Teacher Enrichment
Oregon Music Teachers Association in partnership with the Oregon Community Foundation and the Nellie Tholen Fund present statewide teacher enrichment events. These valuable and varying presentations are free and open to all music educators, members and non-members alike.
For more information about our OMTA/OCF Nellie Tholen District Enrichment Project Programs, contact our grant coordinator, Karen Huntsberger, NCTM.
Upcoming Events
Making Syllabus Relevant – Using OMTA Skills to Play Music
Date/Time: Wednesday, January 11, 2023 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM 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 CarolsRead More Date/Time: Saturday, February 4, 2023 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 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.Read More Date/Time: Saturday, February 11, 2023 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 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 studentsRead More Date/Time: Saturday, February 25, 2023 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM 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 studentsRead More Date/Time: Friday March 3, 2023 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Program Description: Everyone longs to learn music so wellRead More 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. (The following videos are available on this page below this list to active OMTA members only. Members will need to log in to view.) Presented by Barbara Chapman NCTM Presented by Leila Viss, 88PianoKeys.me Presented by Donna Gunn, M.M., NCTM Presented by Emily Ross, M.A., M.T. – B.C. Presented by Heidi Evans NCTM Presented by Dr. Crystal Zimmerman NCTM, Professor of Piano, Willamette University Presented by Dr. Crystal Zimmerman NCTM, Professor of Piano, Willamette University Presented by Daniel Stephens, M.F.A. and Judith Kennedy, M.A. Sorry, but permission to access this content is limited to current MTNA/OMTA members. If you are an active member, please log in. Otherwise please visit MTNA to renew your membership or to join. OMTA website accounts typically are activated within 7-9 business days of joining or renewing with MTNA. For questions or issues, please contact us. Thank you.
Location: Calvary Lutheran Church, 937 NE Jackson School Rd, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Contact: Holly Counts
Presenting District: Hillsboro
Presenter: Dianne DaviesRead Presenter BioPractice Smarter, Not Longer
Location: Zoom, for access please contact Jan Miller
Contact: Jan Miller
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Dr. Lark PowersRead Presenter BioMaster Class for Pianists
Location: Roseburg Public Library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd Roseburg OR 97470
Contact: Tammy Johnson
Presenting District: Umpqua Valley-South Coast
Presenter: Deborah CleaverRead Presenter BioMaster Class for Pianists
Location: Grace Lutheran Church, 660 Francis Lane, Ashland OR 97520
Contact: Terri Horn
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Presenter: Dr. Alexander TutunovRead Presenter BioHearing, Sight, Touch and Proprioception: Engaging the Four Senses of Piano Playing for Optimal Learning and Performing
Location: Broadway Coffeehouse, 1300 Broadway St NE #100, Salem OR 97301
Contact: Deborah Butler
Presenting District: Salem
Presenter: Dr. Stephen LewisRead Presenter BioWorkshop Videos
Pilates For Musicians
Nurturing Potential Into Passion
Starter Steps for Playing Eighteenth-Century Repertoire on the Modern Piano
Teaching the Special Learner: Wisdom and Strategies for the Independent Music Teacher
Tips For Preparing For Syllabus Exams
Succeeding With Sonatinas
Music and the Brain – How We Hear And Understand Melody and Rhythm
Authentic Baroque Dance
Restricted membership content.