Active Oregon ASTA members will be e-mailed an election ballot on Monday, Feb. 14th, 2022. Contact astaoregon@gmail.com if you have not yet received your ballot.

Elections include:

President-Elect (6 year term, to include President and Past-President responsibilities)
Secretary (2 year term)
Treasurer (2 year term)
Proposed Special Action Item: ALIGN TERM DATES WITH FISCAL YEAR DATES

Oregon ASTA Elections 2022 - Deadline to Vote: Fri. March 11, 2022

President-Elect

Term: 2 years from May 15th to May 14th. This position automatically evolves into President of the ASTA OR Chapter after 2 years serving as President-Elect, and will follow that with two years as Past-President. Reports to the Chapter President and Board Members. Works with the ASTA OR Chapter President, Board Members, and general members.

Duties: The President-Elect of ASTA OR Chapter helps the President of ASTA OR Chapter to ensure the health of the organization in terms of checks and balances. Actively participates in planning and managing events and activities sponsored by ASTA OR Chapter. Helps the President with close oversight of other ASTA OR Chapter Board Members who are responsible for website maintenance, newsletter, and financial reports. Helps the President with coordinating ASTA OR Chapter Board meetings (minimum or 2 per year) and when needed develops meeting agenda for both meetings based on the chapter’s needs and national ASTA suggestions. Whenever possible, attends ASTA National Leadership Meeting at ASTA National Conference and reports back to ASTA OR Chapter Board Members. Attends ASTA OR Chapter Board meetings regularly.

Candidates for President-Elect:
Marian Gutiérrez - Curiel and Lillie Manis

Marian Gutiérrez - Curiel

I'm from Venezuela and I was part for more than 20 years of "El Sistema" founded by maestro José Antonio Abreu. As a member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra I have performed in worldwide theaters such as Carnegie Hall (USA), Berlin Philharmonie (Germany), Royal Albert Hall (England), under batons of renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, and Gustavo Dudamel. In 2017 I became part of the first violin section and the production team of The Miami Symphony Orchestra (Miami, Florida). In 2018 I moved to Portland and since then I have been working at BRAVO Youth Orchestra as a Site Director and conductor at George Middle School, and the Manager of the BRAVO Community Orchestra. I'm also the conductor of the Overture Strings Ensemble at Metropolitan Youth Symphony.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST:

I'm interested in joining the ASTA board because I'm not only passionate about music but also the way it can create a bond of unity among the different backgrounds and cultures, being part of "El Sistema" gave the opportunity to perceive the music as an universal and powerful resource to connect people. After 4 years working at BRAVO Youth Orchestras and Metropolitan Youth Symphony I understand and find the gaps we may need to fill or adjust in our community in order to make the music education a more enriching experience not only for teachers but also for the students, giving the teachers the tools and resources so they can keep creating the ideal spaces for the students and their community, especially the minority and underserved communities and be part of the leadership in this organization will give me the opportunity to give back to the community everything that music has given me through all these years.

Thank you.

Marian

Lillie Manis

Widely recognized for her work as a Suzuki educator, Lillie Manis is currently completing her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University, where her research focuses on studio teachers' holistic strategies for cultivating expressive performance in young violinists. She is currently a faculty member at the Willamette Violin Academy, teaching students of all levels — from preschool-aged beginners to concerto-level high schoolers — in both individual lessons and groups. From 2009-2020, she was a faculty member at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, where she mentored graduate violin and viola pedagogy students, served as the Assistant Director of the Community Music Institute, and taught courses within the music education department. In the first decade of her teaching career, both the members of her vibrant pre-college studio and her graduate student mentees have achieved noteworthy musical and professional success, including competition wins, full scholarships to major music schools and summer programs, and college teaching appointments. Active as a clinician, masterclass presenter, adjudicator and conference presenter at both the regional and national levels, she enjoys performing chamber music alongside some of the northwest's finest players, and recently completed a term of service on the editorial committee of the American String Teacher.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST:

I'm honored to have been asked to put forward my name as a candidate for OR-ASTA President. ASTA's structure allows for a thoughtful transition to leadership: I would plan to use the two-year president-elect period to reach out to as many ASTA stakeholders as possible (new and long-time members; non-members who nonetheless hold important leadership positions in the string music education community; those who are current ASTA leaders and those who could be the new, diverse ASTA leaders of tomorrow), and listen carefully to their ideas, concerns, and wishes for ASTA's future. Building relationships begins with listening, and this would be my first priority.

In my tenure as ASTA president, I would seek to combine these contributions from the ASTA community — their ideas and energies — with my own goals for the organization:

1) I was born and raised in Oregon, and am a graduate of the same public schools and string orchestras to which my own students now belong. As such, I would be dedicated to expanding ASTA's existing efforts to build bridges between studio teachers and public school music educators, and using OR-ASTA's resources to continue improving equity and access to high quality music experiences for all Oregon students.

