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General Meeting and Program
Date: Wednesday, November 9 Location: First Presbyterian Church, 118 E. Monroe St Jacksonville 32202 Time: 9:30- 11:30 am Come ready to ‘jump-in’ at our next meeting! Twila Miller will be with us to guide our exploration of tuning our first instrument, our bodies. Please wear comfortable clothing and shoes. For more information, read “Feet First” below! ________________________________________________________________________ President’s Pen Hello all, what a crazy month October has been for me personally, and for everyone else. I hope that all of you made it through Hurricane Matthew with minimal damage. Due to the hurricane, we had to cancel the October JMTA recital and were unable to reschedule. I will look forward to enrolling my students in the December recital. Currently, I am preparing to go to the State Conference in Orlando next week and am greatly looking forward to getting out of town and breaking up my routine a bit. I know I will gain a lot of insight and new teaching tips to bring back to Jacksonville and share with you. I will make sure to take notes! Additionally, our October JMTA presentation by Organist Tim Tuller at St. John’s Cathedral was so fascinating! I now know how an Organ works (mostly) and getting to hear it in action was beautiful and inspiring. I hope to see some of you at the State Conference and at November’s meeting, until then, take care. Lindsay Hardee, JMTA President ________________________________________________________________________ JMTA Treasurer Transaction Report September 1-30, 2016
________________________________________________________________________ Feet First! If Chris’s desire was to create music at the piano, but he was faced with the entangled responses from his mind, body and specifically his eyes, then I had to help him discover how to rely on the feeling in his body. Once the feet are grounded and established, as in the light-weight-body, the mind, body and spirit of the child can find success, and at whatever stage of learning. A child with a diagnosis of dyslexia, a child with a diagnosis of autism, a neuro-typical child, and you and me…it all begins with feet first. Come ready to ‘jump-in’ at our next meeting. Twila Miller will be with us to guide our exploration of tuning our first instrument, our bodies. Please wear comfortable clothing and shoes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twila M. Miller (M.A. music education, Indiana University; M.F. A. conducting, Butler University; B. S. Piano and Organ performance, Huntington University; Certificate in Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Longy School of Music, and Cambridge, MA) is a music specialist and Eurhythmics instructor for children of all learning styles, including those attending the Jacksonville School of Autism. She also teaches private piano at the First Coast Community Music School. A gifted conductor, Ms. Miller was artistic director of the Fort Wayne Children’s Chorus (1989- 1999) and the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus (2000-2005). Certified Level II Creative Motion Instructor. Date: Wednesday, November 9 Location: First Presbyterian Church, 118 E. Monroe St., Jacksonville, 32202 Time: 9:30- 11:30 am Parking: Metered parking on the streets surrounding the church. Free parking as available in the church’s parking lot, found on east side of the church. ________________________________________________________________________ Open Positions in JMTA! Exciting opportunities to serve! Archivist: Responsible for scanning old documents and pics onto our website. Currently being done by Lorraine Eaton, already District President. Piano Festival: Responsible for planning Piano Festival. Lindsay Hardee is co-chair of this committee and will continue to fill the position, but she needs help. _______________________________________________________________________ Winter Student Recital
________________________________________________________________________ 2017 District IV Student Day Student Day will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2017, at Jacksonville University. The application deadline is December 10, 2016. Updated information to be added to the JMTA website soon! The Student Day Handbook is now available online and may be accessed by members at www.fmta.org. For questions, please email Denise Homsley: [email protected] Student Day is one of the best structured and comprehensive music evaluation programs in existence. And, it gives students a great sense of accomplishment. Please begin preparing your students now to enter 2017 District Student Day! PLEASE NOTE: Jacksonville University has requested Level 2 (fingerprints) documentation for teachers assisting with Student Day. If you are participating in 2017 District Student Day, please bring your documentation to the November 9 JMTA meeting. Thanks! Denise Homsley ________________________________________________________________________ District 4 News Current officers:
Our annual meeting is scheduled for January 11, 2017. We have a fun program planned for you this year–Teacher Open Mic! We want everyone to come out and show us their performing arts talents. You can play an instrument, do a dance, share spoken word, or maybe even a comedy act or juggling routine! The point is, it is open to any and all types of performances. Many of us are talented in other ways than just playing a formal memorized piece. Let’s celebrate our individuality and uniqueness in a fun, non-judgmental environment. Anyone wishing to participate, please contact Michael Mastronicola at [email protected]. District 4 is sponsoring a Coffee Break at the upcoming MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium (UNF Jan 14-15, 2017). Collegiate students from across the country are coming into town, and host homes are needed. If you have a spare bed to share for the weekend, please contact Erin Bennett. (Please see Erin’s post below.) Concerto Competition dates have not yet been finalized. It will probably be in March. Chairperson