OUR 2003 NATIONAL GATHERING

The 2003 Children's Music Network National Gathering took place October 10-12, 2003 at the beautiful Omni Hotel in a historic section of downtown Los Angeles, California.

The theme for CMN's 13^th annual gathering was "Finding our Voices and Celebrating our Cultural Roots." CMN national gatherings are multigenerational events bringing children and adults together to foster cooperation, cultural diversity, self-esteem, and empowerment through music for and by young people. The 2003 gathering was no exception-people once again found it a rich and rewarding experience. There were great songs and beautiful harmonies sung throughout the weekend at workshops, song swaps, informal musical jams, and at the Friday and Saturday night round robin concerts. As always, the gathering was an excellent opportunity for networking, and sharing resources. New at the gathering in 2003 was The Advocacy Center, a wonderful resource room filled with educational materials, curriculum, books, activities and inspiring ideas. Also, for the first time we held a very successful Silent Auction as a gathering fundraiser with musical instruments, educational software, puppets, tours, music and more! We are deeply grateful for the support of all the Silent Auction contributors, please go to the link above to find out more about them.

Each year at our gatherings, the Children's Music Network bestows the Magic Penny Award on someone who has made an outstanding lifetime contribution to children's music. The 2003 Magic Penny Award was given to Suni Paz a writer and singer of songs in Spanish for children. Suni has worked to help English language learners make the transition from Spanish to English while retaining their native language and pride in their native culture. Previous Magic Penny honorees include Malvina Reynolds, Ella Jenkins, Marcia Berman, and Woody Guthrie.

A number of other special guests were part of the organized weekend activities. Deborah Pittman, a classically trained musician and teacher of music at California State University at Sacramento, brought us together on Friday evening with a session on finding our voices and becoming singers (all of us). There was a distinguished panel of honored "elders" who shared their musical gifts and experience in a Saturday afternoon panel discussion and also throughout the weekend:

• Guy and Candie Carawan are beloved music activists and collectors. They sang in the Civil Rights Movement, spent time with Gullah people on John's Island, South Carolina, and have published several books, recordings, and song collections. They have sung and taught at the Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee.
• Nona Beamer has spent nearly seventy years studying and transmitting the beauty and complexity of her Hawaiian heritage. She is a renowned teacher, composer, choreographer, and historian. Singing to and with children is at the very heart of her work.
• Katherine Siva Saubel, an elder of the Cahuilla Nation, is loved and respected as a singer and storyteller, teacher and traditional tribal leader. She has a wealth of knowledge and experiences to share, and has been instrumental in teaching and preserving her native culture and language.
• Faith Petric is the founder of the San Francisco Folk Music Club and author of The Folk Process column in Sing Out! magazine. Faith is a walking treasury of songs. She has brought her music about the lives and struggles of people to gatherings both great and small around the world.
• Marcia Berman is a pioneer in the field of children's music. Based in Los Angeles, she is known throughout the country among parents, educators, professional associations, and fellow children's music artists. Several generations of children have been raised on her albums, and several generations of teachers have benefited from her workshops at their schools and colleges, and at local, regional and national conferences. She is one of the recipients of CMN's Magic Penny Award.