north shore music teachers’ association the · pdf filenorth shore music teachers’...

N O R T H S H O R E M U S I C T E A C H E R S ’ A S S O C I A T I O N

!1 The SCORE, April 2017

President’s Message\ Happy Spring! As the buds return to the trees and the grass turns green again, we know that the end of the school year is right around the corner. For most of us that means a Spring recital or some other culminating event in our studios. Each year I am reminded of how valuable public performance experiences are for all of our students, from beginners thru advanced players (although they might not agree!). Recitals allow our students to share the fruits of their solitary practice with the rest of the world, and remind them that music is a social experience, meant to be shared with others. How often do we find our students extremely motivated

to practice when they know that their friends and family will be listening?

The process of preparing for a performance can create a number of opportunities to teach students how to perform. Performing well involves a

unique set of skills, such as playing with confidence and solidity, but it also includes what I call "meta-skills." These cover such questions as: How do you handle yourself in front of others? How do you calm yourself if you get nervous? How do you mentally prepare to start your piece in the right position at the right tempo? What should you do if you make a mistake? What are you trying to communicate in your piece? What is the audience experiencing? Discussing these things with students can help them to learn important lessons about emotional self-management, in addition to playing the piano. While technical skill and proficiency are always necessary for a good performance, it is just as important for our students to communicate, to make an authentic connection with others through music.

Jennifer Merry,NSMTA President

THE SCORE

N O R T H S H O R E M U S I C T E A C H E R S ’ A S S O C I A T I O N


Dr. Ron YaDeau, NCTM BÉLA BARTÓK:

The Man and His Piano Music

APRIL 24 PRESENTATION

Dr. Ronald YaDeau is Associate Professor Emeritus of Music at Millikin University, where he taught piano and music theory at all levels for 34 years. He has been an active member of the Illinois State Music Teachers Association since 1978, and has served as President and Director. He has also served the Decatur Area Music Teachers Association in many capacities.

Dr. Ron YaDeau, NCTM

Dr. YaDeau will present a program on the life of the noted twentieth-century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók as well as his piano music. Many selections will be performed and some heard via recordings. Bartók's music will provide much enjoyable and unusual material for pianists of all levels.

Dr. YaDeau has always enjoyed exploring and teaching the music of Béla Bartók, which he finds extraordinarily creative and enjoyable to teach and perform. He continues to perform recitals, and also enjoys model railroading and listening to classical music (quite often at the same time).

A N N O U N C E M E N T S


April 24th Pre-meeting: Ron and Ann Surace Present

GEORGE GERSHWINfrom TIN PAN ALLEY

to BROADWAYto CARNEGIE HALL

The program will highlight Gershwin’s musical career and his stylistic development from “Tin Pan Alley” to Opera and the Concert Stage. A few vocal examples will demonstrate Gershwin’s evolution from Ragtime to Broadway to Opera

The “I Got Rhythm” Theme and Variations for piano and orchestra shows his later interest in classical forms. Each variation creates a new mood and a new sound: a “Waltz Triste,” a

“Chinese” variation. Conceived as a concerto for piano and orchestra, the piece was also arranged by the composer for two pianos. Gershwin loved jazz and was strongly influenced by it. But he was also a serious classical musician, and this is evident in much of his music. As a teenager, someone heard him practicing Bach preludes. “Are you studying to be a classical pianist?” “No, I’m studying to be a jazz musician!”



DR. RON SURACE holds a DMA degree in classical piano performance and a lifetime of experience in jazz. He earned performance degrees from Kent State, Oberlin, Northwestern, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory and studied jazz with George Shearing. He has taught on the faculties of Jacksonville State University where he was awarded “Faculty Scholar Lecturer of the Year Award;” the University of Cincinnati; St. Thomas University; and Del Mar College. He currently teaches piano at the Music Institute of Chicago, Lake Forest campus, and conducts the popular 17-piece big band, “In Full Swing,” which has earned thousands of dollars for charities. He was the Silver Medal Winner for jazz composition and performance at the Downbeat Music Festival USA National Finals in Oakland California. He won the NEA/GTA Southeastern States National Endowment for composition, and his works were featured at the regional convention and at numerous Arts festivals. His wife, Ann, also performed with him on piano and sang his original art songs. His opera, “Wonderland” was produced by the Festivanni Arts Council with Ann singing the role of “Alice.” Ron’s Jacksonville State University jazz band was chosen by audition to represent New York’s Friendship Ambassadors Foundation in an Eastern European good will tour. The following year, he and Ann were invited to travel with a cultural delegation of musicians and artists on a tour to Moscow in 1980. Ron has recorded for Columbia Pictures and Southport records. He has performed as pianist with Ray McKinley (Glenn Miller), Sy Zentner, Ralph Martieri, Bob Crosby, Steve Allen, and Bob Hope.

