I write this message as the pace quickens with preparations for the 1995 Annual Meeting in Portland. We look forward to a particularly exciting meeting that will allow us to share perspectives on teaching, to hear new and unusual music, to discuss American musical life and culture, and to consider future directions in our art. As my Dean says, "Keynote addresses should serve to offer the revival of the spirit that restore those passions that brought us to the arts in the first place." We are fortunate to have two distinguished guest speakers who will offer just that in plenary addresses sure to be provocative and inspiring: Dr. Eileen Tate Cline will present the annual Robert M. Trotter Lecture, and Dr. Fred T. Hofstetter will present the ATMI/CMS joint plenary address.
The variety of perfor-mances that are planned should satisfy the most varied tastes: from old music to new music, music of the Cambodian cornmunity in Portland, music by the drummers of the Warm Springs Reservation, a special AlAndalus performance, music for gamelan. Discussions and pre-sentations will concern topics such as new technologies, world music, pedagogy, performance, theory and analysis, music in general studies, music education, history, and culture.
The superb menu promises a vibrant meeting in Portland, but there is one very important ingredient to every Annual Meeting that you will not find anywhere on the printed program—opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the country, to get reacquainted with each other, to refresh and reinvigorate ourselves with new ideas and points of view. I look forward to sharing this northwest experience with you.
Also, I want to take this opportunity to give you a preliminary glimpse of several important initiatives that are gaining momentum within CMS. These first months of my role as CMS president have demonstrated to me how much power a group of people can have when they take an active role in an organization and take the time to communicate their opinions. In response to your individual and collective voices, we have been developing an on-line facility for the dissemination of information and delivery of services. Probably, those of you who subscribe to the Music Vacancy List have sampled this service on-line by now. As I write this, the prototype of our Web home page is done and we are fine-tuning the system so that very soon you can access the information you need through your computer. Two other initiatives are being developed in response to your directives: the revitalized advocacy role of CMS for music in higher education, and the development of future international meetings. The newly appointed committees in these two areas have begun preliminary discussions and will have their initial meeting in Portland, during the Annual Meeting.
I do look forward to seeing many of you in Portland and, please, keep those letters an coming. YOU ARE CMS.