Category: General Meetings

August Brunch - Aug. 25, 2023

9/7/2023

DVMTA members and friends gathered together at the annual kick-off brunch to visit, and to preview the upcoming meetings and events for the 2023-24 year. We love this tradition of getting together and catching up after the busy summer, and meeting new friends who come to join us. The food was delicious, and the decorations perfectly reflected this year's theme, "Empowering Musical Journeys." DVMTA President, Tammy Shorts, introduced us to the theme, with the goal of going on amazing journeys with our students that will be transformative and enriching musical experiences that will nurture growth, creativity, and a love of music. The student events were highlighted, as were this year's general meeting topics. We are excited to get started! Many thanks to the August Brunch committee, Wendi Heslop and Amy King, and to all those who contributed.

DVMTA President presenting event information

Table decorations at DVMTA August brunch

March 2023 General Meeting

4/5/2023

One of the many benefits of being members of DVMTA is the monthly General Meeting. As we look at ending the 2022-23 DVMTA year our last General Meeting was wonderful. We met on March 31st at My First Piano Recital Hall, and were privileged to hear from one of our own members, Nancy Chase. She was phenomenal as she presented "Setting up Your Studio for Success." She spoke about topics such as teaching philosophies, creating and developing strong studio policies, curriculums, and professional development. As teachers, we must always be willing to learn, grow, or change our methods or policies to reflect our current stage of life. We also took time to honor our friend, Linda Carpenter, who is retiring after nearly 40 years of piano teaching. She has served many years on the DVMTA Board, and has given so much to our organization. She will be missed!

February 2023 General Meeting

3/3/2023

DVMTA members and friends met on February 24, 2023 to hear our own DVMTA members, Jessica Heidt and Hong Zhu, present Interpreting Piano Literature. Hong gave an analysis of the Baroque time period, and Jessica presented analysis of Classical and Romantic time periods. Members were engaged and given wonderful information to help students as they determine how best to approach learning and playing pieces from these eras. The time period and the instrument capabilities were factors to consider, and different options and clues were placed within each piece of music to aid in the playing style. We thank these wonderful members for sharing their information and insights.

January 2023 General Meeting

1/30/2023

Our first DVMTA general meeting of the new year was a great success. Members and friends met on January 27, 2023 at My First Piano. We were privileged to have Dr. Hannah Creviston be our presenter. Dr. Creviston is a Clinical Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy, Director of the Music Prep Program, and Coordinator of Class Piano at ASU. She instructed us on Teaching Rhythm, not Math: the Use of Music Learning Theory Principles in the Private Studio. Dr. Creviston shared many tools to help students learn rhythm through listening and movement. Members were able to participate in learning how movement allows students to learn principles of rhythm and the demonstrations were a lot of fun. Thank you to Dr. Hannah Creviston for an inspiring meeting.