ANN SURACE is a piano instructor at the Music Institute of Chicago at Lake Forest and Director of Music/Organist at Christ the King Anglican Church in Evanston. She holds a MM in piano performance from Northwestern University where she studied with Gui Mombaerts and taught in the preparatory department under Guy Duckworth. Her BM in performance is from St. Olaf College under Charlotte Donhowe. There she minored in violin and was principle first violin in the college orchestra. Her musical background is enriched by may years of study in violin, clarinet, organ, and voice, with experience in orchestral, chamber, and church music. She was soprano soloist in countless oratorios and she sang the role of Alice in her husband's chamber opera, “Wonderland." Ann's teaching career began in her mother's piano studio at age 13. After college she taught on the faculties of St. Olaf College, the U of Cincinnati College Conservatory, and Jacksonville State University. When her two children were young she taught piano in her private studio for several years. As a young adult she won the Farwell Piano Competition and was a finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing voice auditions at the graduate level. Many of her students have won prizes in competitions: Several first-place state winners of the AMTA Mason-Hamlin High School Auditions and AMTA Baldwin Competition; NSMTA Sonata Festivals and AIM auditions; and numerous scholarships in piano and voice.

Ron and Anne Surace Biographies



AIM InformationThe schedules are now available to view and download from your Student Report. We have 804 students enrolled in AIM this year! More stats will follow in the May Score.

From the NSMTA website, log in to your account and click AIM Performance – Get Student Report link. This will take you to your account with all of your enrolled students and their schedule.

Be sure to download this or print it out for careful review. Check carefully for the following information:

• All students that you expect to take the exam appear on your Student Report. • Check accuracy for correct level and exam date. • Check correct spelling of student names, including capitalization. • Check that first time participants are marked as “new” in the 3rd column.

Congratulations to all students that have come this far in their AIM quest! To help celebrate your achievements, ISMTA and NSMTA have awards for successful completion of each AIM level!

From ISMTA: • AIM Medal – to all first time (new) participants to AIM. • ISMTA AIM Pin – to all students that successfully complete the theory exams. • ISMTA Plaque with student name engraved – for successfully completing level 9 with a

combined average theory and performance score of 80 or higher. Students that skip level 9 or is new to AIM at a higher level than 9 would receive the ISMTA Plaque at first early level (10, 11 or 12) Attachable bars that go on the Plaque – for successfully completing levels 9, 10, 11 and 12.

• ISMTA Certificate – for successfully completing both theory and performance exam.

Passing grade is 65.

(Continued on following page)



AIM Information (continued from previous page)

From NSMTA: • Different composer statuette each year – to all students that successfully complete the

performance exams. This year’s statuette is Robert Schumann • Trophies of differing sizes for levels 10, 11 and 12 – to all students that successfully

complete the theory and performance exams with an average combined score of 80 or higher.

• $100 Cash Award to all level 12 students that successfully complete the theory and performance exams

• $100 Cash Award to the top average combined theory and performance score of 89 or higher for level 10 student

• $100 Cash Award to the top average combined theory and performance score of 89 or higher for level 11 student

• For the all cash awards, the following requirements must also be met: o Receive minimum average combined theory and performance score of 89 o Participate in AIM at NSMTA with an NSMTA teacher for at least 3 years

Students that receive a plaque will not receive a trophy in the same level.

AIM Performance Exams Dates

Dates: Sunday, April 23 and Sunday, April 30, 2017 (for levels 3-12) Exams will take place at Northwestern and Lake Forest locations

The judging/volunteer schedule has also been sent to all teachers. Please review this carefully to mark your assigned date and time on your calendar. If you have a conflict, it will be your responsibility to make arrangements with another teacher to “trade” times, etc. Please keep in mind that Jia-Yee and I already do an incredible amount of work to make this exams run smoothly, so please help us by reading our emails carefully in a timely manner and reply promptly to any emails requiring or warranting a reply. Sometimes, it’s just great to send a quick email to let us know that you received it!

