Announcement is made of the seventeenth annual Hartman Stickley Memorial Piano Competition Winners Recital, which will be held on Sunday March 11, 2012 in the Annenberg Auditorium, Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame at 2:30 pm.
The competition itself will be held on March 2nd & 3rd at the Mishawaka Penn Harris Library and is open to pre-college students, ages 5 – 18. The four winners in each of four divisions who will be performing in the Winners Recital on March 11 will each win cash prizes: $150 for ages 15-18, $100 for ages 12-14, $75 for ages 9-11 and $50 for ages 5-8. Contestants who receive honorable mention will win cash prizes as well. All awards will be dispersed following the winner’s performances on Sunday, March 11.
The competition, which is sponsored by the South Bend Area Music Teachers Association, is open to piano students of teachers residing in Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph counties, Michigan; and Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall, St. Joseph, and Starke counties, Indiana. Prize money is made available through the Elnora Hartman Stickley Scholarship Fund. POSTMARKED ENTRY DEADLINE IS JANUARY 13TH, AND APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AT SHIRK’S PIANO IN MISHAWAKA. Judges will be Dr. Svetlana Belsky from The University of Chicago, Dr. Robert Palmer from Ball State University, and Dr. Soyeon Park from Northwestern University.
For further information, please contact the competition chair, Melissa Luan,
at (574) 993-9020 or e-mail (mluanpiano@aol.com). You may also visit the South Bend Area Music Teacher Association’s website: www.sbamta.org
2012 Opus Composition Festival Announced!
Indiana Music Teachers Association announces the 2012 Opus Composition Festival. This festival encourages students to create and write music. Each entrant will receive a certificate, ribbon, and judge’s comment sheet. Blue Ribbon Winners will receive the opportunity to perform his/her composition at the 2012 IMTA State Conference schedule for September 12-22, 2012 at Indiana State University. The First Place winner in each category will be invited to compete in the state round of the MTNA Composition Competition and receive their entrance fee reimbursed by IMTA. For more information and complete rules, please see the IMTA website.
Carolyn Shaak to Visit WVMTA
Noted pedagogue and pianist, Carolyn Shaak, will give a series of workshops and a master class in Terre Haute, January 25 and 26, 2012, on the campus of Indiana State University, hosted by the Wabash Valley Music Teachers Association. The schedule for these workshops is:
Wednesday, January 25 9:30-10:00 Registration 10:00-12:00 “Getting a Good Start: Covering All the Musical Bases” 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-3:00 “Getting Ready to Play the Big Stuff: A Sound Technical Approach 3:00-3:30 Break 3:30-6:00 Master Class for WVMTA students Thursday, January 26 9:30-10:00 Registration 10:00-12:00 “Getting Ready for That Day When You Wish You Were a Better Sightreader 12:00-1:00 Lunch 1:00-3:00 Getting a Brilliant Hook in Your Mind and Knowing What to Do with It 3:00-5:00 Getting a Thrill from Playing Repertoire of the Music Icons Right After the Basic Method Books
Carolyn Shaak earned a Master of Music degree from Columbia University, and was Robert Pace’s teaching assistant for 5 years. A Fulbright winner, she studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Dante Alderighi. Subsequently, she served as Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Illinois. In 1959, she married pianist, composer, and teacher Bernard Shaak and moved with him to the Southern Illinois University. In 1962, they established The Shaak Music Studio in Denver, Colorado. Together, they authored the method, Piano Partners, published by Moonstone Music Press. An active member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, and the Denver Area Music Teachers Association, Ms. Shaak has presented numerous workshops and teaching demonstrations in many forums. Her students have been heard in many competitions and major festivals.
Workshops will begin at 10:00 a.m. on both January 25 and 26, with registration beginning at 9:30. The events will be held in the recital hall of the Center for the Performing and Fine Arts on the campus of Indiana State University. Please email Douglas Sperry (douglassperry@hotmail.com) for instructions on traveling to campus and on-campus parking. Indiana State University students and faculty may attend either or both days free with a valid student ID. Fees for other participants are $25 for either Wednesday or Thursday, and $40 for both days.
MTNA Professional Support Line
MTNA provides a sounding board and clearing house for members who have questions of a pedagogical or business nature. For more information, contact the MTNA National Headquarters at (888) 512-5278 or e-mail professionalsupport@mtna.org.
Assistance has been provided in the following areas: information on grants, music, acoustical standards of building a new music facility, ASCAP issues, Certification, copyright issues, developing a plan to become a music teacher, creating relationships between other music organizations and local MTNA affiliates, music merchandise questions, prospective member information, lesson fee structures in the United States, assistance helping a member supplement their dues through local and state support, health insurance, finding music teachers around the world and more. Legal issues have been in the matters of copyright, employee contracts, buying and selling music studios, contractual arrangements with ensembles and partnerships, zoning issues and more. For more information visit the support line.
Have news delivered to you!
Next month, the IMT will celebrate a full year of being completely online at http://newsletter.indmta.org! Did you know that you can follow news and updates with the click of a button? Look for the RSS icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. This will launch your favorite news reader and ensure that you will get timely updates from IMTA. You can read more about how to use RSS feeds on the Lifehacker Page or in this tutorial provided by Paul Stamatiou.