2) As OR-ASTA president, I would work to acknowledge and maintain the organization's deep roots within, and strong connections to, the many resources offered by the Portland metro area, while simultaneously expanding our efforts to increase relevance and access for all students and teachers across the state. With a special focus on rural areas and smaller communities, these efforts would include a broadening of online components to our teacher education, networking, and student performance and evaluation opportunities, while also thinking creatively about how to bring the best of ASTA's in-person energies to new locations across the state.

3) Lastly, I would seek to solidify and streamline the organization's recent efforts to create a clear, organized and professional board and leadership structure. I would use my experience within institutions and on non-profit boards to assist with bringing clarity to how things operate for the membership at large. If this is successful, it would mean that all those who are dedicated OR-ASTA members would, by the end of my tenure, be able to name the four important events we present each year, know the name of their regional OR-ASTA representative and how to communicate with them, and, by looking at our website, promotional materials, and social media presence, have confidence in a professional and well-run chapter.

Secretary

Term: 2 years from May 15th to May 14th. Reports to the Chapter President, President-Elect, and Board Members.

Duties: The Secretary of ASTA OR Chapter organizes and maintains all paperwork connected to the ASTA OR Chapter Board work, activities, and events. Maintains regular communication with ASTA OR Chapter President and President-Elect. Keeps all documents connected to ASTA OR Chapter well-organized and updated in Google Drive. Attends ASTA OR Chapter Board meetings regularly. Transcribes meetings and sends Meeting Minutes to Board Members within 3 weeks after the meeting. When asked, sends needed documents to national ASTA.

Candidate for Secretary:
Lily Burton

Lily Burton received degrees in violin performance from the University of Cincinnati and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She is a former member of the Atlanta Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, and San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Her passion for teaching began in Corvallis, Oregon, where she was an Elementary Strings instructor in the public schools. Since moving to the Portland area in 2006, she played several seasons with the Oregon Symphony and is currently concertmaster of Portland Chamber Orchestra and the Portland Festival Symphony. She remains a devoted teacher who thoroughly enjoys her studio of violin students.

Why do I think ASTA is important?

ASTA has supplied a wealth of teaching support for me. The conferences, masterclasses, journals, and Certificate Advancement Program have made me a better teacher, and one who wants to keep learning. I am also grateful to ASTA for the camaraderie and encouragement from fellow teachers over the years and would be pleased to give back to the association serving as Secretary for our state chapter.

Treasurer

Term: 2 years from May 15th to May 14th. Reports to ASTA OR Chapter President, ASTA OR Chapter President-Elect, and ASTA OR Chapter Board Members. Works with Chapter President, President-Elect, Chapter Board Members, and general members.

Duties: The Treasurer of ASTA OR Chapter manages financial affairs of ASTA OR Chapter. Files Oregon State Form 990 with IRS annually. Prepares annual budget report that includes revenue money that we get from national ASTA, as well as from ASTA OR Chapter sponsored events. Sends to national ASTA annual financial report (due Aug. 15th of each year). Reconciling bank statements. Managing checks and cash flow, including issuing and collecting checks. Updates ASTA OR Chapter Board Members on financial state of the chapter on a regular basis (at least twice a year). Attends ASTA OR Chapter Board meetings regularly.

Candidate for Treasurer:
Sharon Eng

Sharon Eng, who holds bachelors and masters degrees in viola performance from the Juilliard School, and is an active performer and studio teacher in the Pacific Northwest, has been an ASTA member for over 40 years. She also holds a PhD in Business and Management with a concentration on Nonprofit Management and Accountability. For over 10 years, she served as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business, Government and Law at the University of Canberra in South Australia. Sharon has greatly enjoyed working with the Executive Committee and Board of the Oregon ASTA these past three years, and feels she has a great deal more to learn and give back to the organization. Sharon hopes that her legacy as ORASTA's treasurer will be the creation of easy filing/records-keeping systems, and easy online protocols and financial templates to help with budgeting and managing ORASTA's many exciting projects.

Proposed Special Action Item:
Align term dates to Fiscal Year dates

Proposal of minor change to ORASTA Bylaws:

The terms of the Executive Officers of the board of directors of ORASTA--President, President-Elect, Secretary and Treasurer, all of whom are elected, begin on May 15 and expire at the end of their two year term on May 14. Meanwhile, ORASTA's fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of every year.

Our treasurer, Sharon Eng, proposals to move the ending terms of elected Executive Officers to expire on June 30 rather than May 14 to allow the existing Executive Committee officers to close out their current school year projects and to file mandatory end-of-fiscal-year reports, including IRS and OR State annual filings, and ASTA's required end-of-year financial report, all due June 30. The former Executive Officers will have actionable responsibilities for 30 days after their term expires so they may accomplish these tasks.

Per the current ORASTA Bylaws, the newly-installed Executive Officers would have the burdensome responsible for fiscal year-end reports due June 30 if their terms began on May 15. In this proposal, the previous administration's officers would be able to complete their annual reports to meet the June 30 fiscal year-end deadlines during their term of office.

The current Oregon ASTA board endorses this calendar change so that terms of office coincide with the financial statement deadlines.