The SCORE, October 2018

President’s Message

Technology never ceases to amaze me. From my iPhone I am able to practice with the metronome app, record myself or a student, watch and listen to a per-formance on YouTube, google some obscure Italian or German phrase from my music, help a student practice on one of the many note reading apps, use the stopwatch app to time note recognition drills, or even Facetime a lesson. Most of us didn’t grow up in the land of screens, unless it was a big bulky tele-vision, and the older ones among us remember when color television was a big thing. Acquiring a new CD or vinyl of a favorite pianist was a special treat.

The Website Committee, led by Dawn Johnson, saw the need to make sure that NSMTA was staying relevant to our young millennial families that we all teach. Those of you that were able to attend Joel Miller’s reveal of our new website last month, can’t help but be very excited to see what he has designed with us. SkyFLoor, Inc. has created a wonderful 21st century website that is intuitive and easy to search. Our website, nsmta.org, will now be the center hub of information for all things North Shore! Thank a committee member as they have all spent their entire summer working with Joel. In the coming months Joel will continue to tweak the website as well as train those of us who will keep the site up-to-date and stimulating. Do take advantage of your “Find a Teacher” link as this will be an invaluable tool to grow your studio.

If you haven’t attended the ISMTA conference before, this is your year to join in. Register at ismta.org. and take advantage of the nearby location. This year’s conference is in DeKalb at Northern Illinois University on October 26-27. At the evening banquet each chapter’s Member of the Year will be honored. Con-gratulations to Jennifer Merry and Susan Corkum who will both be represent-ing NSMTA. Join our table at the evening banquet.

Mary Beth Molenaar continues to work tirelessly to prepare great sessions and this month is a double header: October 21 and 22. I am the proud mother of two Lawrence University alumni and know firsthand the quality of Lawrence’s Conservatory. Catherine Kautsky, Piano Department Chair, has graciously offered to teach a master class on Sunday and present on Monday at our meet-ing. With so much on the calendar this month, I think I will have to make sure that iPhone of mine has alerts set for every NSMTA event!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President’s Message .................1

Presentation .............................2

Pre-Meeting Presentation .......3

AIM News ................................3

2018 Member of the Year ........4

2018 ISMTA Conference .........4

New NSMTA Web Site ............5

Scholarship Application ………5

Announcements………. ……...5-6

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Debbie Gillette

Catherine Kautsky

October 22nd Presentation

Teaching Debussy: A Gateway to Story-telling and imaginative Listen-ing Teaching Debussy is a dream! His music provides students with the gentlest of introductions to the 20thcentu-ry, and his pieces are often short, technically approacha-ble, and comfortable for small hands. The music encourages adventurous use of color and the pedal, and the titles, stories, and pictures which go with the music open up fascinating con-versations about art, history, and literature. Come gain ide-as about teaching repertoire, historical context, and ways to solve the thorniest Debussy issues of pedaling and score interpretation.

Biography Catherine Kautsky, Chair of Keyboard at Lawrence Univer-sity in Appleton, WI has been lauded by the New York Time-

sas “a pianist who can play Mozart and Schubert as though their sentiments and habits of speech coincided exactly with hers … The mu-sic spoke directly to the lis-tener, with neither obfusca-tion nor pretense.” She was the 2016 winner of the Law-rence Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2013 winner of the university’s Faculty Convoca-

tion Award, and in 2017 she was honored with the George and Marjorie Olsen Chandler Chair in Music. Her recent recording of the De-bussy Preludes, released by Centaur in September, 2014, was said to “bring out all the power, majesty, and mystery of Debussy’s conception.“ Ms. Kautsky, whose teachers have included Rosina Lhevinne, Gyorgy Sebok, Leon Fleisher, Martin Canin, and Gilbert Ka-lish, has concertized widely, performing in major halls such as Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Phillips Col-lection, Jordan Hall, and the Chicago Cultural Center.

She has soloed with numer-ous orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony and Mil-waukee Chamber Orchestra, and appeared frequently on public radio. She has spent two sabbaticals in Paris and played abroad in France, Eng-land, Italy, Spain, Poland, Chi-na, Hong Kong, Korea, Thai-land, Brazil, Australia, Russia, and South Africa. Known as both a solo and col-laborative performer, Ms. Kautsky has performed cham-ber music at the Aspen, Tan-glewood, and Grand Teton Festivals, presented master-classes on five continents, and recently recorded the complete Brahms Sonatas for Violin and Piano.

