OMTA - Oregon Music Teachers Association

Grant Event - Creating Beautiful Tone in Piano Playing
2023-09-30 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | La Grande United Methodist Church, 1612 4th St, La Grande, OR, 97850
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Contact: Jan Miller
Presenter: Dr. Michelle Huang, NCTM 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. The Symposium continued to flourish in April 2022, and is expected to have more sessions in 2023.
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. She is currently an active member of the Seattle Music Teachers Association and Eastside Music Teachers Association. Highly demanded as a frequent presenter and adjudicator, she is a Visiting Artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association. Many of her students have won top awards and successfully pursued studies and careers in music.
Program Description: 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.

State Board Meeting
2023-09-16 13:00 - 14:30
The meeting of the State Board of OMTA, which occurs every Fall. This meeting will be over Zoom. Watch your emails for the link.

District Presidents Round Table
2023-09-16 12:00 - 13:00
The meeting of the District Presidents and their President Elect officers that occurs prior to the State Board Meeting. This meeting will be over Zoom. Watch your emails for the link.

MTNA State Composition Competition Entry Deadline
2023-09-13 12:00
Registration deadline is Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/engage/competitions/Composition_Guidelines.aspx
All students are eligible to participate that are studying with an OMTA member in good standing.

Grant Event - The Art of Memorization
2023-09-13 10:30 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Presenting District: Hillsboro
Presenter: Dr. Michelle Huang, NCTM 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. The Symposium continued to flourish in April 2022, and is expected to have more sessions in 2023.
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. She is currently an active member of the Seattle Music Teachers Association and Eastside Music Teachers Association. Highly demanded as a frequent presenter and adjudicator, she is a Visiting Artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association. Many of her students have won top awards and successfully pursued studies and careers in music.
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.

Grant Event - Teachings of Nelita True: An Homage
2023-06-09 10:45 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Thomas Otten Thomas Otten holds the title of Emeritus Professor, having retired in 2018 as Piano Area Chair from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He now resides in Portland, OR, where he is establishing himself as a master teacher and concert artist. A California native born of German-American parents, Dr. Otten has been hailed by the New York Times as “an extremely original player who puts a formidable technique at the service of his ideas.” He made his debut at age seventeen with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and has since developed a global profile through performances in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, Sydney, Munich, Frankfurt, and Milan, including such venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Severance Hall, the German Embassy, and the National Press Club. He has given guest artist recitals and masterclasses at top music schools and conservatories, such as the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia, the Munich Hochschule für Musik in Germany, as well as the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, and Oberlin Conservatory in the U.S.
A recipient of numerous national and international awards, Dr. Otten has studied with artist teachers John Perry and Nelita True and worked intensively with biomechanics expert Barbara Lister-Sink. He has been on the faculties of the International Young Artists Project (Italy), Saarburger Serenaden International Music Festival (Germany), the American Institute of Musical Studies (Austria), and the Kent/Blossom Festival (Ohio), as well as concerto soloist at the Chautauqua and Brevard Summer Festivals. He has been a member of competition juries in the U.S. and abroad, and was founder of the Kent Piano Seminar in Ohio, as well director of the UNC Liszt Festival, UNC Etude Festival, and the Ginastera Centennial Celebration in North Carolina. His discography includes transcriptions of Franz Liszt and a premiere recording of etudes by African American composer Leslie Adams. He is committed to diverse music of our time, having also premiered works by electronic music expert Frances White and jazz pianist/composer Joe Utterback.
Dr. Otten’s former students include prize-winning concert artist Andrew Tyson, along with other professional musicians who are active throughout the country. His collaborations include the Miami and Vega String Quartets, violinist Richard Luby, as well as baritone Marc Callahan and soprano Louise Toppin. For more information on Dr. Otten, please visit his website at www.otten.studio.
Program Description: Nelita True, who passed in January 2021 due to COVID, was one of the great artist teachers and clinicians of our time. Dr. Otten counts his study with her as one of his great blessings and joys; much of his pedagogical approach is due to his work with her. This session will illuminate her highly practical, organized, and effective approach to musicianship (tone, voicing, line, rhythmic direction), technique, practice, and memorization, along with anecdotes that underscore her warm, nurturing approach to her students.

