Why should or shouldn’t I renew my ITEA membership?

[Jim Williams]

Tofu accurately stated: "But along the way the academics took over more and more and they seemed to squeeze out the folks like Harvey in shaping the group agenda. The journal became bloated with pages and pages of past performance recital programs. Who cares???"

As someone who was in on TUBA from the start (as a student of HP but a business/foreign language major), I lament how the organization was hijacked by the academics, bringing with them all the useless baggage academia has to offer.*

HP could play in any style from opera/orchestra to Dixieland and modern jazz. When I quit ITEA, the Journal had devolved into a bunch of college professors fawning over one another's performances of esoteric recital music, most of which had little interest outside the closed circle created by the academic community. The lack of knowledge--let alone respect--many of these academics had for HP was disgusting. Yes, the .edu crowd squeezed HP out, and ITEA continues to pay the price. If you are so inclined, look at their past couple of 990s and see the consequences of their self-centered behavior.
HP was saddened by the devolution of TUBA into ITEA but didn't care to fight it, and later lacked the strength to fight it.

Let ITEA drown in its own smug conceit.



*Q:"But Jim, you were a college professor for almost 40 years, weren't you?" A: Yes, but I taught a useful subject (finance and data analysis) and had wonderful students who saw through the crap they were fed in other classes. For all those years I was IN that academic world, but never, for not even one second, was I OF that academic world.

[Jim Williams]

At the risk of offending some, here's another personal opinion:

ITEA touts its love of "inclusivity." Does it practice what it preaches? Are high school students included? Are amateur players included? Are beginners included? Are band directors included? Are community band players included? What other groups are excluded?
All that seems to be included are college professors, wanna-be college professors, and some orchestra players/wanna-be orchestral players.
ITEA's definition of "inclusion" seems to be rather limited.
Just an opinion. Evaluate as you see fit.

[MiBrassFS]

ITEC touts its love of "inclusivity." Does it practice what it preaches? Are high school students included? Are amateur players included? Are beginners included? Are band directors included? Are community band players included?

No.

I tried to take a group of high school and middle school students (about 25 of them) to a regional. We were told that each student, parent, and sibling regardless of age had to join ITEA as full members and pay the full registration fee to attend.

The group decided to not attend.

I went, walked into the exhibit area, did a bit of business with a friend, briefly listened to another friend’s presentation, and walked out without registering. The kids minding the registration table were looking at their devices and horsing around and never looked up.

Pffft.

[russiantuba]

At the risk of offending some, here's another personal opinion:

ITEA touts its love of "inclusivity." Does it practice what it preaches? Are high school students included? Are amateur players included? Are beginners included? Are band directors included? Are community band players included? What other groups are excluded?
All that seems to be included are college professors, wanna-be college professors, and some orchestra players/wanna-be orchestral players.
ITEA's definition of "inclusion" seems to be rather limited.
Just an opinion. Evaluate as you see fit.

They had a day at the 2023 ITEC in Tucson that was supposed to give continuing education credit to music educators. This was the week of high school graduations and final exams. Remember, I asked a month before, knowing we were going to be in Arizona shortly after this event and could have moved our trip around, and they hadn’t released a performing artist list. It seems I didn’t miss much.

An idea I would have for a presentation is “what tubas to buy for your program”. Feature several vendors already there, and you might get band directors not buying YBB 321S in bulk because they are “music educator approved”.

No.

I tried to take a group of high school and middle school students (about 25 of them) to a regional. We were told that each student, parent, and sibling regardless of age had to join ITEA as full members and pay the full registration fee to attend.

The group decided to not attend.

I went, walked into the exhibit area, did a bit of business with a friend, briefly listened to another friend’s presentation, and walked out without registering. The kids minding the registration table were looking at their devices and horsing around and never looked up.

Pffft.

I got my wife in one of the earlier ones I did to record and was hit with a lot of resistance. I said I needed recordings and that she had no interest in anything else music related except to ensure I didn’t walk out with a new tuba or spend too much on supplies.

Yeah, I mentioned that to a colleague last week who was beyond shocked that the tuba conferences don’t offer recordings for their artists.

So any group wanting to feature a high school tuba euphonium ensemble (or include trombones) to hear low brass musicians perform would be out a couple hundred dollars per kid (plus the chance to meet professors they might want to study with). Maybe under 18 gets in free?

[UncleBeer]

...the tuba conferences don’t offer recordings for their artists.

Ardent new kollij perfeser's 25 minute mini-recital doesn't go as planned. Fortunately, no-one's the wiser.

[jtuba]

...the tuba conferences don’t offer recordings for their artists.

Ardent new kollij perfeser's 25 minute mini-recital doesn't go as planned. Fortunately, no-one's the wiser.

Theirs generally go pretty well, it's mine that I'm thankful there's no evidence other than a line on my CV

[UncleBeer]

Theirs generally go pretty well

We must have attended different conferences.

[bloke]

Were it that all conference recitals were recorded and permanently uploaded, I wonder if the number of those requesting recitals would go up, go down, or remain the same.

[russiantuba]

Just remember, everyone presenting also has to be an ITEA member AND pay the conference fee, which may or may not be slightly reduced (some have, some haven’t).

Judging competitions doesn’t pay nor get any additional discounts. Normally, those judging have to spend extra time, which means an extra night in a hotel, and paying for more parking.

Keep in mind, there are full time tenure track positions that don’t cover most of these costs. So there was a big name at an international conference that I believe was to put their own funding in to perform and got denied…someone who was sharing the concert with a foreign major orchestra principal tubist who was more likely to be putting their own money in…

I’ve suggested having a big name at each conference. Find a way to get Gene Pokorny at MWRTEC and pay him. Get David Childs at SCRTEC. Get international soloists. Waive the fee. I can near guarantee the people willing to pay $50 to attend and hear him will make up the difference.