WMTA Newsletter Printable Version - February 2019

The full color version of the newsletter is available to view on the WMTA website at wisconsinmusicteachers.com.

Additional details about the organization, upcoming events, and leadership contact information have been removed from the original document and can also be referenced on the website.

Calendar of Events · March 16-20, 2019

MTNA National Conference in Spokane Washington · April 15, 2019

Badger Keyboard Deadline · May 2019

Badger Keyboard · September 25, 2019

WMTA State Conference Registration Deadline · October 18-19, 2019

WMTA State Conference in Eau Claire Wisconsin

Letter from the President Dear WMTA Members, As you read this I realize that you are preparing students for auditions. Wisconsin Music Teachers Associations (WMTA) auditions are on the horizon and students, families and teachers are preparing and practicing as they want to do their best to memorize their pieces, play well, and maybe even go to Badger Auditions. It is a wonderful event for students to receive outside feedback and even step into the performance arena. Now I want you to think about another benefit of auditions outside of the actual audition: The opportunity to interact with the musical community. Examples: Students get to hear and see fellow students play. Parents communicate with other parents as they wait for students to warm-up, audition, or take a theory test. Teachers are brought together as they work together as runners, monitors, test checkers, and audition chairs. (How many of you have friends that you only see at Auditions?) Each of the above members creates the community. The auditions would not be possible without the students. The students would not be prepared without the teachers. Parents/family members support the students and teachers in their work. We create the WMTA audition community. I urge you as you go through this busy season of teaching to take a step back and just enjoy the musical community that we are fortunate enough to be part of. It is easy to get caught up in all of the details and minueta of What piece? What points? What score? But, take a step back and enjoy this community of people that is being brought together; together to make music at any level, with any instrument, at any age. Sincerely, Rachel Fritz WMTA President

District Auditions Happy Audition Season to all! Good luck to each of your students as they audition at the District Level and compete at the State Level. Please be sure to note the earlier dates for the State events! I wish to thank all the teachers for preparing and entering students and for your volunteer time to make auditions happen. Thank you to our great team of District Chairs! It is such a pleasure to work with each of you! I'm grateful for your expertise, comments and suggestions (and affirmations). Thank you to our WMTA Board Members for all the time they put in to grow our organization. I'm grateful for my first 18 months as State District Chair and look forward to the future with this great organization! Sandra Statz, NCTM, WMTA District Auditions Chair Sandra@statzmusic.com Reminders: All District Auditions information can be found on the WMTA website. Please study and review this information now as you begin to make plans for your students. Look under “student events” and then “district auditions” or follow this link: District Auditions Information “Ovation” is the online site for registering students for participation in WMTA District Auditions. www.ovation.wmta.net For specific questions about allowed repertoire or pieces in the database, contact: Emily Schultz - Ovation Composition/Database Manager. wmtacompositionhotline@gmail.com

2019 State Conference Hopefully you are all making your plans to attend the 2019 conference at the Lismore in Eau Claire. By the time you receive this newsletter, hopefully our committee will be reading through proposal presentations to choose what will be an inspiring conference for us all. If you know of any businesses who might be willing to present, we have that information ready for them! They can either look at the presenter information on the website or contact the office administrator at wisconsinmta@gmail.com or contact me at kaymehenkel@yahoo.com. Also looking ahead to the conference, we are hoping to do a chamber music masterclass with Carolyn True. So we need a few teachers to plan ahead to have a few chamber groups ready to perform. These could be duos, trio, quartets, etc. It would be fun to be able to offer a variety of age groups to Dr. True. If you think you might have a group ready, we would love to know about it, please send me an email and I will put you on a list of possible performers. Kayme Henkel, NCTM Vice President - Conferences

mailto:Sandra@statzmusic.comhttps://www.wisconsinmusicteachers.com/event-information-and-rules-handbookhttp://ovation.wmta.net/mailto:wmtacompositionhotline@gmail.commailto:wisconsinmta@gmail.commailto:kaymehenkel@yahoo.com

