NEW JERSEY MUSIC TEACHER’S ASSOCIATION October 2014 Fall 2014 Three Quarter Times Inside this issue: PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE - 2014 NJMTA State Conference 2 Dear Colleagues: - Member’s News 3 I hope you all had a chance to enjoy a break during the summer, and are fully recharged to begin another year of music making and sharing. - NJMTA Children Help- 4 ing Children Performathon: Getting Ready for the 10th year—2015 Special points of interest:  October 26th—YMC Strings, Winds, Brass, Percussion & Voice at Westminster Choir College  November 1st—State level MTNA Student Performance Competitions at TCNJ  November 2nd—YMC Piano & Chinese Instruments and Advance Master Class Audition at Westminster Choir College  November 8 & 9—NJMTA State Conference at TCNJ 2015  February 28th & March 1st—2015 Performathon I would like to take this opportunity to thank our board members for a year filled with memorable events and activities, and for their support and encouragement during my first year of presidency with NJMTA. The goal of NJMTA, as stated in our Constitution, is “to conduct programs and activities to build a vital music culture and an enlightened musical public” – we could not reach this goal without the board members’ selfless dedication and contributions to this organization. I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve this organization and work with all these wonderful board members. The programs coming up this fall include:  MTNA Student Performance Competition, chaired by Deborah Gers, assisted by Junior Division and Young Artists Division Coordinator Amy Tu  Young Musicians Competitions, chaired by Ingrid Tang for strings, Renae Block for woodwinds and brass, Li-Chan ChenMaxham for voice, assisted by Wennie Niu, and Yang Yi for Chinese instruments.  Conference Advanced Master Class Audition, chaired by Kyu-Jun Rhee  Commission Composer Competition, chaired by Eunju Kim  High School Scholarship Competition, chaired by Margaret Knight Another important event this fall will be the NJMTA 2014 State Conference on November 8th and 9th, at The College of New Jersey. Dr. Hendry Wijaya, State Conference Chairperson and President-Elect, has been working countless hours with the Conference Planning Committee for the past few months to come up with programs that cover multiple aspects of music learning. You can find more details about our State Conference programs in this newsletter, in the article “2014 NJMTA Conference” by Dr. Hendry Wijaya. For detailed information about the conference schedule and registration, please check the NJMTA website at www.njmta.com. Don’t forget to mark your calendar, and invite your friends, colleagues, and students to join us at this extraordinary event. We are also looking forward to the 10th anniversary of the NJMTA Performathon, which will take place in Spring 2015. The NJMTA “Children Helping Children” Performathon has been a fast growing program for the past few years, providing a non-competitive community-oriented event that gives students the opportunity to reach out and share their talents with Continued on page 3 Page 2 Three Quarter Times NJMTA 2014 CONFERENCE November 8 & 9, 2014 at TCNJ I would like to invite you to attend our next Annual State Conference, which will be held on November 89, 2014. The conference will take place at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing, NJ. You do NOT have to be an NJMTA member to participate. The conference brochure has been sent out to all of you by email. The hard copy of the brochure should arrive in the mail soon. You should also be able to find one on the NJMTA website. Please note that our conference this year will be one week earlier than usual. This is due to schedule conflict with TCNJ. The conference dates on the yearbook (including the winners recitals) are incorrect , because the yearbook was printed before we learned about this schedule conflict. If you continue to find different versions of the conference dates or winners recitals on the NJMTA website or anywhere else, please note that the correct dates are November 8 and 9, 2014. The theme for this year’s conference is “A Lifetime of Learning and Discovery” and our feature artist is Yong Hi Moon, a member of the piano faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. Ms. Moon will give a Lecture Recital - “Romantic Treasures” on Saturday, November 8, at 1:00 p.m. This lecture recital will shed light on the exquisite and unique quality of the works of Albeniz, Schubert and Schumann. On Sunday, November 9, at 1 a.m., Ms. Moon will conduct the Advanced Master Class. This year’s conference will be special because we will have a Violin Master Class by Herold Klein, who is a former member of The Philadelphia Orchestra. This Violin Master Class will be on Saturday, November 8, at 3:15 p.m. Once again, we will have a Piano Duet Master Class this year by renowned duo-pianists Dallas Weekley and Nancy Arganbright. This Duet Master Class will be on Saturday, November 8, at 9:00 a.m. They will also give a very interesting presentation on “Unique Duet Music for All Stages and Ages”, which will be held on Sunday, November 9, at 9:15 a.m. At the conference, we will also feature our own distinguished teacher, clinician, and pianist - Phyllis Lehrer, currently on the faculty at the Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Ms. Lehrer will present “Adventures in Contemporary Music: Repertoire and Musicianship Activities for the Late Elementary, Intermediate, and Early Advanced Student”. Composers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries have contributed innovative and attractive repertoire for pianists. Phyllis Lehrer will perform and discuss pieces that represent many of the diverse styles from that repertoire and will suggest helpful techniques and strategies for teaching it. This session will be on Sunday, November 9, at 11:00 a.m. Our Conference Banquet dinner will be on Saturday, November 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the "1855 Room" of TCNJ. Please join us for a delicious dinner, and a chance to get to know our Conference Artists, including our commissioned composer, Alexander Peskanov. Please note an important change on the conference registration form regarding the banquet. The registration for the banquet must be received at least one week before the conference. There will be three winner recitals, with Composer Commission Winners