2002 OMEA Board Elections

At the January OMEA Conference in Eugene, the following individuals
were elected as officers to the OMEA Board. They take their seats on
the Board in June.

• Pat Vandehey - First Vice-President/President Elect


• Michael Burch-Pesses - Second Vice-President



• Toni Skelton - General Music Chair


• Karl Gustafson - Elementary Music Chair


• Cynthia Hutton - Collegiate Chair

Pat Vandehey

First Vice-President/President Elect

Director
of Bands at Westview High School in Beaverton, Oregon, Patrick Vandehey
received his Bachelors of Art and Bachelors in Music Education from the
University of Washington, and a Masters of Teaching Music at Portland
State University. Mr. Vandehey is a past president of the Oregon Band
Directors Association and has served on the Adjudication Training Board
of OBDA. He served for two years as the band liaison to the OSAA.

He
is currently serving his second term as Band Rep for the Oregon Music
Educators Association. Mr. Vandehey was the national recipient of the
ASBDA-Stanbury Award in 1993 and was inducted into the Band World
Legion of Honor in 2000 by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Mr.
Vandehey was named one of Oregon's top ten Music Educators by the
Oregon Music Educators Association in the October 2000 issue of
Teaching Music Magazine. Mr. Vandehey began his career at Aloha High
School in Beaverton and from 1980 to 1994 built an award winning
program in concert, jazz and marching band. Aloha High School Placed in
the top three at the Oregon State Band Championship from 1990 to 1994
placing 1st in 1993. Since Westview High School opened in 1994, all
bands have consistently received superior ratings and have qualified
and competed each year in the Oregon State Band Championships. The
Westview Symphonic Band has placed in the top three in State the last
four years and placed 1st in 2000 and again in 2001. In addition to his
duties as Director of Bands at Westview, Mr. Vandehey is also Director
of Choral and Instrumental Music at Village Baptist Church in
Beaverton. Patrick is 48 years old and married to Kristin, his wife of
25 years. They have two daughters, Sarah 20 and Jacquelyn 18.

Michael Burch-Pesses

Second Vice-President

Michael
Burch-Pesses is Director of Bands at Pacific University in Forest
Grove, Oregon, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Jazz
Choir, and teaches courses in conducting, music education, and MIDI
technology. He holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees
in conducting from the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music of the Catholic
University of America in Washington, DC, and is an internationally
known adjudicator and clinician.

Dr. Burch-Pesses
enjoyed a distinguished career as a bandmaster in the United States
Navy before arriving at Pacific University, enlisting as a hornist and
working his way up through the ranks to become the Navy's senior
bandmaster and Head of the Navy Music Program. During his Navy career
he served as Leader of the Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland.
Under his direction the Naval Academy Band received the George Howard
Citation of Musical Excellence from the John Philip Sousa Foundation,
the highest civilian award for a military band. He also served as
Assistant Leader of the Navy Band in Washington, DC, and Director of
the Commodores, the Navy's official jazz ensemble. "I have served on
the OMEA Board for the past five years as your College Chair, and would
be honored to continue my service in this new area of responsibility."

Toni Skelton

General Music Chair

Toni
Skelton graduated from Humboldt State University in northern California
with a bachelor's degree in music education. After an eyeopening first
year of teaching in a rural school in southern Oregon she moved to the
mid- Willamette Valley, where she has lived and taught since 1980. Her
career includes 5 years as a middle school band director/general music
teacher for Dallas public schools, and a year of substitute teaching.
Since 1986, Toni has taught elementary general music at Myers
Elementary School in Salem, where her assignment has also included
beginning band and Rhythms (a weekly movement/ dance class). During her
tenure at Myers, the school has grown to include an Emotional Growth
Center (for severely emotionally disturbed students) and a bilingual
(Spanish) education program.

Toni has served on the OMEA
District IV board as the elementary chair, secretary, vice chair, and
is completing her second term as District IV chair. As a board officer,
she has organized several fall inservice conferences, and has hired
clinicians for the conferences as well as the district solo and
ensemble festivals. She has been the organizing chair of the District
IV Middle School Honor Band since its inception in 1996, and also
served two years as the organizing chair for the Middle School Honor
Choir. Her most current project is managing the District. IV Elementary
Choir Composition Competition, designed to promote new Spanish-language
works for the elementary choir. Toni is a member of the newly-formed
Oregon Society for General Music, and is also on the staff of the
Oregon Ambassadors of Music, a statewide honor band and choir that
tours Europe every other year.

"General music teachers have
the opportunity to make the greatest musical impact on the lives of
Oregon students. We see and serve every child in our schools, and are
charged with opening their minds and hearts to the value and love of
music. Our students come to us with increasingly diverse backgrounds
and histories, ranging from those with language barriers, neglectful or
abusive homes, poverty, and the after-effects of prenatal drug and
alcohol abuse, to those whose parents are nurturing and involved and
seek our guidance in providing enrichment to their children's lives.
Yet, Oregon's general music teachers are incredibly skilled at making
students successful and providing a lifelong access to an all-important
'lifeline' for them. OMEA has renewed its commitment to supporting its
general music teachers. I see the new web-site as a particularly
promising tool that can allow us to network with one another and expand
our ability to provide the best possible music education for all of our
students. I believe that there are additional ways that we can improve
services to teachers (and hence, to our students) and would value the
opportunity to help facilitate them as the OMEA General Music Chair."

Karl Gustafson

Elementary Music Chair

Karl
Gustafson is in his third year teaching K-6 music at Oak Creek
Elementary in Lake Oswego. His first teaching position was K- 12 music
in Clallam Bay, Washington, followed by 11 years of elementary music in
Sherwood and 7 years as HS/JH choir director at Reynolds HS in
Troutdale and Ferndale HS in Washington. He completed his BA at Western
Washington University, his Masters at Portland State, and Level I and
II Orff Certifications at Hamline University. An active performer, Karl
sang with Choral CrossTies for 4 years and is presently Assistant
Conductor of the Portland Symphonic Choir. He has also played cello in
community orchestras, bass in jazz bands, and has been a church
organist and choir director for 26 years. In his spare time, he likes
to build musical instruments and garden. This is my first opportunity
to serve at this level in OMEA.

"Having benefited from the
leadership of past members of MENC and ACDA, I feel it is my turn to
step forward and do my part to further the strength of our organization
and profession. In light of looming budget cuts, we all need to focus
on the importance of music in our schools, and do what we can to
educate others about the need for music and the arts in education. As
elementary chair, I would work to encourage connections and
collaboration among elementary music specialists, and increase the
sharing of lessons and ideas via the internet."

Cynthia Hutton

Collegiate Chair

Cynthia
Hutton is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of Bands at
Southern Oregon University. She teaches classes in Conducting, Music
Theory, Brass Methods, and Band Director Preparation. Additionally,
Hutton is the conductor of the Southern Oregon University Symphonic
Band and is the Faculty Advisor for the Raider Athletic Band. In
September of 1995 she was appointed Conductor and Musical director of
the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon, a community orchestra comprised
of students ranging in age from 13 to 23.

Prior to her
arrival at SOU in September of 1994, she was Director of Bands at the
University of California, San Diego. She recently completed a Doctorate
of Musical Arts in Conducting at the University of Colorado, Boulder
where she studied with Allan McMurray.

As a french horn
artist, Ms. Hutton has performed with the San Diego Symphony, the San
Diego Opera Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the Boulder Philharmonic,
and the Classic Brass Quintet. She is currently playing horn with the
Rogue Valley Symphony. In 1993 Ms. Hutton was awarded the Alteria M.
Bryant Award honoring women in the arts.