2018 Indiana State MTNA Competition, Results Announcement

MTNA Competitions Results

James Helton, MTNA Competitions Chairperson
Congratulations to Winners of the 2018 State MTNA Competitions!

ELEMENTARY COMPOSITION
Representative: Madelyn Tanner, student of Amy Chaplin

JUNIOR PIANO
Representative: Alex Lu, student of Richard Ratliff

SENIOR COMPOSITION
Winner: Aidan Feeney, student of Jennifer Feeney
Hon. Mention: Abigail Mohs, student of Donald Campfield

SENIOR PIANO
Representative: Sage Hamm, student of Robert Palmer

SENIOR WOODWIND
Winner: Brandon Trent, student of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Alternate: Marley Proffitt, student of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Haruka Taguchi, student of Kevin Cottrill

YOUNG ARTIST COMPOSITION
Representative: Katherine Bodor, student of Don Freund Indiana University

YOUNG ARTIST PIANO
Winner: Domonic Muzzi, student of Roberto, Plano Indiana University
Alternate: Kaden Larson, student of Norman Krieger, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Tatsuya Katsuhara, student of May Phang, DePauw University
Hon. Mention: Minhyuk Kim, student of Matthew Hill, Goshen College

YOUNG ARTIST STRINGS
Winner: Elina Pentcheva, student of Mauricio Fuks, Indiana University
Alternate: Chiara Sannicandro, student of Mauricio Fuks, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Nate Bomans, student of Mauricio Fuks, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Emily Leung, student of Mauricio Fuks, Indiana University

YOUNG ARTIST WOODWIND
Winner: Paul Cotton, student of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Alternate: Wesley Taylor, student of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Kesley Pharis, student of Linda Strommen, Indiana University
Hon. Mention: Ting Hua Liang, student of Otis Murphy, Indiana University

CHAMBER MUSIC
Winner: Kanaderu Quartet, students of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Ensemble Members: David Bayard, Kacie Brown, Jake Simons, Josh Tzuo

Alternate: Empyrean Quartet, students of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Ensemble Members: Derek Granger, Catelyn Hawkins, Wesley Taylor, Paul Cotton

Hon. Mention: Java, students of Otis Murphy, Indiana University
Ensemble Members: Wesley Taylor, Brandon Trent, Benton Westbrook, Marley Proffitt

Many thanks to our judges

Composition: Dr. Amelia Kaplan, Ball State University
Junior Piano: Dr. Ray Kilburn
Young Artist Piano: Dr. Donna Lee, Kent State University
Young Artist Piano: Dr. Lori Rhoden, Ball State University
Young Artist Piano: Dr. Michael Seregow, Ball State University, formerly Washington State University
Young Artist Strings: Dr. Yu-Fang Chen, Ball State University
Senior Woodwinds: Dr. Nathan Bogert, Ball State University
Young Artist Woodwinds: Dr. Daniel Gilbert, University of Michigan

And many thanks to the following indispensable people:

Leon Harshenin, Junior Coordinator
Hamilton Tescarollo, Senior Coordinator
Ray Kilburn, Site Coordinator
Ball State MTNA Student Chapter, Ruth Oh, president

Click here to download a list of winners

Marylee Morton named 2018 IMTA Teacher of the Year

Marylee Morton, an independent piano teacher from Fort Wayne Indiana was named the 2018 IMTA Teacher of the Year at the IMTA State Conference. Morton is a member of the Northeast Indiana Music Teacher’s Association (NIMTA).

2017 recipient Euni Rickey awarding 2018 recipient Marylee Morton

IMTA Teacher of the Year winners from left to right: Lori Rhoden 2010), Margy Roby (2005), Reginald Rodgers (2004), Jim Helton (2016), Euni Rickey (2017), Marylee Morton (2018), Juliana Lockman (2014), Hamilton Tescarollo (2015), Karen Thickstun (2008), Cheryl Everett (1999)

 

Douglas Sperry Honored with the IMTA Distinguished Service Award

IMTA Honored Douglas Sperry at the 2018 IMTA State Conference at Sweetwater Sound with the Distinguished Service Award. This award is a very special award that is given at the discretion of the IMTA State President and presented on rare occasion to recognize outstanding service to IMTA. Former recipients include Jack Eaton (1995), Verna Abe, Carolyn Hertzler, and Karen Thickstun (2002), Juliana Lockman (2005), and Margaret Roby (2014).

