Association for Music in International Schools

Last updated
Association for Music in International Schools
AbbreviationAMIS
FounderGeorgia Bassett
TypeNon-profit Organization
HeadquartersChurch Farm House
North Lopham, Diss
Norfolk IP22 2LP
United Kingdom
Official language
English
Chief Operating Officer
Tim Germann
Amis Consultant
Georgia Bassett
Executive Director
Keith Montgomery
Website www.amis-online.org

The Association for Music in International Schools, best known as AMIS, is an organization that brings together students from schools worldwide who excel in musical achievements for days of music practice and then conclude with a concert. The Association also provides professional development through an annual Music Educators' Conference.

Contents

Acronym

The association's acronym AMIS is also the French word amis, which means friends. The founders of AMIS chose this name with the purpose of the association in mind. Amis symbolizes friendships established by children all over the world who attend AMIS Festivals. Although the association AMIS is based in the United Kingdom, the association chose a French (as opposed to an English) name to represent the numerous nationalities that participate in and contribute to AMIS festivals all over the world.[ citation needed ]

Mission statement

Two girls captured wearing the 2013 European Middle School Honor Girls' Festival Shirt. TwoGirlsInBlueAmisTshirt2013.jpg
Two girls captured wearing the 2013 European Middle School Honor Girls’ Festival Shirt.

“The Association is an international, non-profit, non-sectarian, politically neutral organization dedicated to the promotion of excellence at all levels of music education. Its objectives are to advance the education of school pupils and teachers throughout the world by developing their understanding, knowledge and appreciation of music; to advance the education of young people and their teachers in global issues and cultural diversity through the performance and study of music; to promote high standards of musical performance in school pupils of all ages and abilities throughout the world; to promote furtherance of educationally valuable music repertoire.” [1]

AMIS festivals

Once a year, there is a festival for each of the different categories. (See Festival Categories for list). Each festival is hosted by an AMIS Membership school, rotating between them yearly. To qualify for band, strings, and all High School auditions, students must audition by recordings, which are judged by a blind panel of music educators. Middle School Choir auditions are conducted by each participating school's teacher. The successful students travel to the host school and participate in the practice days and the final concert. The format is usually: travel Wednesday, rehearse Thursday-Saturday, concert Saturday evening, travel home Sunday.

Three girls attending the 2013 European Middle School Honor Girls' Choir in Waterloo, Belgium. ThreeGirlsInWaterlooBelgiumAMIS.jpg
Three girls attending the 2013 European Middle School Honor Girls’ Choir in Waterloo, Belgium.

AMIS' member schools mainly lie in Europe and Asia, although there have been festivals added in both Africa and Latin America in the past five years and those regions are thriving. Founded in London, AMIS slowly grew across Western Europe and now has many festivals reserved only for Asian schools. Festivals are conducted in English, though due to the participants coming from within international school populations, most students (and many teachers) speak multiple languages. Concert repertoires always include multiple languages; and concert speeches and introductions are usually held in the (festival's) host country's language in addition to English. (For example: The 2014 European Middle School Honor Girls’ Choir, hosted in Stavanger, Norway, had concert services conducted in Norwegian as well as English.)

Conductors

AMIS selects a different conductor for each festival. Often, conductors are teachers in international schools who are well respected and recommended by their peers.[ citation needed ] At the high school level, the Association contracts premiere conductors from around the world.[ citation needed ]

Music

The repertoire style depends on the AMIS festival and the songs that the conductor wants to perform. Many times, AMIS has commissioned works by composers, making the band/choir present world-premiere songs. Such composers include Philip Sparke, David Brunner, Dr. Richard Prior, Christopher Marshall, and more.

Festival categories

AMIS presents a multitude of different yearly festivals focused on different music, instrumentation, and musicians. These are:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choir</span> Ensemble of singers

A choir, also known as a chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words is the music performed by the ensemble. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which spans from the medieval era to the present, or popular music repertoire. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, hand, and facial gestures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conducting</span> Directing a musical performance

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties of the conductor are to interpret the score in a way that reflects the specific indications in that score, set the tempo, ensure correct entries by ensemble members, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate. Conductors communicate with their musicians primarily through hand gestures, usually with the aid of a baton, and may use other gestures or signals such as facial expression and eye contact. A conductor usually supplements their direction with verbal instructions to their musicians in rehearsal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Noble</span>

Weston H. Noble was an American music educator and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Boychoir School</span> Private, non-sectarian boarding school in Princeton, New Jersey, United States

The American Boychoir School was a boarding/day middle school located in Princeton, New Jersey, and the home of the American Boychoir. The school originated as the Columbus Boychoir in Columbus, Ohio. In 1950, the school relocated after receiving property in Princeton, New Jersey from the Lambert estate. The relocated school was renamed the American Boychoir School. It remained in this location until the sale of Albemarle in 2012. The school served boys in grades 4–8, many of whom came from across the United States and from many countries. It was one of only two boychoir boarding schools in the United States, the other being Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City. The school provided opportunity to boys from across the world to experience the rich world of music. The Boychoir toured across the contiguous United States, through Canada, as well as internationally, allowing students to gain diverse cultural perspective while performing at the professional level. The American Boychoir performed with numerous orchestras, frequently including the New York Philharmonic as well as the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School band</span> Group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together

