www.msmta.org A bi-monthly publication of the Maryland State Music Teachers Association December 2014

Affiliated with Music Teachers National Association

Maryland State Music Teachers Association

From the President…Happy Holidays! I hope you all will have a little time to rest during the holidays!

I am pleased to announce that MSMTA will be establishing new funds for student scholarships and teacher grant programs. Two $1000 scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors who will major in music at colleges, and a

minimum of two $500 grants will be awarded for teachers’ continuing education. The board voted to put up to 50% of our operating surplus money into these funds each year in the hope of continuing the programs for a long time to come. The applications are included in this newsletter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.

I am also very excited to announce that our first collegiate chapter is established at Washington Adventist University, led by piano faculty member, Dr. Mark Di Pinto. Some of the board members and I will be meeting student members in February; we are looking forward to continuing to develop close relationships with our young members.

Lastly, we are working toward the launch of our new website in March, thanks to our very knowledgeable tech committee chair, Cynthia Cathcart, and webmaster, John Ralph. This new website should give us a new fresh look as well as user-friendly features for our members. I will notify everyone once it is operational.

Stay warm and I hope to see many of you at our students’ events in 2015!

MSMTA’S FirST CollegiATe ChApTer MeMberS FroM WAShingTon AdvenTiST UniverSiTy

Vanessa Baioni, Vice-President; Stephanie Birmingham, Secretary; Jordan Do Ouro, Treasurer; Shanti Seidel, President (in front); Geofrey Cua; Arely Reyes; Samuel Sanchez

PresidentJunko Takahashi10503 Redosier CourtBethesda, MD 20814

treasurer & VP FinanceClaudette Horwitz5004 Barkwood PlaceRockville, MD 20853

VP student actiVitiesJudy Dalton9268 East CourtWhite Plains, MD 20695-2670

VP MeMbershiPAnn McCandliss4429 Buena Vista AvenueBaltimore, MD 21211-1206

VP PublicationsKathryn Stansbery16130 Patapsco Overlook CourtMount Airy, MD 21771

VP certiFicationAnn Matteson 5204 Paducah Road College Park , MD 20740

recording secretaryDaniel Lau507 Walker AvenueBaltimore, MD 21212-2624

corresPonding secretaryDouglas Guiles10359 Cullen TerraceColumbia, MD 21044

historianBonnie Kellert9140 Falls Chapel WayPotomac, MD 20854-2454

MeMber-at-largeConstance Fischel6072 Warmstone CourtColumbia, MD 21045-4045

iMMediate Past PresidentCarol Wolfe-Ralph

President electConstance Fischel

LocaL association Presidents

anne arundel MtaChristene Sanders

Mta greater baltiMoreWendy Balder

Mta bowieJeannine Case

carroll county MtaNancy Rodo

Mta charles countyMary Wolf

greater coluMbia MtaDavid Holmes

eastern shore MtaRaymond Hobbs

Frederick county MtaLaurel Carroll

howard county MtaDavid Kuperstein

greater laurel MtaWendy Johnston

MontgoMery county MtaCynthia Cathcart

Prince georges MtaJanet Swaney

Mta southern MarylandPatricia Blanchard

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2014-2015 MSMTA GrAnT ApplicATion for conTinuinG EducATion for TEAchErS

Junko Takahashi,10503 Redosier Court, Bethesda, MD 20814-2211

Whenever funds are available, MSMTA will award a minimum of two teachers $500 each for continuing education. Continuing education includes private instrumental study, participation in workshops, summer courses, and festivals. The decision of the committee is final.

QUALIFICATIONS:1. Teachers must be members of MSMTA for at least two continuous years.2. Teachers who have received a grant may re-apply after four years.

REQUIREMENTS:1. Completed application. The postmarked deadline for the application is April 30, 2015. Send complete application to Junko Takahashi at above address. 2. Explanation of the intended use of the funds.

