February 2017 - Volume 20, No. 5

JMTA General Meeting
Please join us for our next meeting on February 8th! Following the business meeting, Penny Lyle, from Pensacola, will sing with several male vocalists, giving a presentation of American Patriotic music.

• Date: Wednesday, February 8
• Time: 9:30a-12:00p
• Place: Keyboard Connection, 9912 San Jose Blvd., Jacksonville, 32257

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President’s Pen
I hope everyone has had a positive start to the New Years. I know mine has personally been crazy! I took a long term music substitute job at a middle school, so I have been pulling 12 hour days Monday through Friday and then also teaching my private students Saturday. However, my health has taken a toll due to this, so it has been a rough month. For better or worse, the school decided to hire someone that was not me. I am not yet certified through the State of Florida, so they wanted a teacher who was certified. In the end, I learned a lot and got to know a lot of great kids whom I will miss. On that note, it is time for me to announce that I will not be running for another 2 years as President, however I will happily finish out my Presidency in May. My goal is to get a job with DCPS and have a better work schedule for my daughter and have a job that provides me with health benefits and retirement. I will continue to teach my private piano students, but on a much smaller scale. Needless to say, since I plan on teaching at a school, I would not be able to make Wednesday meetings, therefore making it too difficult to hold the office of President.
Student Day went smoothly this year and the facilities at JU proved to be wonderful yet again. I thoroughly enjoyed administering the upper level Aural Theory tests, which was a new experience for me. Many thanks to all the teachers who participated and helped out with Student Day, and to Denise Homsley for once again orchestrating a successful Student Day. Hopefully next year we will have a higher student enrollment. I enjoyed the Honors Recital, held at Keyboard Connection on January 29th.

I hope to see many of you at our next meeting on Wednesday, February 8th at Keyboard Connection. Our presenter will be Penny Lyle, who is traveling all the way from Pensacola with her singers to perform for us. Let’s show her a great turn out!

Lindsay Hardee, JMTA President
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District 4 (General) Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, January 11, 2017, 9:30 a.m.
Keyboard Connection
Members Present:
Paulette Kilts, Lorraine Eaton, Kamila Shahtakhtinski, Lynn Freeman, Betty Atkinson,JohnWillard Utuk, Denise Homsley, Sarah Blazs, Anita Renfroe, Sandra Roberts
President Lorraine: Meeting called to order; Jan. 11, 2016 D4 General meeting minutes were read & approved.
Treasurer Report [Denise]:

• Denise passed out the Transaction report (June 29, 2016-Jan. 11, 2017). Expenses for today’s Luncheon was $76.50; D4 wrote a check to UNF for $150 to sponsor a breakfast for the MTNA Collegiate Chapter’s Symposium. Previous balance was $3,048.61; after expenses, the current Business Checking Balance for today 1/11/17, is $2,822.11; Savings total is $5,676.35. Total Assets are $8,498.46.
  
• [Lorraine]: FSMTA is starting a new conference fund, which asks each District/local to donate annually; donations are seed money assistance when the conference comes to your district. Lorraine proposed to submit $50 annually to that fund to help out our state. (for summer Board meeting & board members to consider)
  
• Also wants to consider donating to the Florida Music Teacher’s Foundation; JMTA donates $15 annually to the fund which provides scholarship monies (for student winners). Currently D4 doesn’t submit any donations to that fund. The possibility of the donation to the annual budget will be discussed at board meeting, being sure we can fit those in our budget first. The conference will be coming to our district (both D3 & D4) in 2018.

Student Day [Denise]:

• Student day is coming up on January 21st at Jacksonville University. Grateful that JU is hosting again; they requested some teachers complete background checks. She has 3. Received liability certificate of insurance.
  
• Sad enrollment is down (not sure why), since other dates weren’t available and Scott Watkins felt he had to be present as liaison. There are 10 teachers and 56 students participating (compared to 90 last year).
  
• Denise is in the process of sending out the completed schedules. Thinks the judges will be through by 3:30 and has a short recital scheduled.
  
• Denise has not been successful securing a church/venue for the Honors recital; still waiting to hear back from Peace Presbyterian and will try again the next day. Betty will ask her church as a possible venue.
  
• Honors recital is scheduled for Sunday, January 29th . Will be about an hour 2-3pm. Previous criteria for participants remain the same-students should have Honors in Performance and at least Achievement in everything else.
  
• Denise attended the Student Day meeting at the State Conference. The Student Day Handbook will be undergoing some changes. The revisions will be on a schedule, with Primary and Level 1 implemented in 2018. Levels 2-5 will be next in 2019, 6-8 in 2020 (also 9 &10). There were 10 people on the committee and they are still asking for feedback. Some proposed changes to P/Lvl 1, were passed out and explained (e.g., students asked to clap back rhythms, scoring changes, P to play C & G scales, et al); she asked for teachers to provide comments/feedback, either written in margins or sent to her via email to pass along. (Revisions accessible on state website: Members(Exec. Board reports)Non-competitive events Nancy Shakelford report)

Teacher’s Recital [Michael Mastronicola]:

• Open Mic. performance today following meeting. (Kamila, JohnWillard, and Lorraine performed. Sarah, Anita, and Jack performed as well.)

Certification: 

• Sue Holder will answer any questions about Certification via email (or phone).

Concerto Competition [Erin]:

• Lorraine: the deadline for the application is March 1st. Application is on state website. Direct any questions to Dr. Bennett. Competition will be held at UNF on March 25th .

