Saturday, August 5, 2023
Thursday, January 5, 2023
Starting off 2023 WRIGHT!!
Hey Everyone!
- March - Book Discussion "The Piano Practice Physician's Handbook: 32 Common Piano Student Ailments and How Piano Teachers Can Cure Them for GOOD" by Nicola Cantan
- Here's a link where you can buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/
Piano-Practice-Physicians- Handbook-Ailments/dp/ 1527207005 - I highly recommend getting and reading this book early on. Since it's all about practice strategies it would be great for all of us to try some things out with our students and get together to talk about our experiences.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 891 4437 0019
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
UMTA Chapter Meetings Back in Session!
September's chapter meeting took place on campus at Utah Tech University.
Jerald Simon kicked off our year of presentations and did a great job! If you weren't able to see it, or want to go back through it, you can do so here:
Jerald Simon kicked off our year of presentations and did a great job! If you weren't able to see it, or want to go back through you can view it here: Sept. Chapter Meeting. The passcode is #q?0V8ky
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Southern Utah Piano Pedagogy Conference
Saturday, April 9th, 2022 - SUPPC 2nd Annual Conference was held in Cedar City after a one year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic. It was great to be back together, and this conference was as great as the first!
2022 Conference Booklet - you can read through this and see how many great presentations there were.
Some of my take-aways were:
What causes stress??? NUTS!!
N - new things/novelty
U - unpredictable things
T - Threat...whether real or perceived
S - Stress that is toxic...continuous and unsupported.
We can reduce stress in our students' piano/lesson life by asking the following:
What would you like my help with most today?
What would you like me to hear first?
What do you feel you did really well this week?
Giving our students a bit more autonomy during their lessons will help reduce stress AND help them feel more empowered and motivated.
The different panels were informative. I especially loved the question asked the 4 University professors: What do you wish you would have known when you first started out with your collegiate education/career? There were some great suggestions and it caused me to think about my own...I wish someone would have shaken me by the shoulders and said, "PERFORMANCE ISN'T THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO WITH PIANO!!!" I might not have wasted 30 years. However, I AM making up for lost time thanks to UMTA!!! *_*
I loved that Dr. Allred shared her favorite duets list and Dr. Dean's. Dr.Dean had the best list of solos and duets. Here's his list:
Wednesday, March 9, 2022
"Let's Write!" with Christopher Oill
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Stunning Studio Spaces!!
- if possible, have two pianos side-by-side rather than different places in the room
- there are some great piano design things for the bathroom...shower curtain, bath mat, hand towels if you wanted your bathroom to have some piano flair!
- keep your instrument in tune
- pianos on an inside wall, if possible
- Open the lid of a grand piano away from the wall where possible
- Organize your shelves/closet with your music; magazine holders work great (Ikea)
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Welcome 2022!!
2021 was an interesting, but good, year!! With most of our chapter meetings held online via zoom we had more teachers in attendance, but we missed our personal contact. Our May Closing Social was so much enjoyed, meeting together at Vernon Worthen Park. Who knew it would be our LAST chapter meeting with Dr. Dean present. His death impacted our chapter and community deeply. He is missed in so many ways!!
Our December chapter meeting was a gift of time to each of us. No meeting was held.
And now we have ushered in 2022!! Our first meeting was held on January 11th with Christopher Oill presenting on Interpretation. He used Mary Had A Little Lamb as a very easy foundation piece to work with. It was funny to think/hear how this well-known melody could change very quickly depending on the "performers" perspective.
Many of his recommendations made me think of different students and their varying attitudes depending on what is going on in their lives. I can hardly wait to have a cranky student play their scales as a MONSTER...and then to play them as a PRINCESS. Hopefully, they will start to recognize the difference in their playing depending on what they are feeling inside.
It was a great presentation, and Christopher always has some "take-aways" that improve our teaching.
FEBRUARY's CHAPTER MEETING: Due to the change in the Southern Utah Piano Pedagogy Conference date (moved from February, now is on April 9th) we WILL have a chapter meeting!!
Dr. Christie Sowby will present on "Stunning Studio Spaces" (a presentation she has given several times, including at MTNA Conference!) February 15, 2022 - Noon via zoom!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
2021 PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
Performance Evaluations will be held in-person at Dixie State University on October 8-9, 2021.
If you are a member of UMTA the cost is $10/solo K-12 or 412/solo Collegiate/Adult. If you are not a member of UMTA the entry cost if $30/student.
If you need more information, please email Patrice Hunt at huntent@gmail.com