We will post updates and resources for the 2020 State Conference here on this page.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Posted 1/2/2021
Dear valued IMTA member,
I trust that this message finds you well and hopefully enjoying some well deserved time off. 2020 definitely threw us a few curve balls. Here’s to putting our best foot forward in 2021, meeting new challenges head on with more experience and wisdom. As news of vaccines brings us hope that we will soon return to days where we can meet together in person again, until that time comes, we will continue to reimagine our IMTA programs in order to offer you quality programming throughout the year.
The IMTA Board of Directors will meet on Saturday, January 23. Following that meeting, announcements will be sent to IMTA Membership, via this newsletter, in regards to the IMTA Hoosier Auditions as well as the 2021 IMTA State Conference.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your IMTA leadership team. You can find contact information for the board of directors, which includes members of the executive committee, local association presidents, collegiate chapter presidents and state chairpersons, on the IMTA website.
Cheers to the New Year! May we stay connected to one another and continue to grow as an organization.
DJ Smith, IMTA President
MTNA Competitions 2020
Posted 1/2/2021
Dr. James Helton, Coordinator
Congratulations to the superb performers and composers in the 2020 MTNA Competitions! This year’s competitions were held online, with judges doing their work remotely during the two weeks between October 10 and 25.
JUNIOR STRINGS (3 entrants)
Winner: Serge Kalinovsky, student of Susan Moses
Alternate: Lily Sullivan, student of Grigory Kalinovsky
Honorable Mention: Miranda Isbitts, student of Mimi Zweig
SENIOR STRINGS (2 entrants)
Winner: Cooper Olsen, student of Mimi Zweig
Alternate: Abigail Ko, student of Mimi Zweig
JUNIOR PIANO (4 entrants)
Winner: Jessica Flowers, student of Christopher Weldon
Alternate: Jack Ma, student of Phoenix Park-Kim
Honorable Mentions in no particular order:
Alex Lu, student of Kana Mimaki
Charles Berryhill, student of Gayle Kowalchyk
YOUNG ARTIST PIANO (13 Entrants)
Winner: Kaden Larson, Indiana University, student of Norman Krieger
Alternate: Prudence Poon, Indiana University, student of Roberto Plano
Honorable Mention: Robert Levinger, Indiana University, student of Roberto Plano
Honorable Mention: Marc Levesque, Indiana University, student of Roberto Plano
STATE REPRESENTATIVES (single entrants in their categories):
Junior Composition: Srikar Vaasan, student of Jessica Dorman
Senior Composition: Aidan Feeney, student of Jennifer Feeney
Senior Piano: Talinaiya Bao, student of Yerin Kim
Good luck to our winners and representatives at the East Central Division!!
Many thanks to our judges:
Dr. Peter Opie, Ball State University – Strings
Dr. Eleanor Trawick, Ball State University – Composition
Dr. Ellen Elder, The University of Southern Mississippi – Junior and Young Artist Piano
Dr. Kent Cook, Illinois Wesleyan University (emeritus) – Young Artist Piano
Dr. May Phang, DePauw University – Young Artist Piano
Many thanks to my fellow competition coordinators:
Leon Harshenin, Junior Performance Competitions
Hamilton Tescarollo, Senior Performance Competitions
MTNA 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT
Happiness is Encoded in Piano: Strategies for Enhancing Adult Group Lessons with Wellness Activities
By Jeeyoon Kim
Posted 10/25/2020
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS THIS WEEK
Posted 10/25/2020
2020 IMTA Annual Membership Meeting
This live zoom meeting takes the place of what would normally be our Luncheon/membership meeting, so bring your lunch and favorite beverage! Agenda items will include election of officers, annual executive treasurer’s report, membership awards and 2020 IMTA Teacher of the Year presentation. In the spirit of Halloween, costume dress is optional but not required.
