FOLKLORIC PIANO MUSIC BY GRIEG, GRAINGER, AND BARTOK
Thursday, April 30, 2009 from 10:30 am until 12:00 noon
     Q&A from 12:00 to 12:30
Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests
   Joseph Smith will compare and contrast the folksong settings of Grieg, Grainger and Bartok and examine Grieg's influence on the other two composers. Selections from Grieg's Opus 66 and 72, Jutish Medley by Grainger and Hungarian Peasant Songs by Bartok are included in the program. Smith’s disc of folkloric music by Grieg and Grainger was lauded for his "spirit and style" by the renowned critic Harris Goldsmith.
Joseph Smith is well known to New York audiences for his recitals and lectures. His column "Rare Finds" has appeared in Piano Today, since 1993, and for several years “Joseph Smith's Piano Bench” was heard on National Public Radio's "Performance Today." Mr. Smith’s recordings include “Familiar Melodies,” “Piano Waltzes from Beethoven to Poulenc,” and most recently, “Piano Barcarolles from Venice to the Mississippi” (Brioso). He is editor of such diverse anthologies as “Four Early 20th Century Piano Suites by Black Composers,” “Country Gardens and Other Piano Works by Percy Grainger,” American Piano Classics,” and “Tangos, Milongas, and Other Latin-American Dances for Solo Piano.” His anthology, “Rare Finds,” (Steinway Library) includes essays on each piece, and a CD.

THE TOTAL TEACHER SUPPORT PACKAGE
Sunday, September 13, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Bechstein Piano Centre, 207 West 58th St.,New York, NY 10019
Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests
   Amy Immerman, co-founder of the Cincinnati Music Academy, is Division Director-elect of the East Central Division of the Music Teachers Association. She will lead an in-depth workshop to demonstrate the National Music Certificate Program, offered jointly by The Royal Conservatory of Music and Frederic Harris Music. The goal of the program is to allow students to work towards a nationally recognized music standard; to enjoy up to 12 levels of progressive study for 24 music disciplines; to earn school credits, certificates, and awards; to become accredited with the Pedagogy Certfidicate Program; and to count on more than 100 quality support materials. For more information, (www.nationalmusiccertificate.org). A complete listing on all teacher workshops by the NCMP is at (www.nationalmusiccertificate.org/resources/workshops.html) .

For further information or to register, please telephone Judy Woo at 646-752-9181 or email Judy at judywoo@mac.com.

FAVORITE REPERTOIRE SESSION:                  20th and 21st Century Teaching Pieces Thursday, October 15, 2009,      Refreshments from 10:00 to 10:30, Program from 10:30 to 12:30 Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests    We encourage all participants to perform 20th and 21st Century pieces that they have found highly teachable. For those who wish to perform:   • Bring a favorite in print teaching piece that motivates your students to discuss and perform.   • All levels are welcome from early teaching pieces to advanced repertoire.   • You may wish to perform the piece as a whole or in part. Please contact Lisa Bastien Hanss to RSVP or if you have any questions: 212-996-7795 or email lisabastien@verizon.net. PREPARING STUDENTS for AUDITIONS and COMPETITIONS:                           TURNING FEAR INTO FUN! Thursday, November 12, 2009 from 10.30 a.m. to 12.00 Noon Klavierhaus Pianos, 211 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019            (between 7th and Broadway)       (212) 245-4535 Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests   Ingrid Clarfield is Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Piano Department at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. Recently, Ms. Clarfield was honored at the Music Teachers National Association National Conference by being named an MTNA Foundation Fellow.   Learn the strategies of a “veteran” teacher who has successfully prepared hundreds of students for thousands of performances, auditions and competitions. You too can turn your students’ fear into FUN!   Website for Ingrid Clarfield: www.ingridclarfield.com. TEACHING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES        Thursday, February 4, 2010,   10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon Third Street Music School Settlement, Studio 3A        235 East 11th Street (near Second Ave)  NYC Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests    The purpose of this workshop is to provide an overview of pervasive issues of children with special needs, primarily focusing on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the Autistic Spectrum, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Sensory Processing issues.    We will look at some of the primary developmental needs/issues of these children and review strategies for how to address their needs in private and group music instruction.    Sarah Perry, EdM, MT-BC, is a board certified music therapist and music educator in NYC. Sarah is an adjunct instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University, teaching graduate level courses, guitar and cello in the music education program where she is also a doctoral candidate. Sarah currently teaches general music and choir at Aaron School, an elementary special education school in Manhattan and also provides private instruction to both typically developing children and children with special needs in violin, guitar, and piano.    As a consultant, Sarah has developed the “First Adventures in Sound” curriculum for Midori and Friends as well as led professional development and music therapy workshops for programs through Hofstra University, Midori and Friends, and the NYC Departments of Aging and Mental Health. Sarah’s research includes the role of music in the development of communication skills of children, examining the learning responses of special needs students in the general and music classroom, and looking at the musical engagement of children with sensory processing disorder.   RSVP to judywoo@mac.com DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR UNRAVELING COMPLEXITIES IN PASSAGE WORK Thursday     April 1, 2010     10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon Steinway Hall     109 West 57th Street     New York, NY Open to all piano teachers, PTC members and guests    Sondra Tammam will present innovative ideas on piano technique that resolve technical difficulties to make it easier to concentrate on music-making. These often overlooked pedagogical strategies are based on the concepts of grouping and shaping.    Ms. Tammam explores the principle of how grouping works both to organize the playing of the repertoire, and also to enhance the music. Examples show how white/ black key relationships, and concepts of Dorothy Taubman can make passages more manageable.    She will demonstrate “hands on” examples based on these ideas. Members are invited to bring passages that are “trouble spots” in any repertoire -- student or advanced.    Sondra Tammam has years of experience teaching the Taubman Approach and is also internationally known as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances have received enthusiastic acclaim in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.    Ms. Tammam won first prize in of the Frinna Awerbuch Competition, the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Paderewski Competition, a prize in the Kosciuszko competition, the Gold Medal of the national Guild, and the John Myers award. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, where she received her Bachelor and Master degrees respectively.    Ms. Tammam has appeared at MTNA Conventions, and has given lectures and master classes for many organizations in the U.S. and Israel. She has served on the faculty of MSM, as visiting artist at Tunghai University in Taiwan and currently presents the Taubman Seminar project at Temple University. The Clavier (Dec. ’05) featured an article she co-authored about performance injury. Her performances are available on 3 CD’s.   For further information, please see www.TaubmanSeminar.com