OMTA - Oregon Music Teachers Association

Grant Event -- Teaching Rhythm with the Child's Brain in Mind
2024-09-11 10:30 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Brookwood Library Community Room, 2850 NE Brookwood Parkway, Hillsboro, Oregon, 97124
Presenting District: Hillsboro Area
Presenter: Joseph Hoffman
Program Description: Many developing pianists struggle to play rhythms accurately and with a steady pulse, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Learn new fun and effective tools for teaching rhythm that align with modern cognitive science of how young minds learn.
About Joseph Hoffman: Joseph Hoffman, founder of Hoffman Academy and creator of the Hoffman Method for Piano, began playing piano when he was 6 years old. A YouTube personality, Kodaly-certified music educator, and former faculty member at BYU’s School of Music, Mr. Hoffman has dedicated his professional life to developing an innovative new piano method along with a host of online tools, games, and resources for students and teachers that make learning piano fun. His online piano lessons have reached over 200,000 students across 115 countries, transforming the way piano education is accessed worldwide.
Joseph Hoffman is also active as a composer and conductor, and his original works have been heard in many performance halls. From 2011-2013, Mr. Hoffman served as orchestra conductor of the Portland Ensign Choir and Orchestra. Mr. Hoffman regularly serves as an adjudicator of piano festivals and events, and provides training to piano teachers on the Hoffman Method. He has created a collection of popular song arrangements for beginning through late elementary piano students, “Mr. Hoffman’s Popular Hits for Piano,” published by Hal Leonard, and a vocal pedagogy book in collaboration with Betty Jeanne Chipman, “Singing with Mind, Body, and Soul,” published by Wheatmark Press.
Special note: There will be a 30-minute Hillsboro Area District business meeting at 10:00 am, followed by Joseph Hoffman’s presentation at 10:30 am. Please email us to receive a Zoom link if needed.

Grant Event -- Point of View: Syllabus as a Teacher, Syllabus as an Adjudicator
2024-09-23 10:00 - 11:20 | First Congregational Church – Eugene, 1050 E 23rd Ave, Eugene, OR, 97405
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenter: Heidi Evans, NCTM
Program Description: Heidi Evans, past OMTA Syllabus Chair, presents a session on tips for using the OMTA Syllabus program in the piano studio. This talk covers benefits and resources of the OMTA Syllabus program, how to manage teaching the skills and repertoire over the course of the year, which resources are the most valuable (and when NOT to use them), and how to choose and prepare repertoire. Heidi balances this talk by sharing what an adjudicator expects to hear in the exam and how to prepare the student for a successful Syllabus experience.
About Heidi Evans: Heidi Evans is a Nationally Certified Teacher with a Master’s Degree from Portland State University where she studied with Harold Gray and Mary Hall Kogen. In her nearly three decades of teaching experience with students of all ages and levels, she has adjudicated festivals and events around the state since 2005, was OMTA Syllabus chair for five years, and currently occupies the position of President of Oregon Music Teachers Association. She recently joined the 8-hand performing quartet, “Too Grand,” which has been performing and raising money for scholarships for nearly four decades. Her latest deep dive into piano repertoire research is music by under-represented composers with a focus on pedagogical works. Her ultimate goal is to teach each student to teach themselves, so that music can be a rewarding lifetime experience.

Grant Event -- Autism, Neurodiversity, and Music
2024-10-08 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Emily Ross
Location: Please contact Mary Ann Guenther, NCTM
Program Description: In 2021, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 44 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. But what exactly is autism? What is meant by “spectrum” and is it really a disorder? In this workshop we will learn about the history of the autism diagnosis, how and why so many autistic individuals are drawn to music, and how a private music teacher can reach and teach the autistic music student. We will also cover the Neurodiversity movement, the nuance of language regarding disability and human dignity, and specific strategies for adapting lessons for the autistic learner.
About Emily Ross: Emily Ross holds a Bachelor of Music Education from University of Colorado and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in music therapy from Naropa University. Her teaching experience includes public school band and general music (7 yrs), English as a Foreign Language (2 yrs) and university courses in music therapy and psychology (15 yrs). Additionally, Emily has taught private lessons in guitar, and French horn, and trained and supervised practicum students in the field. She is the owner of HoofnHorn Music Therapy Studio, hnhmusictherapy.com, where she specializes in connecting with those with learning differences including autism, ADHD, and developmental delay. She also offers trainings throughout Oregon and SW Washington. Information about trainings and workshops for music therapists, teachers and parents can be found at EmilyRossTrainer.com. Emily played French horn in the Portland Wind Symphony for 18 years and is now enjoying learning Celtic harp and singing in the Portland Community Choir.

Grant Event - Dance Music in Bach's Keyboard Works
2024-10-11 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Dr. Barbara Baird
Location: Please contact Melissa Barker, NCTM
Program Description: When is a Courante not a Courante? Answer: when it’s a Corrente. Learn about the basic dance types used in the Baroque Dance Suite: Allemande, Corrente/Courante, Sarabande, Gigue. How do the Italian and French styles of these dances impact their Tempi, Character, and musical interpretation? Learn guiding principles for approaching, learning, and performing these dance-inspired compositions.
About Dr. Barbara Baird: Dr. Barbara Baird has recently retired from the music faculty of the University of Oregon, where she taught organ, piano, and harpsichord for over 35 years. A critically acclaimed performer, Barbara has concertized throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, she regularly conducts workshops and master classes for keyboardists, particularly on Baroque and Classical Period Performance, and Keyboard Pedagogy. She also enjoys working with young pianists who are learning the art of making music.

Grant Event - The Well-Rounded Musician
2024-10-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Hermiston Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 850 SW 11th St, Hermiston, OR, 97838
Presenting District: Umatilla-Morrow
Presenter: Joseph Hoffman
Program Description: Do you teach your students to transpose? Do you ever read lead sheets? What about improvising and harmonic analysis? Even beginners can tackle these often-overlooked but highly useful skills if taught in the right way, opening doors to creativity and deep music theory comprehension to last a lifetime!
About Joseph Hoffman: Joseph Hoffman, founder of Hoffman Academy and creator of the Hoffman Method for Piano, began playing piano when he was 6 years old. A YouTube personality, Kodaly-certified music educator, and former faculty member at BYU’s School of Music, Mr. Hoffman has dedicated his professional life to developing an innovative new piano method along with a host of online tools, games, and resources for students and teachers that make learning piano fun. His online piano lessons have reached over 200,000 students across 115 countries, transforming the way piano education is accessed worldwide.
Joseph Hoffman is also active as a composer and conductor, and his original works have been heard in many performance halls. From 2011-2013, Mr. Hoffman served as orchestra conductor of the Portland Ensign Choir and Orchestra. Mr. Hoffman regularly serves as an adjudicator of piano festivals and events, and provides training to piano teachers on the Hoffman Method. He has created a collection of popular song arrangements for beginning through late elementary piano students, “Mr. Hoffman’s Popular Hits for Piano,” published by Hal Leonard, and a vocal pedagogy book in collaboration with Betty Jeanne Chipman, “Singing with Mind, Body, and Soul,” published by Wheatmark Press.

