VMTA Spring/Summer Newsletter 2023

Spring/Summer

Newsletter

June 9, 2023

President’s Message

Keeping Your Eye on the Prize

Music educators who teach the Suzuki Method apply the concept of “vision.” That is to say, with each child we teach, our vision is to ultimately see him or her as an accomplished learner. I know that all dedicated teachers – Suzuki or traditional – see the potential in their students. But there are probably times for most of us when that vision seems unlikely. Faulty, unproductive practicing, inattentiveness bordering on rudeness, and uninvolved parents can hinder the teaching process. Thankfully, these episodes are usually short-lived, and with some encouragement – or “regrouping” of our teacher-student relationship – we can get back on track. You all know that working with children and teenagers has its challenges. Almost every day, these students seem to grow and change before our eyes. However, we music teachers are in a wonderful position to be a constant and steady source of guidance and support.

I have often told the young teachers who take my training courses that the parents are the key to a successful Suzuki Method student. The dedicated mom or dad is often the unsung hero who is “in the trenches” each day, making sure their child is engaged in productive practicing; making sure the child learns to be respectful toward teachers; and encouraging and believing in the child’s abilities, even when things don’t seem to be going well. Whether part of the Suzuki Method or of a traditional music learning practice, an involved parent is an asset to both the student and the teacher.

That’s why I want to encourage all of our VMTA teachers to take the time to communicate with your pupils’ parents. The next time they bring their child to your studio, thank them for all they do. Let them know that you know that their job is not always an easy one.

If, together, both teacher and parents keep their eyes on the prize of turning the child into an accomplished learner, a well-grounded musician will almost certainly result!

-Laurel Ann Maurer

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VMTA CALENDAR

QUAD STATE FALL CONFERENCE

October 21, 2023

(Details below)

FALL ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL

November 12, 2023

FALL ENSEMBLE FESTIVAL 2023

After two successful festivals, the popular Fall Ensemble Festival is scheduled for mid-afternoon on November 12 at the Richmond Library. The Festival provides a performance opportunity for students and parents. Pianists are often asked to accompany singers or instrumentalists. Collaboration between musicians is both fun and educational opening up a new dimension in music making.

Friends and family members of a student who studies with a VMTA member are invited to participate. Chamber music, solo instrumentalists accompanied by students, piano duets and piano trios are examples of music to be performed at the Festival. Memorization for this concert is not required.

Teachers may enter 15 minutes of music for the performances and may add more if time allows. A fee of $5 per student or $10 per family will be charged. The VMTA Board is excited to continue this new venture.

Students who have previously participated enjoyed the challenge of a different experience. No memorizing and group participation make this opportunity enjoyable for students.

Registration forms will be available via the Fall VMTA Newsletter and on the VMTA website.

Contact Marie Johnson at 879-8863 or mdjkiln@gmail.com if you have questions.

Marie Johnson

Choose to Teach Initiative

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) offers a monthly 1-2 minute video series "designed specifically to help educators remain motivated through the sharing of words of encouragement and support from respected colleagues who have successfully navigated these last few, exceptionally challenging years."

"The goal of the Choose to Teach initiative is to help educators connect with the impact they have on their students, schools, and community, as well as reconnect with why they decided to become an educator. It's brought to you by the Music Achievement Council. Educators can receive more free content, just like this, and tips to recruit and retain more students at www.msfq.org/guide. "

https://www.nammfoundation.org/educator-tips/supporting-music-education-choose-teach

VMTA Board Members

President:

Laurel Maurer

802-881-9153

laurelflutemaurer@yahoo.com

Immediate Past President:

Marie Johnson

802-879-8863

President-Elect:

TBD

Secretary:

TBD

Treasurer:

Sarah Williams

802-223-5307

sarah5432@gmail.com

Conference Chair:

Patty Bergeron (interim)

802-878-9873

pcberg86@gmail.com

Non-Competitive Auditions:

Lilly C. Ramsey

802-879-7425

cldkramsey@comcast.net

Competitive Auditions:

Linda Buermeyer

802-439-6469

lindux@tops-tele.com

Certification:

TBD

Newsletter:

Jina Smith

802-318-1776

jws682@gmail.com

Membership:

Patricia Cleary Bergeron

802-878-9873

pcberg86@gmail.com

Web Publicist:

Sarah Williams &

Patty Bergeron

Composer Commissioning:

Michael Sitton

802-839-8336

michael.sitton1@gmail.com

VMTA 2023 Quad State Conference

On October 21st, VMTA will host the Quad State Music Teachers Conference. The board and conference committee have been working diligently for many months to present an outstanding concert that will be interesting, informative and enjoyable with lectures and performances. This year’s conference will take place at the Brattleboro Music Center.