Saturday, October 31 at 1:00pm
Meeting ID: 991 0787 7815
Passcode: IMTA
The Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano: a Pianist’s Perspective
by Kate Boyd
Posted 10/25/2020
2020 IMTA Virtual State Conference
Posted 10/25/2020
Dear valued IMTA member,
This newsletter serves as the final installment of your IMTA virtual conference experience. I encourage you all to attend our Annual IMTA Membership Meeting, Saturday October 31 at 1:00pm. Information about that meeting is below.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our presenters for sharing their knowledge and wisdom with IMTA. A special thank you goes out to our featured pedagogy clinician, Martha Hilley, who in addition to providing us with two pre-recorded sessions, also attended our Collegiate Chapters Forum and participated in a live panel discussion with Karen Thickstun, Jeeyoon Kim and Joanne Chang. If you were unable to attend the session, you can visit the link below to view the recording. I would also like to thank our 2020 commissioned composer, John Liberatore, for his fantastic composition, Telarañas. If you have not watched the performance, you can view it using the link below.
All of this would not have been possible without the help of two individuals, Valerie Merrill, VP of Membership and Ellen Bulow, President Elect. The two of them were instrumental in keeping our conference content organized for me to conveniently post to these newsletters. I could not have done this without their help.
Lastly, I invite you to consider donating to future IMTA programing by visiting our IMTA website, using the link provided below.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our organization. I look forward to one day seeing you all soon!
DJ Smith, IMTA President
MTNA 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT
Should We Practice Piano as if Training for a Sport?
By IU Collegiate Chapter
Posted 10/18/2020
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS THIS WEEK
Posted 10/18/2020
LIVE WEBINAR: Entrepreneurism in a Changing World, featuring Martha Hilley, Karen Thickstun, Joanne Chang and Jeeyoon Kim
Saturday, October 24 at 2:00pm
Meeting ID: 951 1205 8425
Passcode: IMTA
NEXT WEEK’S CONFERENCE PREVIEW
The Beethoven Sonatas for Violin and Piano: A Pianists Perspective, by Kate Boyd
The FINAL IMTA< Membership Gathering
If you have not yet joined one of our IMTA zoom gatherings, Sunday, October 25 at 2:00pm is your last chance! Come join us for a time of fellowship and laughter as we discuss “Non Music activities/hobbies that keep us going and nurture our well being during this time of change.”
2020 IMTA Annual Membership Meeting
This live zoom meeting takes the place of what would normally be our Luncheon/membership meeting, so bring your lunch and favorite beverage! Agenda items will include election of officers, annual executive treasurer’s report, membership awards and 2020 IMTA Teacher of the Year presentation.
Saturday, October 31 at 1:00pm
IPerformance (Im)Perfection and the Pandemic
by Pamela Haynes
Posted 10/18/2020
IMTA/MTNA Commissioned Composer
John Liberatore, 2020 recipient
Caroline Ahn, Commissioned Composer Chairman
Posted 10/18/2020
Telarañas
for solo guitar
Telarañas, or “spider webs,” draws some inspiration from Walt Whitman’s poem, “A Noiseless, Patient Spider.” The title is Spanish because it’s the native language of the work’s dedicatee, and perhaps as a semi-conscious homage to the Catalonian composers whose works I studied in writing this piece.
There is something web-like about the construction of each movement. Each turns back on itself in some circular way, a web of threads, geometric but not symmetric, fragile but tenacious, recognizable but inscrutable. At the same time, I find deep sympathy in Whitman’s poem, in which he describes a spider, isolated in space, flinging threads into a “vacant, vast, surrounding,” seeking a connection. He draws a metaphor to the soul of the poet, working in isolation, flinging threads, “’till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere.” The poem is about both isolation and connection to others. It resonates with me, working as an artist in 2020 at this time of uncertainty and isolation, but I had chosen the poem over a year ago—it must have resonated with me then. A poet once said to me, “words are like chameleons,” as they change to fit the environment in which we encounter them.
I wrote this piece partly in preparation for a larger piece, Catch Somewhere, for members of Zohn Collective. I thought originally that Telarañas would serve as a series of movement sketches for the latter work, but this ended up not being the case. Pieces have a way of taking their own directions. Perhaps, like a spider, I am a creature of habit, method, and process, with limited capacity to envision the whole until it takes shape. The work was commissioned by the Indiana Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association. It is dedicated to guitarist Dieter Hennings, a long-time collaborator and friend.