Grant Event - How to Start Improvising at the Piano and Rote Pieces: One Piece of the Pedagogical Puzzle
2024-10-26 09:00 - 12:00 | Groth Recital Hall, Eastern Oregon University, One University Blvd, La Grande, Oregon, 97850
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Paula Dreyer
Program Description:
Improvisation is a skill that can be learned, just like everything else we teach. With the right tools, some practice, an open mind, and a bit of bravery, all pianists can learn how to improvise. Everyone will leave the session with concrete tools that will allow them to explore the piano in fresh, new ways. Paula invites you to discover creativity at the piano. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a wide range of specific, attainable improvisation concepts, based off of rote pieces, gorgeous chord progressions, left hand patterns, and more. After spending years exploring improvisation and composition, Paula has discovered a framework to help you and your students become more versatile, well-rounded musicians.
Rote pieces, learned through modeling and demonstration, have recently become widely popular in the piano pedagogy field. They are highly beneficial for teaching technique and expression while enhancing musical memory and reading skills. They offer impressive, motivating recital pieces for beginners. Teachers will learn how and why to teach rote pieces, gain new tools for creativity in the lesson through improvisation and composition, and will discover new resources to enhance and compliment standard beginning repertoire.

Grant Event - How to Start Improvising at the Piano
2024-11-02 14:00 - 16:00 | Hermiston Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 850 SW 11th St, Hermiston, OR, 97838
Presenting District: Umatilla-Morrow
Presenter: Paula Dreyer
Program Description: Improvisation is a skill that can be learned, just like everything else we teach. With the right tools, some practice, an open mind, and a bit of bravery, all pianists can learn how to improvise. Everyone will leave the session with concrete tools that will allow them to explore the piano in fresh, new ways. Paula invites you to discover creativity at the piano. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a wide range of specific, attainable improvisation concepts, based off of rote pieces, gorgeous chord progressions, left hand patterns, and more. After spending years exploring improvisation and composition, Paula has discovered a framework to help you and your students become more versatile, well-rounded musicians.
About Paula Dreyer: Pianist Paula Dreyer is a composer, educator, and performer who seeks to inspire, include, and connect individuals through music. She believes that with proper guidance, all people are capable of expressing themselves through music. Paula has presented and taught internationally (including China, Brazil, Spain, MTNA, and NCKP) about the pedagogical and therapeutic powers of rote pieces and beginning improvisation. She is the creator of the highly acclaimed Little Gems for Piano series, full of appealing rote and pattern pieces. Her music has been published by Taubman’s Rotation and Alignment and the class piano book PianoLab. She currently teaches an online improvisation program called Piano Flow.
Paula completed an artist residency at Obras in Portugal, where she composed much of the music for the Little Gems. She has a real passion for creating unique, accessible, and enjoyable music for aspiring pianists and loves sharing her compositions with students around the globe. The Little Gems have been enjoyed in all 50 United States and in over 50 countries. When she’s not composing or teaching, she loves spending time with her husband and two daughters and developing her concert series Piano Flow Live in the beautiful mountain town of Bend, Oregon.

Grant Event - Teaching Adult Piano Students
2024-11-09 10:00 - 12:00 | First United Methodist Church – Medford, 607 W Main St, Medford, OR, 97501
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM
Program Description: Most pedagogical training and materials tend to focus on kids, teens, and budding professionals as students. However, many people take up or resume piano study as adults, without any intention of having a musical career. Adults students require a different approach to technique, repertoire, and even lesson format than what is often standard for students under 18. As a specialist teaching adult amateur pianists at all levels, Andrew will share strategies, trends, and teaching techniques for teachers to feel confident and prepared for working with adult students.
About Andrew D’Antonio: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM, is a pianist and teacher based in Portland, Oregon. He has performed throughout North America and Europe, primarily as a soloist and chamber musician. He holds a masters of music in collaborative piano and music history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a masters of science in teaching in early childhood special education from Fordham University, and a bachelors of music in piano performance from Pacific Lutheran University. In Massachusetts, he was a faculty member at Community Music School of Springfield, Bay Path University, and Smith College. Andrew moved to Portland in 2019 and teaches out of his home studio. He is the President for East Portland District and the OMTA State Membership Chair.

Grant Event - Teaching Adult Piano Students
2024-11-13 10:30 - 12:00 | Calvary Lutheran Church, 937 NE Jackson School Rd, Hillsboro, OR, 97124, United States
Presenting District: Hillsboro Area
Contact: hillsboro@oregonmta.org
Presenter: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM
Program Description: Most pedagogical training and materials tend to focus on kids, teens, and budding professionals as students. However, many people take up or resume piano study as adults, without any intention of having a musical career. Adults students require a different approach to technique, repertoire, and even lesson format than what is often standard for students under 18. As a specialist teaching adult amateur pianists at all levels, Andrew will share strategies, trends, and teaching techniques for teachers to feel confident and prepared for working with adult students.
About Andrew D’Antonio: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM, is a pianist and teacher based in Portland, Oregon. He has performed throughout North America and Europe, primarily as a soloist and chamber musician. He holds a masters of music in collaborative piano and music history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a masters of science in teaching in early childhood special education from Fordham University, and a bachelors of music in piano performance from Pacific Lutheran University. In Massachusetts, he was a faculty member at Community Music School of Springfield, Bay Path University, and Smith College. Andrew moved to Portland in 2019 and teaches out of his home studio. He is the President for East Portland District and the OMTA State Membership Chair.

