Grant Event - Piano Methods from Around the World
2024-11-18 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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 - Adapting to a Changing Online Landscape
2025-10-06 11:00 - 12:30
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 - An Auditory Lifespan
2026-01-19 10:00 - 12:00
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.

State Board Meeting and Presidents Round Table
2026-01-31 09:00 - 11:00, 2026-06-06 09:00 - 11:30
Presidents Round Table at 9 AM, discussion of events from each district and supportive ideas.
Board Meeting at 10 AM.
Via Zoom.

Grant Event - An Auditory Lifespan
2026-02-02 11:00 - 12:30
Presenting District: Virtual
Presenter: Susan Bruckner
Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81640489726
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.