MTNA 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT
Repertoire Selection Practices of Piano Teachers
By Ellen Bullow
Posted 10/11/2020
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS THIS WEEK
Posted 10/11/2020
COLLEGIATE FACULTY FORUM: Remote Teaching, Insights and Strategies
Friday, October 16 at 3:00pm
Forum Chair, Claudia Bossard
ZOOM LINK
MEETING PASSCODE: 048605
IMTA ZOOM GATHERING: Favorite Teaching Repertoire of All Time
Saturday, October 17 at 10:00am
Facilitated by DJ Smith
Come join your fellow IMTA members for our second conference gathering as we share with each other our favorite teaching repertoire.
ZOOM LINK
MEETING PASSCODE: 958510
NEXT WEEK’S CONFERENCE PREVIEW
PERFORMANCE (IM)PERFECTION AND THE PANDEMIC, by Pamela Haynes
2020 IMTA COMMISSIONED COMPOSER PRESENTATION
LIVE WEBINAR: Entrepreneurship During COVID, featuring Martha Hilley, Karen Thickstun, Joanne Chung and Jeeyoon Kim
Saturday, October 24 at 2:00pm
First Day of Class: From “Yikes” to “Yay”!
by Nicha Stapanukul
Posted 10/11/2020
Do you find yourself winging the first day of class because it’s all “just syllabus”? Through the key principles of curiosity, community, learning, and expectations, you can inspire your students from day one!
Mixing It Up! – Interleaved Practice
by Janet Palmberg;
Claudia Bossard, Contributor
Posted 10/11/2020
“Mixing things up” may be the answer to more effective learning. This session will discuss how music teachers can “mix things up,” or apply “interleaving” to their students’ musical practice. The technique has been found to more effectively correlate to better retention of skills learned, and knowledge gained, than traditional pedagogies. Recent studies on the use of interleaving in the teaching of various subjects will be discussed, and ways to enhance piano pedagogy will be explored.
MTNA 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT
PIANO ADOLESCENCE: Surviving and Thriving in the “Middle”
By Lori Rhoden
Posted 10/4/2020
Next week’s Conference Preview
Posted 10/4/2020
Mixing It Up! – Interleaved Practice
by Janet Palmberg and Claudia Bossard
“Mixing things up” may be the answer to more effective learning. This session will discuss how music teachers can “mix things up,” or apply “interleaving” to their students’ musical practice. The technique has been found to more effectively correlate to better retention of skills learned, and knowledge gained, than traditional pedagogies. Recent studies on the use of interleaving in the teaching of various subjects will be discussed, and ways to enhance piano pedagogy will be explored.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session. The link will be posted in next week’s email.
First Day of Class: From “Yikes” to “Yay”! by Nicha Stapanukul
Do you find yourself winging the first day of class because it’s all “just syllabus”? Through the key principles of curiosity, community, learning, and expectations, you can inspire your students from day one!
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session. The link will be posted in next week’s email.
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS
COLLEGIATE CHAPTERS FORUM: TALKING ABOUT MUSIC
Saturday, October 10 at 5:00pm
Facilitated by David Cartledge
Come hear Dr. David Cartledge speak on the importance of training students to talk about music “off the cuff”. This session is open to all college students, regardless of membership. MTNA President, Martha Hilley, will also be present.
ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 933 6235 0653
Passcode: 0S+@2b
Are Your Students Getting Their Money’s Worth Out of Repertoire?
By 2020 Pedagogy Clinician and MTNA President, Martha Hilley
Posted 10/4/2020
Your student has worked very hard on this particular piece. It is memorized and the recital is scheduled. Should that be the end of their involvement with the repertoire?
MTNA 2020 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT
PIANO AUDTIONS: THE INSIDE SCOOP
By David Cartledge and Gregory Sioles
Posted 9/27/2020
Next week’s Conference Preview
Posted 9/27/2020
IMTA Opus Festival Winners Presentations
The winners of the 2020 IMTA Opus Festival will present their winning compositions virtually.