Recital, MTNA Performance Competition Winners Recital, MTNA Composition Competition Winners Recital and NJMTA Chinese Instruments Recital on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. and two NJMTA Young Musicians Competition Winner Recitals and Chinese Instruments Recitals back to back on Sunday afternoon starting at 3:30 p.m. Continued on next page Page 3 NJMTA 2014 CONFERENCE (Con.) Please take advantage of the lower registration fee by registering early (before October 24). Please tell everyone you know who might be interested in attending the conference (members or non-members, teachers, students, parents, anyone...). Thank you for your support and I hope to see all of you at the conference! Hendry Wijaya, President-Elect and Conference Chairperson PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (Con.) the community. We had over 300 performers and 50 teachers involved this year, and over 20 recitals held during the weekend of March 1-2, 2014. For the 10th anniversary, Betty Stoloff, Arts Advocacy Chairperson, has planned a special faculty/teachers performance – if you have any ideas for the program, please contact Betty. As I mentioned earlier, NJMTA is a volunteer-run organization, and we are fortunate to have so many dedicated members join the Board to give their time and energy. There have been quite a few changes on the NJMTA Board in the past few months, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following Board members who decided to move on, as well as those who have just joined the Board. Thanks to those outgoing board members: Phemie Chien – Membership Chair Rose McCathran – Recording Secretary Welcome to the incoming board members: Yuhui Chloris Li – Membership Chairperson Shuling Juan – Spring Piano Festival Co-chairperson Grace Kuo – Spring Recital Audition North Jersey Chairperson Wennie Niu – Voice Chairperson (starting in January, 2015) Special thanks to Renae Block, current winds, brass & Three Quarter Times percussion Chairperson for both the Spring Recital Audition and Young Musicians Competition, for agreeing to take over the Recording Secretary position as well. The 2015 MTNA National Conference will be held on March 21-25, 2015, at the Rio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. Highlights of the conference will include recitals by Lady Jeanne Galway and Sir James Galway, Ann Schein, and the Canadian Brass; an Advanced Piano Master Class given by Lang Lang; and an Intermediate Piano Master Class conducted by Scott McBride Smith. For more detailed information, please visit the MTNA website at www.mtna.org. Lastly, I would like to invite all NJMTA members to join us for the Annual Meeting, which will be held at the State Conference at The College of New Jersey on Saturday, November 8th at 11:00 am. I wish you all a joyous and musical year, and I look forward to seeing you at the State Conference. Sincerely, Wei-Yuh Christina Xie President, NJMTA Member’s News Bravura Summer Music 2014 The 2nd Bravura Summer Music, held at Lawrenceville School on June 23-29, 2014 attracted 25 pianists, 5 violinists and 3 cellists of ages 7-13 from New Jersey. During the 7 days, students received private lessons, Duet & Chamber music coaching and classes on Musicianship, Music Appreciation, Conducting, special topic on Holistic Memorization and Rehearsal technique. Master classes by Marnie Kaller, Sylvia Wang, Chiu-Ling Lin, Chiu-Tze Lin and Mira Kang. When not in classes, students took a Field Trip to Grounds for Sculpture, final day BBQ party, ice cream social, Talent show, Dancing, Chinese Yo-Yo instruction, Origami paper folding. There were concerts for solo repertoire, duet, chamber music groups and faculty members. Fore more information, email us at bravura.summer@gmail.com and visit us at https://www.facebook.com/ BravuraSummerMusic. Page 4 NJMTA Children Helping Children Performathon Getting Ready for the 10th Year— 2015! It’s time to put the 10th Annual NJMTA Children Helping Children Performathon on your calendar. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! We have secured Saturday, February 28th and Sunday, March 1st., 2015 for the Performathon. Once again, we are grateful to Westminster Choir College of Rider University for donating the hall space for this event. This past winter, the 2014 Performathon raised over $23,000 for the 3 Ronald McDonald Houses in New Jersey. Thank you Teachers, Students, Families and Friends of NJMTA for sharing your time, energy and talents. The NJMTA Children Helping Children Performathon continues to include performers of all ages and levels. Performers raise money by seeking sponsors for their participation in the 1 hour concerts scheduled on the weekend of February 28th-March 1st, 2015. Donation Forms and Permission Slips are brought to each concert and a running tally is provided throughout the weekend. In addition to the glorious music, participants are urged to contribute a visual or written component. Some of the works can reflect on the theme “What Music Means to Me.” Other works can be about a particular composer or piece of music. Teachers – I still have many of the past art/written submissions. If the families would like to have these works returned to them, please have the families contact me so that I can return the works. I look forward to working with all of you on the 2015 Performathon. Betty Stoloff NJMTA Arts Advocacy Chair The New Jersey Music Teachers Association, is an affiliate of the Music Teachers National Association. The objective of the NJMTA is to advance the musical knowledge and to promote professional growth among music teachers, and to conduct activities which encourage and support teaching, performance, composition and the appreciation of music. We are a nonprofit organization whose funds are used solely to accomplish these objectives. Officers President WeiYuh Christina Xie wychris09@gmail.com President-Elect Hendry Wijaya HWHW123@aol.com Vice President, Student Activities Grace Chang graceclchang@yahoo.com Recording Secretary Renae Block renblock@verizon.net Co-Treasurers Bing Bing Chang bingsquare@gmail.com Jean Yi-Ching Sze jeansze@comcast.net Immediate Past President Chiu-Ling Lin pianosecret@comcast.net MTNA Competitions Coordinator Debra Gers debgers@embarqmail.com Membership Chairperson Yuhui Chloris Li Chlorisli@gmail.com NJMTA NEWSLETTER EDITOR Yvonne Chin 661 Abbington Drive East Windsor, NJ 08520 Visit our website http://njmta.com/blog/