The keynote speaker will be the renowned pianist, Artina McCain.l (see bio). Her presentation will explore repertoire by underserved composers through a lecture and a recital.

VMTA is also happy to have Vermont’s own Claire Black present a recital and lecture on the music of Clara Schumann.

We will also enjoy newly commissioned music by composers from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. This year, Evan Premo is the selected composer from Vermont.

These are just the highlights of the days activities. It promises to be a day of enrichment and enjoyment. Please plan ahead for this years Quad state conference!

Quad State Conference schedule and details

Artina McCain bio

A note from your friendly physical therapist…

Teachers, does your body hurt while you teach?

In an Australian study of 505 pianists, 42.4% of the subjects reported pain and injury related to piano playing. Longer practice duration, more years of experience, and higher regularity of playing were all associated with higher reports of problems. And who are our most experienced musicians who spend the most hours at the piano? Our teachers. You!

Don’t worry; it’s not all doom and gloom. Let’s be honest you could be a golf instructor and probably have the same odds of having pain or discomfort. It is part of the human condition, after all. There are strategies specific to music teachers that you employ to limit your discomfort, improve your productivity, and, most importantly, have more fun with your students.

Make your set-up feel easy on you.

Take a look at how you’ve set up your teaching space. Are you comfortable while you’re teaching? Is your chair comfortable? If not, your seating area is the best investment you can make. While sitting in your chair, you should be able to sit all the way back in the chair with your back supported by chair. Your feet should be able to be planted on the floor (or on a step). And when sitting, the chair should be able to do the work of keeping you upright for you. Many believe they should actively hold themselves up with their core all day. But how many hours per week are you teaching? Do you need to torture your core with a marathon of work each day? Let the chair do the work. I will repeat that. Let the chair do the work.

Change it up!

Consider how repetitive some of your movements might be if you are, for example, always sitting to your student's right. You will need to turn your head to the right to read the music; you will always need to reach and turn the page with the same hand and in the same direction. If you need to perch forward on your chair, there will always be a slight rotation to the same side throughout the day. The muscles and joints that have a higher load from being used all the time will eventually protest, and the underused areas are at a higher risk of a surprise injury when they are eventually used during some unexpected movement.

Keeping your body positions variable throughout the day will prevent an over/underload management issue within your body. Try to change up which side of the piano or student you sit on throughout the day. Put a chair on each side of the piano so it’s easy to switch mid-lesson. Even better, get up and move around either within each lesson or between lessons.

Make your day your own.

Individualize your day. Take note of when you start to notice stiffness, pain, fatigue, or sleepiness during your work day. These are ways your body is signaling the need for a change-up. Schedule 5 to 15-minute breaks in your day just before you actually need them (this is the key). If you find that you can make it through 3 student lessons before your body asks for a change-up, make time for getting up and moving after every 3 students.

Get up, walk outside and take a deep breath, go to the bathroom, and refill your water bottle.

You can even create a 5-minute movement routine to use during these breaks. Make it the same every time so you don’t have to think too hard about it.

Sample routine

1-3 rounds of the following:

Marching in place: Lift one knee and then switch, 10 steps on each side

Kickbacks: Stand on one foot and bend the other knee to kick your foot up toward your buttock. 10x each side

Overhead presses: Raise your arms overhead your head 10x

Pull-aparts: Stand with both hands straight out in front of you. Move your arms out to the side while squeezing your shoulder blades together 10x

Roll-downs: Stand with your knees soft and feet hip-width apart. Exhale and roll slowly down to touch your toes (or at least in that direction). Inhale at the bottom. Exhale and roll back up. 5-10x

Bonus points if you can do it outside and get some natural light to jump-start your brain!

