Greetings! I hope you were able to enjoy the holiday season and are ready to welcome the New Year.  Happy New Year and thank you for everything you are each doing to make my term so memorable.  I am enjoying getting to know you better and am grateful for all that I am learning.

We had about 20 members present for the December Teachers' Exchange meeting. Many questions were asked  and many ideas were shared.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Many thanks to our Teachers' Exchange chair,  Dianne Impallaria, and to Barbara Lieurance for helping to moderate.

For those of you who read the newsletters on laptops, you can use the 'In this Issue' section (top left of the newsletter) to go directly to a specific article or section (click on the topic). Unfortunately, the 'jump directly' feature is not yet available on mobile devices so for those of us who read the newsletter on our mobile devices, we must scroll down to get to the various sections.

STUDENT RECITALS
The deadlines for the Junior and Intermediate recitals have passed.  Please scroll down to see the dates and deadlines for the remaining recitals.   Diana Tetzlaff is available to help members with the online application process. She can be reached at 617-816-1777.  Thank you Diana!  All questions about recitals should be directed to the recital chairs.

MEMBERS' RECITAL: SUNDAY, MARCH 12
Special thanks to M. Steinert's & Sons for the generous use of their beautiful space at their Natick store. Scroll down to 'MEMBERS' RECITAL' for more details and to see how you can help support your colleagues.

COMPETITIONS
Please note that the deadline for the Ruth Davidson and Alice Hamlet competitions is Wednesday, March 8th, not March 9th as it is listed in the Program Booklet.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the meeting on Monday, January 23rd. As a New Year's wish for each of you - and for the world at large, I'd like to share a traditional Indian blessing, Sarve Bhavantu, that one of my yoga teachers sings after class each week:
With extra warm greetings for this chilly time of the year,
Donna Gross Javel
President, NEPTA

The Members' Recital will take place on Sunday, March 12 at 5:00 at M. Steinerts & Sons in Natick.  Please come support your colleagues and invite your friends and family to this wonderful event. There is no charge for this event but donations are welcome! One of the ways you can show your support is to volunteer to help with this event.  Here are some things you can do, and if you have other ideas please let us know!

For the reception, we will need several volunteers. Please select one (or more) of the following tasks:

• Pick up wine
• Pick up food
• Pick up paper products for the reception                               (plates, napkins, glasses)
• Bake something
• Help set up the reception
• Help clear away the reception

Other Volunteer opportunities: 

• If you enjoy graphic design, perhaps you can design a flier that can be distributed electronically as well as printed and posted.
• Distribute fliers at libraries, schools, coffee shops, gyms, health clubs...

If you can't help with any of this, no worries! Please just come and enjoy the music and food, while taking the opportunity to mingle with your colleagues.

 

If you are interested in volunteering to help with this event, please contact:

• Irina Baghdasaryan ([email protected])
• Ellie Perrone ([email protected])

Colleen Campbell Program Committee Chair

Please join us in planning NEPTA's 2017-2018 program.
 
The NEPTA Program Committee invites you to share your ideas and suggestions
for the 2017-2018 season. We will meet on February 1 to select next year's speakers and programs. Before then we would like to learn what topics you want to know more about, whom you would like to hear as a speaker or master teacher, or if you have attended a presentation that you think would be of interest to our membership.

Please send any suggestions about topics, speakers and master teachers to Program Committee Chair Colleen Campbell at [email protected], or phone 781-708-1207. Thank you!

Betty Reed and Tong Liu

"Being on the outside of this particular teacher-student interaction is eye-opening." - NEPTA Mentee

"I am really happy to give back to NEPTA because I received so much from NEPTA." - Mentor
 
The NEPTA Mentoring Program is a unique opportunity for any member to observe, free of charge, experienced teachers as they teach their students. Both Mentors and Mentees have had enriching educational experiences by being a part of the Mentoring Program.

If you are interested in participating in an inspiring and motivating program, contact Betty Reed, NEPTA Mentoring Program Chair, at 617-489-6862, or [email protected]. 

Remember that you can post your own up-to-the-minute concert listings and other items of interest on NEPTA's Facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/NEPTApiano 

to see the latest news from your NEPTA friends! 

YouTube videos of your performances are especially welcome. 

• Teachers have access to music that, perhaps, has gone out of print
• Standard teaching methods and collections can be acquired at a very reasonable price
• All proceeds go directly to the NEPTA Scholarship Fund