State Awards

STATE LEVEL AWARDS

CASTA EXEMPLARY TEACHER AWARD CRITERIA AND NOMINATION FORMS

OUTSTANDING TEACHER AWARD INFORMATION AND NOMINATION FORM

CASTA AWARDS

Calendar to follow for award submissions:

                                     Award Nomination Period:          Election Period:                              Awarded at:

Outstanding Teacher     June 1 thru August 15          September 1 thru October 15           Western States Honor Orchestra

25 year Award                                                                                                                          CMEA Convention in January

Hall of Fame                                                                                                                             CMEA Convention in January

Lifetime Service          September 1 thru November 1 December 1 thru January 15       All State Orchestra in February

Exemplary Teacher Awards    May 1 thru June 15           none                                               Summer Conference in July
(the name of these awards may change)

(Address to send these nominations or forms to is listed on each form or document.)

James M. Bratton, CASTA 2010 Lifetime Service Award Recipient
To Be Awarded at the All State Orchestra Concert on February 13, 2010

James Mosby Bratton

Our 2010 Colorado American String Teachers Association Life Time Award Recipient is James Mosby Bratton, Professor Emeritus from the Lamont School of Music, at the University of Denver. Mr. Bratton was appointed to the faculty in 1957 and received full professor status in 1960. He retired in 1997, after forty-seven years of teaching at the University, and is still the University Organist, at the Evans’ Chapel starting his 52^nd year. For many years he was Choirmaster/Organist at the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and Organist/Director at Congregation Emanuel. He was the former Dean of the Denver Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He joined the AGO in 1946, while in Virginia. He’s a past president of the Reed Organ Society, an active member of the Organ Historical Society, the American Theater Organ Society, and the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. His interest in reed organs started at eleven years of age, where learned the art of rebuilding, tuning, regulating, and making reeds. A Shenandoah Valley native, he lived near the Klann Pipe Organ Supply Company in Waynesboro, VA

Mr. Bratton got into the wonderful ASTA group to learn more about the beautiful c.1850’s French cello he inherited; it opened a whole new world for/to him. At the Peabody, he studied with Senior and graduate students, ‘never getting good enough to be passed on to one of the cello Professors.’ I really didn’t practice for a long time and wasn’t until some years went by, that I started to study again, I’m going to get lessons started again, though I do practice and keep it in good tune. I’ve even recently had my bows rehaired'. All his instruments have lived their lives in Colorado. Also a harpist, he studied with Professor Joseph Pizzo, of the Baltimore and New York Symphony Orchestras and then later with Suzanne Davids at DU. It was a very happy time when he played with the Aurora Symphony Orchestra! After open heart-surgery, Mr. Bratton regrettably gave up his harp, gave all his music away, but now would love to own another and start up again!

Our distinguished honoree James Bratton holds a B.M; B.A.; B.S.; M.A.; M.M. and many hours toward a D.M.A. Mr. Bratton studied at John’s Hopkins University, Peabody Conservatory, University of Colorado, New College Oxford, England and in Paris. ' I'm hoping to resume study for my own enjoyment.' He does play his cello every day... but says, ' I'm too old to be good enough to play in an orchestra again, but... the dream is still there! ' He just celebrated his eighty-first birthday.

Dr. Katharine Mason and Michael Schaefer
CASTA LifeTime Service Award Winners for 2009
Awards Presented at the 2009 Summer Conference Banquet

Dr. Kip Mason

As the daughter of lifetime ASTA members and a 7th generation professional musician, Katharine Mason has continued her life work as a member of our CASTA, Inc. Chapter. Kip served CASTA as our President in 2000-2002, preparing two summer conferences and two CMEA Clinic/Conferences. She served a two year term as Member at Large on the National ASTA Board from 2006-2007. Previous service in Colorado's music education community includes: eight years as Colorado All-State Orchestra Chair, six years on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Music Educators Association, two years as competition chair for the Rocky Mountain Viola Society and service on many state and national ASTA committees over the past 22 years.. Most recently she has served as founder and chair of the CASTA Certificate Advancement Program which will continue for many years to come.