Grant Event - Piano Methods from Around the World
2024-11-18 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual/Online
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenters: Dr. Lark Powers, NCTM & Dr. Ricardo de la Torre
Program Description: Much has been written about the value, advantages, and disadvantages of piano method books for beginning students. However, few comparative studies on the methodology of different international approaches exist. The objective of this joint session is to present, discuss, and contrast piano methods at the beginning level from different pedagogical traditions by authors from France, Germany, Hungary, Cuba, and Japan. Elements discussed will include the approach to introducing note-reading, how technique is built, the structure of rhythmic exercises, and the introduction of general musicianship, as well as the use of fanciful elements that engage children. We will compare and contrast these approaches to ones used in English-speaking countries, particularly American piano methods. Teachers may find inspiration for teaching specific skills through the analysis of these method books, as well as gaining increased awareness of what texts are used worldwide, while enjoying a lively discussion of pedagogical merits and cultural values.
About Dr. Lark Powers: Dr. Lark Powers has performed at such venues as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the 92nd Street Y in New York City and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Internationally she has been heard in Europe, Mexico and Canada. In addition to numerous collaborations with ensembles, including the Tacoma Symphony, Olympia Symphony Orchestra, Fort Collins Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Tacoma Opera, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, she appears in frequent two-piano concerts as part of the duo she forms with pianist Ricardo de la Torre. Last spring they were soloists with the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra. Locally she is a frequent performer on Lakewold Garden’s Music From Home series, the Listen Live at Lunch series at the First Lutheran Church of Tacoma, the Second City Chamber Series, and the faculty artist series at Pacific Lutheran University.
Lark received a DMA in piano performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, and holds three Master’s degrees (in piano, theory pedagogy and in harpsichord) and a graduate performance diploma in piano from the Peabody Institute. Her undergraduate studies occurred at the University of the Pacific, where she earned a BM in piano performance, summa cum laude, after which she attended the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris for three years where she won a premier prix.
A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and a Washington State Visiting Artist, Lark is an Associate Professor at Pacific Lutheran University where she instructs applied lessons and accompanying, and coordinates the group keyboard program. Dr. Powers has presented on topics including managing performance anxiety, the creativity inherent in the Baroque repertoire, the pedagogy of keyboard harmony, and more. She is a proponent of new music, specializing in the music of Latin American composers, and can be heard on recordings with the Pan Pacific Ensemble on Albany records and the Cherry Creek Flute Duo.
About Dr. Ricardo de la Torre: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre currently serves as piano instructor for the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound, where he was also staff accompanist for the School of Music. Ricardo has played in concert venues in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, Austria, and France. A finalist and prize winner in several competitions in Mexico and the U.S., he received second prize at the Eleventh Annual Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America, sponsored by Indiana University’s Latin American Music Center and the Embassy of Spain. The recordings he made as a result of this competition were included in a two-CD collection released by the LAMC. Together with his wife, Dr. Lark Powers, Ricardo forms a piano duo that has performed internationally, was a finalist of the United States International Piano Duo Competition in Colorado Springs and received a Silver Award at the first international competition of the Carles & Sofía Foundation of Spain. Born in Mexico City, Ricardo attended Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown, where he received a Bachelor’s degree cum laude. He continued his studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked as a teaching assistant. An active presenter, he has participated in numerous local, regional, national, and international conferences and the results of his research have been published in specialized journals in the U.S., Mexico and Colombia. He is a visiting artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program and has served on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, and East Central University in Ada, OK. After being pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma and directing its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch, Ricardo currently works as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, WA.

Grant Event - The Mighty Wrist and the Piano: Mastering the Motions of the Wrist for Optimal Piano Technique
2025-01-11 10:30 - 12:00 | Jacksonville Library, 340 West C Street, Jacksonville, OR, 97530, United States
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis
Program Description: This talk is an in-depth look at the wrist motions involved in piano playing (lateral, up-down, elliptical, rotational, drawer, and stationary) and how they help various techniques and textures we often teach or play. Dr. Lewis will explore how and why these motions are so crucial to piano playing, and provide knowledge and flexibility to the teachers present in how to make your own determinations regarding teaching using the wrists.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Stephen Lewis, PhD, DMA, is a Portland-based composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher whose compositions inhabit the terrain between sound as physical sensation and sound as signifier of culture. Stephen’s opera, Noon at Dusk, was hailed as “delectable,” with a “constantly shifting sonic world [that] proved fascinating and effective.” Recent and upcoming performance engagements include concerts with the Oregon Symphony, the Agnieszka Laska Dancers, the Astoria Music Festival, and Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project as well as a live broadcast on All-Classical Radio. Stephen has also performed throughout the United States and in Italy. Stephen holds a PhD in composition and a DMA in piano from UC-San Diego, and a BMus from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Stephen teaches piano, composition, music theory, and conducting privately at his home and from St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, where he serves as music director and organist. Stephen enjoys baking bread, reading, wine tasting, and hiking with his wife. See more at his websites: www.stephenlewiscomposer.com (artistic) and www.chopinois.com (teaching).

Grant Event - Masterclass in Performance Coping Skills
2025-01-25 09:00 - 11:00 | First Congregational Church – Eugene, 1050 E 23rd Ave, Eugene, OR, 97405
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenter: Dr. Alex Tutunov, NCTM
Program Description: The master pianist/teacher will work with piano students in a master class setting while the audience is invited to learn by observing.
Presenter Bio: Alexander Tutunov is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding virtuosos of the former Soviet Union. First Prize winner of the Belarusian National Piano Competition and winner of the Russian National Piano Competition, Tutunov’s playing was described by Soviet Culture, Moscow, as “exhilarating and inspired, and which demonstrated a unique talent.”
Dr. Tutunov maintains a busy performing schedule in Europe, China, Mexico, and the United States as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and on radio and television. Dr. Tutunov is also in demand as an adjudicator for piano competitions.
Tutunov graduated magna cum laude from the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory (studies with Anna Artobolevskaya and Lev Naumov) and University of North Texas (piano studies with Joseph Banowetz). Awarded his doctoral diploma with honors in concert performance from the Belarusian State Conservatory, Dr. Tutunov has taught at the Minsk College of Music, the University of North Texas, and Illinois Wesleyan University.
Alexander Tutunov now lives in Ashland, where he is Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at Southern Oregon University. A successful piano pedagogue, he continues to prepare award-winning students. Dr. Tutunov has been the Artist in Residence at the University of Alaska Southeast, Artistic Director of the SOU International Piano Institute, and the Director of the Chinese-American International Piano Institute in Chengdu, China.

