The SCORE, January 2019

President’s Message

Growing up in a family of five brothers, I couldn’t help but join them in watching sports. And my own two boys are loyal fans of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks and of course, the Chicago Bears. This was the first season in many years that the Bears were in a wildcard playoff game, playing with a youthful enthusiasm that was just plain fun to watch. Back and forth, up and down Soldier Field, this game couldn’t have been any better. It was truly as close as a game can get, and then it all came down to one last play, one last kick. Cody Parkey kicked a beautiful kick that became only a practice kick when the Eagles called a timeout to try to rattle his nerves. He went for it again, but this time the ball rippled first off of the left upright, bouncing off the crossbar, and as if all of Chicagoland was watching in slow motion, the ball dribbled into the field; the Eagles, not the Bears, won the game and admission into the next week of the playoffs. In just seconds the Bear’s season, while spectacular and unexpected, was over and every Chicago fan was groaning about Cody Parkey. After all, it wasn’t his first miss this year. Didn’t Cody practice enough? Even though the NFL later ruled it a blocked kick, the sting of what was “almost a victory” hung on.

While I groaned with the rest of Chicago, I thought of how similar Cody Parkey is to many of our students. How about the young prodigious pianist who practices very diligently, follows his teach-er’s every direction, even slow practices, but at the moment of the actual competition, that mysteri-ous performance anxiety took over and his fingers missed, memory slips popped up and the tears of disappointment followed. Yes, we have plans for preparing our students to ensure a clean per-formance. But Cody Parkey is a professional football player, he has spent most of his life kicking a ball, how could he possibly miss what was supposed to be a sure thing?

An important part of teaching is being able to walk a student through the valley of an unexpected substandard performance. Not every competition will result in a gold medal. It is important to frame each experience in a way that encourages and motivates a student to reach higher, keep growing and not give up. Cody Parkay, when discussing his mishap, owned his mistakes and dis-played courage in the face of overwhelming criticism. Learning how to shake off a poor perfor-mance is just as important as accepting the top prize. Kate Carter, a very accomplished violinist and educator, is presenting a program on “Choosing Your Mindset” January 28, at our monthly meeting. Kate will share a healthy framework in which to set and pursue goals and motivate effec-tively, a welcome help to all of us on the teaching frontlines.

This has been a particularly difficult year for saying goodbye to some of our most special teachers and friends. T.C. Anderson, a longtime member, passed away this October only a few months after we lost our beloved Bruce Berr. And then the news this fall of Jane McInnis’ quickly progressing illness followed by her passing December 28. Jane spent about 10 years in Wilmette, her husband a Lutheran pastor, before retiring in 2017 to Oregon to be near family. Described by those who knew her best, Jane, an accomplished performing pianist loved teaching and her students, was always reaching out to new members making them feel welcome. While I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Jane as well as some of you, I will always think of her huge warm smile. And my favorite description of Jane from one of you, “the true definition of a friend.” Treasure your friends this year, make a new teacher friend in the coming year and may we all reach out to new members with welcoming hospitality in the spirit of Jane.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President’s Message .................1

Presentation .............................2

Pre-Meeting Book Club ...........3

AIM News ................................3

Continued AIM News ..............4

Musical Rummage ...................4

Sonata-Sonatina Festival .........5

Scholarship Application ………5

Announcements………. ……...5-6

1

Debbie Gillette

Kate Carter

January 28th Presentation

Fixed Vs. Growth: Choosing Your Mindset

"World-renowned psycholo-gist Carol Dweck explains why it's not just our abilities and talent that bring us suc-cess -- but whether we ap-proach our goals with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising our children's intelligence and ability doesn't foster self-esteem and lead to accom-plishment but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can moti-vate our kids and help them to improve in school, as well as reach our own goals, per-sonal and profession-al." (from Mindset by Carol Dweck) In this talk, Dr. Kate Carter, performer and educa-tor, will discuss the applica-tions of Dweck's book to mu-sic teaching and learn-ing, including some of the ways we can challenge our students (and ourselves!) to question our mindset and to foster a healthier framework for pursuing our goals.

Biography Dr. Kate Carter is an award-winning violinist, chamber musician, teacher and adjudi-cator. As a soloist, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2014. She has appeared as soloist with the Elmhurst Symphony, with whom she is Assistant Concertmaster, and with other orchestras in Chicago and her native Cali-fornia.

Dr. Carter frequently collab-orates in recital with Dr. Louise Chan, with whom she has appeared on WFMT on the Dame Myra Hess series, and with whom she recently released a recording of works by American composers. Dr. Carter has also performed with the Chicago Philhar-monic Chamber Players and International Concert Artists.

As an orchestral musician, Dr. Carter has performed with the Grant Park Sympho-ny, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Philharmonic, the Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and Camerata Chica-go, with whom she toured the European cities of Paris, Milan and Prague.

An in-demand clinician and adjudicator, she has judged auditions and competitions including the Sejong Compe-tition, Stanger Young Artist Auditions, Northwest Indi-ana Symphony Concerto Competition, and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra auditions. She was invited to lecture at the 2017 ASTA National Conference and the 2016 ISMTA State Confer-ence.

Dr. Carter holds a doctorate in violin performance from Northwestern University, where she was teaching as-sistant to Gerardo Ribeiro. She is currently on the facul-ties of Northwestern Music Academy and Lake Forest College.

2 The SCORE, January 2019

Pre-Meeting Book

Club Announcement

Our January pre-meeting will

be in “book club” format, dis-

cussing the book “Note by

Note – A Celebration of the

Piano Lesson” by Tricia Tun-

stall (Simon and Schuster).