Doug Sperry receiving the Distinguished Service Award from IMTA President Amy Chaplin

Doug has been teaching private piano lessons since he was 15 years old. The only significant break he has taken from independent teaching was during the past year when he was undergoing aggressive treatment for cancer. His music degrees are a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Nebraska Wesleyan University, a Master of Music in piano performance from Michigan State University, and all the work except dissertation for a Ph.D. in Theory, Music History, and Piano, also from Michigan State University.

The beginning of his college teaching career in music was interrupted by the birth of his first child, Ethan, and a subsequent commitment to be the primary caregiver for his children (Emma was born seven years later). During these years while continuing to teach piano he also completed a Masters degree in Psychology at Catholic University. With the move to Terre Haute, he taught psychology courses at ISU and conducted research with his wife, Linda, who is also a psychologist on the faculty there. Later, at the age of 50 (when Emma headed off to college) he started his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Illinois. While there he was a National Scholar Foundation recipient and was hired to teach at St. Mary of the Woods College outside Terre Haute.

Doug is currently a tenured Associate Professor at St. Mary’s where he also plays the organ for school ceremonies! With the return of his health, he has been able to return to piano teaching. Through all the years of leading this “double” life as a pianist and psychologist, he has guided countless piano students in their studies and in their “growing up”. He has also been generous to colleagues with fulfilling leadership positions in the Wabash Valley Music Teachers Association (ten years as its president) and with his countless hours of administrations at the state level for the AIM auditions program.

Previous Distinguished Award Winners, from left to right: Karen Thickstun (2002), Douglas Sperry (2018), Juliana Lockman (2005), Margy Roby (2014).

 

Call for Masterclass Performers, IMTA State Conference 2018

The 2018 State Conference planning committee would like to invite you to nominate talented young pianists to perform in this year’s IMTA Conference masterclasses with Christopher Fisher (Elementary/Intermediate) and Frederic Chiu (Advanced). This year’s state conference will take place October 5-6 at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne, IN. Both masterclasses will be held in Sweetwater Sound’s beautiful Performance Theatre. The masterclass for elementary and intermediate pianists will take place at 3:10 pm on Friday, October 5 and the masterclass for advanced pianists will take place at 9:15 am on Saturday, October 6.

The deadline for receipt of application is Saturday, September 15. No extensions or exceptions are possible. This is an exceptional opportunity! If selected, you and your student will be notified by Saturday, September 22.

To submit an application for the Masterclass, please click here or on the link below.

Call for Masterclass Performers

2018-2019 Hoosier Auditions Competition Dates

The dates and locations for many of the districts competitions around the state have been announced as well as the state competition in May. See details below.

View the district map here.

Please note that we are looking for a new chairman for both District A (Valparaiso) and District C (Indianapolis). If you are interested or know anyone who may be interested, please contact Daniel Lin, Hoosier Auditions Chair.


District Auditions

District A: Valparaiso
To be announced

District B: Goshen
Location: Zook Choral Hall MC 153, Goshen College
Date: April 13th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: March 22nd, 2019

District C: Indianapolis
To be announced

District D: Anderson
Location: York Performance Hall, Anderson University
Date: April 6th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: March 23rd, 2019

District E: Terre Haute
Location: Indiana State University, Landini Center, Recital Hall
Date: April 6th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: March 22nd, 2019

District F: Columbus
Location: First Christian Church, Madison, IN
Date: April 6th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: March 22nd, 2019

District G: Evansville
Location: Krannert Fine Arts Center, University of Evansville
Date: April 13th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: April 1st, 2019

District H: Fort Wayne
Location: Reinhardt Recital Hall, Purdue University–Fort Wayne
Date: April 13th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: March 29th, 2019

District J: Lafayette
Location: Covenant Church.  211 Knox Dr. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Date: March 9th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: February 9th, 2019

 

Hoosier Auditions: State Competition

Location: Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, IN
Date: May 11th, 2019
Postmark Deadline: April 25th, 2019

Benjamin Krause’s Work for two pianos to be featured at Conference

IMTA is please to be premiering the commissioned composition Taxonomies of Pulse, a work for two pianos by Benjamin Krause at the 2018 State Conference!