Grant Event - Piano Methods from Around the World
2025-02-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Salem Public Library, Loucks Auditorium, 585 Liberty St SE, Salem, OR, 97301
Location parking: (3 hrs of parking is free in the Library Parkade)
Presenting District: Salem
Presenters: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre and Dr. Lark Powers
Program Description: Much has been written about the value, advantages, and disadvantages of piano method books for beginning students. However, few comparative studies on the methodology of different international approaches exist. The objective of this joint session is to present, discuss, and contrast piano methods at the beginning level from different pedagogical traditions by authors from France, Germany, Hungary, Cuba, and Japan. Elements discussed will include the approach to introducing note-reading, how technique is built, the structure of rhythmic exercises, and the introduction of general musicianship, as well as the use of fanciful elements that engage children. We will compare and contrast these approaches to ones used in English-speaking countries, particularly American piano methods. Teachers may find inspiration for teaching specific skills through the analysis of these method books, as well as gaining increased awareness of what texts are used worldwide, while enjoying a lively discussion of pedagogical merits and cultural values.
Presenter Bios: In demand as a solo and collaborative artist as well as an adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Lark Powers has performed at such venues as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the 92nd Street Y in New York City and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Internationally she has been heard in Europe, Mexico and Canada. In addition to numerous collaborations with ensembles, including the Tacoma Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, she appears in frequent two-piano concerts as part of the duo she forms with pianist Ricardo de la Torre. Locally she is a frequent performer on the Listen Live at Lunch series at the First Lutheran Church of Tacoma, the Second City Chamber Series, and the faculty artist series at Pacific Lutheran University.
Dr. Powers received a DMA in piano performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, and holds three Master’s degrees (in piano, theory pedagogy and in harpsichord) and a graduate performance diploma in piano from the Peabody Institute. Her undergraduate studies occurred at the University of the Pacific, where she earned a BM in piano performance, summa cum laude, after which she attended the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris for three years where she won a premier prix.
A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and a Washington State Visiting Artist, Lark teaches at Pacific Lutheran University where she instructs applied lessons and accompanying, and coordinates the group keyboard program. Dr. Powers has presented on topics including managing performance anxiety, the creativity inherent in the Baroque repertoire, the pedagogy of keyboard harmony, and more. She is a proponent of new music, specializing in the music of Latin American composers, and can be heard on recordings with the Pan Pacific Ensemble on Albany records and the Cherry Creek Flute Duo.
In demand as a performer, teacher, adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Ricardo de la Torre currently serves as piano instructor for the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound, where he was also staff accompanist for the School of Music. Ricardo has played in concert venues in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, Austria, and France. A finalist and prize winner in several competitions in Mexico and the U.S., he received second prize at the Eleventh Annual Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America, sponsored by Indiana University’s Latin American Music Center and the Embassy of Spain. The recordings he made as a result of this competition were included in a two-CD collection released by the LAMC. Together with his wife, Dr. Lark Powers, Ricardo forms a piano duo that has performed internationally, was a finalist of the United States International Piano Duo Competition in Colorado Springs and received a Silver Award at the first international competition of the Carles & Sofía Foundation of Spain. Born in Mexico City, Ricardo attended Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown, where he received a Bachelor’s degree cum laude. He continued his studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked as a teaching assistant. An active presenter, he has participated in numerous local, regional, national, and international conferences and the results of his research have been published in specialized journals in the U.S., Mexico and Colombia. He is a visiting artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program and has served on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, and East Central University in Ada, OK. After being pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma and directing its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch, Ricardo currently works as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, WA.

Grant Event - Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies
2025-02-11 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Dr. Brian Hsu
Location: Studio of Bonnie Esbensen
Program Description: Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies have been popular with students and performers over the last few decades. In this presentation, Dr. Hsu will briefly survey the origins of these rhapsodies and how the music of the Roma People inspired Liszt to write this beloved collection.
Presenter Bio: Since his concerto debut at the age of 16 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwanese-American pianist Brian Hsu has gone on to establish himself a pianist of great energy and unusual communicative ability. Critics have described his performances in surperlatives, noting his “breadth of expression and technical ability.” An experienced performer, Mr. Hsu has performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. US performances include Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas, as well as many others. He has appeared as concerto soloist with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, and University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a guest on WQXR radio station in New York several times. Mr. Hsu has performed in various music festivals including Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy; Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan; Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain; Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina; Banff Festival of the Arts in Canada; PianoFest in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York. His US debut solo recording, Night at the opera: Part I, which consist of opera transcriptions for solo piano, was released in the fall of 2018. In addition to his competition successes, Mr. Hsu was the recipient of numerous awards while attending Juilliard, Yale, and Michigan.
Mr. Hsu frequently appears as a guest artist/teacher, presenter, and jury member in various Music Teachers National Association contests and other major competitions, such as the New Orleans International Piano Competition, Nanyang Academy of the Arts in Singapore. He often performs and has taught masterclasses at various colleges and universities throughout the United States and Asia. An avid chamber musician and collaborator, Mr. Hsu continuously performs with colleagues throughout the music world. Mr. Hsu participated in the world premiere of Paul Schoenfeld’s Piano Quintet with members of the Pro Arte’s Quartet, and in the spring of 2014, a recording was released by Albany Records. Along with voice alumni of Loyola University New Orleans, Mr. Hsu participated in the debut of Logan Skeleton’s Letters to Santa in 2016. As a member of the piano trio, Ensemble Peri, he participated in its inaugural tour which took place in Korea during the summer of 2019. Mr. Hsu is also a founding member of Key 2 Inclusion, an intercollegiate initiative to promote and teach piano music written by Black American and other minority composers.

Grant Event - Finding Musical Expression in the Music We Play
2025-02-22 10:00 - 12:00 | Groth Recital Hall, Eastern Oregon University, One University Blvd, La Grande, Oregon, 97850
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Dr. Barbara Baird
Program Description: How do we play Baroque music expressively, in a way that shows stylistic awareness, and yet in a way that accommodates the instrument being used? CPE Bach wrote in his treatise on Keyboard Playing: “Play from the Soul, not like a trained bird. Endeavor to avoid everything mechanical and slavish.” We all know that a musical performance is much more than just realizing the notes on the page. But how do we find the meaning of what is being expressed in the notation of a musical composition and bring that to life in our playing? Looking at keyboard repertoire from the Baroque, learn the basics of how to read beyond the notes in the score to better understand and present the character and personality of the music.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Barbara Baird has recently retired from the music faculty of the University of Oregon, where she taught organ, piano, and harpsichord for over 35 years. A critically acclaimed performer, Barbara has concertized throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, she regularly conducts workshops and master classes for keyboardists, particularly on Baroque and Classical Period Performance, and Keyboard Pedagogy. She also enjoys working with young pianists who are learning the art of making music.