Badger Keyboard Update Dates: Badger Northwest: UW-River Falls on Saturday, May 11. Performances will be in the Kleinpell Fine Arts Building, 420 E. Cascade Ave., River Falls, WI 54022. Directions: https://www.uwrf.edu/AboutUs/Explore/ Badger South (also Duets, Adults, and Vocal/Instrumental: see V/I article for more info): UW-Whitewater on Saturday, May 11. Performances will be in the Greenhill Center of the Arts, 950 W. Main St., Whitewater, WI 53190. Directions: http://www.uww.edu/campus-info/map-and-directions Badger Northeast: UW-Oshkosh on SUNDAY, May 19. Performances will be in the Arts & Communication Center, 800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI 54901. Directions: https://uwosh.edu/maps/ Deadlines: April 15 computer system deadline, and April 15 postmark deadline for mailing in checks. Application Process:

1. Have students participate in District Auditions to qualify for the Badger Competition. 2. Complete the registration for Badger in the online system OVATION by April 15th. Please make sure to

check you have chosen the correct performance site. (Duets and Adults will be at Badger South site) 3. Mail your check for entries ($25 for each student or each duet team) to Drew Donica, 1804 E. Elmdale Ct.,

Apt. C2 Shorewood, WI 53211. (Badger Vocal and Instrumental entry fees go to Opala Bilhorn). Postmark deadline is April 15th. Make sure to include your summary form printed out from Ovation.

Volunteering: On April 25th, the Badger Chairperson will be sending out a sign-up link to all teachers in Badger South and Northeast. Teachers will be able to sign up for their preferred volunteer work (required of ALL teachers entering students). Deadline for signing up will be by midnight on April 28th. Teachers who do not sign up will be assigned a work time and station. Badger Northwest teachers will have their volunteer duties assigned as in previous years. Drew Donica, Badger Keyboard Chair

Badger Vocal/Instrumental Dates: UW-Whitewater May 11th. Performances will be in the Greenhill Center of the Arts, 950 W. Main St., Whitewater, WI 53190. Directions: http://www.uww.edu/campus-info/map-and-directions Deadlines: April 15 computer system deadline, and April 15 postmark deadline for mailing in checks Application Process: Have students participate in District Auditions to qualify for the Badger Competition. Complete the registration for Badger in the online system OVATION by April 15th. Please make sure to check you have chosen the correct performance site. Postmark deadline is April 15th. Make sure to include your summary form printed out from Ovation.

https://www.uwrf.edu/AboutUs/Explore/http://www.uww.edu/campus-info/map-and-directionshttps://uwosh.edu/maps/http://www.uww.edu/campus-info/map-and-directions

Mail your check for entries ($25 for each student or each duet team) to: Opala Bilhorn 508 Campus Street, Ste 3 Milton, Wisconsin 53563 Volunteering: All teachers submitting students are expected to volunteer. Your job assignment will be emailed to you by May 4th. Any questions please contact Opala Bilhorn at: opalas.music.studio@gmail.com / 262-745-1063

IMTF Article By Tricia Marton While attending a recital for one of my piano students who played another instrument, I met her other teacher. He came to talk to me after the recital. “Jane really knows her theory,” he said, thanking me profusely because they “only had an hour lesson,“ and “didn’t have time to cover all that theory.” What he didn’t know was that she only had a 30-minute lesson with me! That conversation was a lightbulb moment. I began tracking my studio percentages for the WMTA District Audition theory tests. We consistently score a studio average of over 90% with at least one student scoring 100%. In this column I will share with you some of the techniques I’ve used to make this happen with my studio. Music theory was an important part of my high school music study. I had weekly private piano lessons in addition to a weekly group class that focused on theory. Mrs. Duggan handed out gold stars or lemon drops when our theory answers were correct. Through the years she drilled key signatures, notation, chord functions, vocabulary and more. Because of her, I breezed through my first-year theory class in college. When I became the teacher, I wanted this for my students. Instead of weekly theory classes I hold monthly performance classes which always include theory games. We choose from games I’ve purchased from several vendors as well as my newest creation, the board game It’s JUST Music Theory. The students learn from one another and have fun with theory because it involves their friends. Each summer I tackle a studio project. One summer, I searched for a theory method that was more challenging than those that accompany the method books. In my opinion, those theory books don’t keep up with what students need to know for the District Audition theory tests. We now use Fundamentals of Piano Theory by Keith Snell and Martha Ashleigh. To make certain the books aligned with what students need to know, I matched the concepts in each book with the appropriate District Audition theory test. The books don’t match our theory tests exactly, so I made notes of what was not covered. Since we are required to volunteer for Auditions, I made this work to my advantage. I volunteered to grade theory tests. While grading the tests from all the teachers in our area, I took notes on questions that the students consistently missed for each level. The next summer I created worksheets that emphasized those concepts. Another year I listened to the aural skills recordings to make certain I was presenting those correctly.