Erin Bennett will have more information soon. ________________________________________________________________________ MTNA Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium Dear JMTA Members, As many of you know, the University of North Florida will host the upcoming 6th MTNA Collegiate Chapter Piano Pedagogy Symposium, January 14-15, 2017. This will be the first time this event has been held in Florida. During this conference, college undergraduate and graduate students, along with their faculty advisors, will come to Jacksonville for a two-day symposium full of presentations, posters, master classes, and new this year: a master class of a master class (where a guest teacher will instruct a collegiate member in the finer points of giving a public master class). Last year’s Symposium had over 160 participants, and we are hoping for similar or greater numbers in Jacksonville. Registration is now open, and while the focus is on collegiate members, anyone may attend. The registration fee is only $25. https://members.mtna.org/Collegiate_Symposium/Register.html Two items of note for JMTA members: 1) To make this conference affordable for students traveling from across the country, I am trying to arrange for homestays for as many of our collegiate participants as possible. This provides a valuable opportunity for young members to get to know a more established teacher in the community and to learn more about the benefits of continued MTNA membership. Local hosts have no obligation to pick up collegiate guests from the airport or to drive them to/from UNF, although you may if you wish. There is also no obligation to provide meals for guests. I have found the college/graduate students to be respectful and gracious guests, but if you would to prefer to offer space only to a faculty advisor, that’s ok, too. If you are able to participate as a local host, I will need to know your address and the number of guests you can accommodate. Please also indicate whether you can offer beds, sofa sleepers, or even available floor space for potential collegiate members who bring a sleeping bag. Please don’t assume that you live too far from UNF to be of assistance. My students are prepared to shuttle students back and forth to campus, as needed. Last year’s host city could only accommodate 6 guests (down from 30-40 the previous year). I think we can show more hospitality in Jacksonville. Thank you in advance for considering this, as I know it’s a lot to ask. My students have participated in homestays for two previous symposia (and I even stayed with a local member for the first Symposium!), and it provided a rich, added dimension to the conference experience. Some of my former students are still in contact with their host in Dallas, from two years ago. 2) Also, I’m in search of a couple of students to participate in the master classes (both those by the faculty advisors, and the Masterclass of a Masterclass). I would like to include a broad range of levels (pre-college students, Elementary through Advanced) from a variety of studios to showcase the best of Jacksonville. Masterclasses will take place on both Saturday, Jan. 14 and Sunday, Jan. 15 – both days will probably start at 1:00pm. Many thanks for considering both of these requests. I urgently need to secure housing numbers as soon as possible, so for Request #1 please let me know if you are able to host by November 15th. For those proposing a student for Request #2, please send me the student’s name, grade, and proposed repertoire before Thanksgiving. Many thanks for your consideration. I hope to see you at UNF for the Symposium in January. My best, Erin Bennett [email protected] ________________________________________________________________________ District 4 Recording Secretary Position Open District 4 is in need of a new Recording Secretary. Duties include:
District 4 meets 2-3 times per year: one general meeting, usually in January, and 1-2 board meetings in the summer. You would need to be present at each of these meetings. If this sounds like a service you can provide to your district, please contact district president Lorraine Eaton at [email protected]. A new Recording Secretary is needed by December 1, 2016. Thank you. ________________________________________________________________________ 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:
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 ________________________________________________________________________ Welcome New Member! Christine Couch is a native of Carrollton, Georgia and earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of West Georgia where she studied with George Mann. Undergraduate achievements include receiving the Kelley Drake Memorial Scholarship presented by Sigma Alpha Iota and the Music Club Arts Award presented by the UWG music department. While at UWG, Ms. Couch enjoyed accompanying various local choirs and theatre productions for children and adults. She received her Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., under the study of Dr. Ivo Kaltchev. She was soon after appointed as organist for the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville, Maryland, where she accompanied three choirs and directed the Spanish choir until July 2014. Ms. Couch studied organ with Dr. Jeffery Pannebaker and was awarded the Potomac Organ Institute Scholarship in 2010 as well as the Service Playing and Colleague Certification through the American Guild of Organists. Ms. Couch was the music teacher for St. Jude Regional Catholic School for the 2013-2014 school year, directing the St. Jude Children’s Choir and serving as music director for the drama department. In the summer of 2014, Ms. Couch relocated to accept appointment as principal organist at St. Luke Catholic Church in Middleburg, Florida where she is very active in the music ministry. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and has enjoyed a teaching career for the past 14 years. Ms. Couch is currently a staff accompanist at Jacksonville University. |
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