Board of Directors

Janet Rodgers
President
Virginia Commonwealth U.
922 Park Ave.
Richmond, VA 23284
804-828-6557
<jrodgers@saturn.vcu.edu>

Secretary
A new secretary is to be announced.

Kate Ufema
Treasurer
U. of Minnesota - Duluth
1405 N. 8th Avenue E.
Duluth, MN 55805
218-724-2855

The VASTA Newsletter is published tri-annually (Fall, Winter, Spring/Summer)
by the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Inc.

The President's Letter

Dear Membership,

As VASTA's new president, it is with great joy that I greet you at the beginning of my two year term. It is my highest wish that the efforts of us all during the next two years will move us forward, toward helping to make our organizational and professional dreams come true.

VASTA means a lot to me. Our yearly conferences are where I have come for twelve years to recharge my teaching batteries and to reacquaint myself with a membership made up of dynamic teachers, creative thinkers and some of the most dedicated workers in the theatre and voice related professions today. The laughter, ideas, energy and community which we share every year have sustained me in a profession which can, at times, be very isolating. This year's conference in San Antonio took us into a realm of voice which we have not explored together. Working with Joy Gardner-Gordon, Elizabeth Pond and Julie Barkmeier took us into the healing aspects of voice. I have since continued to explore Chakra work and was given a wonderful tape which comes from the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA. It is called "Yoga Asanas for Opening the Chakras." I recommend it highly to you all. Thank you Kate Devore, Kate Ufema and Sandra Shotwell for putting together this event. Our deepest thanks also to Donna Aronson, who graciously offered us the University of the Incarnate Word as the location for our conference. The facilities and dormitory accommodations were perfect.

We have accomplished a lot over the past twelve and now are riding the second wave of VASTA'S creative activity. We have, thanks to BettyAnn Leeseberg-Lange and Eric Armstrong, created (and continue to create) our own web page. We have VASTAVOX on the internet where members are always engaged in lively exchange of ideas on voice and speech related topics. (Thank you Dudley Knight.) We are creating, along with editor Rocco Dal Vera, our very own juried journal, while continuing to publish, under the expert editorship of Sandra Shotwell and assistant editor, Craig Ferre, an ever-growing tri-annual newsletter. Work forges ahead, under the leadership of Kate Ufema, in the creation of guidelines for M.F.A. programs in Voice and Speech. And plans are underway for two conferences: l999 in Toronto, and our first INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE to be held at George Mason University in the year 2000. Whew! We are busy!!

With our membership at 350 and growing, we are in an excellent place financially, thanks to the prudent investment and spending direction under Kate Ufema's treasurership. Welcome to new board members, Kate Ufema and Mandy Rees and as of December 1st, we welcome Lisa Wilson as VASTA's new treasurer. A special thanks needs to go to past president BettyAnn Leeseberg-Lange who organized and printed the VASTA Goals 2005 brochure and came up with the acronym "IF we ACT" to help us keep our "International," "Finance," "Advocacy," "Communication," and "Training" goals in focus as we communicate our dreams to the world.

In closing, I want us all to remember that everything that VASTA does is done for its members. YOU are VASTA. If you have professional needs and desires which are not being met by the organization, please feel free to communicate them to me. My e-mail address is <jrodgers@saturn.vcu.edu>. I look forward to hearing from you.

It is an honor to serve so wonderful a group of dynamic people. I look forward to our vocal adventures for many years to come.

All my best,

Janet B. Rodgers
VASTA President

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