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Music Teachers National Association Conference

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One of the purposes and goals of the Katy Music Teachers Association is to support and help teachers maintain their skills, knowledge and proficiency in their field.  Every year there is a National and State conference which our teachers can attend and learn from some of the best professionals in music.  This year the National Conference took place in April in San Antonio, Texas.  Our teachers had the opportunity to attend many workshops that covered subjects from “Teaching Students with Special Needs” to “Making Trills Easy to Handle” to “How to Make the Most of Your Time in a 30 Minute Lesson”.

Below are pictures of some of our KMTA Members that attended the conference this year!  Along with a couple of scenic pictures of the San Antonio Riverwalk and the Tower of the Americas, picture 1 is of Kay Lowry and Diana Lopez at the Newbie breakfast provided by MTNA for first timers to a National Conference, below them are Nancy Stevenson and Larry Harms visiting and walking through all the vendor booths at the conference and finally, a picture of Kay Lowry with composer Wendy Stevens, who has been commissioned to compose a Sonatina for KMTA’s students for our upcoming Sonatina Festival in the fall.

It was an incredible conference!

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Filed under: MTNA National Conference Photos

Alina Uddin Piano Concert

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Katy Music Teachers Association proudly presented one of their own, Alina Uddin.  Ms. Uddin prepared and performed a wonderful concert for our students on April 15, 2016.  The program was planned with the students in mind.  Ms. Uddin took them through time with music from Bach (1700’s) to Scriabin (1900’s).  In between performances she gave interesting facts about the composers and a description of the pieces she was performing.  It was an excellent learning experience for our students.

biography

BIOGRAPHY

Alina Uddin an accomplished Ukrainian born pianist, teacher, chamber performer and accompanist. She has appeared in different performing venues in Ukraine, Egypt, Spain, Morocco and the US.
Alina’s desire to become an artist came at an early age. She performed songs and poetry at all family events, but her dream was to learn how to play the piano. She had a small model of a real piano and she used to insert the sheets on the music stand and, sitting the dolls in front as an audience, imagined herself giving concerts.
She began her piano studies at the age of 7 at the Children Musical School No.1 in Sumy, Ukraine and gave her first solo recital ‘’Evening of Waltzes’’ at the age of 11. Alina continued her education with D. Bortnianskiy High School of Arts and Culture, Sumy, Ukraine, were she got an Associate degree in Music Art. She then continued her education in National P.I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in the class of distinguished pianist Lyudmila Martcevich. Alina has performed at National Philharmonic of Ukraine, National P.I. Tchaikovsky Music Academy of Ukraine, Kiev’s House of Teachers and National Museum of Literature in Ukraine and many others. While studying in Ukraine  she has also performed in numerous regional and national competitions and festivals.
Throughout her studies, Alina had the opportunity of working with a number of distinguished piano teachers such as Valentina Skoromnaya, Nelli Ldova, Aleksandr Ldov, Lyudmila Martcevich, Nancy Weems, Timothy Hester, and Brian Suit. She also participated in master classes with Michail Stepanenko, Alla Zadirackaya, Iya Pavlova, Cristina Capparelli Gerling and others prominent musicians.
Alina holds a Master’s degree in Applied Piano Performance from Moores School of Music, University of Houston. From Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine she holds a second Master’s degree, major in Piano Performance and minor in Piano Pedagogy, Chamber Ensemble, and Accompaniment.
Alina has taught for over 17 years. Her pedagogical experience includes teaching the students of all ages and all skill levels, from five years old to adult, from beginner to advance players. Beside her pedagogical career in US as well in her native Ukraine, Alina also taught piano in Egypt and Morocco. Her passion is to provide the best knowledge to each student’s needs and abilities. This allows her to tailor each lesson accordingly to each student. Her goal is to enrich the lives of children and others by providing the understanding of music, fostering the enjoyment and inspiring musical imagination.
Alina currently is a member of the faculty at the International Music Academy and St. Andrew School of Art.
Alina is a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA), Forum Music Teachers Association of Houston (FMTA), Independent Music Teacher Association of Greater Houston (IMTA), National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC), Texas Federation of Music Clubs (TFMC) and The Bayou City Federated Music Club (BCFMC).