Grant Event - Creating Beautiful Tone in Piano Playing and The Art of Memorization
2025-03-22 10:00 - 15:00 | Southern Oregon University Recital Hall, 450 Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR, 97520, United States
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Dr. Michelle Huang
Program Description in two sessions: (Morning Session 10 am to 12 pm) It is a lifelong challenge for pianists to make a beautiful cantabile sound on the piano, but it is possible through a general understanding of the mechanism of the instrument as well as the proper technique to make a warm, singing tone in piano playing. In this presentation, we will survey different ways to approach the piano keys through two note and three note slurs, staccatos, tenutos, accents, octaves, chords, voicing, and phrase shaping. Through specific musical examples, we will learn that different composers and styles might require different techniques to bring out certain sounds. By exploring an array of key speeds and attacks, we can bring exciting possibilities in how we can vary our sound and musical ideas. (Afternoon Session 1 to 3 pm) “I played through it without the music just fine before!” We have all been there. What makes someone a better memorizer than others? In this talk, we will look at the four different types of memory: visual, tactile, aural, and analytical, and how to best use them to securely memorize our pieces for the next performance. We will learn that there is a direct correlation between excellent practice habits and memory, and how the act of storytelling can really help to secure that memory.
Presenter Bio: A native of Taiwan, pianist Michelle Huang has performed and taught extensively throughout the U.S. as well as abroad in the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Described as a pianist with much sensibility and nuance, Michelle Huang is equally at home as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She has played numerous solo recitals, gave workshops and masterclasses, and collaborated frequently with vocalists and instrumentalists in the Mary L’Engle Ensemble, the River City Trio, the chamber group-in-residence at Friday Musicale in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Jacksonville Symphony and Richmond Symphony musicians. In 2017, she received a grant to commission ten paintings by two graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University art students. These paintings were presented alongside the complete performance of Mussorgsky’s piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition during her concert tour in 2018-19. Deeply committed to community outreach, she launched a concert series during her residency at Edward Waters College, in which high caliber artists performed concerts as well as conducted master classes, workshops, and lectures for the continuing enrichment and exposure of classical music to both the school and the community. She initiated the Mentoring Program as part of the Richmond Music Teachers Association, in which young music teachers can be paired with experienced teachers to help them with aspects of teaching. She is the co-founder of the Online Young Pianist Summer Symposium, which launched in May 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. The Symposium was conducted virtually for pre-college and college students as well as teachers, in which guest speakers were invited to present topics such as the art of practicing, the art of memorization, and Alexander Technique, as well as a masterclass.
Michelle Huang holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Tennessee, and Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from Florida State University. Her principal teachers include Barbara Rowan, David Northington, and Read Gainsford. Dr. Huang has held teaching positions at Walter State Community College and Lincoln Memorial University. In 2011 – 2014, she served as the Assistant Professor of Piano at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. Most recently, she was on the piano faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. In the summer, she served on the faculty of East/West International Piano Festival in Seoul, Korea. In addition to teaching in the collegiate setting, Dr. Huang also maintains a private studio, where she works with talented pre-college students both in her Seattle studio and online. She has served as President and first Vice President of Programming for the Richmond Music Teachers Association. Highly demanded as a speaker and adjudicator, she has frequently presented for the Oregon Music Teachers Association, the Washington Music Teachers Association, and the British Columbia Registered Music Teachers’ Association in workshops, masterclasses, festivals, and competitions.

Grant Event - Taubman Approach
2025-04-04 10:00 - 12:00 | OR
Location: Check with district president for location
Presenting District: Salem
Presenter: Deborah Cleaver
Program Description: This presentation will focus on the practical aspects of the Taubman approach that can be incorporated without a lot of training. Teachers will learn the most advantageous physical relation to the keyboard, how to successfully perform leaps, polyrhythms, chords and octaves, and improved tone production.
Presenter Bio: Deborah Ingram Cleaver holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Boston University where she studied with the renowned pianist and pedagogue Leonard Shure. After finishing her degree, she worked closely with Shure as his teaching assistant at New England Conservatory.
Ms. Cleaver has also spent many years studying the performance practice of the Baroque and Classic periods with such luminaries as Sandra Rosenblum, Edward Parmentier, and Elisabeth Wright. Her broad interests have resulted in lectures for universities and music teachers’ organizations, ranging from the expressive aspects of Baroque performance practice to the correlation between Romantic literature and music.
Ms. Cleaver previously taught piano at Lewis and Clark College, Willamette University, and Reed College as well as in her private studio. She is a past president of OMTA Portland District where she was chairman of the Baroque/Contemporary Festival. She has been a faculty member of the Golandsky Institute since 2005 and teaches at their annual Summer Symposium. Previous teaching positions have also included St. Andrews College and the South Shore Conservatory in Boston.
An avid performer, she has appeared with the Fear No Music Ensemble, the DeRosa Chamber Players, Cascadia Composers, Friends of Rain, and the Makrokosmos Project. She has had performances aired on the classical music programs Played in Oregon and All Classical Portland. In addition, she has given lectures, workshops, and recitals at Portland State University, Eastern Washington University, the University of Oregon, and the University of New Mexico, as well as for Oregon and Washington music teachers’ associations. She is a frequent adjudicator throughout the Northwest.

Grant Event - Turning Performance Anxiety into a Super Power
2025-04-11 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Location: Check with district president for location
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Melissa Terrall
Program Description: How can music teachers help students face the daunting challenge of performance anxiety? In this practical workshop, we will discuss practical strategies to prepare students for successful performances. Attendees will receive a packet of materials and activities for a fun and insightful studio group class on performance preparation!
Presenter Bio: Melissa Terrall is a classical pianist and piano teacher from Portland, Oregon. As a 2023-24 Fulbright scholar, she studied Mexican piano repertoire with Dr. David Rodríguez de la Peña at Mexico City’s National Conservatory. While abroad, Melissa offered lecture recitals and master classes, expanding her skills in her second language. Melissa holds a master’s in piano performance from the University of Kansas, where she studied with Dr. Scott McBride Smith. A passionate educator, Melissa has held interim professorships at Clark College and Linfield University in addition to overseeing her private piano studio.

