Iowa State University Department of Music hosted the Iowa Music Teacher’s Association State Conference last weekend. The conference is a three-day symposium that offers Iowa music teachers the opportunity to attend master classes, seminars and performances.
The Iowa Music Teacher’s Association is an affiliate of the National Music Teacher’s Association made up of more than 400 Iowa music educators. Nearly 100 Iowa music teachers were in attendance.
The IMTA State Conference has been active for more than 120 years, and has grown since its conception. Different music schools in the state host the conference each year, and the last time Iowa State hosted was 1999.
The conference brought in both local and national educators and performers that included ISU faculty and the featured artist, Brian Ganz, who appeared as the guest artist the last time Iowa State was host.
Ganz has performed with such notable symphony orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. He has also established himself as an international champion in many prestigious piano competitions.
Ganz is also an established teacher, a member of the piano faculty and Peabody Conservatory and also the artist in residence at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. Ganz taught a seminar on performing Chopin’s “Preludes,” and a master class for advanced students.
ISU faculty members Michael Giles and Mason Conklin led presentations that included new technology innovations and jazz piano techniques that can be incorporated into the classroom.
Conklin is an innovator in utilizing advanced classroom technology in his piano classes at Iowa State. Giles is an active clinician, educator and performer in central Iowa and is often featured at the Maintenance Shop with his combo, the 3×5.
The conference featured a performance of the IMTA State contest winners Deborah Austin, and ISU graduate Rachel McCoy. These performers were the winners of the annual IMTA state auditions.
There was also an evening recital featuring pianists William David and Mason Conklin, and percussionists Matthew Coley and Corey Hills, which featured a performance of a newly commissioned piece by Erin Gee and Bela Bartok’s famous “Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.”
This conference followed the National Music Teacher’s Association Conference in March, and the next one will be March 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
No Comments
There are currently no comments on Iowa State hosts Iowa Music Teachers Association annual conference. Perhaps you would like to add one of your own?