2011 Opus Composition Blue Ribbon Winners

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2011 Opus Composition Blue Ribbon Winners!
This year’s Opus Composition Festival was a tremendous success with 66 entrants and many blue and red ribbon winners.  The top composition in each age category will have the honor of his/her entry fee paid in full by IMTA to enter the state level of the MTNA Composition Competition this fall.
Our winners were:
Elementary – Elizabeth Jinks, Teacher – Anne Misner
Junior – Josh Catanzaro, Teacher – Nancy Spahr
Senior – Yihan Chen, Teacher – Don Freund
Young Artist – Kenji Kuriyama, Teacher – Don Freund
ALL students who earned blue ribbons in this year’s festival have the opportunity to perform their composition at this year’s state conference!  The IMTA Conference will be held October 21-22nd at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.  The Opus Composition/Hoosier Auditions Recital will take place on Saturday, October 22nd.
Thank you to all the teachers who entered students in this year’s festival:
Becky Baker, John Craton, Nancy Crump, Don Freund, Cynthia Hawkins, Anne Misner, Nien-Hwa Chen, and Nancy Spahr
Thank you to all of our participants this year and a big thank you to our teachers who CREATE music with their students every day!

In Their Words: Butler University Collegiate Chapter reflects on 2011 MTNA National Conference

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Butler MTNA Collegiate Chapter attended the 2011 National MTNA Conference in Milwaukee, from March 26 through 28. Not only it was the first time for all of us attend a national MTNA conference, but also for a first time, we were chosen to present a session, “Grow and Play Together”, about preparing children to be successful collaborative musicians. We learned a lot from the process of preparation and the conference itself. It would not be possible for all of us to attend the conference without IMTA’s generous contribution to our trip. Thank you very much! Here are our reflections from the conference.
Attending the 2011 Conference in Milwaukee was truly an experience I will not forget! Hearing from experienced music educators expanded my thoughts on teaching and performing, with a wealth of new techniques and effective strategies. I particularly enjoyed this year’s keynote speaker, Bill Moore. His analysis of performance practice was fascinating, offering me great insight as I found myself learning more about not only my students’ varying performance traits, but also my own. Seeing the scope of publishing companies present at the various sessions and exhibit hall also reminded me of the expansive resources available to me as an independent teacher! In the process, I received many new ideas that I have already begun to implement in my students’ lessons. For example, while at the conference I had the pleasure of observing Scott McBride and Christopher Norton present their “American Popular Piano” method series. It was interesting to note the way these books effectively blend the processes of traditionally learning a piece with improvisation, and I have since incorporated similar improvisatory exercises with my student’s current repertoire.
-Caitlin FosterContinue reading→

IMTA 2011 Preliminary Conference Program and Lodging Information

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The IMTA Conference Planning Committee is pleased to announce  James Tocco, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati as the 2011 Conference Artist and Aaron Travers, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as the Commissioned Composer. This is sure to be a sell-out conference, so be sure to reserve your hotel early!
Hotel information:
Holiday Inn Express & Suites: 117 S. Franklin Road. 812-334-8880 $99-109.  Identify as member of IMTA. Cut-off date: 9/23
Quality Inn: 1100 W. Rappel Drive. 812-323-2222. $89.99.  Identify as member of IMTA, group #496039.  Cut-off date: 9/6
Hampton Inn: 2100 N. Walnut.  812-334-2100. $99. Identify as member of IMTA, group code MTA.  Cut-off date: 9/21
Indiana Memorial Union: 900 E 7th St (on campus). 800-209-8145. $122-162. Identify as Jacobs School of Music. Cut-off date: 9/21