APPLICATION FOR GRANT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR TEACHERS

Name: __________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________

Preferred phone number: __________________ Preferred email: _______________________

Years of membership in MSMTA: __________ Number of years teaching: _______

Participation in MSMTA events (board positions held, participation in programs and events):________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Participation in other community and religious musical events, paid and non-paid:________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Intended use of funds: ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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standinG coMMittee cHairs

adVertising

Claudette Horwitz

bylaws/ParliaMentarian

David Holmes

certiFication

Ann Matteson

college Faculty

TBA

coMMunity outreach and education

Deborah White-Bondhus

coMPosition coMMissioning

Li-Ly Chang

conFerence

Carol Wolfe-RalphJunko Takahashi

Finance

Claudette Horwitz

Fund raising

TBA

indePendent Music teachers

Helen Smith Tarchalski

legal adVisor

Randy Reade

local and student associations

Kathryn Stansbery

Mtna Foundation

Carol Wolfe-Ralph

MsMta Foundation/Fundraising

TBA

MeMbershiP

Ann McCandliss

noMinations

Ann Matteson

Publications

Kathryn Stansbery

Publicity

Christine Couch

student actiVities

Yoon Huh

technology

Cynthia Cathcart

2014-2015 MSMTA Scholarship for high School Graduating Seniors with a declared Music Major in college

Junko Takahashi, 10503 Redosier Court, Bethesda, MD 20814-2211.

Whenever funds are available, MSMTA will award two $1,000 grants to two high school graduating seniors with a declared music major in college. The decision of the committee is final.

QUALIFICATIONS:1. Students must currently study with an MSMTA member and must have studied with an

MSMTA member for two years before applying2. Student is a graduating senior with a declared college music major.

REQUIREMENTS:1. Completed student application. Students will show the committee a) their acceptance letter

from the college they will attend, and (b) notification that they passed the qualifying entrance audition in their instrument (for students who intend to major in an instrument). The postmarked deadline for the application is April 30, 2015. Send completed application to Junko Takahashi at the above address

2. Written recommendation of the MSMTA teacher.3. List of student’s musical accomplishments, including the following: participation in official

MSMTA competitions, events, and programs, participation in musical events in the community or religious organization as a soloist or group member, and paying instrumental jobs or teacher experiences.

4. Student essay of 500 words explaining the student’s interest in studying music in college and musical goals.

5. The committee will meet and select awardees by June 1.

ApplicATion for GrAnT for GrAduATinG SEniorS WiTh A dEclArEd MuSic MAJor in collEGE

Name: __________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________

Parent’s name: ______________________ Parent’s preferred phone number ______________

Parent’s preferred email: _______________________

Instrument studied: ________________ Number of years studied: _______

Additional instruments: __________________________________________

Teacher’s name:___________________________Teacher’s email: _________________________

High School from which student will graduate: __________________________

College that student plans to attend: ____________________________________

Student’s High School participation in musical events:

1. MSMTA___________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2. High School: _______________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3. Community and religious organization (paid and unpaid): ____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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STUdenT ACTiviTieS

STringS plUS FeSTivAl

The Strings Plus Festival will be held on Sunday, March 1, 2015 from 9:00 to 2:00 at the Landon School in Bethesda. The application deadline is January 15, 2015.

Please consider entering your students for this event because it will be a fun and rewarding experience for them. Students through 12th grade, ages six and above as of March 1, 2015 can participate.

There are so many ensemble options to choose from: duets, trios, quartets, quintets, octets. Anything with a string instrument will be acceptable. Our goal is to encourage students with positive and constructive comments from judges.

I find that the Strings Plus Festival is a great competition for students who are timid about playing solo; it boosts their confidence and prepares them for the solo festival.

For more information and an application form, please visit the http://www.revisemysite.com/pdfs/61-2015StringsPlusFestival or http://www.msmta.org/sa/apps/strings_plus_spring_festival.pdf.