Filed under: Recitals

KMTA General Meeting

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The Katy Music Teachers Association met Wednesday, April 20.  Among other reports our State Theory Test Chair, Kankan Qian, reported that KMTA students received 180 Gold Medals, 52 Silver Medals and 34 Bronze Medals.

Our World of Music (Music History) Chair, Wilma DeLaVega, reported that KMTA had 31 students participate and all 31 received medals!

KMTA also had their Spring Festival this month with 228 students participating.  They were adjudicated by Ann Chee, Paulina Chui, James Cho, Katie Frank, Katharina Jackson, and Rick Valentine.  KMTA would like to send out a very special thanks to the judges for their hard work at the Festival. Of those 228 students, 40 presented their pieces at the Honors Recital following the Festival.  A huge thanks goes out to our Chair for the Festival, Linda Bryan!

 


Filed under: Uncategorized

Piano Fun Run

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Here are a few pictures of the Piano Fun Run event sponsored by KMTA this past March.  This is a low-stress performance and instructional event.  Students do not have to memorize their music but they play for a visiting adjudicator.  The students are then critiqued with the purpose of helping them improve their playing skills.  This year the event was held at the home of Gwladys Hare and the adjudicator was Heather Rathnau.  Thank you to all that participated and helped with this event.

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Filed under: Uncategorized

New KMTA Officers Installed

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Katy Music Teachers Association held it’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 18, 2016.  Following regular business, new officers were installed for the year 2016-2017.  Pictured below from left to right are:  Diana Lopez, Secretary; Tobin Wright, 1st Vice-President and Kathleen Daugherty, President.  Not pictured: Alina Uddin, 2nd Vice-President and Carolina Tong, Treasurer.

The organization also presented the outgoing president, Gwladys Hare, with a bouquet of yellow roses by Nancy Stevenson.  Nancy explained that a yellow rose represents friendship.  KMTA expresses many thanks to Gwladys and her officers for all they have done for the organization this past year and, to Gwladys, for being a true friend!  After the presentation of flowers to the outgoing president, our new president, Kathleen Daugherty, closed the meeting as her first official item of business.

The group then enjoyed a presentation by Elena Tsvetkova on Four Hands Repertoire for Children.  See her biography below.

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Elena Tsvetkova graduated summa cum laude from both the Mussorgsky Music College in St. Petersburg, Russia and the State Conservatory, St. Petersburg, Russia. Her degrees are in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy. She has also earned a diploma of concert pianist. After graduating, she was appointed as an Assistant Piano Professor and was the staff accompanist for strings at the Petrozavodsk Branch of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Ms. Tsvetkova moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in 2001, and is in demand as a teacher, collaborative pianist, soloist, clinician and adjudicator. In 2002, 2003 she was a faculty member at the Heifetz International Music Institute. In November 2005, she was invited to perform at the International Convention in Ithaca, NY, in summer 2011 and 2012 she taught and performed as a faculty member at the Elan International Music Festival. She continues to play solo, chamber music and piano ensembles recitals every year and has performed in all major venues in North Texas. Her recent American tours include chamber music recital in Boston, 2011, and solo and duo-piano recitals in San Francisco, 2012. Her international tours include Russia, Finland, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Mexico and Brazil. This year she was invited to join the faculty of InterHarmony festival in Italy.


Filed under: KMTA General Meeting

Regional Contest Winners to Advance to TMTA Convention

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4 students from the studios of Yunhua Lovell , Thu Carey and Alicia Shirley were chosen in the Regional Contests to advance to the TMTA convention to compete in their age groups .  KMTA sends them best wishes as they practice and compete in June. We are sure they will do well and make our organization proud!

Daniel Chang (13)

Ping Jing Toong (14)

Stephanie Pickerel (15)

Karen Wang (15)


Filed under: Uncategorized

Preparing for State Convention

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Students from the studios of Linda Bryan and Kay Lowry will be performing at the Texas Music Teachers Association’s State Convention in Dallas, Texas!  Kendra Nguyen, Natalie Carey, and Ryan Chen, students of Linda Bryan, and Hannah Townsend, student of Kay Lowry, will be performing Viva Vivaldi, a piano ensemble by Robert Vandall.  KMTA will be well represented by this ensemble this coming weekend in Dallas!  (TMTA Convention, June  16-19, 2016) The association looks forward to a great performance!  The group is pictured below during one of their last rehearsals before heading to Dallas.

