Mark your calendars for the OMTA State Conference, August 7–8, at the Mt. Hood Oregon Resort in Welches! Nestled in the lush foothills of Mt. Hood, this two-day event offers fresh, practical ideas you can use in your teaching right away, along with the chance to connect with fellow teachers who understand both the joys and challenges of the work. It’s also a chance to invest in yourself—with space to recharge before a new year begins. Registration opens in spring—come be refreshed, encouraged, and energized for the year of teaching ahead.
Online Registration closes on Thursday, July 30 at 11:59pm.
EARLY BIRD PRICING (through June 25) Lunch is included with registration unless otherwise specified below.
OMTA Member Registration | $160
Family Member Pass | $70 (lunch not included, non-OMTA member)
New Member of MTNA and OMTA Registration | FREE (Joined after April 1, 2025)
Collegiate Student Registration | FREE (lunch not included)
Non-OMTA Member Registration | $195
PRICING (after June 25) Lunch is included with registration unless you sign up after the catering deadline of July 23 at 11:59pm PDT. (Or otherwise specified below.)
OMTA Member Registration | $195
Family Member Pass | $85 (lunch not included, non-OMTA member)
New Member of MTNA and OMTA Registration | FREE (Joined after April 1, 2025)
Collegiate Student Registration | FREE (lunch not included)
Non-OMTA Member Registration | $230
Registration Includes:
All registration types include access to attend all sessions and concerts, a printed conference program*, as well as lunch on Friday and Saturday, unless otherwise specified. When not provided, lunches are available for purchase during registration before July 23 at 11:59pm PDT. *Programs are not guaranteed on registrations placed after July 12.
Friday’s lunch is a Yakisoba Noodle Bowl buffet.
Saturday’s lunch is a Turkey and Bacon Sandwich with Chips Box Lunch.
If you have dietary restrictions, please email the conference chair, Amie Belisle, with details no later than July 15.
Financial Incentives for OMTA Members
New members of OMTA & MTNA since April 1, 2025 (who have not attended an OMTA Conference before) receive free advance registration.
Room rebates ($75/night – 3 nights max) are available thanks to the Nellie Tholen Grant to help defray hotel costs for those living more than 25 miles away from Welches, OR. The application form will be in the registration packets at conference.
We’ve secured discounted room rates for conference attendees:
Rooms are available at $139–$159/night. With taxes and our discounted $15 resort fee (normally $30), total cost starts around $166/night.
Note: The online booking system will show a $30 resort fee when you reserve your room. However, this will be adjusted to $15/night when your final bill is processed by the resort at the end of your stay. You may also call the resort and mention OMTA to see the correct rate upfront.
Resort amenities include a pool, hot tub, free parking, high speed internet, pet-friendly (with additional fee), fitness center, bar/restaurant, onsite spa, golf course and more! Guests of the resort receive 20% off spa services and green fees.
Conference Schedule
Click here for a detailed conference schedule. *subject to change
Extra Conference Fun
Thursday Night Music Trivia Night
Thursday, August 6 at 7:00pm Cascade Ballroom
Kick off the OMTA State Conference with laughter and friendly competition at our Music Trivia Night on Thursday evening—Conference Eve! Gather your colleagues and friends for a fun, music-themed challenge where teams of 1–8 players (4–6 recommended) go head-to-head for bragging rights. Mix and mingle across OMTA districts and show off your musical knowledge. It’s the perfect way to connect, unwind, and start the conference on a high note.
If you are looking for teammates, come 15 minutes early to get teamed up! No need to RSVP.
We hope you’ll join us on Friday night for a banquet dinner hosted at the Mt Hood Oregon Resort. We’ll honor our lifetime membership award recipients and our 2027 Foundation Fellow. Don’t forget our silent auction and wall-of-wine raffle. Banquet tickets are available as an additional ticket option when you register and cost $60.00/person.
Buffet dinner will include:
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Demi
Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Roasted Veggies
Seasonal Fruit Salad
Mixed Green Salad with Huckleberry Vinaigrette
Seasonal Fruit Cobbler with Chantilly Cream
If you have dietary restrictions, please email our conference chair, Amie Belisle, [email protected] by July 15 with those details.