Kelly Hsu, Chair

Theory exAMS 2015The 2015 Theory exam dates are nearly upon us and there are just a couple of things to be mindful of when registering and preparing students.

During the summer, a theory addendum was printed in the newsletter and was sent to all members via a global email. The addendum addresses a few small errors in the syllabus as well as indicating areas that will not be included in the 2015 exam, such as aural piece identification. Please be sure to look over the addendum as well as the syllabus. If you need a copy, please email me at lorinmccarthy@verizon.net and I will email it to you.

When registering this year, please take care to spell student names correctly and register for the correct level. Due to the inordinately large numbers of requests we had last year to make such changes after registration, the MSMTA board approved the charging of a “change fee”. Such requests take time and money as we have to regenerate and send new lists and labels. If you request a change of level or name spelling after the registration deadline, there will be a $5 fee assessed to make the change. So please register carefully to avoid the fee. If, of course, an error is made on the part of the registrar, there will be no fee assessed. And please be sure to check your student lists carefully to include everyone you intend, as local centers will not be able to accommodate students that were not previously registered.

Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding the exam. I am hoping your students have a great experience with the 2015 Theory exam.

Lori McCarthyChair, MSMTA Theory Testing Program

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The George Washington University !

Summer Piano & Chamber Music Institute

August 3 - 7, 2015"Applications are now being accepted for GW’s 2015 Summer Piano & Chamber Music Institute! !

Designed to immerse middle, high school and college students in a rigorous week of piano and strings curriculum at a university level, the Institute provides a structured curriculum with:

~ lessons with resident faculty ~ scheduled, monitored practice time ~ coaching sessions ~ ~ studio & masterclasses ~ concerts by faculty and outside guests ~

Faculty include Juilliard's Quartet-in -Residence, the Aeolus Quartet, and Lithuanian pianist, Ieva Jokubaviciute"!Unique among musical programs in the Washington, D.C. area, the Institute places its students in ensembles in

which resident faculty both coach, rehearse and perform side by side with the students. Students end their week performing a concert with these artists of international performing caliber. !

To receive more information or download an application visit tinyurl.com/gwsummer or call (202) 994-6245.

It has been a busy but musical fall in Charles County! In October, MTA Charles County teachers and students participated in a baroque festival, featuring solos and ensembles on the harpsichord, organ and various instrumental combinations in two recitals at Christ Church in La Plata. The MSMTA keyboard exam was administered in November at the College of Southern Maryland. To help everyone get into the holiday spirit, three recitals entitled “Carols and Cookies” were held at Christ Church, La Plata. We are looking forward to our first meeting of 2015, when our own Michele Avrick will present “Technology in the Music Studio: iPad 101,” which was featured at the 2014 MSMTA Conference in September.

Mary Wolf, President

loCAl ASSoCiATionS

The Howard County Music Teachers Association had a busy and rewarding autumn, begun with hosting two MSMTA keyboard centers.  Our Oktoberfest recital, chaired by Sima Elkis, had an enrollment of 102 students from six teachers’ studios, resulting in six separate recitals.  Our November recital, with Alla Merport as the chair, consisted of five recitals, with performances by 61 students from five studios. Recitals are our primary money-makers, which help support our competitions held later in the year.  It is our hope to encourage our instrumental members, mainly strings teachers, to put their students in our recitals.  It is always a treat to hear different instruments in performance!

Two of our newest members attended our last meeting of 2014.  It is always great to see new faces in our midst!  Welcome to Laurel Sheehan (piano) and Maxim Kozlov (cello)!

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a restful break!  We are looking forward to 2015!

Kathryn Stansbery, Vice-President

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MTAB’s second meeting of the season was held on October 15 and featured a delightful presentation given by MSMTA member, Bonnie Kellert, who informed and entertained her audience with “Attaining Greater Performance in Young Musicians.” Bonnie supplemented her presentation with a detailed and informative six-page handout. Thank you so much, Bonnie, for your very insightful comments!

