Teacher Enrichment Workshops

Oregon Music Teachers Association in partnership with the Oregon Community Foundation and the Nellie Tholen Fund present statewide teacher enrichment workshops. These valuable and varying presentations are free and open to all music educators, members and non-members alike.

Workshop Videos

(The following videos are available to OMTA members and are password protected. Members may find the password in their members handbook. It is the same as for other password protected areas of this site.)

Nurturing Potential Into Passion

Presented by Leila Viss, 88PianoKeys.me

Starter Steps for Playing Eighteenth-Century Repertoire on the Modern Piano

Presented by Donna Gunn, M.M., NCTM

Teaching the Special Learner: Wisdom and Strategies for the Independent Music Teacher

Presented by Emily Ross, M.A., M.T. – B.C.

Tips For Preparing For Syllabus Exams

Presented by Heidi Evans NCTM

Succeeding With Sonatinas

Presented by Dr. Crystal Zimmerman NCTM, Professor of Piano, Willamette University

Music and the Brain – How We Hear And Understand Melody and Rhythm

Presented by Dr. Crystal Zimmerman NCTM, Professor of Piano, Willamette University

Authentic Baroque Dance

Presented by Daniel Stephens, M.F.A. and Judith Kennedy, M.A.

Upcoming Events 

The iPad as Teaching Aid: An Overview of Ways to Integrate Tablets into Private Teaching

Date/Time: Friday, February 7, 2020/10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis
Location: Oregon Coast Community College, South Beach Campus, 400 SE College Way, Newport OR 97366
Presenting District: Lincoln County
Local Contact: Mary Morganti
Program Description:
With ever faster tablet technology available, how can we integrate IPads or other tablets into our teaching most effectively? Based on the presenter’s own experiences, using a tablet and various free or reasonably priced apps can make many aspects of private music teaching a breeze. Participants will be shown how to make custom practice sheets for students easily on the spot with Microsoft OneNote; how to record students during lessons to aid them in learning to critique their own playing; use financial software, mobile banking, and online payment apps; integrate online calendars and scheduling programs; and how to easily assemble professional-level printed and graphic materials for studio purposes, such as business cards, letterhead, and webpage banners. Participants will leave having learned the skills to use an IPad or other tablet effectively in making their private studio and teaching take full advantage of these new technologies.

About the Presenter:
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. Dr. Lewis’ 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.

Dr. Lewis has also performed throughout the United States and in Italy. He holds a PhD in composition and a DMA in piano from UC-San Diego, and a BMus from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Dr. Lewis 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. He 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).

Master Classes

Date/Time: Monday, February 10, 2019/10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Dr. Alexander Tutunov, NCTM
Location: First Congregational Church, 1050 E 23rd, Eugene OR 97405
Presenting District: Eugene
Local Contact: Dr. Janet Pollack
Program Description:
The master teacher will work with students and/or teachers in a master class setting.

About the Presenter:
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. He is also in demand as an adjudicator for piano competitions.

Dr. 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.

iPad Technology in the Traditional Studio

Date/Time: Monday, February 10, 2019/10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Cindy Peterson-Peart, NCTM
Location: Studio of Jean Melo, 825 Umpqua College Rd, Roseburg OR 97470
Presenting District: Umpqua Valley-South Coast
Local Contact: Carolee Harbour
Program Description:
New ways to improve basic skills while having fun. Find out how easy it is to incorporate iPad technology in your teaching to motivate your students and make learning fun. We’ll discuss the latest apps as well as low cost ways to get started.

About the Presenter:
Cindy Peterson-Peart, NCTM holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Willamette University, is a nationally certified teacher of music, and maintains a private piano studio in Beaverton. She is currently the MTNA Northwest Division Director, serving on the national board. At the state level, Cindy is a Past President of OMTA and serves as senior coordinator of the MTNA Oregon State Performance Competition. She is an active member of Portland District, serving as President from 2003-2005 and Treasurer from 2009-2019. In addition, she serves as a syllabus adjudicator across the state and is active on many OMTA committees. In her spare time, Cindy enjoys performing with Too Grand!, an eight hand piano ensemble that donates private concerts in the founders home to benefit local charitable organizations. To date, Too Grand! has raised over four hundred thousand dollars for local charities.

Ornamentation and Performance Practice: The Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti

Date/Time: Friday, March 6, 2020/10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Dr. Matt Cooper
Location: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 1770 Baxter Rd SE, Salem OR 97306
Presenting District: Salem
Local Contact: Deborah Butler
Program Description:
Dr. Cooper will present his research on ornamentation, drawing on Ralph Kirkpatrick’s writings, and his harpsichord recordings of Scarlatti. He will also compare Kirkpatrick’s work with that in the newer Schirmer edition edited by Eiji Hashimoto. There will also be time for Q and A or coaching for teachers or students willing to play.