Pick up a copy of the book

from the library to read over

the holidays, or order on-line.

Tunstall cares about

“cultivating future audiences

for classical music and about

bridging the gap between

pop culture and high art.” Its

available on Kindle, Amazon,

used and new, hard and soft,

and you might find a copy at

your local library. There will

be time to share your opin-

ions about teaching popular

music, and telling a few of

our own stories about recit-

als, our students and our

teachers, so even if you don’t

have time to read the book,

join us for this special pre-

meeting discussion time.

3 The SCORE, January 2019 The SCORE, January 2019

AIM NEWS AIM Theory Exam AIM Theory Exam Dates:

Sunday, January 20, 2019 Sunday, January 27, 2019

Locations: Northwestern Music Academy Music Institute of Chicago, Lake Forest 1818 Hinman Ave 40 East Old Mill Road Evanston, IL 60208 Lake Forest, IL 60045 Coordinators: Jia-Yee Tang Jennifer Cohen jiayeetang@gmail.com jicohen1@aol.com For Levels 1A, 1B, 1C The entire exam will be given by the judge, including aural skills and performance of 2 pieces. There is no written exam at these levels. For Level 2 The entire exam will be given by the judge, including aural skills and performance of 2 pieces. There is a written exam that students will take in a separate Writing/Aural Skills room. For levels 3-12 - Students will be taking 3 separate exams:

1. Keyboard Skills – this is the only part that will be given by a judge: Sight Playing, Sight Rhythm (levels 3-10), Harmoniza-tion, Transposition, and Melody Playback (levels 3-6).

2. Aural Skills –pre-recorded on iPods. Each iPod is provided

with earbuds that are wiped down after each use. However, students are encouraged to bring in their own earbuds/headsets as with heavy use, the earbuds break down easily. There will be monitors at the aural skills station to help stu-dents get started and to provide any assistance, especially for younger students.

Continued AIM NEWS

4

The SCORE, January 2019

MUSICAL

RUMMAGE

Are your shelves filled

with music that you

haven't passed on to

students? Is your

studio weighed down

with books that you

no longer

use? Clean house

after the holidays and

bring your musical

rummage to our Jan-

uary meeting to sell

during the coffee hour

and after our meeting.

You will be asked to

donate at least

25% of your sale to

the NSMTA scholar-

ship fund. Additional

donations also ac-

cepted for our sum-

mer camp and col-

lege scholarships. If

you’re planning to

participate, please e-

mail Mary Beth at

m-molenaar@northwestern.edu

so we know how

many tables to set

up. If you have items

you were going to do-

nate for the Music

Boutique, you can

bring those in Janu-

ary as well.

3. Written Exam

Transposition Piece for levels 4-12 - students may choose any appropriate piece that meets the requirements listed in the AIM syl-labus for each level. The transposition pieces from Karen Roger’s AIM Workbooks are allowed as long as students bring in their own purchased copy of the entire workbook. Single pages from the workbook or photocopy of transposition examples from the work-books are not acceptable. Be sure to prepare any 2 keys, as the judge will hear both keys at the exam. Aural Skills and Written Exams will be taken in a separate room. The aural files from sample tests from the 2014 AIM Syllabus are available on the website. On the AIM homepage, scroll down to the Aural Skills Practice. Once on this page, your students can lis-ten to each file online. This is a great resource for your students to practice the aural exam, especially to acclimate first time partici-pants with the aural files for the Aural Skills exams on iPods. Students may take the written and/or aural exams before their scheduled keyboard skills exam. If student choose to do this, please remind them to allow plenty of time to complete the exams before their scheduled time. If you have any questions, please contact either Jennifer Cohen at Jicohen1@aol.com or Jia-Yee Tang at jiayeetang@gmail.com. Jennifer Cohen, AIM chairperson

Sonata- Sonatina Festival

5

January 28th Meeting

Winnetka Covenant Church. 1200 Hibbard Road Wilmette, IL Meet on the 2nd floor this month. 9:30-10:00 Pre-Meeting Book Club 10:00-10:30 Business Meeting 10:30-11:00 Coffee, Music Sale/Boutique 11:00-12:00 Program

Announcements

Scholarship Application

Pupils who have studied with a mem-ber of the NSMTA for the past three years are eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholar-ship award if they are graduating high school seniors who are enrolling in a uni-versity, college, or music school pro-gram that will pre-pare them for careers in music. Study of any musical instru-ment or voice that is taught by a NSMTA member is accepta-ble for application. Applications are due May 1st 2019. Betty Benton, Scholarship Chair jamesbettyben-ton@gmail.com

The SCORE, January 2019 The SCORE, January 2019

Winnetka Covenant Church

Sunday, February 10, 2019 at the Music Institute of Chicago 300 Green Bay Road, Winnetka, IL 60093 Online registration for the SSF closed on Monday, January 14, 2019. Your student schedules will be arriving soon! As a reminder, all participating teach-ers are required to help in some way on the day of the Festival. Most assigned jobs will last for 90 minutes. No one can substitute for the teacher for their assigned teacher job. For more information, or if you have any questions, please consult the yearbook, the website (nsmta.org) or e-mail Jennifer Merry at jmer-ry@comcast.net. We look forward to another terrif-ic Sonata-Sonatina Festival! Jennifer Merry & Yeeseon Kwon Co-Chairs, SSF

The SCORE, January 2019 6