JAVS Fall 2005

FROM THE PRESIDENt

rive of his experience and continued advice and know that we all thank him for his many hours of commit ment every day to our organization and to his enthusiasm for makjng rhe AVS as relevant and usefLJ to our everyday lives as possible. As President, T think parr of my message to you should clearly out line my vision for the AVS. Part of that vision relates to an appreciation ofwhat I refer to as the AYS being 'one of the best kcpl secrets.' Within rhc next three years I hope to accomplish a renewal of support for the AVS in both financial and mem bership terms; a raised awareness throughout rhe country and the larger world community of some of the wonderfu l and important contri butions the AVS has made to the life of all violists and the develop ment of some new ini tiatives (please check our web sire for updates) and cominucd development of ones already set in place. T he AYS has earned irs place to be embraced by all violists through its good work and support and needs to no longer be the 'secret' of a select group but freely accessible to all violists. Jn addition to this fundamental concept T also wish to develop spe cific member benefits; the AYS will ofTer better deals for our students and teachers; expand our E-News and Online resources for you to get more ofwhat you need to stay con nected; support our colleagues in

rheir academic pu rsuits in terms of resea rch; offer chapters the support they need to build and develop pro grams in your communi ty and pro vide some new exciting educational initiat ives. Our aim is to be able to engage every type of violist in our community and allow them to be able to fu lly participate in the AVS, embracing our diversity and build ing on our strengths. As members l know you arc awa re of some of the exceptional and unique th ings the AVS has to oFFer. Some of these include but are not limited to Lhe T mernational Congresses repre senting such diversity on our instru ment, the peer reviewed journal of such quality rhat covers a range of rop ics rhal you cannot find anywhere else for our insrnu11enr; the Primrose International Viola Competition for our aspiring young performers, our E-Ncws online newsletter ro keep us connected ro our colleagues and fr iends and the beautiful and com prehensive web sire which is one of the most magnificent resources for viola in existence. Over the past few years we have started to encourage the development of Chapters wi rh out whid1we would not be able to reach and hel p those outside of the larger rowns in the US. We are very pleased to be affiliated with The Primrose lnternacional Viola Archive which is the most extensive collection of materials related ro Primrose including scores, pictures, docLmlents and recordings anywhere in the

When I look back at the rich hisro1y of the AVS I am truly amazed al what has been accomplished by whar is eFfectively a volunteer organ i z~n ion. The AYS has gone from strength to strength over the past 30 years and with it has brought us a sense of trad iti on and heri tage. T his parricui:Jr organization makes iLs mark with the mission of the bet terment of ourselves, furtherance of the instrument and connection to all those who share the same passion for the viola. With that in mjnd, it is with great honor that I step up as Pres ident of the AVS ro canyon the tradition of our fo refathers and also ro perhaps bring new ideas and a fresh lighL Lo our society as well . l cannot fully accept my new role without acknowledging the grea t work of all those before me and in particular Ralph Fielding who served his term before me with great insight and understanding. l am app recia

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