Just a reminder, no time change requests will be honored, so please don’t ask!

Submitted by Jennifer Cohen, AIM chair



Oakton Six Piano Ensemble ConcertsApril 29 & 30, 2017

Oakton Six Piano Ensemble Concerts

The Oakton Six Piano Ensemble, under the direction of Conductor Glenna Sprague, will present concerts on Saturday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m. in the Footlik Theater at Oakton Community College, 1600 East Golf Road, Des Plaines.

The Six Piano Ensemble was formed by Glenna Sprague, Professor and Coordinator of Music at Oakton, where she also teaches piano. One of the members of the Ensemble is Beatriz Levi who is a member of the North Shore Music Teachers Association. Performing at six pianos, the group performs not only traditional classical piano music; but also, symphonic literature as well as ragtime and popular music. The rich, layered sound of the Six Piano Ensemble compares to that of an orchestra, with each member playing a different part of a composition as the melody transfers from pianist to pianist. This year’s concerts features “Orchestral Suite No. 2” in B Minor by Bach; “Habanera” from New Spanish Dances, Op. 65, No. 3 by Moszkowski; “Malaguena” by Lecuona; “Sonatina in G Major, Op. 44, No. 1 by Kuhlau; and “Juba Dance” by R. Nathaniel Dett as well as other selections.

Tickets are $19 for general admission, $16 for seniors and students, and $14 for group rate. For ticket information, call the Oakton Box Office at 847-635-1900 or order tickets online at www.oakton.edu/tickets. Following each concert, there is a reception.

Widely acknowledged as one of the most unique musical groups in the world, the Oakton Six Piano Ensemble has performed in Europe and the United States, including the 32nd World Conference of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) at the Royale Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow; the College Music Society International Conference in Vienna, Austria; MTNA National Conferences in Atlanta and Spokane; numerous MTNA state conferences; GP3 Conference at University of Oklahoma, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy; and the Steinway of Chicago’s Community Concert Series.

http://www.oakton.edu/tickets

http://www.oakton.edu/tickets



THERE’S A LOT OF INK (soy-based and virtual) being spilled these days about online privacy and data security, and the NSMTA newsletter is no shirker when a chance to jump on the bandwagon presents itself! With internet emails, and increasingly with your phone, the first rule is: be wary! With the blessings of our ubiquitous global network (that would be the internet and cell phones), comes, unfortunately, a seemingly unstoppable stream of unwanted gunk in the form of emails and phone texts designed for the sole purpose of getting something for nothing from me and you, dear reader. And that's putting a positive spin on email spams and phone scams. At best, they're a nuisance; at worse, they can cause us grief if we're not alert and wary, so let's talk alert-and-wary with online communications for a bit. When I first published my own email address online (years ago) with a blurb inviting parents to contact me about private lessons, I was elated when I spied a response in my inbox the next day! I excitedly read this very first query, visions of dollar signs dancing in my head, only to realized it was a scam; that is, an email that looked sort of like someone interested in lessons, but actually was the initiator of a process to try and defraud me of some serious money. (As I recall, it was the classic accept-payment-with-a-bad-international-check-that-will-bounce-and-leave-me-holding-the-bag ploy.) How does one tell a scam from the real McCoy, you ask? Below are some characteristics to be wary of in emails and texts. No single item signifies a scammer. But if you add them up and you get a handful of positives, then you have a correspondence that is NOT worth cultivating: • The email or text is from someone you don't know, a stranger. (Okay, this alone could be legitimate, but

keep going through the list.) • If email, there is no contact phone number offered. (Again, maybe legit by itself, but if the points keep

adding up....) • It doesn't use your proper first and/or last name. (Just a lone "Greetings," or using your email address as a

salutation counts as two points). • It is vague about what is being asked. (Haha, scam emails I see often don't know what instrument I teach

and they don't say what instrument they want to learn.) • The writer is vague about where he or she lives, either totally not mentioning any locality or using phrases

"in town". (Also see below where the writer claims to live way out of town! Scammers don't want you to have any idea where they really are.)

• It doesn't mention who, or what service, referred the sender to contact you. (It doesn't say, for example, "I got your name from the Gazelle family [who you know] and they said you are a good trumpet teacher with their kid Ella.”)

