Over the weekend, I attended the Indiana Music Teachers Association‘s annual state conference at Goshen College. I was honored to have the opportunity to give a presentation during their wonderful event.
My session was called, Schumann’s Big Bang: The Ever-Expanding Universe of Piano Literature for Children. It was so fun to share my research and discuss the huge range of music we piano teachers are fortunate to have available to us.
During the conference, I had the opportunity to meet and reunite with many Indiana friends. Pictured here are my friends Amy Chaplin (blogger at PianoPantry.com and my co-adventurer for the Boston trip for Music Learning Theory training!) and Daniel Patterson (blogger at GrowYourMusicStudio.com). I highly recommend following both of their blogs, because they are fabulous folks with lots to say.
This photo was taken during the Friday evening banquet for dinner.
I learned a lot during the sessions I attended over the two days. First was Vicki King’s presentation about articulation, tempo, dynamic, and ornamentation ideas for Baroque Era music.
Then I attended Claudia Bossard’s presentation about Paul Harris’s Simultaneous Learning Philosophy. You can find Paul’s book on the subject here.
Christina Whitlock’s presentation on integrating commitment-building strategies learned from team sports into your studio was dynamic and engaging. I had heard the 20-minute version of her talk at the MTNA conference last year, and knew I would not be disappointed with the full 50-minute version. She exceeded our expectations. 🙂
Beverley Simms gave a presentation about composer Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee’s music written for elementary and intermediate pianists.
Karen Zorn, president of the Longy School of Music of Bard College, was the keynote speaker during the banquet, and also have a presentation the following morning. She spoke about the El Sistema Philosophy and how we can integrate those ideas into our private teaching situations. She was incredibly inspiring.
It was an enjoyable weekend. I love attending conferences and workshops. They never fail to charge my teaching batteries.
Coming up next week, I will be giving a presentation in Michigan. If you are nearby, please feel free to inquire about attending. I will be presenting the same Schumann session mentioned earlier in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University for the Kalamazoo Area Music Teachers Association on Wednesday the 12th.
Next month, I’ll be making an appearance at the Ohio Music Teachers Association’s annual state conference, taking place in Kent, Ohio. My session takes place on Saturday, November 5, 2016, which happens to be the “Bring A Friend Day” — which means that all teachers, whether members of OhioMTA or not, are invited to attend at no cost. Find more information on the flyer below or by visiting OhioMTA’s website. If you live in Ohio, I hope to see you there!