Grant Event - The Art of Memorization & Masterclass
2025-04-12 10:00 - 15:30 | Hermiston Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 850 SW 11th St, Hermiston, OR, 97838
Presenting District: Umatilla-Morrow
Presenter: Dr. Michelle Huang
This is a two-part class: 10:00 am to 12 pm and 1:30 to 3:30 pm (master class time)
Program Description: “I played through it without the music just fine before!” We have all been there. What makes someone a better memorizer than others? In this talk, we will look at the four different types of memory: visual, tactile, aural, and analytical, and how to best use them to securely memorize our pieces for the next performance. We will learn that there is a direct correlation between excellent practice habits and memory, and how the act of storytelling can really help to secure that memory.
Presenter Bio: A native of Taiwan, pianist Michelle Huang has performed and taught extensively throughout the U.S. as well as abroad in the Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Described as a pianist with much sensibility and nuance, Michelle Huang is equally at home as soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. She has played numerous solo recitals, gave workshops and masterclasses, and collaborated frequently with vocalists and instrumentalists in the Mary L’Engle Ensemble, the River City Trio, the chamber group-in-residence at Friday Musicale in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Jacksonville Symphony and Richmond Symphony musicians. In 2017, she received a grant to commission ten paintings by two graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University art students. These paintings were presented alongside the complete performance of Mussorgsky’s piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition during her concert tour in 2018-19. Deeply committed to community outreach, she launched a concert series during her residency at Edward Waters College, in which high caliber artists performed concerts as well as conducted master classes, workshops, and lectures for the continuing enrichment and exposure of classical music to both the school and the community. She initiated the Mentoring Program as part of the Richmond Music Teachers Association, in which young music teachers can be paired with experienced teachers to help them with aspects of teaching. She is the co-founder of the Online Young Pianist Summer Symposium, which launched in May 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. The Symposium was conducted virtually for pre-college and college students as well as teachers, in which guest speakers were invited to present topics such as the art of practicing, the art of memorization, and Alexander Technique, as well as a masterclass.
Michelle Huang holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Tennessee, and Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from Florida State University. Her principal teachers include Barbara Rowan, David Northington, and Read Gainsford. Dr. Huang has held teaching positions at Walter State Community College and Lincoln Memorial University. In 2011 – 2014, she served as the Assistant Professor of Piano at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. Most recently, she was on the piano faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. In the summer, she served on the faculty of East/West International Piano Festival in Seoul, Korea. In addition to teaching in the collegiate setting, Dr. Huang also maintains a private studio, where she works with talented pre-college students both in her Seattle studio and online. She has served as President and first Vice President of Programming for the Richmond Music Teachers Association. Highly demanded as a speaker and adjudicator, she has frequently presented for the Oregon Music Teachers Association, the Washington Music Teachers Association, and the British Columbia Registered Music Teachers’ Association in workshops, masterclasses, festivals, and competitions.

Grant Event - Masterclasses
2025-04-27 13:30 - 16:45 | OR
Presenting District: Mid-Columbia
Presenter: Dr. Alex Tutunov, NCTM
Two masterclasses with break: 1:30 to 3:00 pm and 3:15 to 4:45 pm
Program Description: The master pianist/teacher will work with piano students in a master class setting while the audience is invited to learn by observing.
Presenter Bio: Alexander Tutunov is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding virtuosos of the former Soviet Union. First Prize winner of the Belarusian National Piano Competition and winner of the Russian National Piano Competition, Tutunov’s playing was described by Soviet Culture, Moscow, as “exhilarating and inspired, and which demonstrated a unique talent.”
Dr. Tutunov maintains a busy performing schedule in Europe, China, Mexico, and the United States as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and on radio and television. Dr. Tutunov is also in demand as an adjudicator for piano competitions.

Tutunov graduated magna cum laude from the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory (studies with Anna Artobolevskaya and Lev Naumov) and University of North Texas (piano studies with Joseph Banowetz). Awarded his doctoral diploma with honors in concert performance from the Belarusian State Conservatory, Dr. Tutunov has taught at the Minsk College of Music, the University of North Texas, and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Alexander Tutunov now lives in Ashland, where he is Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at Southern Oregon University. A successful piano pedagogue, he continues to prepare award-winning students. Dr. Tutunov has been the Artist in Residence at the University of Alaska Southeast, Artistic director of the SOU International Piano Institute, and the Director of the Chinese-American International Piano Institute in Chengdu, China.

Grant Event - Composition: Stealing from the Masters
2025-06-13 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Location: Check with district president
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Dianne Davies, NCTM
Program Description: This workshop encourages teachers to present repertoire to students as a guide to their own creativity. Dianne’s Rainforest Animals was inspired by two Debussy preludes.
Presenter Bio: Dianne Davies is a solo and collaborative pianist, composer, published arranger and instructor. Her music envelopes the emotions of love, loss, depression and joy to sonic representations of endangered species in the Amazon Rainforest. Her shows range from the dramatic and deeply personal that include drama, live visual art and dance, to the far reaches of slapstick comedy that are accessible to a wide range of audiences. Alongside a full piano teaching studio, she chairs the OMTA State Composition Festival and the MTNA State Composition Competition for the next generation of composers. In 2021, her Romantic Christmas Suite, an amalgam of Chopin nocturnes and traditional Christmas carols, was published by Fred Bock Publishing Company under the umbrella of Hal Leonard. In 2023, her latest arrangement, Impressionist Christmas Suite, received Editor’s Choice from J.W. Pepper and Dianne earned National Certification through MTNA. She holds memberships in: OMTA, MTNA, NACUSA, and CFAMC. Dianne is a self published composer with ASCAP under her own company name, 7Fold Musiq. You can learn more about her and her music at musiqpower.com.

Grant Event - Teaching the Special Learner
2025-09-12 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Location: Check with district president
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Emily Ross
Program Description: We know that studying music is good for everyone. Some children come to us, however, without the attention span or executive functioning skills to excel in private music lessons without some special considerations. Music therapist, Emily Ross, MA, MT-BC, will review the characteristics of autism, ADHD, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbance, and outline both specific strategies and general ideas for approaching students who present with these characteristics.
Presenter Bio: Emily Ross holds a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Colorado and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in music therapy from Naropa University. Her teaching experience includes public school band and general music (7 yrs), English as a Foreign Language (2 yrs) and university courses in music therapy and psychology (15 yrs). Additionally, Emily has taught private lessons in guitar, and French horn, and trained and supervised practicum students in the field. She is the owner of HoofnHorn Music Therapy Studio, hnhmusictherapy.com, where she specializes in connecting with those with learning differences including autism, ADHD, and developmental delay. She also offers trainings throughout Oregon and SW Washington. Information about trainings and workshops for music therapists, teachers and parents can be found at EmilyRossTrainer.com. Emily played French horn in the Portland Wind Symphony for 18 years and is now enjoying learning Celtic harp and singing in the Portland Community Choir.