She is the recipient of 4 "Citations for Leadership and Merit" from National ASTA and in 2001 was named "Reader's Choice -- Best Teacher" by the Boulder Daily Camera's Boulder County Gold Issue. She aspires to serve her colleagues in Colorado to bring the best possible string education to our Colorado students. She is loyal to her family at home, her string family at school and to ASTA

Michael Schaefer

Mike began his teaching career in Loveland. After 6 years, he took a position in the Poudre School District. He is presently completing his 29th year of teaching in Ft. Collins. Michael opened Webber Junior High school and implemented his jazz orchestra the year the school opened. This was before the time that "Alternative Styles" was the buzz word in the orchestra arena. He consistently has large numbers in his program making Webber Jr. High the main feeder of Rocky Mountain High School. Mike has also been instrumental in running Poudre District‘s junior high honor orchestra program. In addition to his work in the classroom, Mike has served on the local negotiations committee and has been instrumental in winning extra duty compensation for Elementary and Jr. High Honor group coordinators, High School musical directors, marching band and pep band directors. He is retiring at the end of this year.

Wes Kenney, Outstanding Teacher 2009

Wes Kenney is the 2007 grand prize winner of the Varna (Bulgaria) International Conducting Competition. He travelled back to Bulgaria in March 2008 for concerts in Vidin and to conduct La Traviata in Stara Zagora. Mr. Kenney is currently in his fifth season as Music Director of the Fort Collins Symphony, an orchestra that has experienced unprecedented growth in the number of concerts and size of budget over the past four seasons. In the summer of 2004 he was named to an additional post of Music Director of Opera Fort Collins helping that organization establish a full season of three productions a season. His initiation of a concert performance of Carmen as a community collaboration between the Fort Collins Symphony, Opera Fort Collins, and Colorado State University, earning him the title of the area's "musical ambassador."

Mr. Kenney is a past president of the Conductors Guild, a 2000 member service organization to the conducting profession. He currently is on the Guild’s advisory board. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and San Francisco State University. Additional studies include three years as a fellow at the Conductors Institute, several American Symphony Orchestra League and Conductors Guild Workshops, and the Sandpoint Festival. His teachers include Harold Farberman, Hans Beer, Gunther Schuller, Hans Swarovsky and Miltiardes Carides.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2008 HALL OF FAME RECIPIENTS

ELVA JEAN BOLIN and SUSAN DAY

Presentation of Hall of Fame Awards at CMEA, January 2008

Susan Day, recipient, Andrea Meyers, President of Colorado ASTA, and Elva Jean Bolin, recipient

SUSAN DAY

SMHD Publications was established in 1994 for the purpose of providing quality string orchestra literature for young musicians. Colorado composer and teacher, Susan Day, wanted her orchestra students to have something different to play. Her compositions are designed to appeal to and stimulate the imagination of the students as well as their audience.

"Susan Day's original music for the middle school or junior high orchestra sudent is equally challenging and attainable for all sections of the orchestra. Susan Day is a superb orchestral writer of full sounding, beautiful melodies and harmonies which inspire students to want more! Her music is a popular addition to any concert occasion." -JoAnn Wolter, Orchestra Director, Castle Rock Middle School, Colorado

Susan Day earned music degrees from Ithaca College and Columbia University. She was Colorado ASTA Teacher of the Year 2000 and winner of the 1997 National ASTA Composition Contest. Her compositions have been performed by youth orchestras at MENC and CMEA national and state conventions, music camps, youth symphony concerts, district festivals and state contests. She was the winner of the 2006 Texas Orchestra Directors Association (TODA) Composition Contest for her piece "Tango d'Amour"

ELVA JEAN BOLIN with Andrea Meyers (left)

MRS. ELVA JEAN BOLIN

Music Teacher

Elva Bolin was born in Denver, Colorado. She has two brothers, Ray and Bernie. She attended Denver Public Schools and in 1971 graduated from Denver South High School seventeenth in a class of 722 students.

She attended the University of Denver on a full-tuition Honor’s Program academic scholarship. After graduating from the University of Denver with her Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1975, she began teaching music in the Denver Public Schools. In 1984, 1985, 1994, 1996 and 1997 she conducted the DPS Citywide Elementary Orchestra. She taught in DPS until 1998.