Grant Event - Teaching the Special Learner: Wisdom and Strategies for the Independent Music Teacher
2023-05-13 10:30 - 12:30 | Grace Lutheran Church – Ashland, 660 Frances Ln, Ashland, OR, 97520
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: 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. She taught public school music (general music and band) in Oregon for seven years, and English as a Foreign Language for two years while serving in the Peace Corps. She has been in private practice as a music therapist since moving to Portland in 2003. While she works with clients with a variety of challenges and learning difficulties, her specialty is autism. She taught music therapy courses and supervised music therapy students until Marylhurst University closed its doors in 2018. Emily played French horn in the Portland Wind Symphony for 18 years and is now enjoying learning Celtic harp and playing in a bell choir. She is the owner of HoofnHorn Music Therapy Studio, hnhmusictherapy.com.
Program Description: 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. Emily will also clarify the differences between music lessons, adaptive music lessons, and music therapy so that students can be served in the best manner possible. And finally, Emily will lead a discussion on communication with parents regarding these sensitive topics.

ESMAR Assessment
2023-05-07 | Wilamette University, Dept. of Music, Fine Arts, East 208, 900 State St, Salem, OR, 97301
ESMAR Master Teacher: Dr. Crystal Zimmerman
ESMAR applications with checks, due date: postmarked by April15, 2023

Grant Event - Practice Smarter, Not Longer
2023-05-06 10:00 - 11:30 | Hermiston Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 850 SW 11th St, Hermiston, OR, 97838
Presenting District: Umatilla-Morrow
Presenter: Dr. Lark Powers 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.
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 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.
Program Description: Practice is the most significant element which will determine a musician’s success and enjoyment of their craft. However, many musicians were never taught how to practice, and some of what we think we know about learning can be updated. A few easily incorporated practice strategies can greatly increase progress and make practicing more efficient. This presentation will delve into fascinating research on how the brain learns and how this relates to music and practicing. Offering innovative and practical advice, topics discussed will include organization, spacing, the effectiveness of interleaved (random) repetition, first-time retrieval strategies, performance preparation, and common practice mistakes. With strategies to overcome the challenge of getting started, making improvement that sticks, staying focused, and planning the next session, this presentation will suggest ideas that can make practice rewarding and effective. Strategic practice techniques create transformative changes, which can be seen in overall progress as well as in performing comfort and success.

Grant Event - Technique and the Russian School Tradition of Piano Teaching
2023-04-11 11:30 - 13:30 | 354 N Star Ln, 354 N Star Ln, Sutherlin, OR, 97479, United States
Presenting District: Umpqua Valley-South Coast
Presenter: Dr. Alexander Tutunov 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.
Dr. Tutunov 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 is also Artist in Residence at the University of Alaska Southeast, Artistic Director of the SOU International Piano Institute, and was recently named the Director of the Chinese-American International Piano Institute in Chengdu, China.
Program Description: Dr. Tutunov will share his experiences from his training at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory and the Belarusian State Conservatory.

Grant Event -- Practice Smarter, Not Longer
2023-04-10 10:00 - 12:00 | Grace Lutheran Church – Ashland, 660 Frances Ln, Ashland, OR, 97520
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Dr. Lark Powers 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.
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 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.
Program Description: Practice is the most significant element which will determine a musician’s success and enjoyment of their craft. However, many musicians were never taught how to practice, and some of what we think we know about learning can be updated. A few easily incorporated practice strategies can greatly increase progress and make practicing more efficient. This presentation will delve into fascinating research on how the brain learns and how this relates to music and practicing. Offering innovative and practical advice, topics discussed will include organization, spacing, the effectiveness of interleaved (random) repetition, first-time retrieval strategies, performance preparation, and common practice mistakes. With strategies to overcome the challenge of getting started, making improvement that sticks, staying focused, and planning the next session, this presentation will suggest ideas that can make practice rewarding and effective. Strategic practice techniques create transformative changes, which can be seen in overall progress as well as in performing comfort and success.