A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors. A school band consists of woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, although upper level bands may also have string basses or bass guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservatorium High School</span> School in Sydney, Australia

The Conservatorium High School is a public government-funded, co-educational, selective, secondary day school that specialises in music education. It lies on the western edge of the Royal Botanic Gardens, off Macquarie Street, in Sydney's CBD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Music Educators Association</span>

The Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) is an organization of over 12,000 Texas school music educators. Its stated goals are to provide professional growth opportunities, to encourage interaction among music education professionals, to foster public support for music in schools, to offer quality musical experiences for students, to cultivate universal appreciation and lifetime involvement in music, and to develop and maintain productive working relationships with other professional organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millbrook High School (North Carolina)</span> Public school in North Carolina, United States

Millbrook Magnet High School, commonly known as Millbrook High School (MHS), is a public magnet high school located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is one of thirty-two high schools in the Wake County Public School System. In 2006, Millbrook finished the renovation of its campus which includes a new three-level building, a courtyard for students, and a larger cafeteria making MHS one of the largest and up to date facilities in the area. In 2009, Millbrook High School was granted International Baccalaureate status by the North Carolina Board of Education. The school was named a Magnet School of Excellence by Magnet Schools of America in 2020 and 2024 for its innovative curriculum, strong community building, and success in removing barriers to student success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guilderland High School</span> Public school in the United States

Guilderland High School is a public senior high school, located in Guilderland Center, New York. It is part of the Guilderland Central School District. Constructed in 1953, the high school has since undergone additions in 1955, 1960, 1997, 2010, and 2021. Originally, the building functioned as a Junior-Senior High School, but after the construction of Farnsworth Middle School in 1970, the district divided the schools into two. As a school, Guilderland High School's enrollment jurisdiction also includes the village of Altamont, NY and the North Bethlehem neighborhood of Bethlehem, NY.

Buffalo High School is located in Buffalo, Minnesota, United States off the intersection of County Road 35 and Dague Avenue. There are three communities that attend this school district 877: Buffalo, Hanover, and Montrose, Minnesota, which has helped BHS grow into a large school with 2,145 students in the 2022-23 school year, with a staff of approximately 400.

The Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association is an organization of high school, middle school, and elementary school band and orchestra directors within the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose mission is to help promote opportunities of music education to K-12 students. Many of the events that the VBODA organizes schools from around Virginia to compete with each other, and to give outstanding individual student musicians a chance to work with renowned conductors around the United States. The VBODA is the primary arbiter for various band and orchestra events throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girard Academic Music Program</span> United States historic place

The Girard Academic Music Program (GAMP) is a public magnet secondary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is part of the School District of Philadelphia, covering grades five through twelve. All students are able to pursue music as a major subject area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Jessop</span> American academic, musician and singer (born 1949)

Craig D. Jessop is an American academic, musician and singer best known for his tenure as the music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Choir) from 1999 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analy High School</span> Public school

Analy High School is a public high school in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California. It was established in 1908 as Analy High School. In 2021 Analy merged with El Molino High School and was known under the working name West County High School for one year, before returning to its original name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts</span> Public secondary school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , USA

The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as CAPA, is a magnet school in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the edge of the Christian Street Historic District. It is a part of the School District of Philadelphia. Students major in one of seven areas: creative writing, instrumental music, visual arts, theater, dance, vocal music, and media, design, television & video (MDTV). Students may also minor after their freshman year as long as they meet the audition requirements. The school is located on South Broad Street, in the former Ridgway Library. Notable alumni include Boyz II Men, Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots and Leslie Odom Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedar Crest High School</span> Secondary school in Lebanon, Lebanon County, PA, United States

Cedar Crest High School is a public high school located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The school serves over 2000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District.

Philip Jameson graduated from Wooster High School in 1959 and attended Baldwin Wallace College for one year.

Ensemble librarianship is an area of music librarianship which specializes in serving the needs of musical ensembles, including symphony and chamber orchestras, opera houses, ballet companies, wind ensembles and educational institutions. Ensemble librarians acquire printed music and prepare it for performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korea International School, Jeju Campus</span> College-prep, international school in South Korea

Korea International School, Jeju Campus (KISJ) is South Korea's first international boarding school. The school is a sister campus to Korea International School and an affiliate of YBM, a publishing and English-language education services company. Founded in 2010 and first opened in 2011 as part of the Jeju Global Education City, the school's first senior class of 52 students matriculated in May 2016. KISJ is a proprietary, nonsectarian school offering an internationalized American college preparatory curriculum from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12, with a boarding program starting in Grade 6. The high school began its AP Capstone™ in 2017–18, one of seven schools to offer it in South Korea.

The Florida Music Education Association (FMEA) is a non-profit umbrella association of music education groups in Florida that sets standards for the state in music education, provides continuing education and training opportunities to music educators in the state. FMEA is a federated state unit of the National Association for Music Education. FMEA was founded in 1944 during a three way clinic between the Florida Vocal Association, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the Florida Bandmasters Association.

References

  1. AMIS Mission Statement Archived May 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at www.amis-online.org.uk (accessed 2008-06-18)