mailto:opalas.music.studio@gmail.com

At a state conference, we discussed teaching to different learning styles, and I applied this concept to teaching theory. Could we use manipulatives, movement, singing, playing, or listening to solidify this theory concept? This gives teachers many entry points so that the student gains understanding. For example: half steps and whole steps…we can find them on the keyboard, find them on the staff, spell them out loud, write them, arrange letter blocks or legos with letter names, sing them, or even use our feet while singing (1/2 step = heel to toe; whole step = a regular step forward). And what about that vocabulary list? All teachers drill vocabulary definitions, but I realized I didn’t always use the vocabulary outside of those drills. That changed as well. Once I explain the definition, I find as many ways to apply it to their pieces as possible. For example: can I use the four voice parts (SATB) to explain that Bach invention; show students how a broken chord pattern forms a chord progression; ask the student to start their sonatina at the beginning of the development; or tell my beginner to start at measure 6; or find the coda and challenge them to make these things happen without my help? Along this journey, my own theory skills improved dramatically. I feel comfortable explaining concepts whose essence escaped me before--my nemesis used to be compound meter or explaining why cut time is not 4/4. I found ways make theory fun for students, and it works for me. I hope that sharing these ideas and methods sparks your creativity and inspires you to present music theory to your students in fun new ways. Here’s to helping the next generation realize it’s not rocket science, it’s just music theory. Tricia Marton is an Associate Lecturer at UWGB-Sheboygan Campus, operates a private piano studio, and created the board game It’s JUST Music Theory. She has a Bachelor and Master of Music from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville and has never stopped learning new things about music. She judges at festivals throughout Wisconsin, and her students are award-winning in local and state competitions.

MTNA Certification Happy New Year Everyone - perhaps on your resolution list is the opportunity to complete the MTNA certification process. If it is not on your list, it is not too late to add it. The next few articles will feature some tips to assist you in your certification efforts. Here is a link to the MTNA website which has everything you need to get started: https://certification.mtna.org/Certification/Get_Certified/Get_Certified.aspx For this month's newsletter, I would like to focus on Project 3 - Present Your Teaching. If you are selecting new repertoire for students after the holidays, perhaps even preparing a student with a final new piece for auditions in a few months or for a recital in May, now is a perfect time to begin. Start with a particular student on videotaping a lesson showing the initial stage of learning a piece. Make sure you get consent from parents before videotaping (here is link for that form: https://certification.mtna.org/downloads/certification/videoauthorization.pdf) Videotape them throughout the semester so that you aren't specifically locked into three videos, but have enough material to pick those three points which show a student's growth towards the end goal. A few tips when recording - make sure that your recording device is easily uploadable to a computer. Smartphones and tablets work great for this. Try doing a practice recording. Record a lesson that is not a part of this project to see that the sound quality is good, that the picture is focused properly, that you know how to use the camera. All of these will make for less headache later on during the process. Make sure you place the camera microphone in a location to avoid unnecessary sound. On the piano is not an ideal location as it will pick up the vibration of the instrument also in addition to the sound produced. Make sure the recording focus

https://certification.mtna.org/Certification/Get_Certified/Get_Certified.aspxhttps://certification.mtna.org/downloads/certification/videoauthorization.pdf

centers on both you and the student. There are some additional videos and articles on the MTNA website which address other tips for recording. There are some other steps to project 3 such as lesson planning and such which will be addressed in a future article, but I hope this helps you start the process of recording and offering a bit of self reflection of your own teaching. As always, feel free to contact Justin Krueger with any questions at justind.krueger@gmail.com. Best wishes in this spring semester!

Meeting Minutes WMTA ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Elkhart Lake, WI October 20, 2018 12:00pm – 1:15pm Present: Nicholas Phillips, Catherine Walby, Arlyss Troge, Rachel Fritz, Drew Donica, Kayme Henkel, Nancy Burman, Kristin Ihde, Jessica Johnson, Sandra Statz, Emily Schultz, Sydney Alexander, Abby Patchett, Mickey Lyttle, Mary Anne Olvera, Justin Krueger, Bethany Hartlaub, Ashley Hanke, Michael Mizrahi, Peggy Otwell, Kathleen Latzke-Daley, Drea Wagner, and Katie Butler.

