendees. You will surely find some clever small article which exemplifies your part of Texas. When we were in Bettendorf, Iowa, last year, several people asked how we were going to top some of the things we heard and saw there. My reply was that we weren’t going to top it, we were going to make it truly Texan!!! There will be 200 bags.

It is important that Texas make a good showing at this convention. It is a great honor to be asked to host a National Convention and we want to show why everything is bigger (and better) in Texas.

I hope you will be as excited about our 2 conventions as I am. And we must not forget Opera in the Ozarks in July of next year. It will be the 75th anniversary and also the opening of the beautiful new theatre. Something else to look forward to.

As we head into the holiday season. I ask that you remember all the many things for which we are thankful. As our Collect says, “For the love of music and the gift of friends.”

Blessings, Lynn

FROM TFMC PRESIDENT LYNN MCNEW

This is a VERY Important message for everyone.  Due to a series of complications, our state convention has been bumped up one day. THE TFMC CONVENTION WILL BE WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY, APRIL 2-4.  It is still at the MCM Elegante in Lubbock.  I will be sending out the Official Call March 1st.  We have a lot of time, but I thought you should know asap.  I have attempted to notify as many people as I could, but please pass this on to your club members. In other business, send your yearbooks to Jean Moffatt--her address is in the newsletter   And please start thinking about a program you want to share at the convention. I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause. Blessings, Lynn