All-state In-service conference
Laura Artesani, Associate Professor, Division of Music, School of Performing Arts at the University of Maine nominated her colleague Professor Curvin Chip Farnham for induction into the Maine Music Educators Association Hall of Fame. Chip was honored at the MMEA conference recently. With Laura’s permission below is her nomination document. Congratulations Professor Farnham!
Professor Chip Farnham receiving his award
Chip served as president of MMEA from 1978-1980 and played a central role in the creation of our annual MMEA In-service conference. He received the MMEA Music Educator of the Year award in 2001, and was the conductor of the Maine All State Band in 2012.
Chip began his career by teaching and directing bands in the public schools of Orrington, Brewer and Hampden, before becoming a faculty member in the Division of Music at the University of Maine. He was Director of Bands and conductor of the Symphonic Band at the University of Maine for twenty-four years. He has also taught music education, conducting and instrumental methods courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and supervised student teachers. Many of Chip’s former students are now employed as music educators and band directors in our state. In addition to his duties during the academic year, Chip also served as the director of Maine Summer Music Camp (both Junior camp and Senior camp) for many summers on the University of Maine campus.
Chip has appeared throughout the United States and Canada as a clinician, adjudicator and conductor, and has served as a guest conductor at several national and international festivals, including: the Atlantic Band Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the NAfME Eastern Division Conference; The International Band Festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba; the Music in May Festival at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon; and the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. In the spring of 2009, he was the guest conductor of the DoDDS /Europe Honor Band in Wiesbaden, Germany and conducted the University of Maine Symphonic Band at Symphony Hall in Boston.
Chip is retiring from his duties at the University of Maine this spring, but he has taken on a new challenge as conductor of the Bangor Band, the oldest continuous community band in New England. His tireless efforts continue to have a positive impact on countless individuals in our state and beyond.
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