If you are experiencing discomfort during your time teaching, it is valuable to reflect on what is contributing to it and consider changes you can make. You don’t have to hurt! Your students need you at your best, and you deserve to feel good at work.

If you feel you could use some guidance on how to feel better while you teach, please reach out to me anytime at abby@forteperformancept.com.

Be well,

Abby Halpin, DPT

Noteflight Learn

Noteflight Learn Coaching/Training Session

VMTA subscribes to online music notation software that can inspire and liberate you and your students. Noteflight Learn is an online system for teachers to develop lesson content for composition, performance, and theory (for example), and for students to explore composing, sharing, and collaborating as part of their music study. It is private and COPPA-compliant, and it has features for transcription, recording, and performance assessment. It also gives access to more than 84,000 scores that can be copied or edited for use by or with students.

There are so many ways that a teacher can use this program - increasing the enrollment of VMTA members is my goal. I have recently updated my familiarity with using the program, mainly from testing and viewing some of the many articles and videos that are available. The Transcription feature (which requires using a MIDI keyboard for note input) is especially interesting to me, since it is not readily available in any other low-cost program. Yes, it takes a few hours to learn how to take advantage of the many features, but the possibilities are limited only by our imaginations.

If you would like to get started on learning the basic navigation of the Noteflight program, you can set up a free individual account at noteflight.com/plans . Each free Noteflight Basic account provides the user with many of the features also found in Noteflight Learn. Tutorial videos are available at this link or by searching your browser. Also explore the Noteflight Support center. The additional features that can be especially useful to teachers are available in Noteflight Learn. Read more about these excellent tools at noteflight.com. Tutorials for Noteflight Learn are available here.

The best way to learn this versatile program is to have a user account. When you are ready to try Noteflight Learn, contact me so that I can set up your user account. Setting up an account temporarily is an option. After you have an account, you can explore on your own or with individualized guidance. I am available to answer questions by phone (802-223-5307) or email (sarah5432@gmail.com) or from my virtual teaching space. We could plan a training session for early Fall if members are interested.

- Sarah Williams

Look for details and resources at the following links:

Noteflight Learn

Links for Noteflight Learn Tutuorials

Noteflight Learn Webinars

Contact Sarah Williams or complete and send the Enrollment Form on the VMTA website page.

Join us on Facebook! Please check out the latest VMTA programs and news on the Vermont Music Teachers Association Facebook page!”

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Is your newsletter getting "lost" in your spam folder? You can fix that by following these helpful hints:

If yours is a GMAIL email address and this newsletter doesn’t arrive in your primary INBOX, you can adjust your Gmail settings by following the steps shown here under “Create a filter” - or contact Sarah Williams for assistance.

VMTA is always looking for new Sponsors or Donors. Anyone who cares about music education can be a Sponsor or Donor. VMTA has publicity brochures and postcards and business cards that provide contact information for prospective supporters. They are designed for distribution to students and their families, and to the public, and are suitable for display in your studio, at your recitals, or at your favorite willing public location. If you or your student families would like to help find new Sponsors or Donors by distributing these items, please ask Sarah Williams to send you a supply of the latest designs. Image files are also available on request. Suggestions for new designs are welcome. Meanwhile, these are the links for becoming a Sponsor or making a Donation.

GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION!

Volunteers are needed to serve on the VMTA board! We currently need to fill the following positions:

President-Elect, Secretary, Conference Chair, and Certification chair.

Come and join our wonderful group of board members and see how your organization works!

SPRING FESTIVAL

2023

The VMTA held its annual Spring Festival on Saturday, March 25^th, 2023, at Trinity Baptist Church in Williston. The VTMTA has held this Festival annually since 1979. Eight member teachers prepared 33 students to participate in this year’s event. Special thanks to VMTA Members Linda Buermeyer, Sara Huff, Patricia Bergeron, Sam Whitesell, Michael Sitton, Jina Smith, Ed Darling, Lisa Goodrich and Marie Johnson for working as judges. Without everyone’s help and participation, we could not hold this event successfully year after year. Thanks everyone!

Just a reminder to check out MTNA eFestival opportunities!

For more information,

Click Here

Competitive auditions are a great opportunity for your more serious students. The MTNA registration deadline is Wednesday, September 13 no later than 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Please see MTNA website for details.