2010 IMTA Teacher of the Year - Lori Rhoden

2010 Teacher of the Year, Lori Rhoden

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2010 IMTA Teacher of the Year - Lori Rhoden
It’s always the greatest of honors to be recognized by one’s peers.   And it’s surely a privilege for me to introduce your IMTA Teacher of the Year for 2010.  Let me first recount a bit of personal experience.  Many years ago I was teaching a group of somewhat reluctant theory students.  I was constantly on their tails, asking them to master the subtleties of chromatic voice leading or the long-range implications of remote-key relationships.  The semester ended with the usual intensive flurry; the exams were graded; the student evaluations came in.  My chair at the time complimented me on the positive evaluations from what she knew was a reluctant class.  I told her I was pleasantly surprised and mentioned that one student had even written “This class was fun!”  My chair snorted, “That’s not the point!”  Being a somewhat contentious brat in my younger years, I shot back:  well, I  think that’s exactly the point … if they could have a good time while being subjected to a fairly rigorous approach, they just might have the motivation necessary to alter a bit in the future the way they perceive the important works of the repertoire.  My chair responded, “But aren’t you the one who chides your piano students:   if you’re having a good time in the practice room you must not be doing it correctly?!”  Yes, that was me.  And to this day, even after all these many decades of working with college students, I’m still searching for that balance of rigor and inspiration in my teaching:  the toil and sweat to develop our craft on the one hand, the unearthly inspiration from the great masters of the past and present on the other —  if we might only unlock their profoundest secrets.Continue reading→

Changes to MTNA Student Competitions

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MTNA has made some changes for the 2011–2012 MTNA Student Competitions. The ages for Senior Piano Duet have been extended, as MTNA will now allow students age 11–18, as of January 1, 2012, with at least one student age 15–18. Also, the Chamber Music Competition will now feature two tracks—string and woodwind. The track will be determined by the majority of instruments that comprise each ensemble. Piano will count as a stringed instrument.  The national finals for the 2011–2012 MTNA Student Competitions will take place March 24–28, 2012, at the MTNA National Conference in New York, New York.  The application deadline is 12 MIDNIGHT, September 13, 2011. For more information, visit www.mtna.org.
The MTNA Competitions Committee has compiled additional resources to make MTNA members more aware of this major component of our professional organization. Visit the competitions section of the MTNA website at www.mtna.org for a series of brief communications to explain, explore and guide teachers and students.

2011 MTNA Performance Competitions

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The 2011 MTNA Performance Competitions will be held Saturday, November 19, 2011 at Ball Sate University in Muncie IN. Complete guidelines for the competitions can be found on the MTNA Website. The application deadlines is 12:00 MIDNIGHT September 13, 2011 and all applications must be submitted online at the MTNA Website.  Teachers dues must be paid on or before August 31, 2011 in order for students to be eligible.
State chair contact information includes:Continue reading→

Summer camp information- University of Indianapolis

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The University of Indianapolis is accepting applications to 2011 summer camps on it’s web-site at music.uindy.edu/cmc.  Offerings include Piano Camps for elementary aged students, Keyboard Academy for junior high and high school, Vocal Arts Institute, Jazz Combo Camp, and Chamber Music Institute.  Contact Rebecca Sorley at rsorley@uindy.edu for more information.

Call for Proposals – 2011 IMTA Annual Conference

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Deadline:  June 1, 2011
The Indiana Music Teachers Association is pleased to announce its 2011 Conference at Indiana University, Bloomington. The conference will take place October 21-22, 2011.
The Conference Committee welcomes proposals on all aspects of music and music.  Proposals on all aspects of music teaching, learning, creation, performance, scholarship, career considerations, and other areas of interest to independent and college music teachers are especially encouraged.Continue reading→

In Memoriam Douglas Strong

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Douglas Strong passed away on Wednesday, April 20th in Minneapolis.
Doug was a retired head piano technician at the Jacobs School of Music, where he worked for nearly 30 years. For many years he played french horn in the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. Doug was also a life-long member of the Friends of Music.
Doug was the recipient of the Marge Counsilman Service Award in 2007. A former swimmer at Northwestern and a 1949 graduate of the University of Texas, Strong was an accomplished masters swimmer. He holds a number of state masters records, especially in the 75-79 and 80-84 year old age groups. He was ranked top 10 nationally in dozens of events, going back as far as 1971. Last summer (2010) he placed in the top 10 nationally in four long-course events in the 85-89 age category. He is survived by his wife Margaret Strong, a longtime member of IMTA.