2 The SCORE, October 2018

Pre-Meeting Presentation October 22nd 9:30-10:00 am

Apps, Links, and Blogs Update Biography: Nancy DeHaven has a B.A. in Music from DePaul University in Chica-go. She has been teaching piano since 1992. In addition to teaching, she plays at various private func-tions, and was a staff pianist at Nordstrom Old Orchard for several years.

In her spare time she does audio editing for a weekly podcast that is broadcast over an inter-net based radio station, and enjoys reading very old books.

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Nancy DeHaven

The SCORE, October 2018 The SCORE, October 2018

AIM NEWS With the unveiling of our exciting new website, we are also looking forward to a new online enrollment form for AIM. While it will prob-ably look very different than the previous one, we will be working hard to make it as easy to fill out and submit as possible. Although it will be a new process, the same information will be needed as in the past. The AIM Theory online enrollment is scheduled to begin Novem-ber 5, 2018. If additional information is necessary, emails will be sent to all participating teachers from last year. We will go over the new online enrollment process at the judges meeting, so please try to make every effort to attend. AIM Theory Judges meeting is Monday, November 12, 2018 Time: 9:30 am Place: Marlene Chatain’s home 2545 Greeley Ave Evanston, IL 30201 AIM Syllabus and Workbooks are available for purchase through the ISMTA website. In addition to hard copies, downloadable PDF ver-sions are now available at lower prices. You can purchase and down-load the products instantly with no shipping costs! Please remember that photocopying is illegal. Please do not purchase one workbook and print out multiple copies to distribute to your students. Every stu-dent that works from the AIM Workbooks should purchase his/her own copy, even siblings. To purchase: Go to www.ismta.org Go to Shop in the top menu bar and select AIM Syllabi or AIM Work-books from the drop down menu. You will be directed to the online store where you can select your items and check out. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Cohen at Jico-hen1@aol.com or Jia-Yee Tang at jiayeetang@gmail.com.

Jennifer Cohen, AIM Chair

Congratulations to our 2018 NSMTA Members of the Year!

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2018 ISMTA STATE CON-FERENCE:

Make plans now to attend the ISMTA conference on Octo-ber 26-27, 2018, held this year at Northern Illinois Uni-versity in DeKalb, IL. NSMTA members Matt Hagle, Svetlana Belsky, Eric Sutz and Marcia Bosits will be presenting sessions, and Susan Corkum and Jennifer Merry will be honored at the banquet as NSM-TA members of the year. Congratula-tions to all of our members! The con-ference artist is Syl-via Wang, a profes-sor of piano at North-western University. The conference hotel is Hotel at Holmes (University Hotel)

More information can be found by visiting the ISMTA website: https://ismta.org/conference.

The SCORE, October 2018

Biography

Susan Corkum was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Can-

ada where she attended Acadia University majoring in

piano, receiving a Bachelor of Music Education degree.

She also did post graduate work in piano at University of

Alberta in Edmonton from 1984-1986 and Mount Royal

College in Calgary, Alberta from 1988-1989. In 1989 af-

ter teaching 2 years in Calgary, she became an itinerant

Christian minister and after 6 and a half years went to

China in 1996. She taught English at university and stud-

ied Mandarin, living in several cities there until 2008. In

2009 she married and moved first to Laos where she

taught English for 18 months and then moved to Wil-

mette. She has a full schedule of piano students in her

home in Wilmette. She also teaches English as a foreign

language and tutors children in Chinese in the North

Shore area. She has been in charge of hospitality for

NSMTA since 2012.

Biography

Jennifer Merry maintains a busy home studio in Glen-view, where she offers piano and voice lessons. Addi-tionally, she is on the faculty of the Northwestern Uni-versity Music Academy, where she teaches private and group piano lessons and Kindermusik classes.

Jennifer holds Master of Music degrees from Northwest-ern University in piano performance and pedagogy, and in music education. She has taught general and vocal music in public and private schools, directed the early childhood music program, Music Together and has led both youth and adult choirs. She has reviewed new mu-sic for Clavier and American Music Teacher magazines, and has contributed articles to Keyboard Companion magazine. She currently sings alto in the Apollo Chorus of Chicago.