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Filed under: Uncategorized

KMTA Students Perform at TMTA Convention

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KMTA students of Linda Bryan and Kay Lowry performed an outstanding ensemble piece  by Robert D. Vandall entitled Viva Vivaldi at the Texas Music Teachers Association’s Convention in Dallas June 19, 2016.  Pictured below are the students of Linda Bryan: Kendra Nguyen, Natalie Carey, and Ryan Chen. Also pictured is Hannah Townsend, student of Kay Lowry.  Directing the ensemble was Kay Lowry.

(L - R)Natalie Carey, Hannah Townsend, Ryan Chen, Kay Lowry (Director), Kendra Nguyen (L-R) Natalie Carey, Hannah Townsend, Ryan Chen, Kay Lowry (Director) Kendra Nguyen Our KMTA ensemble: (L-R) Kay Lowry (Director), Ryan Chen, Hannah Townsend, Kendra Nguyen, Natalie Carey and Larry Harms Our own Kay Lowry performing the Star Spangled Banner with all the ensemble directors. Kay Lowry and all the ensemble directors played the Star Spangled Banner at the opening of the ensemble performances.
Filed under: Uncategorized

Medal Winners at the All Star Festival

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Two students from the studio of Linda Bryan earned medals at the All Star Festival which was held in Dallas during the Texas Music Teachers Association’s Convention this June 2016.  Pictured below with Linda Bryan are Ryan Chen and Natalie Carey.  Before they could participate in the All Star Festival these students were required to earn a gold or 1st place medal in the Festival of their local association.  Congratulations to both these KMTA Student Affiliate members!

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Texas Music Teachers Association Convention

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Several of our members attended the Texas Music Teachers Association’s Convention in Dallas held June 16-19, 2016.  Attending this year were: Kay Lowry, Linda Bryan, Diana Lopez, Nancy Stevenson and Larry Harms.  This was a great opportunity for professional development.  Attendees were able to select sessions with titles such as Extended Techniques for the 21st Century Pianist: playing on, inside and with the piano, How to Effectively Introduce Music History into Music Lessons, and For Students and Parents: At Home Preparations, just to name a few.   At the general session, KMTA was presented with a certificate of appreciation for the Association’s donation to the Education Foundation Fund.  Below are a few pictures from the conference.

KMTA received a certificate of appreciation for the organization's donation to the Education Foundation Fund. Enjoying dinner after a long day at the convention! (L-R) Linda Bryan, Kay Lowry, Diana Lopez (L-R) Kay Lowry and Nancy Stevenson enjoying a session. Diana Lopez at the certification tea given in honor of all the Nationally Certified Teachers of Music. Certification Tea. Our own Kay Lowry performing the Star Spangled Banner with all the ensemble directors. Our KMTA ensemble: (L-R) Kay Lowry (Director), Ryan Chen, Hannah Townsend, Kendra Nguyen, Natalie Carey and Larry Harms Ryan Chen performing in the All Star Festival Natalie Carey performing in the All Star Festival. Linda Bryan with the All Star Festival medal winners: Ryan Chen and Natalie Carey.
Filed under: Uncategorized

KMTA Presented with Certificate of Appreciation

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The Katy Music Teachers Association was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation during the General Session of the Texas Music Teachers Association’s Convention.  KMTA was recognized for their donation to the Texas Music Teachers Educational Foundation.

The TMTEF Collegiate Award of $2,000 is available for a qualified college freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior who is a music major or music minor.Applicants must be an undergraduate college student working towards a music major or minor. This award is funded by the Texas Music Teachers Educational Foundation.

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KMTA received a certificate of appreciation for the organization’s donation to the Education Foundation Fund.

 


Filed under: TMTA CONVENTION PHOTOS

American Recital

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On June 25, 2016 the Katy Music Teachers Association held it’s American Recital at the Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church in Katy.  Pictured below are the 24 performers from the studios of Linda Bryan, Nancy Stevenson, Carmen Yip and Diana Lopez.  The program consisted of either patriotic pieces or pieces written by an American composer.  Congratulations to all the participants for a job well done!