Call to Order/Welcome: 12:26PM Adoption of Agenda Approval by Consensus. Approval of Minutes Approval by Consensus. Reports of Officers President, Nicholas Phillips, NCTM – Expiring terms include Nicholas Phillips as President, Catherine

Walby as Immediate Past-President, Gail Heywood as 1st VP-Conferences, Arlyss Troge as 2nd VP-Membership, Rachel Fritz as Treasurer, Drew Donica as Arts Awareness and Advocacy and Nancy Burman as Badger Vocal/Instrumental. Resignations include Kayme Henkel as Badger Keyboard and Kathleen Latskey-Daley as MTNA Foundation Chair. Current vacancies include Archivist and Technology Chair as the responsibilities of both positions are currently under review by the board. MAME would like to thank WMTA for the generous $200 grant awarded to our local association. Thank you to those who have served and whose terms are expiring. Thank you to Heywood and Walby for their many years of service. The winner of the 2018 Conference Local Association mileage contest was the SCMTA.

Immediate Past President, Catherine Walby, NCTM – No Report. 1st VP-Conference, Gail Heywood, NCTM – Not Present. Activities over the past several months have been

focused on communicating with the Osthoff Resort, clinicians, advertisers, exhibitors and the Office Administrator to update Conference information, determine the schedule and make preparations for the 2018 Conference. Everything is in place for Conference this year; however Gail will not be able to attend Conference due to a personal emergency.

2nd VP-Membership, Arlyss Troge – This year’s exciting news is the formation of MAME, a Local Association in the Madison area. As of October 12th, membership numbers stand at 450 at a 7.25% increase. Membership retention continues to be a concern. Mary Anne Olvera, the Local Association Chair, has been working on identifying new members who may not know the benefits of participating in a Local Association.

Treasurer, Rachel Fritz – Income from membership dues and conference fees is $14,675.55 and expenses from conference, grants, and auditions is $9,208.56. The current balance is $5,466.99. The Checking account has $25,862.61, the money market account has $10,233.41 and the CD has $137,325.17. Fritz

mailto:justind.krueger@gmail.com

is still working with Wegner on the completion of the 990 form and will be passing this position over to Sydney Alexander. It was determined that the funds Jane Sheef bequeathed to the association would be used to award two applicants who want to attend the national Conference.

Reports of Program Chairs Archivist – Vacant Arts Awareness and Advocacy, Drew Donica – Not Present. No Report. Badger Keyboard Competition, Drew Donica, NCTM – Not Present. Drew has already taken on the

responsibilities of the position. The Badger Keyboard Competition entry deadline is April 15, 2019 for both the computer deadline and the postmark deadline for mailing checks. Badger Northwest will be at UW-River Falls on Saturday, May 11th. Badger South, including Duets and Adults, will be at UW-Whitewater on Saturday, May 11th. Badger Northeast will be at UW-Oshkosh on Sunday, May 19th. April 15 is the computer system deadline and April 15 is the postmark deadline for mailing checks.

Badger Vocal/Instrumental Competition, Nancy Burman, NCTM – Opala Bilhorn will be taking over this position. Terry Wilkinson from Eau Claire will be working with Bilhorn to get the judges together. The competition schedule is published online, in the newsletter and in the Conference booklet. During this past Conference, 47 registrants in 9 divisions with 17 participating teachers. The day went smoothly and every division had a winner declared. Badger V/I 2019 will be held at UW-Whitewater on Saturday, May 11.

Collaborative Performance Forum, Kristin Ihde – Not Present. No Report. College Faculty Representative, Jessica Johnson, NCTM – Three collegiate proposals were selected to

present at the 2018 WMTA Conference. Presenters at Conference are Samantha Pfeiffer, Aubrie Jacobson, Lydia Mackie, and Shuk-Ki Wong. Johnson is considering putting together a session at the 2019 Conference specifically for Collegiate members.