• The return email address looks cheesy, like "[email protected]". (You DO scrutinize a return email before contacting someone back, don't you? You should!)

• The grammar of the message veers toward embarrassing. (A typo or two may be okay, missing articles and wrong tenses are worth a point here.)

(Continued on next page)

Online Etiquette with Scammers and Spammers

Be wary or they could get scary

mailto:[email protected]




• The writer asks you way more questions than gives you information about a potential student. (Some questions could be legitimate, but how many points in this list are already checked off?)

• There are geographic exigencies that seem, well, stretched. (Just today, I, a teacher north of Chicago, received an email [haha, maybe you did too, dear reader] from someone claiming to live in San Jose and the student is going to school near Danville. That's quite a triangle of distances!)

• The lessons can start real soon! Next week! The sooner, the better. (Scammers want to--have to--work fast.)

• The writer/caller offers you a wonderful deal. (Count this as three points. That trope "if it's too good to be true, it probably is" is more than a slogan, it's reality!)

• It's a phone text from a stranger who does not start off by mentioning specifically who referred them or how they got your phone number. ("I was referred to you by..." or "So-and-so gave me your number" is Standard Courtesy Introduction 101 for any text to a new acquaintance. If a text doesn't start that way, be wary!

Quiz time! You received an email out of the blue, you've been wary and observant and the points add up. It's nefarious, so what do you do, dear? There is only one safe thing to do, immediately delete it. The action of deleting can make one nervous ("maybe I could just send back a few questions"--DON'T). Keep in mind that a scam email or text is a sales tool: it wants you to take action and respond. Don't respond to spam and scams. Don't even write back to say "take me off your list and curse of a thousand demons on you and your family!" (Seriously, don't ever even respond with "unsubscribe" with any suspicious email!) If you unwittingly make any response, your email address or phone number has just gotten much more valuable in the spam/scam world and thousands more demons will be reaching out to you. Once you are reasonably certain you are looking at a scam, ignore it, delete it, forget it. Even if you are only mildly certain, go with that and delete it. Potential lesson candidates who are trying to contact you are going to try and look legit. If it looks funny (not a good funny), it is, so trash it, forget it, and move on.

(If you have an email or text that you really can't be sure about, ask one of your friends or peers or a knowledgeable NSMTA member for a second opinion.)

Relatedly, be wary with your phones--land lines and cell phones. DO NOT answer a call with an incoming phone number that you do not recognize. Ever! I know it sounds cold and callous, but the person behind that call may be even colder and more callous. The number of sketchy phone calls continue to rise every year, as, unfortunately, has the number of people defrauded by scammers who started the tawdry process with an automated phone dialer making random calls. A legitimate caller will leave you a voice mail and you can call right back. Your return call will lead to a better conversation anyway, because you'll have had a minute to formulate a great response and, if appropriate, sales pitch. (Make sure your voice mail greeting is cheerful sounding and that its tone invites a caller to leave a message!)

Techie Note Coda: The NSMTA.org web site does list teacher names, phone numbers and email addresses. The email addresses have been "obfuscated", meaning they are easy for a human to see, but hard for a creepy internet web-robot to harvest and sell to unscrupulous scammers. That helps us teachers only get legitimate referrals through the NSMTA site. That said, they are not "impossible" to harvest, so be wary even if an email says they saw you on the NSMTA (or any legitimate) web site.

— Mark Adamczyk

Online Etiquette (Continued from previous page)

http://nsmta.org/

http://nsmta.org/



Member News

NSMTA member Bruce Berr was recently honored as an MTNA Foundation Fellow at the MTNA National Conference held in Baltimore in March, 2017. Dr. Berr also gave a video presentation at the conference entitled, “Pedagogy in Pictures: Video Clips of Piano Students Caught in the Act of Being Themselves.” Earlier, he served as judge for the National Composition Competition and enjoyed hearing performances of the winning pieces in recital.

Dr. Berr has also been asked to be an MTNA Collaborative Music Commissioning Project Composer for the 2018 MTNA National Conference in Orlando. For this project, he will write a composition for piano, alto saxophone and bassoon that will be premiered at the conference.

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Bruce!

NSMTA ANNUAL RECITAL AND LUNCHEON June 12, 2017, at 10:30 a.m.