MTAB presented its annual Halloween Musicale on October 25, in four recitals of 75 students, representing the studios of 11 teachers. Chair Janet Swaney dressed as a “princess” and the audience guessed which princess from which ballet (“Sleeping Beauty”), written by Tchaikovsky. The accompanying pictures show the participating students from the 10 AM, 1 PM and 2:15 PM recitals, plus five of Jeannine Case’s students from the

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11:30 AM recital (Jeannine dressed as the “purple pistol packin’ piano player” from El Paso!) Our annual December Festival (“Ensemble” this year) was held on Saturday, December 13 at Village Baptist Church in Bowie, with 65 students in three recitals from the studios of eight teachers, and included ensembles of piano, voice and flute. Chair Nadine Wobus prepared and presented lovely certificates to each student at the conclusion of each recital. MTAB’s holiday luncheon, chaired by Janet Ambrose, was held on December 10 at Outback Steakhouse in Bowie, with an attendance of 18 guests. Activities

for January include a January 7 board meeting and our Chamber Music Festival on January 24, chaired by Ray Hobbs, with a committee of Sharon Winton and Bonnie Pausic.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a restful “mini-vacation”!!!

Jeannine Case, President

We have had a good year so far, with a good number (23) of students performing in our fall recital from the studios of Wendy Balder, Elizabeth Borowsky, Allen Good, Amy Klosterman, Ruth Peng and Betsy Stocksdale. Barbara Stumpf served

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Young Musicians Inspiring Change (YMIC) announces a

Competition for Student MusiciansDate: March 28, 2015 Application Deadline: March 1, 2015

Application Fee: $45 Location: United Korean Presbyterian Church 7009 Wilson Lane, Bethesda, MD 20817

The competition is open to: Wind Players (grades 7-12) Junior (grades 7-9) Senior (grades 10-12)

Pianists and String Players (grades 1-12) Elementary I (grades 1-3) Elementary II (grades 4-6) Junior (grades 7-9) Senior (grades 10-12)

Cash Prizes of $100, $75 and $50 for winners in each division plus a performance in a winners’ concertOne grand prize of $300 will be awarded at the winners’ concert.

Repertoire: Two pieces in contrasting styles/periodsQuestions: Dr. JeongEun Kang at amabilep@hotmail.com

as judge. The quality of performances was polished and musical, and showed the growth and health of our studios. Kudos to Betsy for organizing this event and thanks to Patti Crossman for the use of the lovely auditorium at the Community College of Baltimore County at Essex.

On December 7, 55 students from the studios of Wendy Balder, Ann McCandliss, Betsy Stocksdale, Shisa Suskey, Elizabeth Borowsky and Marjorie Liss performed at the Kenilworth Mall in Lutherville, Maryland. We have held this Holiday Music Marathon for five years, and the enrollment and enthusiasm continue to rise. We hope to continue the tradition next year in a larger and more formal venue, and are currently exploring our options.

This spring we will once again host the incomparable Marvin Blickenstaff for a masterclass, on Sunday March 8, beginning at 1:30, CCBC Essex. We’d like to extend an invitation to all MSMTA members to attend. Repertoire is TBA, but most likely late intermediate-early advanced.

Wendy Balder, President

I write still feeling a glow from the final meeting of the MCMTA member-ship for the year

2014. We always have a holiday brunch for this gathering, a good old-fashioned potluck but with curries and Asian noodles alongside the standard tuna salad and brownies. It’s such a nice treat, to share food after our holiday recital given by a few of our members. The musical offerings this year spanned from classical to Gershwin, all brilliantly performed.

We continue to work towards improving, saving and creating events for our students. Recently shared ideas for our concerto competition may be enough to bring it back to life after fading a bit the last few years; talk continues on starting up a chamber or ensemble festival, and of course every event successfully completed produces suggestions for improvements, however slight.

