April 2021 High Notes

JMTA High Notes

April 2021—Vol. 24, no. 7
JMTA General Meeting (using ZOOM):
April 14, 2020: 9:30am - General meeting

10:30am - Program: Marc Sabatella, Founder & Director of the Mastering MuseScore School
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From the President’s Pen:

Happy Spring! The MTNA National Conference was filled with sessions promoting Mindfulness, Positive Thinking and Healthy Habits. I have watched 13 sessions so far and there is much to be gleaned from each one!

Mindfulness calls on us to be aware of where we are and what we are doing. Breathing deeply and staying focused on the student/task before us will help achieve that. Practice self-compassion. Celebrate what we do well and let go of negative thoughts.

One of my favorite sessions was Pete Jutras’s workshop on “Healthy Practices.” (Dr. Jutras is Dean of the Music School at University of Georgia.) He presented a very candid picture of his life with personal wellness challenges and what he has observed in the past year in the time of COVID. Some of his challenges included:

*  Wearing multiple hats all the time or work/life balance

* Dealing with hand pain issues from the computer while playing piano

* Headaches

* Performance anxiety

* No escape

He kept a journal and made charts of his daily progress or lack of progress. His plan for coping included:

Good nutrition (making himself eat at least 4 veggies a day)

Exercise (walking the dog daily and running 3 x a week)

Sleep

Keep learning, add something new

Stay social

Play the piano for fun- not just practicing something to perform

Let go of negative people & influences

Think positive thoughts

Care for chronic illness

He concluded with the following regarding what he learned this past year:

Wellness needs to be a habit

Pursue choices that lead to a healthy lifestyle

There is value in slowing down

We can be flexible

Respect the healing role of music

There is a need to keep going

When we go back to “Normal”- let’s do it in a healthy way.

These words of wisdom apply to each of us. Let’s enjoy the process of seeking healthier lifestyles  as we teach and share the joy of music.

See you at our April Zoom meeting!

Anita 
Dr. Anita Boyle Renfroe, NCTM
JMTA President
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Monthly Meetings

April 14, 2021 - JMTA General Meeting / Program

Marc Sabatella, Founder and Director of the Master MuseScore School

After the general meeting at 9:30am on Wednesday, April 14, you won’t want to miss the exciting program at 10:30am with Marc Sabatella.

“My name is Marc Sabatella, founder and director of the Mastering MuseScore School. I am one of the developers and chief ambassadors for MuseScore, and I have been teaching music online for over 25 years. Here at the Mastering MuseScore School, I focus on helping you create the best music you can.

“MuseScore is the world’s most popular music notation program, and it is revolutionizing the way people create music. It does virtually everything the expensive commercial notation packages do, and it does it all for free.”

- school.masteringmusescore.com

The link to the meeting and program is as follows:

April 14 Meeting:

https://unf.zoom.us/j/99993861273?pwd=TzRmanNsdDJQZ3hkVFhXMFEvcjZpQT09

Meeting ID: 999 9386 1273

Passcode: 369717

Dr Michael Mastronicola, JMTA Programs Chair

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JMTA General Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 10, 2021, Zoom

Present: Paulette Kilts, Stefanie Batson-Martin, Anita Renfroe, Sandra Stewart, Kama Rasmussen-Li, Lisa Barwell, Lynn, Erin Bennett, Denise Homsley, Sandra Roberts, Angie Holt, Lorie Burningham, Lorraine Sears, Kamila Shahtakhtinski, Cheryl Dubberly, Michael Mastronicola, Maureen Rhodes

Call to Order: 9:32am (Anita Renfroe)

Parliamentarian: (Lynn Freeman)
Nothing to report

Secretary Minutes: (Stefanie Batson-Martin)
Kama Rasmussen-Li motioned to approve, Sandra Stewart seconded
Unanimously approved

Treasurer’s Report: (Lorie Burningham)
Nothing new to report

$9,154 in checking

Total of $20, 315 in bank account

A letter with a check from Benevity for $194 went to Lorie, Lorie will reach out to FSMTA State Treasurer for guidance

Vice-President/Membership: (Sandra Stewart)
52 members total, nothing to report

We met Cheryl Dubberly today in the meeting

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Altruistic: (Sandra Roberts)
Sent a card to Mr. Frankabandiero’s family
Kamila had five students in the Charleston Classical Music Competition

Communications: (Angie Holt)
Nothing to report

Community Service: (Joan Cordell)
Not present

Ethics: (Maureen Rhodes)
Not present

Historian: (Lynn Roberts)
Not present

Internet Media: (Angie Holt)
Nothing to report

Programs: (Michael Mastronicola)
Today is the Student Day program
April 14 program is Marc Sabatella who developed Muse score
May is the Concerto program

Scholarships: (Kamila Shahtakhtinski)
No applications were received by the deadline

Social: (Angie Holt)
Nothing to report

Student Recitals: (Angie Holt)
Sunday, April 18, after 2pm
Students can come at their assigned time with their family at All Saints Episcopal Church
Recital will be prerecorded and can be viewed after the recording event
Waiting to see who the point person is

Student Day: (Angie Holt)
Saturday, April 24, program to follow with details
Theory committee decided not to do the theory portion fully online

Wellness Liaison: (Joan Cordell and Stefanie Batson-Martin)
MTNA National Conference has some interesting wellness programs

Old Business:
Venmo/Paypal options

New Business:
FSMTA District Updates
Concerto Competition - March 20 deadline for video submissions
Phyllis Lake - secretary for Northwest Symphony
JMTA Officers for the next two years

Adjourned: 10:13am (Anita Renfroe)

-Submitted by Stefanie Batson-Martin

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JMTA Student Recital

Sunday, May 2 -  All Saints Episcopal Church

The JMTA Student Recital has been moved to Sunday, May 2nd, for church availability. This will be a hybrid recital where students will perform in scheduled increments before a camera (without an audience) and it will be recorded and put into a recital. They will be assigned a time between 2pm and 5pm.