Get to know other members and their families during a family-friendly hike through old-growth forests and lush mossy terrain on the Old Salmon River Trail, just a couple miles from The Mt. Hood Resort. Join us on Sunday, August 9 at 9:00 am at the trailhead for this easy, low-elevation, one-hour hike—the perfect backdrop to make new connections and deepen old ones. Note: this trail does require a Northwest Forest Pass ($5/day).
Advertisers & Vendors
Advertise in the 2026 Conference Program
Conference registrants and advertisers benefit from a beautiful, printed program book available to all registrants. This full color program booklet, with a finished size of 8.5”x11”, includes schedules, artist bios, recital programs, annual honors, and more!
We are thrilled to have the following distinguished educators and artists with us this summer!
Rodolfo Leone
“… a true sound philosopher.” – Oberösterreichische Nachrichten
Photo credit: Jeff Fasano
Described as a “true sound philosopher” (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten), the brilliant Italian-born pianist Rodolfo Leone, whose career was formerly supported by the Amron-Sutherland Fund for Young Pianists at the Colburn School, was the first-prize winner of the 2017 International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna. Rodolfo released his debut album on the Austrian label Gramola in May 2018 and “Piano Jewels” featuring works of Muzio Clementi on Naxos in January 2022.
Rodolfo’s recent seasons include a collaboration with James Conlon and LA Opera and debuts with North Carolina Symphony (Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1) conducted by Michelle Di Russo, San Diego Symphony (Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1) conducted by Michael Francis, Bozeman Symphony (Ravel’s PIano Concerto in G major) conducted by Norman Huynh, Pasadena Symphony (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21) with conductor David Lockington, and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra (Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”) with Sascha Goetzel; he also performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in Walt Disney Hall under the baton of Xian Zhang.
Recent recital appearances include Kent Blossom Music Festival and Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series with flutist Demarre McGill, Music at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth in TX, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In May 2019, he gave a recital tour in Austria, culminating in a performance in Vienna at the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein. He also performed recitals in Los Angeles and Naples, Florida, and appeared on the chamber music series Le Salon de Musiques in Los Angeles. As a 2018-19 Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Rodolfo’s live recordings were broadcast nationally throughout the United States.
A native of Turin, Italy, Rodolfo made his orchestral debut in 2013 performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento (Italy). He toured Italy with that orchestra the following year performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Rodolfo made his North American debut in 2014 performing Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Toronto Concert Orchestra. Since then, he has performed with, among others, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra with Stéphane Denève and the Colburn Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall; and recitals at Festival Napa Valley and the Soka Performing Arts Center. He has also performed chamber music with Lynn Harrell, Fabio Bidini, SooBeen Lee, Clive Greensmith, and the Viano String Quartet.
Rodolfo has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, and China. These performances include debuts in venues such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Steinway Hall in London, the Music Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Politeama Theatre in Palermo, the Mozart Concert Hall of Accademia Filarmonica and Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova in Italy, and the BASF Gesellschaftshaus in Germany. A top-prize winner of several major piano competitions, Rodolfo was awarded top prizes at the 2014 Toronto International Piano Competition and the 2013 Busoni International Piano Competition. Pianist magazine described his concerto performance during the 2017 International Beethoven Piano Competition as a “communion with the orchestra” that “was raptly convincing… robust and joyful.”
In addition to performing, Rodolfo has a very active teaching studio and is on the Piano Faculty at the Colburn Music Academy, one of the preeminent pre-collegiate schools in the country. He is also highly sought after for masterclass and summer festival educational opportunities throughout the United States.
Rodolfo is currently based in Los Angeles where he previously studied at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. He holds both a Master of Music degree and an Artist Diploma from Colburn, where he studied with Fabio Bidini. He previously studied at the Hans Eisler School of Music in Berlin, Germany and at the G. Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, Italy.
July 2025 – Please do not edit without permission.
Provided by MKI Artists | 70 S Winooski Ave. #318 | Burlington VT 05401 | (802)658-2592 |www.mkiartists.com.
