Virginia Music Teachers gathered in Norfolk, VA for the annual VMTA conference November 2-4, 2023 at Old Dominion University.
Lecture Classes
Randall Faber was the guest clinician. He presented three classes during the conference: “The Neuroscience of Practice,” “The Piano Adventure–Soaring Up”, and “Technique and Artistry”.
Randall Faber and NVMTA President, Libby McConnell, NCTM
NVMTA member, Nancy Breth and Edwina Hunter presented a class about contemporary composers and underrepresented composers. In other presentations, we learned about the works of Florence Price. We talked about SEO on websites to increase our presence on the internet and gained new ideas on collaborative piano in the studio. We also learned about how to expand our teaching business.
Teachers Recital
Not suprisingly, on Thursday evening, NVMTA was well represented in the Teacher’s Recital. Alina Kirshon Goldman, soprano presented a piece by Brahms and one by Puccini. Gianne Zhu played Mvts. 2 and 3 of the Six Piano Etudes by Thomas. Francesca Hurst played Sonata in CM by Lushtak.
Dr. Gianne Zhu, Francesca Hurst, Alina Kirshon Goldman
Friday Business Meeting
On Friday, VMTA held its business meeting and installed the new State Officers. NVMTA members Christy Tallamy, NCTM will serve as the new President-Elect and René Johnson, NCTM continues as the Secretary. NVMTA members Dr. Diane Perret, NCTM and Dr. Gianne Ge Zhuo as the State Certification Chair and State Theory Chair respectively.
Guest Artist and Commissioned Composer Concert
In the afternoon, Guest Artist, Artina McCain (https://vmta-music.org/2023-state-conference/guest-artist/. ) presented a Master Class with the VMTA 2nd place competition winners. Later, two violinist, a cellist, and a violist performed Diversion (2023) by William Averitt, Professor Emeritus of Composition at Shenandoah Conservatory for the commissioned composer concert. The performers played the 23 minute piece twice—an unusual experience for listeners, followed by the VMTA and MTNA Competitions Winners Recital.
Artina McCain finished off the night with a fascinating concert titled, “Intersections”. It incorporated four sections of music, each starting with a well-known composer (Debussy, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Ravel) and followed by one or two lesser known composers (Taylor, Wallen, Corley, Leon, Joubert, and Adams). She discussed how the well-known composer’s pieces intersected with the other pieces in the group.
State Competitions
Many students of NVMTA members were represented among the winners in the state competitions. Please see the Competition results here: https://vmta-music.org/competitions/
Membership Milestones
Members who reached 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 55 year milestones were honored. NVMTA members include Kay Willett (40), Constance Fleck (40), Susan Kelly (40), Elaine Gallo, NCTM (40), Lori Santos (30), Diane Perett, NCTM (30), Patricia Huff-Palumbo (30), Peggy Newhall (30), Anne Hurley (30), LeeAnna Xanthos-McQueen (30), Katsuko Takahashi (30), Anne Beamer (20), Kenty McWilliams, NCTM (20), Shen-Pang Chien (20), Libby Wiebel (20), Sung-Hee Choi (20)), Eric Himy (20), Bo Mi Cha (10), Martha Cotter (10), Julie Vient (10), Livia Lai (10), Alice Ji (10), Yelena Rector (10), Holly Rodgers, NCTM (10). Congratulations!
