May 2025

 JMTA High Notes
May 2025 —Vol. 28, no. 8
The general meeting for May was held at the home of Dr. Anita Renfroe, followed by the performances of the JMTA Scholarship and Concerto Competition winners on May 7th.
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President’s Pen
Dear Colleagues,
We are in need of the following Committee Chairs for the 2025-2027 term:
• Programs According to the association constitution, this person “shall prepare and present an outline of the programs to be used throughout the year to the Executive Board in August.” It is an exciting position to reach out to others to create an enriching set of programs for our music teachers.
• Community Service Awards Our association description follows: “This chairperson shall be in charge of promoting participation in community service award programs. If there is more than one applicant within a county, the chairperson of this committee may appoint a committee to determine a winner for that county.” Usually the deadline is December 31st. This chair is not required to be present at meetings.
• Wellness Liaison
This is a newer committee position, where the chair presents wellness advice during a segment of the monthly meeting.

If you are interested and would like to volunteer to be a part of helping the music community, please contact me at [email protected]. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Angie Holt, President, JMTA
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Table of Contents
MEETING MINUTES
April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TREASURY REPORTS
April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Monthly Programs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Photo Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
AREA CONCERTS AND RECITALS . . . . 9
Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

MEETING MINUTES

JMTA Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 10, 2025, 9:30am
Meeting held via Zoom

Present (Zoom): Angie Holt, Paulette Kilts, Lorraine Sears, Denise Homsley, Erin Bennett, Rhonda Danielson, Kama Rasmussen-Li, Betty Atkinson, Lynn Freeman, Mary McKee, Kamila Shahtakhtinski

Call to Order: 9:40am (Angie Holt)

Parliamentarian: (Lynn Freeman)
Nothing to report

Secretary Minutes: (Stefanie Batson-Martin)
Not present, March minutes were sent to everybody via email
Paulette requested the February minutes, Erin sent Stefanie the recording during the meeting so those will be completed by the May meeting
Erin motioned to approve the March minutes, Paulette seconded

Treasurer’s Report: (Damon Martin and Stefanie Batson-Martin)
Not present

Vice-President/Membership: (Mary McKee)
Ron Touchton is a new member

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Communications & Social Media Update: (Angie Holt)
Newsletter will go out tonight
She will get the bylaws out as well

Programs: (Open)
Nothing today (Sandy Stewart ended up in rehab and is doing okay)
May: Concerto Competition winners

Social: (Sandra Stewart)
Not present

Student Recitals: (Lorraine Sears & Gavin Taylor)
The March recital checks got lost in the mail, Lorraine is writing a new check, Christine Couch will send one, and Sandra Stewart can get one when she gets back home
Proton Therapy Recital: 11 students, 7 teachers on March 25 (Angie arranged all of that)

Scholarship: (Kamila Shahtakhtinski)
Held online, three judges, two applicants, Christine Couch’s student and Mary McKee’s student, Mary’s student won, he will perform at the meeting
Will contact the treasurer for the check

Student Day: (Angie Holt)
We’re having the Honors Recital on Sunday at All Saints Episcopal, eight students total

Altruistic: (Sandra Roberts)
Not present

Community Service Awards: (Joan Cordell)
Not present

Ethics: (Betty Atkinson)
Nothing to report

Historian: (Paulette Kilts)
Added the Proton Therapy Recital to the archives
She needs the Student Day Recital Programs

Wellness Liaison: (Denise Homsley)
Breathing or breath
Very important, Denise tells student breathing is to counting in music if they don’t count
Had everybody close eyes, inhale for four counts, hold for two, exhale for eight counts
Also tried inhale for six counts, exhale for two counts or less
Last meeting as wellness liaison

Old Business:

District Concerto Competition:
Senior Piano Winner: Vitali Fedchenko (Mary’s student), he will go on to State
Elementary Winner: Emma Shen (Stefanie’s student)

New Business:
Nominating Committees Induction of Officer Candidates

JMTA Officer Candidates:
President: Angie Holt
Vice President: Mary McKee
Treasurer: Lorraine Sears
Secretary: Rhonda Danielson
Kamila motioned, Denise Homsley seconded, unanimously voted
Nominating committee: Denise, Betty, Lynn Freeman, Mary McKee and Angie

District Officer Candidates:
President: Kama Rasmussen-Li
Vice President: Lynn Roberts
Treasurer: Denise Homsley
Secretary: Rhonda Danielson
Committee: Denise, Paulette, Lorraine, Kama, Angie
Paulette motioned, Angie seconded, unanimously voted