Susan Bruckner
Susan Bruckner is a pianist with degrees from the Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and the New School for Music Study in Princeton, NJ where she studied piano pedagogy with Frances Clark and Louise Goss. She also attended the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara for two summers studying piano with Jerome Lowenthal and collaborative piano with Jean Barr.
Susan grew up in New Jersey and began piano at age thirteen having begged for lessons since about age 3! She has taught at the University of Utah, Ithaca College in New York, and is currently teaching full time at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz CA. She is the director of the piano program at Cabrillo College, and also teaches chamber music, and music appreciation. She has always maintained a private studio of younger students, aside from her college teaching.
Susan is collaborating with the director of Cabrillo’s Stroke Center and psychology faculty to build a course for music majors in music therapy, gaining firsthand clinical experience. On a sabbatical in 2018, Susan traveled to music neuroscience labs in the US, Canada, and Europe to interview 24 neuroscientists studying a wide variety of music-related topics. She is an active presenter of music and brain-related topics, developmental learning stages, and multi-sensory teaching strategies. She has given workshops in Europe, Canada, and the US.
Susan is the author of The Whole Musician; A Multi-Sensory Guide to Practice, Performance, and Pedagogy as well as a college textbook for class piano, The Whole Pianist. Susan has directed several summer music camps for young musicians in Salt Lake City UT and Santa Cruz CA and has written some plays based on composer biographies.
When she’s not teaching, she enjoys both solo and collaborative music-making, travel, gardening, dancing and anything to do with dogs, especially larger breeds!
Sophia Pereyra-Johnston
Sophia is the owner and founder of Piano Playground, a piano studio in Green Lake, Seattle that serves as an enrichment vendor to various Seattle Public Schools. Piano Playground was honored with the Golden Teddy Award for the best after school enrichment program by ParentMap, and strives to create highly engaging and inspiring child-centric piano curricula for both private lessons and group classes. Sophia enjoys managing all Piano Playground programs within the public schools, while also teaching a full load of students and managing a team of Piano Playground instructors.
As VP of Strategic Engagement for the Seattle Music Teachers Association, Sophia enjoys applying her Master’s in Industrial Organizational Psychology to help develop the organizational culture to one that fosters deep member connections and friendships, high engagement and commitment, and strengthens the sustainability of the association. The SMTA Social Team was created in 2021 with the mission of creating social opportunities for members to build friendships more seamlessly to forge connections that go beyond just professional networking. Amid planning a robust social calendar and hosting excursions for SMTA members, Sophia is passionate about applying organizational science in new and innovative ways to maximize member motivation and satisfaction.
Jessica Andrews
Jessica Evotia Andrews-Hall is an award-winning pianist, electrifying presenter, and visionary teaching artist whose work bridges performance, education, and community impact. Her engaging presentations—praised for their artistry, warmth, and innovation—have been featured at the MTNA National Conference in Minneapolis, MTNA’s virtual T.E.M.P.O Conference, and the Japan–Seattle Suzuki Institute.
Shaped by the artistry and guidance of Michi North, Dr. Peter Mack, Dr. Rebecca Steele, Francis Walker-Slocum, and Dr. Karen Walwyn, Jessica has performed on stages ranging from Carnegie Hall and the White House to the Sydney Opera House and Benaroya Hall. As a Seattle Symphony teaching artist, she developed early childhood programs, led Carnegie Hall Link Up residencies, and collaborated with families on the Lullaby Project.
Jessica maintains a vibrant international career as a collaborative pianist and is a staff pianist for the Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Seattle Theatre Group. She brings expressive, energizing musicianship to multidisciplinary spaces for dancers through PNB and STG’s AileyCamp and has toured multiple times with the Seattle Opera.
Founder of J.A.M. Studios in Seattle, Jessica has built a thriving in-person and online piano studio serving students from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. Known for its joyful learning culture, innovative group programs, and consistently sold-out offerings, the studio has nurtured students who have gone on to conservatories, national television competitions, Broadway stages, and professional music careers.
A Steinway teacher, educational partner, and passionate arts advocate, Jessica has taught private and group lessons for over 15 years and serves as Vice President of Membership for SMTA and President of SKCTMA. Through performance, teaching, and mentorship, she uses her platforms to spark possibility, foster belonging, and cultivate vibrant artistic communities.