District Auditions, Sandra Statz – All teachers should note the new guidelines for District Auditions as outlined in the August Newsletter or on the WMTA website under district auditions. Locations and dates are listed on the newsletter and website. There is a quick reference link at the top of the District Auditions page. As a reminder, all teachers must use the Ovation online for registration. Teachers should collect fees from their students and then write one check for the total of their entries made payable to WMTA. Phillips has been keeping track of a list of common errors in Ovation and will be turning those in to be addressed. All questions about auditions repertoire should be emailed to Emily Schultz, the WMTA Auditions repertoire and Ovation database manager at WMTACompositionHotline@gmail.com.

Composition Manager, Emily Schultz, NCTM – Not Present. No Report. Theory Chair, Sydney Alexander – Not Present. No Report Judge Database, Abby Patchett – No Report Independent Music Teachers Forum, Mickey Lytle, NCTM – All the 2018 WMTA Newsletters featured

articles on relevant topics to independent teaching. These articles were well received by the membership. The December newsletter will feature two more. Thank you to all the members who contributed. Volunteers for the 2019 newsletters should email Mickey at musicbymickey@gmail.com.

Local Associations, Mary Ann Olvera – There are currently 335 members as part of one of WMTA’s 14 Local Associations. Ten of the Local Associations honored Members of the Year at the 2018 Conference banquet. A common thread in these winners is active participation. A concern was raised that leaders within Local Associations were unaware of new members joining WMTA without connecting to a Local Association so efforts have been made to provide further updates and information. SCVMTA is still pursuing the possibility of creating a new LA in regions that are not presently served.

MTNA Certifications, Justin Krueger, NCTM – We have 66 certified teachers at 15.4% of our membership. For those who are certified please reach out to Justin if you have stories you would like to share.

MTNA Competitions Coordinator, Hector Landa – Not Present. There winners recital will not occure at

Conference due to low numbers. MTNA Junior/Senior, Bethany Hartlaub – Not present. No report. MTNA Young Artist/Chamber, Ashley Hanke – Not present. No report. MTNA Composer Commissioning, Michael Mizrahi – Not Present. No Report. The piece Miizrahi played

this year, as with all commissioned pieces, will be submitted to the National Composer of the Year award. with MTNA.

MTNA/WMTA Competition for Your Composers Chair, Peggy Otwell, NCTM – Not Present. No report. MTNA Foundation, Kathy Latzke-Daley – Most of our Local Associations donated a basket or a cash

donation for the silent auction supporting the MTNA Foundation Fund in support of this year’s nominee. Awarded baskets were distributed at this time in the meeting.

Teacher Award of Excellence, Drea Wagner, NCTM – Award winners were printed in the Conference booklet. Thank you to all who participated and submitted your information.

Technology Chair – Vacant Wellness Forum Chair, Jessica Johnson, NCTM – Please email Jess if you have any ideas for wellness

sessions at Conference next year. Standing/Special Committees Finance Committee, Rachel Fritz – No report. Nominating committee, Catherine Walby, NCTM – Fritz has already been elected and will move into place

at the end of this meeting. The other positions were posted in the last newsletter and will now be voted into place. Walby announced the official nominations and opened the floor for additional names. Burman moved to close. Johnson seconded. Ayes were unanimous with no abstentions. They will serve until our October 2021 Conference.

Old Business New Business Summary of Actions by Executive Board, Nicholas Phillips, NCTM

At June 2018 meeting it was discussed to combine the Archivist and Technology chair and call it a Media Chair. To change the bylaws this change must be printed in the August newsletter and voted on during the Annual Business meeting. This action will be coming up in 2019. Anybody who would be interested in serving in this position should contact Fritz.

Some music students, who currently reside in Wisconsin, are currently taking virtual lessons using various forms of technology from teachers who reside in other states. This situation has created new questions about how current competition rules apply to these students. The board discussed the rules that have been affected and discussed options at great length. This will be voted on by the board when clear language can be composed.

The board discussed the purpose of providing cash prizes for winners of the MTNA Competition for Young Composers while the program runs at a financial deficit. Further research and continued discussion with participating teachers will take place before the board discusses it further.

The board discussed the expense for mailing the Conference brochure to every member. The topic was tabled for further research. Those with thoughts should share them with a board member.

Announcements Next summer’s meeting will be June 7th from 1:30 to 3:30 with lunch meetings at noon. Thank you to Philips for serving as President for the past three years.

Adjournment 1:15 pm.