After registration, then the next big step will be VMTA's state competitive auditions on Sunday, November 12 at the Richmond Free Library.

Time to be announced later.

Linda Duxbury Buermeyer NCTM

Competitive Auditions Coordinator

Ed Darling:

I played in the Greenfield Piano Associates annual spring recital on May 28. I performed the second movement of Beethoven's

Sonata Op 14, No 2.

"One can speak poetry just by arranging colors well, just as one can say comforting things in music."

-Van Gogh

Elaine Greenfield:

A fall on the ice in February resulted in a totally fractured upper right humerus. Although piano playing is currently out of the question, teaching has been as active as ever, and a saving grace. As usual, I look forward to teaching at the Adamant Music School, 7/16 - 8/4. Greenfield Piano Associates performed two recitals this spring. “Piano Variety,” was held Sunday, May 28th, 3 pm, at the Richmond Free Library, with music by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Clara Schumann, Ravel, and Mompou. Performers include Yi Lun Lee, Ed Darling, Glenn Sproul, Scott Fields, Susanna Burnham, Anne McGuire, Natalie Mannherz, Janice Gallant, and Sam Stanley. Wednesday, May 31, 7 pm, was the GPA Annual Zoom Recital, with submissions of recorded performances by all members, near and far. Participants included those studying both in-person and virtually. We enjoyed a lively, fun filled event, with members from various parts of the country, and the world, sharing their music. This fall I will present a solo recital at the Historical Piano Study Center, Ashburnham, MA, and a collaborative recital with VT Public’s Helen Lyons, soprano.

Obituaries:

Katherine Farrow, 83, of Shelburne Vermont was surrounded by her loving family when she passed away peacefully on May 8, 2023.

Kathy’s passions were teaching music, playing piano, taking care of her family, folk dancing, spending time outdoors, advocating for prisoner’s rights, and embracing natural healing.

Kathy was born on August 8, 1939 in Schenectady New York. She graduated from Nott Terrace High School and then attended the University of Vermont where she met her husband of 61 years, Cedric Farrow. They married in 1961 and moved to Shelburne, Vermont with their three children in 1972.

Kathy was a born teacher and nurturer. Early in her career she taught third grade in Monroe, Connecticut. She later co-founded the Essex Community Kindergarten in Essex Vermont. After moving to Shelburne, she began giving piano lessons in her home. She loved her students and embraced each one’s individuality. She was accredited by the Vermont Music Teachers Association and belonged to Greenfield Piano Associates of South Burlington, Vermont.

With her husband, she was an active member of the St. Andrews Society and UVM folk dance group. She started a newsletter called “Prison Views” to allow inmates to relate their experiences. She founded the Shelburne Summer Center as a place for local children to participate in arts and sports activities during the summer break.

Kathy was a loving wife and mother. She is predeceased by her mother, Mary Famiano, and father, Charles Famiano. She is survived by her husband, Cedric, her children: Kimberly (Raymond), Lori, and Eric, grandchildren Brittany (Joe), Jillian, Hunter, and Lillian, great-grandchild Avery, and sister Marilyn.

To honor Kathy’s wishes, a graveside ceremony will be held at the Peacham Cemetery, Academy Hill, Peacham, Vermont on Sunday May 21st at 12pm. To share a memory please see the full obituary at vtfuneralhomes.com

In lieu of flowers please consider gifts to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or Rutland Dismas House, (dismasofvt.org).

Elaine Thornton:

Elaine R. Thornton, age 85, passed away peacefully Sunday, May 21, 2023, at Neville Care Center, Cambridge, MA surrounded by her loving family after a brief illness. Elaine was a faithful woman who loved the Lord, her family, music, church, and community. Elaine is predeceased by her beloved husband of over 60 years Paul B. Thornton. She is survived by her devoted son Richard P. Thornton and daughter-in-law Judy McGrail Thornton of Arlington, MA.

Funeral Services will be held Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at 1:00 pm at The United Church of Colchester, 900 Main Street, Colchester, VT. Pastor Russell Willis will officiate. Services are in the care of Corbin & Palmer Funeral Home. To read the full obituary or offer a message of condolence, kindly go to www.vtfuneralhomes.com.

VMTA Website: vermontmta.net