Grant Event -- Stepping into the Light: Thoughts on Performance Anxiety
2023-04-01 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: Dr. Diane Baxter Dr. Diane Baxter, pianist, educator and consultant, is the editor of The Oregon Musician. She recently retired as Professor of Music at Western Oregon University where she received the Faculty Honors Award for Outstanding Creativity and the Pastega Award for Excellence in Teaching. Diane taught studio piano and courses in Ethnomusicology, Performance Anxiety, and Research Methods. Dr. Baxter has adjudicated the Woodley Festival in Berkshire, England on several occasions. She adjudicates for all ages, and all levels. Diane consults and performs far and wide, often giving workshops on doing our best under pressure. “The Science of Artistry: The Fourth String” was published in Clavier Companion in Nov/Dec 2013. Diane’s article, “Ethnomusicology and Alchemy” was published in the April/May 2020 edition of American Music Teacher. Diane performs and teaches in France each summer, and in 2018 she began an international annual workshop on the shores of Loch Etive in the Scottish Highlands. The focus is on performance success and doing our best when it matters most. The workshop is thriving. Closer to home, recently Diane started writing the program notes for Corvallis Piano International and she continues to perform as principal keyboardist for the Newport Symphony. She lives, writes, plays and thinks in Brownsville, Oregon.
Program Description: Why are my hands cold and clammy? Why is my heart pounding? Did you just say something to me? No, I can’t just relax! Performance anxiety is a complex topic that involves how we think, how we feel, and how we behave. The results of it may range from mildly discomforting to completely paralyzing. We all want to get it right when it matters most, whether we are performers, family members, or teachers. All of us have something to gain by understanding what happens as we strive to excel. This talk will introduce some of the causes of performance anxiety and will offer some tips on how to do your best under duress.

Grant Event - Making Syllabus Relevant: Using OMTA Syllabus Skills to Play Music
2023-04-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Location: Zoom, for access please contact Rebecca Gooch
Presenting District: Mid-Columbia
Presenter: Dianne Davies Dianne Davies received a BA in music from Lewis and Clark College with piano emphasis and K-12 music education certification. Since then, Dianne has taught public and private school music and currently focuses on her private piano studio in Beaverton and performing. In 2010 Dianne created and performed her comedy show Dianne Davies Has Fallen Off Her Bench and in 2016, she created, produced, and performed a new show titled Attachments & Detachments–Tragedy to Triumph combining the music of Cascadia Composers, the Northwest Regions chapter of NACUSA (National Association of Composers USA), with dance, live art, and theatre to tell her own transparent story. In 2016, Dianne also began composing pieces for piano students. Since 2018, her student compositions have been performed each year at PSU in the Cascadia sponsored concert, In Good Hands, that connects living composers with young music students. Most recently, in December 2019 she produced another show with all her own compositions and arrangements for Christmas titled Soli Deo Gloria. Dianne created and performed original piano solo pieces, piano solo arrangements of Chopin Nocturnes fused with traditional carols (Romantic Christmas Suite), as well as a violin & piano duet, violin & cello duet, vocal solos and choral works. Again, she collaborated with live dancers and multi-media visual artist Collin Murphy. Dianne chairs the State Composition Celebration Virtual Event. Watch for her monthly column in the OMTA Music News on-line publication and her current performing and composing projects at musiqPOWER.com.
Program Description: Dianne Davies has taken a series of folksongs and Christmas carols to teach all levels of the OMTA Syllabus chord progressions and put them into music. The right-hand melodies are given in scale degree numbers and the left hand accompaniment is given in Roman numerals following each level of syllabus. Students learn to easily transpose the ideas to all keys and understand the concepts.