Benjamin Krause’s work has been recognized through grants, commissions, and awards by the Houston Symphony, Copland House, Network for New Music, Presser Foundation, ASCAP, Da Camera of Houston, and The American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France. Drawing freely from varied traditions and aesthetics, his music is characterized by its visceral rhythmic drive, motivic control, and colorful, dense harmonies reminiscent of jazz. As a pianist, he regularly performs new music, jazz, and the classical repertoire, appearing at Carnegie Hall, Zilkha Hall (Houston), the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Collection, and in collaboration with such artists as Molly Barth (Eighth Blackbird), Jeffrey Zeigler (the Kronos Quartet), Timothy McAllister (PRISM Saxophone Quartet), and Ronald Feldman (the Boston Symphony). He has held residencies and fellowships at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers’ Symposium, Lutheran Summer Music, and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference, and will be in residency at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (WY) in Fall 2018. He was also recently awarded the prestigious Copland House Residency Award, which will grant him time to work and reside at Aaron Copland’s New York home.

Krause holds composition degrees from Rice University (D.M.A.) and the University of Oregon (M.M.), and a B.M. in piano performance from Valparaiso University, where he also served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music (2015-2018). He lives in Chicago with his wife, pianist Christina Giuca Krause.

Visit the State Conference page for more details or to register!

Fisher Duo to be Featured Pedagogy Clinicians at IMTA State Conference

IMTA is pleased to announce we will be hosting Dr. Christopher and Katherine Fisher as our clinicians for the upcoming IMTA state conference to be held at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne on October, 5, 6. Details will continue to be made available on the conference page. Online registration for the conference will be open no later than August 1 here on the IMTA website.

Dr. Christopher Fisher is Professor of Piano at Ohio University School of Music in Athens, Ohio where he chairs the Keyboard Division, directs the graduate piano performance and pedagogy programs, and coordinates the Ohio University Piano Pedagogy Seminar. He is Director of Studies for the Honors Tutorial College Music Program. Recognized for his teaching, Dr. Fisher was the 2010 recipient of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year and the Ohio University School of Music Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. Fisher is the author of Teaching Piano in Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010) and co-author of the revised and expanded edition of Piano Duet Repertoire (Indiana University Press, 2016). He has published in leading keyboard journals and is a contributing composer for the innovative piano method, Piano Safari (www.pianosafari.com), which is used by piano teachers and students around the globe. His educational compositions are published by Alfred Music and Piano Safari.

In demand as a workshop and master class clinician, Dr. Fisher has presented lectures internationally, including the national conferences of the Music Teachers National Association, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, the National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum, the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, and the Encontro Internacional de Pianistas de Piracicaba Brasil. Dr. Fisher has also served as a guest lecturer at leading conservatories and universities including recent engagements at The Juilliard School.

Katherine Fisher is co-author of the Piano Safari Method (www.pianosafari.com) for children. She and Dr. Julie Knerr have been working on their piano method since their time in school together at the University of Oklahoma when they both realized they had mutual dreams of writing a piano method that would incorporate all the best elements of the various methods they had been using in their teaching.

She is an affiliate faculty member of the Athens Community Music School at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.  Her responsibilities include teaching private piano lessons as well as coordinating the Piano Preparatory Program (group lessons) for children who are beginners at the instrument.

Katherine is an active member of the Music Teachers National Association and presently serves as the Wellness Forum Chair for the Ohio Music Teachers Association. She presently serves in the capacity of Vice-President for Membership for the Southeast District of OhioMTA.

A native of Ohio, Katherine obtained her degrees from the University of Oklahoma (Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy) and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music (Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance).  Her former teachers include Jeongwon Ham, Jane Magrath, Barbara Fast, Karin R. Edwards, and Nancy Bachus.

2018 Teacher of the Year Nominations

Nominations are now being accepted for the Indiana Music Teachers Association 2018 Teacher of the Year Award.

This award is one of IMTA’s highest honors that recognizes an individual who demonstrates excellence in teaching and service to the music teaching profession and community.  Recipients are nominated by current members and are selected by members of the Board of Directors.  Individuals and/or local associations may nominate someone for this award.

The IMTA Teacher of the Year Award will be announced and presented at Friday evening banquet at the 2018 State Conference at Sweetwater Sound.

The deadline for nominations is June 30th. The submission form is now available online here.

Both independent and collegiate teacher nominations are welcome. A history of past recipients can be viewed here.