Carolyn Shaak to visit Wabash Valley Music Teachers Association, January 25-26, 2012
Noted pedagogue and pianist, Carolyn Shaak, will give a series of workshops and a master class in Terre Haute, January 25 and 26, 2012, on the campus of Indiana State University. Hosted by the Wabash Valley Music Teachers Association, Ms. Shaak will present talks entitled:
Getting a Good Start: Covering All the Musical Bases
Getting Ready to Play the Big Stuff: A Sound Technical Approach
Getting Ready for That Day When You Wish You Were a Better Sight-Reader
Getting a Brilliant Hook in Your Mind and Knowing What to Do with It
Getting a Thrill from Playing Repertoire of the Music Icons Right After the Basic Method Books
Carolyn Shaak earned a Master of Music degree from Columbia University, and was Robert Pace’s teaching assistant for 5 years. A Fulbright winner, she studied at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome with Dante Alderighi. Subsequently, she served as Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Illinois. In 1959, she married pianist, composer, and teacher Bernard Shaak and moved with him to the Southern Illinois University. In 1962, they established The Shaak Music Studio in Denver, Colorado. Together, they authored the method, Piano Partners, published by Moonstone Music Press. An active member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, and the Denver Area Music Teachers Association, Ms. Shaak has presented numerous workshops and teaching demonstrations in many forums. Her students have been heard in many competitions and major festivals.
Workshops will begin at 10:00 a.m. on both January 25 and 26, with registration beginning at 9:30. The events will be held in the recital hall of the Center for the Performing and Fine Arts on the campus of Indiana State University. Please email Douglas Sperry (douglassperry@hotmail.com) for instructions on traveling to campus and on-campus parking. Indiana State University students and faculty may attend either or both days free with a valid student ID. Fees for other participants are $25 for either Wednesday or Thursday, and $40 for both days.
Achievement in Music News – Winter 2011
The Indiana Music Teachers Association AIM Festivals have been extremely successful this fall! A number of festival sites have recorded substantial increases in the numbers of participating teachers and students, with Indianapolis hosting over 200 students (this number marks a new record!). Congratulations to one and all for everyone’s hard work and dedication to this wonderful program. Again, a special thanks to Juliana Lockman for her production every year of the theory tests used in AIM. Also, our site coordinators (Candy Henkler: GEMTA; Kathy Keasey: SBMTA; Kim Jones: MTASCI; Kathy Ryan: GIMTA; Jane Wilson: TMTA; Catharina Matthews: NIMTA; and Margaret Roby: WVMTA) deserve our gratitude for all of the work they do making sure that their respective festivals are a success.
For those IMTA members who do not have an AIM Festival site within your locale, please contact Doug Sperry about starting a festival in your area. He would be happy to communicate with you via phone or email to answer any questions about this program. In addition, he is available to visit with any local groups to discuss the possibility of starting a new site.
Last but not least, please note that new participants can purchase the AIM Syllabus for a nominal. The fee is $20 for IMTA members and $40 for non-members. The 2010-2015 syllabus has not been changed from the 2005-2010 syllabus. Therefore, if you already have a copy there is currently no need to purchase a new one. However, if you need a copy or know of another teacher who may want one, please send a check, made payable to IMTA, to:
Douglas Sperry, NCTM
6793 West Manor Drive
Terre Haute, IN 47802
MTNA Announces Educational Opportunities
MTNA is offering these educational opportunities during 2012. So save these dates and plan to attend!
Wellness Symposium, June 27–29, 2012
MTNA, in partnership with the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations, will host Empowering The Whole Musician—Mind and Body at the Yamaha Artist Services Facility in New York City. This three-day event will offer strategies to help attendees remain energized, injury-free and enthusiastic teachers and performers. Speakers will include Vanessa Cornett-Murtada, Julie Jaffee Nagel and Kathleen Riley.
For more information, visit the MTNA Website.
National Group Piano And Piano Pedagogy Forum, August 3–4, 2012
The National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Forum will again be held in Austin, Texas, on the University of Texas campus. This two-day event will concentrate on the specific needs of college and university teachers of group piano and piano pedagogy.
For more information, visit the MTNA Website.
Greater Indianapolis Music Teachers Association News
The Greater Indianapolis Music Teachers Association (GIMTA) will host three upcoming events of interest. November 19, the association sponsors the Achievement in Music Festival and will host 212 student participants. On February 17, 2012 IMTA member Melissa Willis will present “Games, Visuals and Manipulatives”. Finally, on April 21, 2012 GIMTA, IPTA (Indianapolis Piano Teachers Association), IPTA (Indianapolis Piano Teachers Guild) will collaborate to bring in Melody Bober for a full day of workshops and masterclasses.
For more information about these events, you can find GIMTA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GIMTA
Conference Chair Cheryl Everett reflects on 2011 Event
The 2011 IMTA Conference was a marvelous event. As conference Artist, James Tocco played a brillant recital and in the Saturday morning masterclass demonstrated several teaching styles. Karen Taylor’s enthusiastic keynote address on Friday evening was titled In Praise of Teachers. She shared the legacy of her teacher, Walter Robert. On Saturday we were treated to the premiere of the commissioned composition, Sonatina, for Piano Solo composed by Aaron Travers and performed by Vincent Adragna. Also on Saturday afternoon the Hoosier Audition Winners and Opus Composition Performers took the stage to present their music to an appreciative audience. Sessions on both days offered a balance of news in technology to informative lecture-recitals. With two days of beautiful weather, the lovely IU campus location and months of behind the scenes effort by David Cartledge and the Conference committee, this Conference has left each of us with inspiration and fond memories of our time together.
Editor’s note; Cheryl Everett is the IMTA Conference Chair. Members are invited to submit their reflections on the conference to newsletter@indmta.org