2023 Baroque Festival Final Event-Rescheduled Date
2023-03-18 - 2023-03-19 | First Presbyterian Church of Newport, 227 NE 12th Street, Newport, OR, 97365, United States
**This event, previously scheduled for February 25, has been rescheduled to March 18 and 19.**
The Baroque Festival final event is a series of adjudicated concerts featuring students from across the state who are winners of their own district Baroque competitions.
Forms: https://oregonmta.org/programs/festivals/baroque-festival/
Registration deadline: February 18, 2023

Grant Event -- Pianists and the Brain
2023-03-14 11:30 - 13:30 | 825 Umpqua College Rd, 825 Umpqua College Rd, Roseburg, OR, 97470
Presenting District: Umpqua Valley-South Coast
Presenter: Dr. Diane Baxter Dr. Diane Baxter, pianist, educator and consultant, is the editor of The Oregon Musician. She recently retired as Professor of Music at Western Oregon University where she received the Faculty Honors Award for Outstanding Creativity and the Pastega Award for Excellence in Teaching. Diane taught studio piano and courses in Ethnomusicology, Performance Anxiety, and Research Methods. Dr. Baxter has adjudicated the Woodley Festival in Berkshire, England on several occasions. She adjudicates for all ages, and all levels. Diane consults and performs far and wide, often giving workshops on doing our best under pressure. “The Science of Artistry: The Fourth String” was published in Clavier Companion in Nov/Dec 2013. Diane’s article, “Ethnomusicology and Alchemy” was published in the April/May 2020 edition of American Music Teacher. Diane performs and teaches in France each summer, and in 2018 she began an international annual workshop on the shores of Loch Etive in the Scottish Highlands. The focus is on performance success and doing our best when it matters most. The workshop is thriving. Closer to home, recently Diane started writing the program notes for Corvallis Piano International and she continues to perform as principal keyboardist for the Newport Symphony. She lives, writes, plays and thinks in Brownsville, Oregon.
Program Description: How do we hear? What happens in the brain when we learn simple five finger patterns? What knowledge about brain function assists us as we learn new music? How do we process music? What does it mean “to know” a piece of music? How do we recall music? How does the athleticism of piano playing shape our behavior? This talk presents basic information about neurological functions from the performer’s point of view. It is a fascinating and diverse body of information.

Grant Event -- Practice Smarter, Not Longer
2023-03-14 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual/Online
Contact for Zoom link: Rosanne Smith
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Dr. Lark Powers 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.
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 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.
Program Description: Practice is the most significant element which will determine a musician’s success and enjoyment of their craft. However, many musicians were never taught how to practice, and some of what we think we know about learning can be updated. A few easily incorporated practice strategies can greatly increase progress and make practicing more efficient. This presentation will delve into fascinating research on how the brain learns and how this relates to music and practicing. Offering innovative and practical advice, topics discussed will include organization, spacing, the effectiveness of interleaved (random) repetition, first-time retrieval strategies, performance preparation, and common practice mistakes. With strategies to overcome the challenge of getting started, making improvement that sticks, staying focused, and planning the next session, this presentation will suggest ideas that can make practice rewarding and effective. Strategic practice techniques create transformative changes, which can be seen in overall progress as well as in performing comfort and success.

Grant Event - Getting to Know our Neighbor: A Pianist's Guide to Pedagogical Repertoire
2023-03-08 10:30 - 12:00 | Calvary Lutheran Church, 937 NE Jackson School Rd, Hillsboro, OR, 97124, United States
Presenting District: Hillsboro
Presenter: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre 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. He 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, Dr. de la Torre 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, Dr. de la Torre attended Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown, where he received a Bachelor’s degree cum laude. He continued his studies at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduate 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, and international conferences. 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 faculty of East Central University in Ada, OK. He has also taught music analysis at Pacific Lutheran University. Currently he is pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma where he directs its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch.
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.