KMTA American Recital 2016
Filed under: Recitals

Lady Psyche

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Our own KMTA voice/piano teacher, Mary Lieberman (right), played Lady Psyche in the summer production of “Princess Ida” by the Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Society! Congratulations Mary on a job well done! (Picture credit to the Houston Chronicle)


Filed under: Uncategorized

Duet on a Dare

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Duet on a Dare

This Friday, August 12, our KMTA member, Kay Lowry, will be performing at the Kingsland Baptist Church at 7:00 pm.  It will be joyous recital of duo piano repertoire!  She will be performing with Steven Elkins Kennedy.  The video is just a snippet of one the rehearsals for this recital.  Please join us in supporting Kay!


Filed under: Uncategorized

KMTA September Meeting

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Wednesday, September 21, 2016, the Katy Music Teachers Association met for their regular monthly meeting.  Nancy Stevenson introduced the special guest speaker, Becky Landreth from TMTA (Texas Music Teachers Association).  Ms. Landreth (see bio below) presented a power point on the upcoming changes to the state theory test.  It was quite an informative presentation for the teachers and it will definitely help them prepare their students for the state theory test in November.

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Becky Landreth, NCTM

A Brief Bio

While Becky was a child studying piano and music theory, she enjoyed theory. When she took Freshman theory in college, she LOVED theory! Becky was even selected to grade papers for the Freshman theory class in her Sophomore year. It is no surprise, then, that when the late Diane Delk, former President of TMTA, asked Becky to be the Assistant Theory Coordinator for TMTA that she said, “Yes.” That was in June of 2008, and she has been involved with TMTA theory ever since! She spent three years as TMTA Assistant Theory Coordinator, then three more years as TMTA Theory Coordinator.

Since the summer of 2009, Becky has also been chairing the committee to revise the TMTA Theory Syllabus and Student Manual as well as writing the practice tests for the upcoming tests. In June of 2015, Becky was honored with the TMTA Teacher of the Year award.


Filed under: Uncategorized

Jazz and Pop Recital

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Some of our KMTA students presented a wonderful Jazz and Pop Recital this Saturday, October 15, 2016 at the Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church on South Fry.  The performances included pieces from some popular movie sound tracks such as, “Star Wars”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Entertainer”, etc.  The students enjoyed preparing for this recital as much as the audience enjoyed listening to it.  Great job KMTA teachers and students!

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Sonatina Festival 2016

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A huge thanks goes out to Kay Lowry and the Sonatina Committee for another successful year with the Sonatina Festival.  This year KMTA’s Festival was hosted once again by the Kingsland Baptist Church.  The event was held November 5, 2016 with 169 students enrolled and 154 that actually performed!  Here are some pictures from behind the scenes!  Thank you to all the KMTA teachers whose students participated and those teachers who volunteered to be monitors, etc.  We also want to express our appreciation to  our judges, Dr. Cho, Rick Valentine, Cheryl Marshall and Pamela York.

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Filed under: Uncategorized

Winter Musicale

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KMTA students performed a wide variety of both Christmas and secular music at the Winter Musicale.  There were 84 students performing with many performing in duets and one trio!  In fact, the Association had to separate the students into 3 recitals!!! Always a good problem to have when you have “too many” students that want to participate.  This was also an opportunity for several students to perform in an ensemble.  KMTA teachers want to encourage the students to perform in our State Ensemble this coming June, hence the duets and trio.  The recital numbers were well prepared and were enjoyed by all!!

 

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Filed under: Recitals, Uncategorized

KMTA Boy’s Recital

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KMTA would like to congratulate the boys that performed Saturday, February 4, 2017 at our Boy’s Recital. The performances were enjoyed by everyone that attended.  Thank you to Catherine Tetrault for organizing this event for KMTA.img_0722


Filed under: Uncategorized

KMTA’s February Mtg

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img_0769The Katy Music Teachers Association held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, February 15, 2017.  After the regular business meeting, the members received some professional development with a presentation by Dr. Carolyn True from Trinity University.  Her topic was ” Collaborations for Pianists”.  Thank you to Tobin Wright for making the arrangements.


Filed under: Uncategorized
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