Old Business [Sandra]:

• There is one applicant for the Community service award: Amanda ___. $100 is in the community service award budget ($60 left). A plaque is needed and the award will be given in the Spring.

New Business [Lorraine]:

• JohnWillard is stepping down as D4 Recording Secretary. Lorie Burningham agreed to take position. Lynn suggested board votes; Lorraine motioned nomination (board members Denise & John voted in approval). Lorie is now new D4 secretary.
  
• Lorraine mentioned needing a D4 representative for the State conference Teacher’s Recital, held in September 7-10th at the Biltmore in Coral Gables. Kamila is considering performing and Lorraine encouraged anyone else to contact her if interested, Lorraine requested information/interest by July 1st.
  
• “Summer Board possibilities”-June 7th is a tentative meeting date for the Board Meeting.
  
• [Lindsay—JMTA]: This year is an election year for JMTA for new President, Vice President, Recording Secretary & Treasurer; nominating committee needs to be formed: Chairperson, 4 active members, and both current/past Presidents. Denise offered to be part of the committee; Vera was mentioned. Lorraine will pass on names to Lindsay. Committee will present the slate of possible officers in March, names will be voted on in April, and new officers installed in May.
  
• The MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium will be held at UNF this weekend. Lorraine encouraged fellow members to attend.

Next JMTA General meeting: Location TBA, Feb. 8th, 2017 @ 9:30am
Minutes Submitted by JohnWillard Utuk
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FSMTA District 4 News
Current officers:

• President–Lorraine Eaton
• Vice President–Jeannie Rose
• Recording Secretary–JohnWillard Utuk
• Treasurer–Denise Homsley

Everyone had a very enjoyable time at the Teacher Open Mic following our January meeting! It was lovely to see both “serious” literature, and “fun” pieces being played. I’m slightly disappointed no one juggled! Start practicing for next year! View photos and videos of our members performing on our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/JaxMTA.

Another successful Student Day has come and gone. Certificates and graded tests will be available soon. Medals will be available in May. Contact chairperson Denise Homsley for specific questions about Student Day.

Concerto Competition is coming up—the deadline to apply is March 1st! Contact chairperson Erin Bennett with any questions. The event will be held on March 25, 2017, at UNF. Applications and more information about this event can be found at the FSMTA website: http://www.fmta.org/fsmta-competitive-events.html.
~Lorraine Eaton, D4 President
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2017 District 4 Student Day
Denise Homsley, Mus.M., NCTM, Chair, District IV Student Activities

• District 4 Student Day was held Saturday, January 21, 2017, on the campus of Jacksonville University. Heartfelt thanks is extended to Dr. Henry Rinne, Dean, College of Fine Arts, and our site coordinator Dr. Scott Watkins, Associate Professor of Piano, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies, and to Jacksonville University itself for the gracious use of the campus.
  
• Ten JMTA teachers enrolled 56 students to participate in this year’s Student Day. Many thanks to our adjudicators: Joan Cordell, Dr. Michael Mastronicola, and Dr. Anita Renfroe. Your expertise and helpful comments are so appreciated!
  
• Appreciation is also sincerely extended to the following for their assistance with the administration of Student Day: Ansel Audain, Betty Atkinson, Lorraine Eaton, Lindsay Hardee, Anne Marie Giffin, and Nikki Groff. Many thanks, as well, to Lynn Atkinson, David Cox, Mark Homsley, and Fang Li for their assistance at Student Day.

HONORS RECITAL

• Many students qualified to participate in the District IV Student Day Honors Recital, which was held on Sunday, January 29th, 2017 at Keyboard Connection. Twenty-one students performed a selection from their Student Day repertoire. After the performance, each was given a Certificate of Excellence for receiving Honors on their Audition, and Honors or Achievement on their Theory exams.

Many thanks to Jack Melvin for hosting this special recital!
Thank you everyone for making this year’s Student Day very successful!! We look forward to 2018 District 4 Student Day!
Denise Homsley
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JMTA SPRING RECITAL
The JMTA Spring Recital will be held on Sunday, March 5th, with more details to come. Contact Dr. Michael Mastronicola with questions.
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Community Recital
The Community Recital will be held on Tuesday, April 4, at the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute, 2015 N. Jefferson St., Jacksonville, 32216, at 6:00pm.
This recital is for intermediate and advanced students. Students can earn community service hours. Contact Dr. Sandra Stewart for further iniquiry.
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Open Positions in JMTA! Exciting opportunities to serve!
Archivist
The Archivist is responsible for scanning old documents and pics onto our website. This is currently being done by Lorraine Eaton, already District President.
Piano Festival
This person is responsible for planning the Piano Festival. Lindsay Hardee is co-chair of this committee and will continue to fill the position, but she needs help.
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Want to become Nationally Certified?
Are you a National Certified Teacher of Music? Check out the Process:
Certification candidates are required to complete five projects:
explanation of teaching philosophy
analysis of teaching pieces
video of teaching
description of teaching environment
discussion of business ethics and studio policies
From the MTNA Certification website workbooks are available. They are accompanied by a document titled, “What Will the Evaluators Be Looking For?” that guides candidates as they complete the profile projects.
Other helpful materials are available at the MTNA Certification website.
(see American Music Teacher, August/September 2016, pp. 32, 33)
Sue H. Holder, District Certification Chair