Grant Event -- Hearing, Sight, Touch, and Proprioception: Enabling the Four Senses of Piano Playing for Optimal Learning and Performing
2023-03-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Broadway Coffeehouse, 1300 Broadway St NE #100, Salem, Oregon, 97301
Presenting District: Salem
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis 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. He has 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).
Program Description: Everyone longs to learn music so well that we can perform with ease, grace, and command of ourselves and the instrument. It often feels like a mysterious, alchemical process to arrive there: how do we go from learning and struggling to real mastery? The answer lies in large part in the four senses we use when performing: hearing, sight, touch, and proprioception. All four of these senses must be engaged for stellar performances, but we often do not know how to make the best use of them or how to teach our students to do so.
In this talk, Dr. Lewis will speak about how we must lead first and foremost with our hearing; how our eyes can be powerful allies or can make our practice and performance suffer; how touch and proprioception reinforce an intuitive and resilient connection between the musician and the instrument. He will talk about specific teaching and practice strategies to optimize how we use our senses. Recent neuroscience research on how our brain processes sensory input and turns it into motor action and creative thought will be explorer. Ultimately, this will help us better reach the place where we can feel empowered to perform creatively, boldly, and expressively.

Grant Event -- Master Class for Pianists
2023-02-25 10:00 - 14:00 | Grace Lutheran Church – Ashland, 660 Frances Ln, Ashland, OR, 97520
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Dr. Alexander Tutunov 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 is Artist in Residence at the University of Alaska Southeast, Artistic director of the SOU International Piano Institute, and was recently named the Director of the Chinese-American International Piano Institute in Chengdu, China.
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. Please contact Terri Horn for more details.

Grant Event -- Master Class for Pianists
2023-02-11 10:00 - 12:00 | Roseburg Public Library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd, Roseburg, Oregon, 97470
Presenting District: Umpqua Valley-South Coast
Presenter: Deborah Cleaver 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 Classical 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 teaches at Lewis and Clark College and Reed College as well as in her private studio. She also organizes seminars three times each year for the Portland/Golandsky Institute community and is a past president of OMTA Portland District. She has been a faculty member of the Golandsky Institute since 2005 and teaches at their summer institute at Princeton University every summer. Previous teaching positions have been at Willamette University, 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 I and II. 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, and for Oregon and Washington music teachers’ associations, and is a frequent adjudicator throughout the Northwest.
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. Please contact Tammy Johnson for more details.

Grant Event -- Practice Smarter, Not Longer
2023-02-04 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Contact for Zoom link: Jan Miller
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Dr. Lark Powers 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.
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 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.
Program Description: Practice is the most significant element which will determine a musician’s success and enjoyment of their craft. However, many musicians were never taught how to practice, and some of what we think we know about learning can be updated. A few easily incorporated practice strategies can greatly increase progress and make practicing more efficient. This presentation will delve into fascinating research on how the brain learns and how this relates to music and practicing. Offering innovative and practical advice, topics discussed will include organization, spacing, the effectiveness of interleaved (random) repetition, first-time retrieval strategies, performance preparation, and common practice mistakes. With strategies to overcome the challenge of getting started, making improvement that sticks, staying focused, and planning the next session, this presentation will suggest ideas that can make practice rewarding and effective. Strategic practice techniques create transformative changes, which can be seen in overall progress as well as in performing comfort and success.