The May meeting is at Anita’s, she needs a list of who will go for the gate guard, parking is across the street, lunch will be for members only

State Conference: Two hotels for reservations, registration should be online soon, there will be a beach walk in the mornings

Adjourned: 10:30am (Angie Holt)

No Program

Submitted by Stefanie Batson-Martin, Recording Secretary
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TREASURY REPORTS
April
Checking:
Expenses
04/16/25 Check #1052 (JR - HS scholarship judge) $100.00
04/18/25 Debit (SunBiz annual report) $61.25
04/18/25 Check #1048 (MM - Mar presentation) $25.00
Deposits
04/14/25 Check #121 (LS - Mar recital dues) $60.00
04/30/25 Interest - Business Checking $0.71
 Current Checking $7,686.24
 Warren Fund $827.73
  TOTAL Checking Account $8,513.97
Business Money Market (Scholarship):
Expenses
Deposits
​04/30/25 Interest - Business Money Market $0.57
  TOTAL Business Money Market Account $1,138.02
Business Shares (Festival):
Expenses
Deposits
04/30/25 Interest - Business Shares $0.43
  TOTAL Business Shares Account $5,197.20
18-23 Month Business CD:
Expenses
Deposits
04/30/25 Interest - CD $13.06
  TOTAL Business CD Account $5,393.01
  TOTAL ASSETS as of April 30, 2025 $20,242.20
Submitted by Stef & Damon Martin 05/07/2025

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MONTHLY PROGRAMS
Thank you to all who have attended our programs over the 2024-2025 year. If you would like to be the Program Committee Chair for the 2025-2026 year, please contact Angie Holt at [email protected].
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Photo Gallery

We enjoyed our program in May at the home of Anita Renfroe, where we watched online the Concerto Competition Elementary Piano winner, Emma Shen, student of Stefanie Batson-Martin, and the Senior Piano winner in person, Vitaly Fedchenko, student of Dr. Mary McKee. Vitaly will be advancing to the state competition in May, and we wish him the best! (The Elementary category is a District level-only competition.) Vitaly is also the 2025 JMTA Scholarship winner, and was presented with the scholarship check by Kamila Shahtakhtinski, Scholarship Chair, at the meeting. Congratulations to Vitaly!

​AREA CONCERTS AND RECITALS

Community Hospice Performances

If you would be interested in performing a recital at the Hadlow Center at the Community Hospice and Pallative Care on Sunbeam Road, they sponsor a monthly performance titled First Friday Recital Series, with performances starting at 11:30 a.m. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Sandra Stewart at 904-333-9280.

Click on each link for a calendar of upcoming performances:

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Events
Click on link for more information and tickets:
Events | Jacksonville Symphony

University of North Florida Music Events
Click on link for more information and tickets:
https://www.unf.edu/coas/music/events.html

Jacksonville University Music Events
Click on link for more information and tickets:
https://viewer.joomag.com/creative-arts-series-20242025/0546091001658934607?short&

Florida State College at Jacksonville
Click on link for more information and tickets:
fine-arts-calendar.jpg (2550×3300)

Friday Musicale Events Click on link for more information and tickets:
https://fridaymusicale.com/events/
St. Johns Cathedral Music Events
Click on link for more information and tickets: https://www.jaxcathedral.org/events/
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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 on the JMTA website (jaxmta.org). If you would like any changes made, or if you’re not listed yet and would like to be added, please contact Angie Holt at [email protected] with the verbiage you would like put in.
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Did You Know?
Residents of Duval county, if they have a Jacksonville Library card, can use the many electronic resources from the https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/digital-library. Getting a library card is free. All that's needed is your driver's license and sign up in person at any of the 21 branches.
The card allows the use of Kanopy - which has free streaming movies, documentaries, educational resources [older teens/adults]. I saw a documentary "Making the Grade" which profiled Irish students and piano teachers whose students are preparing to take the Irish Royal Academy of Music Examinations. It was funny, moving, informative, and relatable, especially seeing snippets of the teacher's lessons in action and how the students feel about piano and their teachers overall. I highly recommend members watch it (and explore the other resources available from JPL)!
- JohnWillard Utuk
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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 Jacksonville School of Music & First Coast School of Music, is interested in helping our organization. If interested, contact John at [email protected]. His direction phone number is 904-248-1848.
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Music Exchange
Do you have too much music collected in your studio? Is there some you think you'll never use? Bring your unneeded 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 JMTA 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.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!
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].