Jennifer has been a member of the NSMTA since 1986. She has served on numerous committees, and has held the offices of Recording Secretary, Corresponding Sec-retary, Program Chair and most recently, President.

New NSMTA Web Site Unveiled!

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October 22nd Meeting

Winnetka Covenant Church. 1200 Hibbard Road Wilmette, IL The October meeting will be in the SANCTUARY on the main floor. Enter on the west side through the main entrance. Watch for signs. The parking lot door may also be open and you can find your way down the hallway. See you there! 9:30-10:00 Nancy DeHaven, “Apps, Links, and Blogs Update” 10:00-10:30 Business Meeting 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-12:00 Catherine Kautsky, “Teaching Debussy: A Gateway to Story-telling and Imaginative Listening”

Announcements

Scholarship Application

Pupils who have studied with a mem-ber of the NSMTA for the past three years are eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholar-ship award if they are graduating high school seniors who are enrolling in a uni-versity, college, or music school pro-gram that will pre-pare them for careers in music. Study of any musical instru-ment or voice that is taught by a NSMTA member is accepta-ble for application. Applications are due May 1st 2019. Betty Benton, Scholarship Chair jamesbettyben-ton@gmail.com

The SCORE, October 2018 The SCORE, October 2018

Winnetka Covenant Church

Members attending the September meeting had a sneak preview of our new web site, designed by Joel Miller of SkyFloor. Among the highlights of the new site: 1. Enhanced “Find A Teacher” section with maps and filters that will help new students find us! 2. New calendar functions where you can see all upcoming deadlines clearly. 3. More professional looking site that will look great on both com-puter and phones. Details on how you can enter information on your studio in the “Find A Teacher” web site will be coming soon! If you would be interested in having a professional head-shot taken at the November meeting that you could upload for our web site and keep for personal use later, please contact Dawn at the e-mail below. Whether or not we offer the photo shoot and the cost of the headshots will be determined by the number of teachers who sign up. Estimate right now of $25.00. Dawn Johnson intuitpiano@gmail.com

Biography

Jennifer Merry maintains a busy home studio in Glen-view, where she offers piano and voice lessons. Addi-tionally, she is on the faculty of the Northwestern Uni-versity Music Academy, where she teaches private and group piano lessons and Kindermusik classes.

Jennifer holds Master of Music degrees from Northwest-ern University in piano performance and pedagogy, and in music education. She has taught general and vocal music in public and private schools, directed the early childhood music program, Music Together and has led both youth and adult choirs. She has reviewed new mu-sic for Clavier and American Music Teacher magazines, and has contributed articles to Keyboard Companion magazine. She currently sings alto in the Apollo Chorus of Chicago.

Jennifer has been a member of the NSMTA since 1986. She has served on numerous committees, and has held the offices of Recording Secretary, Corresponding Sec-retary, Program Chair and most recently, President.

PERFORMANCE AND MASTER CLASS

Dr. Catherine Kautsky

October 21st, 2:30-4:30 p.m. at the home of Jennifer Cohen

13 Old Barn Road Hawthorn Woods, IL. 60047

A few advanced high school

students of NSMTA members

will perform in a Master Class

taught by Dr. Catherine Kautsky,

Chair of Keyboard at Lawrence

University in Appleton, WI. Dr.

Kautsky has degrees from the

New England Conservatory,

Juilliard and Stony Brook.

If you have an advanced high

school student who would like to

perform in the Master Class,

please send their name, age,

grade, and the piece they would

like to perform to our Program

Chair, Mary Beth Molenaar,

m-molenaar@northwestern.edu.

If you do not have a student

performing, but would like to

attend, please r.s.v.p. to the e-

mail above.

Dr. Kautsky will give a short

performance before the Master

Class and will speak on Debussy

at our meeting the next morning

at 11:00 a.m.

Northwestern University Music Academy’s Faculty Recital

Everyone is invited to to this free event on October 14th, 2018, at

3:00 p.m. at Galvin Hall, 70 Arts Circle, Evanston.

Pianists who will perform include Annie Hsiao, Grace Juang, Ka-

ren Kan-Walsh, Yeeseon Kwon, Heidi May-

er, Mary Beth Molenaar, Susan Osborn, Michael Pecak, Katie

Randolph and Jia-Yee Tang - names you will recognize from the

North Shore MTA chapter.

The program will feature piano and cello music of Chopin, De-

bussy, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Ravel.

The SCORE, October 2018 6