Grant Event - Making Syllabus Relevant: Using OMTA Skills to Play Music
2023-01-11 10:30 - 12:00 | Calvary Lutheran Church, 937 NE Jackson School Rd, Hillsboro, OR, 97124, United States
Presenting District: Hillsboro
Presenter: Dianne Davies Dianne Davies received a BA in music from Lewis and Clark College with piano emphasis and K-12 music education certification. Since then, she has taught public and private school music and currently focuses on her private piano studio in Beaverton and performing. In 2010 Dianne created and performed her comedy show Dianne Davies Has Fallen Off Her Bench and in 2016, she created, produced, and performed a new show titled Attachments & Detachments–Tragedy to Triumph combining the music of Cascadia Composers, the Northwest Regions chapter of NACUSA (National Association of Composers USA), with dance, live art, and theatre to tell her own transparent story.
In 2016, Dianne also began composing pieces for piano students. Since 2018, her student compositions have been performed each year at PSU in the Cascadia sponsored concert, In Good Hands, that connects living composers with young music students. Most recently, in December 2019 she produced another show with all her own compositions and arrangements for Christmas titled Soli Deo Gloria. Dianne created and performed original piano solo pieces, piano solo arrangements of Chopin Nocturnes fused with traditional carols (Romantic Christmas Suite), as well as a violin & piano duet, violin & cello duet, vocal solos, and choral works. Again, she collaborated with live dancers and multi-media visual artist Collin Murphy. Dianne also chairs the State Composition Celebration. Watch for her monthly column in the OMTA Music News on-line publication and her current performing and composing projects at musiqPOWER.com.
Program Description: Dianne Davies has taken a series of Folksongs and Christmas Carols to teach all the levels of the OMTA Syllabus chord progressions and put them into music. The right-hand melodies are given in scale degree numbers and the left hand accompaniment is given in Roman Numerals following each level of syllabus. Students learn to easily transpose the ideas to all keys and understand the concepts.

Grant Event - Theatre Tools for Musicians
2023-01-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
For Zoom Link: Contact Rita Warton
Presenting District: Lincoln County
Presenter: Dr. Lisa Neher 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 female athleticism, 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 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 and the Mirror Visions Ensemble Young Composer Competition, and is 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 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. She teaches each year at the Ultimate Music Business Summit and is an instructor and Executive Team member for Toolbox Sessions. 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.
Program Description: In this workshop, we will explore movement and expression tools from the theatre tradition and how to apply those to the work we do as musicians and music teachers. Topics include stage presence, physical awareness and relaxation, bowing, listening, receiving, and responding to energy, finding contrast through levels, tapping into emotion and expression using acting tools of emotional recall and creative substitution. You will leave with exercises you can use with your students in lessons and group classes.

State Ensemble Festival 2022
2022-12-10 | University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, 961 E 18th Ave, Eugene, OR, 97403, United States
Chair: Genevieve Mason
Forms: https://oregonmta.org/programs/festivals/ensemble-festival/
Registration Deadline: November 25, 2022
Depending on the quality of their performance at the district recital, some ensembles are selected by the adjudicators and are invited to participate at the state recital.

Oregon-MTNA Competitions
2022-11-12 08:00 - 19:00 | Lincoln Hall – PSU, 1620 SW Park Ave Room 75, Portland, OR, 97201, United States
Three-tier (state, regional and national) music performance competitions throughout the United States.
Registration Deadline: 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time, Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Grant Event - An Examination of Enrique Granados' Pedagogical Piano Works
2022-11-08 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual/Online
Location: Zoom, for access please contact Rosanne Smith
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Ricardo de la Torre In demand as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, and presenter, 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 graduate 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, and international conferences. 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 faculty of East Central University in Ada, OK. Ricardo has also taught music analysis at Pacific Lutheran University. Currently he is pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma where he directs its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch.
Program Description: This session takes a fresh look at three of this important Spanish composer’s pedagogical collections and presents an overview of Granados’ educational activities and concerns as well as the way his tradition lives on today.

