The Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS)

The Association for Music in International Schools, best known as AMIS, is an organization that brings together students of schools worldwide who excel in musical achievements for days of music practice and then conclude with a concert.

The Name

Founders of AMIS named it so in purpose because of the French word "amis", which means “friendship” because it’s one of the hopes of AMIS that friendship is gained during its festivals.

Mission Statement

“The Association is an international, non-profit, non-sectarian, politically neutral organization dedicated to the promotion of excellence at all levels of music education. Its objectives are to advance the education of school pupils and teachers throughout the world by developing their understanding, knowledge and appreciation of music; to advance the education of young people and their teachers in global issues and cultural diversity through the performance and study of music; to promote high standards of musical performance in school pupils of all ages and abilities throughout the world; to promote furtherance of educationally valuable music repertoire” [http://www.amis-online.org.uk/about/mission.html AMIS Mission Statement] at www.amis-online.org.uk (accessed 2008-06-18)]

How it Works

Once a year, there’s a festival for each of the different categories. These festivals take place in different places of the world per year, and they are in one of the schools with an AMIS Membership. To qualify, one must prepare a CD with the requirements needed for a specific festival, and send it to AMIS. Then, the AMIS administrators listen to the CDs sent and decide who gets in and out. If accepted, one is expected to travel to the host country of that year and participate in the practice days and the final concert – the festivals don’t last longer than three days (concert included).

Conductors

For every year, AMIS hires different conductors for its festivals. These conductors are experienced, knowledgeable, and musical people who are an essence for every festival. Examples can be seen in AMIS Honor Choir 2008’s conductor Dr. André Thomas, and AMIS Honor Band 2008’s Dr. Anthony Maiello, both having master degrees in music.

Music

The repertoire style depends on the AMIS festival and the songs that the conductor wants to play. Many times, AMIS has commissioned works by authors, making the band/choir present world-premiere songs. Such authors include Philip Sparke, David Brunner, Dr. Richard Prior, Christopher Marshall, and more.

AMIS Festivals

AMIS has nine different festivals focused on different music, instrumentation, and musicians. These are:
* Honor Band and Choir
* Junior and Senior Honor Orchestra
* Honor Jazz Band
* Solo and Ensemble Festival
* European Middle School Honor Band
* Asian Middle School Honor Band
* Middle School Honor Mixed Choir
* Middle School Honor Girls’ Choir
* Middle School Honor Boys’ Choir

References

External Links

* [http://www.amis-online.org.uk/ AMIS Official Website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq_lOB5LJvg AMIS International Honor Choir 2008 - Beautiful City]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjNBaXDl_8&feature=related AMIS International Honor Band & Choir 2008 - Better is Peace]