Grant Event - Adapting to a Changing Online Landscape
2025-10-06 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual/Online
Location: Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81640489726 Meeting ID: 816 4048 9726
Presenting District: Virtual
Presenter: Dr. Lisa Neher
Program Description: If you’ve become accustomed to using social media and online tools to build your music studio, your online world might be getting a bit rocky at the moment. With people moving away from Facebook, the implosion of Twitter, the explosion of TikTok, and the popularity of short form video filtering into all platforms, it’s time for music teachers to rethink and rework their use of the worldwide web. We’ll discuss the state of the internet and social media, options for using your online presence to connect with students who are a good fit, and have time for your questions.
Presenter Bio: New music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher is an award-winning composer, mezzo-soprano, and actress on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. Described as a “visionary composer” (Willamette Week), “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch), and a composer of “varied and imitable” vocal lines (Contemporary Classical), Neher writes music inspired by the climate crisis, the tender love of friends, the ambiguities of death, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. Her EP Of Wind and Waves explores the currents of air, water, and emotions that define our natural and psychological world. Neher’s works have been commissioned and performed by Third Angle New Music, Fear No Music, Opera Elect, Opera Theatre Oregon, Dinosaur Annex, the Cortona Sessions for New Music, Delgani String Quartet, Choral Arts Ensemble, OMTA and others across the United States and Europe. She is the winner of the ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, the Flute New Music Consortium Composition Competition, and the Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, and was a NATS Composer Mentee, working with Tom Cipullo.
Praised as “a small woman with a very big voice” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher captivates audiences as a performer with her electrifying dramatic commitment and unforgettable vocal colors. Her performance credits include Really Spicy Opera, Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, New Music Gathering, Queer Opera, the International Saxophone Symposium, and Opera Theatre Oregon. She is a member of Portland Opera Chorus. She created the roles of Jennifer in Chamber Sounds of Singapore’s world premiere of One Thousand Paper Cranes for Japan by Rita Ueda, Julian of Norwich in Brook Joyce’s monodrama the Showing of Love, and the protagonist in Space Station 189, a sci-fi opera for Instagram by JL Marlor and Aiden Feltkamp. Neher is the curator of the One Voice Project, which champions unaccompanied solo vocal performance.
Neher is a sought-after clinician on topics including composing for singers, networking, music business and entrepreneurship, acting for singers and theatre tools for musicians. Her teaching credits include the Ultimate Music Business Summit, and theToolbox Sessions, as well as guest clinician appearances at Reed College, University of Iowa, Colorado State University, OMTA, Bandung Philharmonic in Indonesia, and more. Her thriving private studio provides graduate-level education and mentorship in singing, composition, and career building for musicians from Australia to Europe. Neher holds degrees from the University of Iowa (DMA), University of Kansas (MM), and Lewis & Clark College (BA). She is an alumnus of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. She spends her free time training for triathlons, watching science fiction movies, and baking delicious treats involving copious amounts of chocolate. Her last name is pronounced “NEER.” For more information, visit her website, www.lisanehermusic.com.

Grant Event - Teaching Adult Piano Students
2025-10-14 10:30 - 12:00 | OR
Location: Check with District President
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM
Program Description: Most pedagogical training and materials tends to focus on kids, teens, and budding professionals as students. However, many people take up or resume piano study as adults, without any intention of having a musical career. Adults students require a different approach to technique, repertoire, and even lesson format than what is often standard for students under 18. Andrew will share strategies, trends, and teaching techniques for teachers to feel confident and prepared for working with adult students.
Presenter Bio: Andrew D’Antonio, NCTM, is a pianist and teacher based in Portland, Oregon. He has performed throughout North America and Europe, primarily as a soloist and chamber musician. He holds a masters of music in collaborative piano and music history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a masters of science in teaching in early childhood special education from Fordham University, and a bachelors of music in piano performance from Pacific Lutheran University. In Massachusetts, he was a faculty member at Community Music School of Springfield, Bay Path University, and Smith College. Andrew moved to Portland in 2019 and teaches out of his home studio. He is the President for East Portland District and the OMTA State Membership Chair.

Grant Event - Developing Expressive Voice and Musical Agility and Turning Performance Anxiety into a Super Power
2025-10-25 10:00 - 15:30 | OR
Location: To be announced
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Melissa Terrall
Program Description (in two parts): Developing Expressive Voice and Musical Agility 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM In classical music lessons and master classes, students are typically taught to play expressively via a teacher-led model, recreating their teacher’s suggestions for each performance piece. In this presentation I advocate for a student-led approach in which advancing performers develop their personal expressive voice through creative practice assignments and musical treasure hunts. From “opposite practice” to “the Goldilocks game,” this session will cover practical, engaging strategies to guide musicians through the process of crafting a convincing, expressive performance. This approach engages students’ curiosity and creativity, resulting in more agile and independent musicians. Turning Performance Anxiety into a Super Power 1:30 – 3:30 PM How can music teachers help students face the daunting challenge of performance anxiety? In this practical workshop, we will discuss strategies to prepare students for successful performances, from mindset shifts to performance conditioning. Attendees will receive a digital packet of materials and activities for a fun and insightful studio group class on performance preparation!
Presenter Bio: Melissa Terrall is a classical pianist and piano teacher from Portland, Oregon. As a 2023-24 Fulbright scholar, she studied Mexican piano repertoire with Dr. David Rodríguez de la Peña at Mexico City’s National Conservatory. While abroad, Melissa offered lecture recitals and master classes, expanding her skills in her second language. Melissa holds a master’s in piano performance from the University of Kansas, where she studied with Dr. Scott McBride Smith. A passionate educator, Melissa has held interim professorships at Clark College and Linfield University in addition to overseeing her private piano studio.

Grant Event - The Four Senses of Piano Playing
2025-11-08 10:00 - 12:00 | OR
Location: Check with event organizer
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis, NCTM
Program Description: We will look in depth at the four senses that aid us in learning and performing music: hearing, sight, touch, and proprioception. Dr. Lewis will talk about current scientific understandings of how our brains and bodies process these senses and how we can teach, practice, and perform better if we engage with all of these senses in a conscious manner.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Stephen Lewis, NCTM, is a pianist, composer, conductor, and music teacher living in Portland, Oregon. Stephen performs traditional piano music with a composer’s urgent, expressive power, while bringing to avant-garde and experimental music a classical concert pianist’s devotion to beautiful sound.
Stephen has performed with the Oregon Symphony, 45th Parallel Universe, Third Angle, Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and Cascadia Composers. He has performed in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Miller Theater, Severance Hall, and the San Diego Museum of Art. As a composer, Stephen has been commissioned by Red Fish Blue Fish, Diagenesis Duo, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and soundSCAPE.
Stephen teaches private piano and composition lessons from his home studio in southeast Portland. He also coaches professional musicians, music teachers, and composers in learning advanced repertoire and skills and in completing major creative projects. He earned a D.M.A. in Contemporary Piano Performance in 2017, and a Ph.D. in Composition in 2015 from the University of California San Diego. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Composition and Piano Performance) in 2006.

Grant Event - Getting to Know Our Neighbor
2025-11-14 10:00 - 12:00 | OR
Location: Contact event organizer
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM
Program Description: Mexican composers have produced a wealth of piano music of pedagogical value. This lecture will offer a panorama of elementary to late intermediate teaching repertoire by Mexican composers from the 19th to the 21st centuries, discuss its main characteristics and performance tradition, and provide information about its availability in the U.S..
Presenter Bio: In demand as a performer, teacher, adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Ricardo de la Torre currently serves as piano instructor for the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound, where he was also staff accompanist for the School of Music. Ricardo has played in concert venues in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, Austria, and France. A finalist and prize winner in several competitions in Mexico and the U.S., he received second prize at the Eleventh Annual Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America, sponsored by Indiana University’s Latin American Music Center and the Embassy of Spain. The recordings he made as a result of this competition were included in a two-CD collection released by the LAMC.
Together with his wife, Dr. Lark Powers, Ricardo forms a piano duo that has performed internationally, was a finalist of the United States International Piano Duo Competition in Colorado Springs and received a Silver Award at the first international competition of the Carles & Sofía Foundation of Spain.
Born in Mexico City, Ricardo attended Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown, where he received a Bachelor’s degree cum laude. He continued his studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked as a teaching assistant. An active presenter, he has participated in numerous local, regional, national, and international conferences and the results of his research have been published in specialized journals in the U.S., Mexico and Colombia. He is a visiting artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program and has served on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, and East Central University in Ada, OK. After being pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma and directing its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch, Ricardo currently works as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, WA.