Grant Event - Albums for the Young: Fascinating but Lesser-Known Repertoire Choices for the Intermediate Level Pianist
2022-11-05 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Presenting District: Mid-Columbia
Location: Zoom, for access please contact Rebecca Gooch
Presenter: Dr. Crystal Zimmerman Crystal is professor of piano at Willamette University where she teaches class piano, individual piano lessons, as well as courses in music technology. At Willamette, she is also staff accompanist and coordinator of the accompanying program. She frequently performs in collaborative, chamber music, and solo recitals as well as being pianist in the Salem Chamber Orchestra. Zimmerman is in demand as a lecturer and clinician, and her articles have been featured in American Music Teacher magazine. She worked with FJH music company on the series, Succeeding with Sonatinas. Her most recent publication is the FJH Masterpiece Anthology–Women Composers.
Program Description: This lecture will explore fascinating but lesser-known repertoire choices for the intermediate level pianist. These compositions are similar to Robert Schumann’s Album for the Young, Op. 68, ranging in length from one to three pages and are technically accessible for the intermediate student. She will discuss the character pieces from the middle of the nineteenth century, around the time of Schumann and the impetus behind the explosion of “Albums for the Young” during this time. She will play pieces from Schumann’s Op. 68 and demonstrate comparable/alternate suitable works by other composers such as Mosonyi, Kullak, Heller, Gade, Godard, Karganov, Kiel, Köhler, Kirchner, and Gurlitt. Many of the pieces have programmatic titles; it is this “character” element that can be a powerful creative stimulus for the student. She has found that, for younger students especially, engaging imagination in response to the images and emotions suggested by the title, can create truly magical learning experiences.

Grant Event - Training the Ear and the Eye From the Start: The Hoffman Method
2022-10-22 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual/Online
Location: Zoom, for access please contact Jan Miller
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Joseph Hoffman Joseph Hoffman began playing the piano at age six. In high school, he studied with Alfred Mouledous, principal pianist for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. While continuing his musical studies in piano and conducting at Brigham Young University, Mr. Hoffman was appointed chorusmaster and conductor for numerous BYU opera productions, including Carmen and Pirates of Penzance. He conducted the 300-voice University Chorale and taught courses for music majors in music theory, conducting and sightsinging.
In order to help pay his way through grad school, Mr. Hoffman began teaching piano lessons to kids in the neighborhood. He wanted his students to love music and piano playing as much as he did, but he struggled to find a piano method that provided a rigorous, well-rounded musical training, while still being fun and engaging. Over the next several years, he made it his personal quest to study all he could about learning theory, and he actively researched the best methods available for teaching music. It was from these years of study, exploration, and experimentation that the “Hoffman Method” of teaching piano was born.
Program Description: Researchers have known for decades that young children do not learn best from books, but through direct experience. Joseph Hoffman will share techniques and activities which will immerse the children you teach in a rich array of musical experiences through singing, movement, and engaging activities that explore rhythm, pitch, and reading notes on the staff. Building on this solid foundation of musical awareness and skill, children develop a fluent piano technique and acquire an impressive repertoire of piano literature. The end result is students who are adept at playing by both ear and by sight. This program has been used over the last ten years with hundreds of students in both group and private settings, and the results have been remarkably positive..

Grant Event - The Creativity of the Baroque Repertoire
2022-10-10 10:00 - 12:00 | U of O School of Music – Berwick Hall, Room 101, Eugene, OR
Presenting District: Eugene
Presenter: Dr. Lark Powers 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.
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 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.
Program Description: The Baroque repertoire provides an exceptional resource for teaching students to analyze, to develop creativity, and to take charge of their interpretation. This presentation uses compositions from a variety of composers, well known to less well known, and explores pieces in a range of difficulties. The blank scores from this period, in urtext editions free of dynamics and phrasing indications, can provide challenges in developing an idiomatic and effective interpretation, and discussion includes helping students find cadences, establish phrasing, the importance of meter and pulse, articulation, ornamentation, and the treatment of specific dance forms, as well as effectively translating this music for performances on the modern piano.

State Board Meeting
2022-09-24 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual/Online
The meeting of the State Board of OMTA, which occurs every Fall.