About the Presenter:
Dr. Matt Cooper is a Professor Emeritus of Music at Eastern Oregon University, where he was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Teaching Faculty award, retiring after a 31-year college teaching career. He served as OMTA President from 2000 to 2002, during which time he traveled to Khabarovsk, Russia as part of the “Music Without Borders” exchange program, leading to two additional invitations to perform in Khabarovsk in 2002 and 2004.
Dr. Cooper earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has done extensive study in the Taubman approach at the Golandsky Institute and Princeton University, and has studied Tango music in Buenos Aires. A former prizewinner in the Thelonious Monk and Great American Jazz Piano competitions, he is the author of “Duke Ellington: A Study in Styles.”
Dr. Cooper has adjudicated many piano festivals and competitions and has performed numerous solo recitals, chamber recitals, and concerto appearances throughout the Northwest. He has recorded four jazz and classical CDs and is in frequent demand throughout the Northwest as a performer, adjudicator, clinician and presenter.

Collaborative Workshop: Preparation for Each Level of OMTA Syllabus

Date/Time: Saturday, March 7, 2020/10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Liz Willis, NCTM
Location: Studio of Phyllis Peterson, 820 W Alder Ave, Hermiston OR 97838
Presenting District: Umatilla-Morrow
Local Contact: Sue Nelson
Program Description:
This workshop will cover the preparation of both musicianship skills for each level of the OMTA Syllabus as well as preparation and selection of Repertoire. The workshop can include work with either teacher volunteer or students in a master class setting. Practice techniques for scales, arpeggios, and for learning the chord progressions at each level can be covered in addition to aids for sight-reading, rhythm reading, and ear-training.

Repertoire suggestions and demonstrations for each level will also be presented.

The points that are important to the adjudicators will be discussed.

About the Presenter:
Liz Willis, NCTM has a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Pacific Lutheran University. She has been an active member of the Oregon Music Teachers Association for 34 years, serving in various positions on both the State and Portland District Boards. She has Permanent Professional Certification from the Music Teachers National Association. Liz enjoys adjudicating for the Oregon State Syllabus Program as well as the Oregon Federation of Music Clubs.

Acquiring Aural Skills: Listening Deeply

Date/Time: Monday, April 13, 2020/9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Presenter: Dr. Johnandrew Slominski
Location: Grace Lutheran Church, 660 Frances Ln, Ashland OR 97520
Presenting District: Rogue Valley
Local Contact: Catherine Rooney
Program Description:
The composer and pianist Robert Schumann wrote in 1848 that, “You must get to the point that you can hear music from the page…A perfect musician should be able to picture a piece, at first hearing…as though he had the score in front of him.” This workshop, facilitated by Dr. Slominski (former theory and aural skills faculty at the Eastman School of Music), opens a conversation about teaching and learning through a nuanced aural curriculum. Skills discussed include sight-singing, solfege and solmization, dictation, playing by ear, improvisation, and more.

About the Presenter:
American pianist Johnandrew Slominski enjoys a distinguished reputation as a performer and pedagogue. He has been hailed as “a remarkable, brilliant, and gifted pianist” (Chautauquan Daily), commended for performing with “a great deal of intellect” (89.9 KBPS Portland), and recognized for his communicative performance: “I was profoundly moved by his performance… He has a musicianship that transcends his youthfulness” (Eye on Sun Valley). His 2016 San Francisco concert debut, presented by the New Piano Collective, earned praise as “awe-inspiring” and “ear-opening” from Stephen Smoliar of the San Francisco Examiner. Slominski seamlessly navigates the landscape of a varied and thriving career as a soloist, chamber musician, music theorist, author, pedagogue, and speaker. Highlights of his current season include a solo CD released on the Centaur Records label, an all-Schubert disc with soprano Kayleen Sánchez released on the Soundset Recordings label, performances of concerti by Mozart and Schumann, and more than a dozen speaking and teaching engagements in the United States and Asia.

Dr. Slominski earned three degrees from the Eastman School of Music by age 21, and was unanimously nominated for the Jerald R. Graue Musicology Fellowship and the Eastman Performer’s Certificate; his first professorship followed at age 23. He has held faculty positions as a pianist and music theorist at the Eastman School of Music, the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the founding director of Classical Music on the Spot (an institute for eighteenth-century improvisation), a co-founder of the San Francisco International Piano Festival, a founding faculty member of the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival at the University of South Florida, and an Assistant Professor of Music at Linfield College. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Slominski is a New Piano Collective artist.