Grant Event - Artistic Pedaling
2025-11-15 10:00 - 12:00 | Jacksonville Library, 340 West C Street, Jacksonville, OR, 97530, United States
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Deborah Cleaver
Program Description: We will explore the diverse types of pedaling to increase artistic expression, achieve clean, clear sound, and to facilitate fluid movement. In addition we will discuss the importance of posture, bench height, and correct movement.
Presenter Bio: Deborah Ingram Cleaver holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Boston University where she studied with the renowned pianist and pedagogue Leonard Shure. After finishing her degree, she worked closely with Shure as his teaching assistant at New England Conservatory.
Ms. Cleaver has also spent many years studying the performance practice of the Baroque and Classic periods with such luminaries as Sandra Rosenblum, Edward Parmentier, and Elisabeth Wright. Her broad interests have resulted in lectures for universities and music teachers’ organizations, ranging from the expressive aspects of Baroque performance practice to the correlation between Romantic literature and music.
Ms. Cleaver previously taught piano at Lewis and Clark College, Willamette University, and Reed College as well as in her private studio. She is a past president of OMTA Portland District where she was chairman of the Baroque/Contemporary Festival. She has been a faculty member of the Golandsky Institute since 2005 and teaches at their annual Summer Symposium. Previous teaching positions have been also included St. Andrews College and the South Shore Conservatory in Boston.
An avid performer, she has appeared with the Fear No Music Ensemble, the DeRosa Chamber Players, Cascadia Composers, Friends of Rain, and the Makrokosmos Project. She has had performances aired on the classical music programs Played in Oregon and All Classical Portland. In addition, she has given lectures, workshops, and recitals at Portland State University, Eastern Washington University, the University of Oregon, and the University of New Mexico, as well as for Oregon and Washington music teachers’ associations. She is a frequent adjudicator throughout the Northwest.

Grant Event - Burnout Prevention Kit for Music Teachers
2026-01-07 10:30 - 12:00 | Calvary Lutheran Church, 937 NE Jackson School Rd, Hillsboro, OR, 97124, United States
Presenting District: Hillsboro
Presenter: Dr. Lisa Neher
Program Description: Teaching one-on-one and managing your own studio can be rewarding, but it can also lead to exhaustion, over scheduled lives, and eventually the dreaded burnout. Meanwhile, “selfcare” and “wellness” have become products to buy and impossible images that we can never live up to rather than ways to actually reclaim agency in our lives. We’ll discuss causes of burnout for music teachers and explore practical solutions, including time management during lessons, establishing & maintaining boundaries, holding time for recreation and a social life, and the balance of supporting your students’ musical goals with nurturing your own artistic growth.
Presenter Bio: New music powerhouse Dr. Lisa Neher is an award-winning composer, mezzo-soprano, and actress on a mission to transform audiences through sound, story, and vulnerability. Described as a “visionary composer” (Willamette Week), “maestro of beautifully wacky noises” (Oregon ArtsWatch), and a composer of “varied and imitable” vocal lines (Contemporary Classical), Neher writes music inspired by the climate crisis, the tender love of friends, the ambiguities of death, and the eerie mystery of deep ocean life. Her EP Of Wind and Waves explores the currents of air, water, and emotions that define our natural and psychological world. Neher’s works have been commissioned and performed by Third Angle New Music, Fear No Music, Opera Elect, Opera Theatre Oregon, Dinosaur Annex, the Cortona Sessions for New Music, Delgani String Quartet, Choral Arts Ensemble, and others across the United States and Europe. She is the winner of the ICDA/ICF Choral Competition, the Flute New Music Consortium Composition Competition, and the Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, and was a NATS Composer Mentee, working with Tom Cipullo.
Praised as “a small woman with a very big voice” and “especially alive” (Oregon ArtsWatch), Neher captivates audiences as a performer with her electrifying dramatic commitment and unforgettable vocal colors. Her performance credits include Really Spicy Opera, Third Angle New Music, the Resonance Ensemble, New Music Gathering, Queer Opera, the International Saxophone Symposium, and Opera Theatre Oregon. She is a member of Portland Opera Chorus. She created the roles of Jennifer in Chamber Sounds of Singapore’s world premiere of One Thousand Paper Cranes for Japan by Rita Ueda, Julian of Norwich in Brook Joyce’s monodrama the Showing of Love, and the protagonist in Space Station 189, a sci-fi opera for Instagram by JL Marlor and Aiden Feltkamp. Neher is the curator of the One Voice Project, which champions unaccompanied solo vocal performance.
Neher is a sought-after clinician on topics including composing for singers, networking, music business and entrepreneurship, acting for singers and theatre tools for musicians. Her teaching credits include the Ultimate Music Business Summit, and theToolbox Sessions, as well as guest clinician appearances at Reed College, University of Iowa, Colorado State University, OMTA, Bandung Philharmonic in Indonesia, and more. Her thriving private studio provides graduate-level education and mentorship in singing, composition, and career building for musicians from Australia to Europe. Neher holds degrees from the University of Iowa (DMA), University of Kansas (MM), and Lewis & Clark College (BA). She is an alumnus of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and the Cortona Sessions for New Music. She spends her free time training for triathlons, watching science fiction movies, and baking delicious treats involving copious amounts of chocolate. Her last name is pronounced “NEER.” For more information, visit her website, www.lisanehermusic.com.

Grant Event - An Auditory Lifespan
2026-01-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenter: Susan Bruckner
Program Description: Susan Bruckner will present an overview of each life stage from birth to end of life and how music and the brain work in tandem each step of the way. Based on sabbatical interviews with 24 neuroscientists studying music and the brain.
Presenter Bio: Susan Bruckner is a pianist with degrees from Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and the New School for Music Study with Frances Clark. She is the director of the piano program at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA since 2007. She has also taught at Ithaca College in NY and the University of Utah. Susan has given workshops throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. She is the author of two books, The Whole Musician: A Multi-Sensory Guide to Practice, Performance, and Pedagogy and The Whole Pianist, a textbook for college piano classes.