Are Your Students Getting Their Money’s Worth Out of Repertoire
By Pedagogy Clinician, Martha Hilley
Martha Hilley, MTNA President, is back again to share a wonderful presentation. Your student has worked very hard on this particular piece. It is memorized and the recital is scheduled. Should that be the end of their involvement with the repertoire?
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session. The link will be posted in next week’s email.
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS
IMTA MEMBERSHIP GATHERING
Friday, October 2 at 7:00pm
Facilitated by DJ Smith
TOPIC: Teaching During a Pandemic: What works? What doesn’t?
Bring your favorite beverage of choice, and come gather with your fellow IMTA members to share your advice and tips.
ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 946 3776 4976
Passcode: 356227
IMTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Saturday, October 3 at 10:00am
COLLEGIATE CHAPTERS FORUM: TALKING ABOUT MUSIC
Saturday, October 10 at 5:00pm
Facilitated by David Cartledge
Come hear Dr. David Cartledge speak on the importance of training students to talk about music “off the cuff”. This session is open to all college students, regardless of membership. MTNA President, Martha Hilley, will also be present.
ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 933 6235 0653
Passcode: 0S+@2b
What is Aphantasia? Teaching students with blind imaginations.
By Timothy Stephenson
Posted 9/27/2020
Can you see in your “mind’s eye”? What about hear in your inner ear? Some people can’t! This interactive session will explain aphantasia and its aural counterpart, with pedagogicalstrategies for approaching it.
Piano Works by Latin American Women Composers: A Lecture Recital
By Gabriela Calderón Cornejo
Posted 9/27/2020
The works of predigital age Latin American women composers are rapidly disappearing. This lecture recital seeks to reverse this trend by highlighting works by three such composers, each demonstrating unique traditions worth preserving.
MTNA 2020 Virtual Conference Highlight
Posted 9/20/2020
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Three Strategies for Beating Nerves (And Being More Awesome Under Pressure) by Noa Kageyama
Next week’s Conference Preview
Posted 9/20/2020
Piano Works by Latin American Women Composers:
by Gabriela Calderón Cornejo
The works of predigital age Latin American women composers are rapidly disappearing. This lecture recital seeks to reverse this trend by highlighting works by three such composers, each demonstrating unique traditions worth preserving.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session.
What is Aphantasia? Teaching students with blind imaginations.
by Timothy Stephenson
Can you see in your “mind’s eye”? What about hear in your inner ear? Some people can’t! This interactive session will explain aphantasia and its aural counterpart, with pedagogicalstrategies for approaching it.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session.
LIVE ZOOM MEETINGS
IMTA MEMBERSHIP GATHERING
Join us for our first zoom gathering where we will share our tips and insights on teaching during a pandemic. Hope to see you all there.
Friday, October 2 at 7:00pm
TOPIC: Teaching During a Pandemic: What works? What doesn’t?
ZOOM LINK: https://butleru.zoom.us/j/94637764976?pwd=Ukk0VTF4VU45VG1QT1JXNHVwN282dz09
Meeting ID: 946 3776 4976
Passcode: 356227
IMTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Saturday, October 3 at 10:00am
IMT Forum Meetings
Posted 9/20/2020
The IMT Forum Chairman, Christina Whitlock, is hosting 3 separate zoom meetings for independent teachers, to help accommodate everyone’s busy schedule. We hope you will be able to join us for at least one of the meetings. The dates and times are below as well as the zoom link.
- TODAY!!! Sunday, September 20, 4:30pm
- Wednesday, September 23, 10:30am
- Friday, September 25, 8:30pm
ZOOM LINK for all of the live forums.
Meeting ID: 275 480 4694
Passcode: 6wMdBk
THE INS AND OUTS OF THEORY
by Martha Hilley, NCTM, Conference Pedagogy Clinician
Posted 9/20/2020
Are you worried that there is not enough time to include theory instruction into the already crowded piano lesson? Our MTNA President, Martha Hilley, is here to share some ideas with you to consider.