Please consider this a great opportunity to play that music that you have wanted to work on and perform. The past recitals have included a wonderful variety of styles and literature, and the audience is very appreciative. In addition, this is the only NSMTA annual event at which we can enjoy a sit-down meal with friends and colleagues.

The St. James Lutheran Church in Lake Forest provides beautiful instruments on which to perform in an excellent performance space. Plan to attend as a performer or as an audience member. The catered luncheon price will be confirmed at a later date, but the cost will be about $15.00.

You may use my email this year or use regular mail to submit performance repertoire and/or lunch reservations by June 5. Hope to see you there!

Marlene Chatain 1-847-474-3635 [email protected]

NSMTA member Barbara Kreader Skalinder gave a presentation at the MTNA Conference in Baltimore last March for Hal Leonard, entitled “The Music of Teaching.” In her presentation, she shared highlights from her book of the same name. You may recall that Barbara gave a terrific pre-meeting presention on her book at the NSMTA meeting last October.





Nominating Committee News

The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following officer candidates for a 2-year term beginning in Fall 2017:

Second Vice President and Membership Chair: Bruce Berr Recording Secretary: George Radosavljevik Treasurer: Layla Li

A vote will be taken at the April business meeting. If you would like to nominate yourself or another member, please e-mail or call a nominating committee member: Grace Juang, [email protected], (847) 715-9212: Dawn Johnson, [email protected], (847) 278-6223: or Lynd Corley, [email protected], (847) 729-0230.

Western Springs Music Club Instrumental Scholarship Program The Western Springs Music Club is excited to announce its very first Instrumental Scholarship Program (ISP) Audition aimed at promoting music education. Audition Date: Saturday, April 22, 10am-1pm at Unitarian Church of Hinsdale Winners Recital: Sunday, April 23, 2-4pm at Unitarian Church of Hinsdale Application DEADLINE: Tuesday, April 18th! Please don't delay! The private students all ages and levels K-12 of WSMC members who teach winds, brass, percussion, and strings (or of private teachers who have expressed an interest in applying to join WSMC in the near future) will be eligible to participate. Joining the WSMC is inexpensive, and the club offers its members a wide range of networking and performing benefits. The WSMC is an outstanding regional club that is open to musicians, music teachers, and classical music enthusiasts throughout the greater Chicago area. Students of teachers who have expressed an interest in applying for WSMC membership will immediately become eligible for this year's ISP Audition. Please visit www.wsmusicclub.com. The ISP Audition's two divisions - a Strings division and a Winds/Brass/Percussion division - will each be awarded both a 1st Prize and a 2nd Prize. Each division will also have an Honorable Mention Award, the recipients of which shall be announced along with the four ISP Prize Winners on the Winners Recital taking place the day after the competition. All participants are invited to perform on the April 23rd Winners Recital! Interested contestants must complete the ISP Application (go to https://www.wsmusicclub.com and look for it under “About Us”) and return is to WSMC’s president, Sophia Foley, no later than Tuesday, April 18. Sophia Foley’s mailing address is 418 S Stough St, Hinsdale, IL 60521, and her email address is: [email protected]. For more info, please contact her through that email address or through our WSMC site, www.wsmusicclub.com. Kindly respond ASAP if you’re a teacher who is not currently a WSMC Member so that your students can participate! We’d love to have you become a member soon.







http://www.wsmusicclub.com/

https://www.wsmusicclub.com




https://www.wsmusicclub.com





- - - BULLETIN BOARD - - -Deadline for

Scholarship Submission is MAY 1

This is just a reminder that pupils who have studied with a member of the North Shore Music Teachers Association for the past three years are eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholarship award if they are graduating high school seniors who are enrolling in a university, college, or music school in a program that will prepare them for careers in music. Study of any musical instrument or voice that is taught by a NSMTA member is acceptable for application. NSMTA also offers a $200 scholarship for Summer Music Program Camp. Students currently in grades 5, 6, and 7 are eligible for Junior Scholarship and grades 8 to 12 for Senior Scholarship. Application for scholarships is available on the NSMTA website.

2017 Chicago National Youth Competition for Piano Duos June 3-4, 2017 Nichols Concert Hall, Evanston, IL Application Deadline: April 25, 2017 —Elementary and High School divisions. —Cash Awards —Winner’s concert with future WFMT radio broadcast

MIC Chicago Duo Piano Festival

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