Amid our Cavalcade rehearsals, members took a break to enjoy our General Meeting on February 23, 2024. We met at My First Piano Rehearsal Hall and heard from our presenter, DVMTA member Lori Weidemann. Lori's presented "Tips for Sight-Reading, Ear Training and Evaluations," and she shared many ideas for preparing students for successful piano evaluations. As teachers we are always looking to help students improve in the fundamentals of reading and hearing music, and we loved hearing Lori's ideas. Thank you, Lori, for sharing your teaching skills with us!

The New Year was off to a great start with our General Meeting. We met January 26th, 2024 at My First Piano with guest presenter, David Sterzbach. He has vast experience with choral directing, as well as working with young musicians in training. We had a great time learning his tips for pianists who conduct, conducting instrumentalists vs. singers, accompanying, and teaching students how to work well with a conductor. He shared some wonderful teaching philosophies, and we loved spending the morning with him. 

As we were all in the thick of holiday preparations DVMTA members took some time to gather and socialize at our annual December Brunch. This is a wonderful time to relax for a few moments and just visit as friends. We met Friday, December 1st at Sassy's Cafe and Bakery in Mesa, and enjoyed our time together while eating some delicious treats. Thank you to Kelli Riding for organizing this fun morning. 

As we prepared for the upcoming holidays we were happy to come together and enjoy another DVMTA General Meeting. We met Friday, November 17th at My First Piano Recital Hall. Our presenter was Zoe Simmons, who taught us the importance of “Going slow(ly) to learn fast!” We learned about using different brain functions and processes to help our students learn faster and with less frustration. We learned about timing/motion, traveling/destination, pulse/rhythm, blocking/reading and much more. This is such a benefit for us and our students. Thank you to Zoe for the amazing discussion!