Elva served on the Design Advisory Committee for the new Harrington building, helping design the vocal music room and instrumental music room. In 1998 she was interviewed by Aimee Spohr for Channel 4’s Eye on Colorado program that featured the Colorado Youth Instrument Program which donated instruments for her students. That same year she was interviewed by Marc Shulgold for an article about instrumental music in public schools that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News Sunday Spotlight. She has been listed in Who’s Who in American Education since 1989.

Elva has taught music in Aurora Public Schools since 1998. She has mentored a number of music education students and beginning teachers. She serves on the APS Arts Curriculum Committee and the Aurora Cultural Arts Action Team (CAAT).

At the beginning of her third year at Jamaica Elementary School, the movie Music of the Heart came out. Principal, Harry Chan, saw an interview about the movie on a morning talk show. Soon they applied for and received a $10,000 grant from Texaco and the Jamaica Violin Program began.

In 2001, Elva received the Everyday Hero Award from Channel 7 and Toyota. One of her co-workers nominated her for doing the violin program. As a result of this award, Berger Funds gave Jamaica School twelve violins. Several individuals donated violins as well..

Elva started playing violin in the fifth grade. She was a member of the Denver Public Schools Citywide Orchestra from sixth to twelfth grade and a member of the Colorado All-State High School Orchestra from tenth to twelfth grade. In high school she started to give private lessons on the violin using the Suzuki Violin Method. Troy, one of her first students, started when he was four years old. He went on to the Curtis Institute of Music, the National Repertory Orchestra and is currently the Professor of Violin at Kobe University in Japan.

In fifth grade, Elva had the opportunity to learn Spanish. In both DPS and APS, she has had more and more Spanish-speaking students. She is able to teach fluently in Spanish, conference with Spanish-speaking parents and translate parent flyers into Spanish.

Elva is married to a wonderful man whom she met in college in piano class. They are both are members of Aurora First Presbyterian Church which is near her school. They participate actively in the choir there and are involved in the music ministry at Canterbury.

Her hobbies are quilting, counted cross stitch and needlepoint. She enjoys designing original patterns for these crafts. Her Purple Mountain Majesties quilt, based on the words to “America the Beautiful”, has been shown at the Aurora History Museum. This year she is donating a quilt “Colorado Rocky Mountains” to the CASTA basket for the ASTA National Conference.

Colorado ASTA, Inc.
Life Time Service Award

2009 Dr. Katharine Mason & Michael Schaefer
2008 Gerhard & Joann Wolter
2007 Carol Tarr
2006 Jim McNeal
2005 Larry Lashley
2004 Larry Overton
2003 Leonard Diggs
2002 Will Schwartz
2001 Tom & Barbara Humphrey
2000 Dan Giullian
1999 Vanda Skadden
1998 Steven McNeal
1997 Virgil Rosenberger

Colorado ASTA, Inc.
Outstanding String Teacher

2009 Wes Kenney
2008 Campbell Harrison
2007 Pattie Nelson
2006 Andrea L. Meyers
2005 Nancy Allwein
2004 Becky Anderson
2003 Barbara Rino
2002 Cameron Law
2001 Judy Elgethun
2000 Susan Day
1999 Scott Betts
1998 Brett Wallace

Awarded National ASTA “Best Website” 2006 Linda Johnson

National ASTA “Member-at-Large” 2007 Dr. Katharine “Kip” Mason
2008-9 Andrea L. Meyers

Awarded National ASTA “Outstanding State Leader”
2008 Andrea L. Meyers

National Band Association “Citation of Excellence” 2006 - Dr. Jess Gerardi

CMEA “Hall of Fame”
1985 John T. Roberts*
1987 Eugene Hilligoss*, Byron Gillette
1989 John Cummins*
1992 Robert Hurrell
1993 Jess Gerardi
1994 Frank Montera
1996 Chuck Cassio*
1998 Don Shupe
1999 Larry Overton
2000 Kenneth G. Evans, Steven McNeal,
Howard Skinner
2006 Rebecca Anderson
2006 James McNeal
2008 Elva Jean Bolin, Susan Day

CMEA 25 Year Award Recipient
2007 Elva Jean Bolin
2008 Susan Day
2008 Michelle Ewer

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