Conference Highlights Next Week
Pedagogy Clinician, Martha Hilley Presents
“The Ins and Outs of Theory”
Posted 9/13/2020
Are you worried that there is not enough time to include theory instruction into the already crowded piano lesson? Our MTNA President, Martha Hilley, is here to share some ideas for you to think about.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded session. The link to the presentation will be sent next week.
IMT ZOOM FORUM
The IMT Forum Chairman, Christina Whitlock, is hosting 3 separate zoom meetings for independent teachers, to help accommodate everyone’s busy schedule. We hope you
will be able to join us for at least one of the meetings. The dates and times are below as well as the zoom link.
- Sunday, September 20, 4:30pm
- Wednesday, September 23, 10:30am
- Friday, September 25, 8:30pm
ZOOM LINK for all of the live forums.
Meeting ID: 275 480 4694
Passcode: 6wMdBk
Piano Music By African American Composers
by Phoenix Park-Kim
Posted 9/13/2020
Although they have long been under-represented, African-American composers have made a significant mark in American musical modernism, establishing independence from the aesthetics of nineteenth-century European romanticism and exploring new musical styles and modes of expression by blending their own musical elements such as Negro spirituals, plantation dance rhythms, gospel, and jazz into Classical musical tradition.
The landscape of American music would not be complete without giving credit to their contributions. We are familiar with the names of many African-Americans in blues, jazz, gospel and popular music. However their names are rarely mentioned in piano literature. This presentation aims to shine a light on piano works by African-American composers ranging from early pioneers such as R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) and William Grant Still (1895-1978) whose works incorporate both the Debussy like harmonies and vocal qualities of Spirituals, and recently discovered character pieces by Florence Price (1887-1953), to suites for piano by more contemporary composers like John Wineglass (b.1972) and Richard Thompson (b.1960). Their works bear out the fact that beauty in American art music is not the sole possession of people of one race or color, but is the heritage of us all.
Conference Highlights Next Week
Posted 9/6/2020
Phoenix Park-Kim presents a lecture recital
“Piano Music by African American Composers”
LOCAL ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTS MEETING
Live via zoom: Sunday, September 13 at 1:00pm,
https://butleru.zoom.us/j/91610889242
2020 IMTA Virtual State Conference
9/6/2020
Dear valued IMTA Member,
I trust you are all doing well and that your semester is off to a great start. I am delighted to welcome you to your IMTA Virtual Conference experience. We have a fantastic line up of presenters in store for you, and although this was not how the conference planning committee initially envisioned the 2020 State Conference, it will still be a memorable experience nonetheless. Conference content is scheduled to be delivered, starting next Sunday, September 13, and here is what you need to do before then.
- Be sure to renew your MTNA/IMTA membership to stay on this email list and receive conference content all semester long.
- Follow the links below to view the following material.
- Full 2020 virtual conference schedule
- Welcome Address from Martha Hilley
Conference content will be delivered weekly, via this newsletter. Once the content has been delivered, it will then be archived on the IMTA website so that you can view it as many times, on your own schedule. Please take note of the things highlighted in green on the schedule because they are live meetings or webinars. You will want to mark those dates down on your calendar.
The pandemic has forced us to think outside the box, quickly learn technology tools and streamline how we deliver instruction in an efficient manner. As a result, some of you may have announced your retirement, and I want to be the first to congratulate you on that fine achievement in your life. I would also like to encourage you to NOT retire from MTNA. Now, more than ever, we need your experience, your priceless wisdom and your knowledge to help us forge into the future of our profession. MTNA has a Patron Membership option for those who are not professionally engaged in any field of musical activities but wish to support the programs of MTNA.
I hope you will take advantage of the conference material that has been so carefully crafted for you, and I hope that we can all come together this semester as colleagues and friends to help uplift and support one another as we tackle what obstacles lie ahead.
Stay tuned! There is so much more to come!!
Best Wishes,
DJ Smith
IMTA President