And so 2015 looks to be an exciting year for our programs here in Montgomery County. We’ll know for sure at our next holiday brunch!

Cynthia Cathcart, President

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We had our annual Halloween Festival the end of October. These are among our best attended events of the year. Deborah White-Bondhus has chaired these recitals for a number of years. She always manages to make this a fun and exciting experience for the children, many of whom get their first exposure to public performance at this event. 119 students, representing 12 teachers, and parents in five recitals enjoyed spooky and fun music. Participating teachers were Constance Fischel, Mei-Yu Lin, Wendy Dengler, Douglas Guiles, Ann Matteson, Edwina Hunter, Deborah White-Bondhus, Shisa Suskey, Lisa Bussing, Jeff Beaudry, Yee-Ning Soong and Kevin Rose.

Our two annual concerto competitions were held in November. At the first event 21 students were selected to perform with our Chamber Orchestra in movements by Betsy Jo Angebranndt, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Alexander Peskanov. For ten consecutive years, Alexander Peskanov has written piano concertos, which allows the students to participate in a world premiere of a new work. Each concerto has been different, and each has been enthusiastically embraced by the students. This relationship with Mr. Peskanov has greatly enriched the concerto repertoire with quality music available for intermediate students.

A dozen teachers entered over 120 students for the chance to be selected to perform with the orchestra. Lisa Bussing. Jeannine Case, Wendy Dengler, Douglas Guiles, Wendy Johnston, Mei-Yu Lin, Janice Puckett and Carol Wolfe-Ralph were teachers of performing students.

The Laurel Leader printed an article about the GLMTA in the December 11th edition. The reporter and a photographer attended the Ensemble Festival and interviewed Lisa Bussing, Wendy Dengler and Doug Guiles, as well as a large number of students and parents. The article highlighted the work that teachers and the association contribute to the musical education of the students.

Mei-Yu Lin, Lisa Bussing, Wendy Dengler and Deborah White-Bondhus

Ann Matteson, Deborah White-Bondhus and Constance Fischel

Teacher in disguise

Concerto winners 2014

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Chair: Nancy Roldán • Coordinator: Patricia Graham • Assistant coordinator: Kymberley Deely

&2015 Liszt-Garrison Festival International Piano Competition MAGYARHungarian folklore inspired much of the music of Franz Liszt and Béla Bartók. In turn, composers around the world wrote music of extraordinary beauty inspired by their own countries’ traditions.

American Liszt Society Baltimore-Washington Chapter • Nancy Roldán, President presents

lisztgarrisoncompetition.org

THE 2015 COMPETITION For Pianists & Duo Ensembles with Piano

Application Postmark Deadline: May 15, 2015

Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, Maryland October 21–25, 2015

Lisa Bussing, Douglas Guiles, and Wendy Dengler Courtesy of Laurel Leader

Ensemble Festival- Laurel Presbyterian Church

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Please email all notices and copy for inclusion in the March 2015 MSMTA newsletter by February 9, 2015, to:

kathy.stansbery@gmail.com or mail to:

Kathy Stansbery MSMTA Newsletter Editor 16130 Patapsco Overlook Court Mt Airy, MD 21771-3341 Tel: (443) 226-5801

The MSMTA Newsletter is published five times per year by the Maryland State Music Teachers Association, Inc.

Claudette Horwitz and Elizabeth White, contributing editorsCirculation: 725

DEADLINE FOR NEXT NEWSLETTERAdverTiSeMenTS

MSMTA is now accepting advertisements in its newsletter. Space is limited to two pages total, so ads will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Rates are: Member Non-member

1/8 page $20.00 $30.001/4 page $40.00 $50.001/2 page $80.00 $90.00Full page $135.00 $150.00

For more information, contact Kathy Stansbery at: kathy.stansbery@gmail.com

Ensemble Festival- Laurel Presbyterian Church

Deborah White-Bondhus, GLMTA newsletter chair