If you have some students who would like to be in the recital:

Send an email to Angie Holt at [email protected] by Sunday, April 18th with the following information:

    Name of student(s)

    Age

    Level

    Teacher name and phone number

    Complete title of composition (one piece allowed, must be memorized;             duets     may use music)

    Composer

    Approximate time of piece

A fee of $5 is due per student. You may Venmo me at @Angie-Holt-7 (be sure to label what it is for), or you may mail a check to me made out to JMTA (my mailing address is on the website).

Students (and anyone accompanying them) should arrive 5 minutes prior to their assigned time. Please wear masks and there will be hand sanitizer for the student to use upon entering the building. The student can remove the mask for the recording.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thank you.

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DISTRICT IV NEWS

2021 District IV Student Day

The 2021 District IV Student Day is being held virtually on Saturday, April 24. Student Day applications have been received from 10 teachers, with a total of 38 students registered.

The events for which the student will receive a grade are: Written Theory, Aural Theory, and Audition (repertoire and keyboard skills). There is normally a fourth ungraded event, a Recital performance; however, due to the circumstances of being held virtually this year, the recital will not be held.

The live auditions before a judge, going over the repertoire and keyboard skills, are being held over Zoom. The aural theory testing will also be held over Zoom at a separate time. The written theory tests will be sent to teachers to distribute. The deadline to return the written tests will also be April 24.

For those who receive scores rendering them eligible to participate in an Honors Recital, recordings made of their chosen Student Day piece can be uploaded to YouTube upon further instruction.

Please contact me by email ([email protected]) with any questions you may have. Further emails will also be sent to participating teachers.

We are looking forward to a great 2021 District Student Day!

- Angie Holt, District IV Student Day Chair

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Over Coffee With . . .      

This month we are getting to know Stefanie Batson-Martin, who is our Secretary and is on several committees within JMTA. Thank you, Stefanie, for taking the time to share your experiences with us!

STEFANIE BATSON-MARTIN


My name is Stefanie Batson-Martin, I am from Orlando, Florida and moved to Jacksonville, Florida to attend the University of North Florida. I am a flute and piano instructor for Music and Arts, the Lead Musician at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, and I teach swim lessons and aqua fitness classes at the Brooks Family YMCA.


My mother signed me up for piano when I was around six-years-old because I enjoyed watching my grandmother play. I picked up flute in the 6th grade band and piccolo in high school. I studied flute with Rhonda Cassano, and piano with JMTA member Dr. Erin Bennett at UNF.


I got into playing for community theatres around North Florida through my husband (who plays bass), and one of the most challenging shows was my first show as Music Director, “One Man, Two Guvnors”. I was expecting to have to learn the piano book and teach the actors their vocal lines. After receiving the music, I found out the pit band was modeled after a skiffle band, and they actually did most of the playing and singing. The show was a British comedy and featured an actress portraying a woman disguised as her brother for most of the show, so we ended up disguising me as a man as well since the lyrics would not have made sense for me to sing as a woman. It was definitely one of the most memorable and hilarious shows I got to be a part of.


The corona virus actually taught me a really valuable lesson about how many students are living their lives in this time. Most of the time I would get complaints every week in lessons pre-covid that my students were rushed around from activity to activity and that they had no time to practice. This changed dramatically after the store I work at made us all go virtual in April 2020. Most of my students started progressing much faster than they did in-person. They were taking on more songs each week, and complaining less about homework and other activities since those were canceled and they were home all day. I was able to hold Zoom recitals every few months because I felt the students were actually prepared to do those that often, and I think the social aspects of seeing and interacting with other students while at home were much more exciting after constantly being around mostly family for so long. I’m sure many students still don’t practice because of the lack of interest, but I definitely feel stress, time and lack of being bored contribute to how much students practice that are interested in music.

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Area Concert


At the Friday Musicale: UNF Opera Department - Opera Scenes


The Friday Musicale presents “UNF Opera Department - Opera Scenes” as part of its concert season.


Thursday, April 8, 2021    Concert: 7:00pm    Doors Open: 6:30pm

Location: 645 Oak St., downtown Jacksonville


Concert is FREE and open to the public; donations appreciated. Complimentary on-site parking. Call 904-355-7584 for more information.

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Accompanist Available


Dr. Sandra Roberts is available to play for Sunday morning church services if anyone has a need. Her email is [email protected], or you can text or call her at 904-607-9068.

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Find A Teacher Section on Jaxmta.org


Teachers,

Please take a moment to check out your information on our Find a Teacher page.  If you would like to edit, add, or delete your information, please send whatever you would like changed to our Internet Media chairperson Angie Holt at [email protected].

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Need a Sponsor?

Does anyone in the JMTA need a sponsor or need help in any way? If so, John Scott, owner of Great Scott Music School, is interested in helping our organization. If interested, contact John at [email protected].

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Music Exchange (Will be on again once meetings are in-person)

Do you have too much music collected in your studio?  Is there some you think you'll never use?  Let's have a music exchange!  Bring your unwanted music to any JMTA meeting. Bring home something new to you!  Look for the "Free Music" spot.  Music does not have to be brand new.

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Have you found us on Facebook?

Follow JaxMTA on Facebook for the latest happenings, photos, videos, and more!


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Events Calendar

Please view our website for any updates or additions to these events, as well as for more details including application deadlines: www.jaxmta.org.




Stay tuned for more events to come!  High Notes is distributed on the first of the month excluding June-August and December.  All submissions are due by the 20th of the month prior to distribution.  Submissions may be sent to [email protected].