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For the Record |
| ISSUE 8 ::
Monday January, 02 2006 |
PAST ISSUES |
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From the
President's Desk
Millie Eben, President
It is with pride that I step into the role
of President of this remarkable
organization. I still remember the phone
call four years ago from Debra Ronning
asking if I might be interested in joining
the PMTA Board of Directors as it's First
Vice President. Following in her
footsteps—as well as those of our other
past-presidents—is an honor, albeit somewhat
intimidating! Our good wishes are with
outgoing President James Douthit as he
returns to his home state of New York as
Associate Professor of Music at Nazareth
College in Rochester. We will miss him!
PMTA's activity level has grown tremendously
in the last decade, and our leaders have
been working diligently to bring the
organization into the 21st century in so
many ways—99.9% of which have nothing to do
with music. This includes updating our
governing documents to conform to 501c3
regulations, revising leadership structure
for more efficient process, instituting
membership recruitment programs, modernizing
financial record keeping, revising the grant
program, expanding and simplifying the
website, developing fund raising programs,
streamlining competitions, festivals and
conferences, investigating how to reach the
needs of non-pianists. I think we sometimes
get so caught up in the ‘doing' of things,
that we forget the ‘why'—why does PMTA exist
and who do we serve? This is addressed quite
succinctly in our mission statement and it
would do us all well to occasionally review
the statement, especially at those times we
become overwhelmed by all these details. I
now have it hanging on the wall above my
desk as a daily reminder of who we are!
PMTA Mission Statement
The purpose of this organization is to:
Further the art of music;
Promote the professional growth and
development of its members by providing
programs that encourage and support
teaching, performance, composition and
research;
Provide ongoing performance and education
opportunities for students of its
membership;
Promote and support music and music
education in the community;
Promote public awareness of the value of
music education for all individuals.
PMTA and its Local Associations exist to
serve the musical, educational and
professional needs of its members and their
students—a daunting task at that! We strive
for excellence, but excellence doesn't mean
we have to be 100 percent better in any one
thing; it means we strive to be one percent
better in 100 things. So as PMTA continues
through it's growing pains, we ask for your
patience. Change is never easy...but to
quote John Maxwell, "Change is inevitable,
growth is optional." Let's continue to grow
together.
An enjoyable and musical weekend!
The annual PMTA state conferences are always
a highlight of the year, and this last one
at Penn State University was no exception.
The weather was wonderful, the
accommodations were superb and the company
was marvelous! These events continue to
evolve and surprise us as each new
conference chair brings his or her own ideas
and perspectives to the event. The diversity
of this weekend was extraordinary, from the
MTNA student performance competitions, to
Friday evening's performance by our guest
artists Kathryn Cowdrick, Richard Swenson
and Jean Barr, to a ‘Seussical' performance
by some members of the Westmoreland and
Greater Pittsburgh Local Associations during
our IMT Luncheon on Saturday.
Congratulations to Nanette Kaplan-Solomon
for organizing another exceptional
conference. Thanks to all our conference
clinicians for giving their time and talents
to PMTA.
Thanks, also, to our hosts Penn State
University Music Department, faculty and
staff including site coordinator Steven
Smith for their attention to the myriad
details. PMTA depends upon the generosity of
these institutions in order to hold its
yearly events; their hospitality and
professionalism is very much appreciated.
Thanks also to Tim Shafer for coordinating
the student help throughout the weekend and
to Denise Strayer, President of the Central
PA Local Association, for her assistance in
finding competition monitors.
The state preliminary MTNA Competitions on
Friday ran smoothly thanks to our
competition coordinators Ellen Flint (Young
Artist), Jacqueline Herbein (Senior), James
Rodkey (Junior) and Warren Magid
(Composition). Having twelve Young Artist
Piano entries was unprecedented in the
history of PMTA and made for quite a long
day. But as always, our contestants were
very patient, incredibly well prepared and
presented some spectacular performances.
Congratulations to the teachers and to the
families for continuing to encourage and
nurture the education of these young
musicians. Results of those competitions are
listed elsewhere in this newsletter.
Congratulations!....
....to this year's PMTA Teacher of the Year,
Jacqueline Herbein, and PMTA Service Award
recipient, outgoing President James Douthit.
They join a long list of deserving and
dedicated individuals.
Publications update
At the PMTA Board meeting, November 10th at
Penn State University, there was lengthy
discussion regarding PMTA printed materials
including the quarterly newsletter,
conference information and the yearly
handbook. Last year, the decision was made
to discontinue a printed newsletter due to
rising costs of printing, mailing and
processing. That decision resulted in a
quarterly profit of nearly $10,000. The
issue was revisited again this year, and the
Board of Directors voted on the following
policy:
Newsletter: At the end of the current
subscription period (April 2006), there will
no longer be subscriptions for a printed
newsletter. The PMTA official newsletter,
For the Record, will continue as a quarterly
newsletter. However, it will be printed and
postal mailed once per year in August with
this issue to include all conference
registration information. This issue, along
with the other three issues, will all be
available online with no security passwords
required. Any of the articles can be printed
via the website. Deadlines will remain the
same. Those individuals desiring hard copies
can print them from the website.
Handbook: The PMTA Handbook will no longer
exist in its present format. In its place,
all members will receive via postal mail (at
no cost) a Member Resource Booklet which
will include all information that does not
change (bylaws, DSPF details, competition
information, etc). All the information
included in this book is currently available
on the website. This will be a one time
mailing in January of 2006. All new members
will receive a copy upon joining.
Replacement or additional copies can be
requested via Administrative Assistant Karen
Nagle at a cost of $8 each. Member contact
information will be available on the website
where it can be continually updated.
Annual Conference Information: Conference
information and registration will continue
to be available on the website, but will
also be printed and included in the August
newsletter which will be postal mailed to
all members.
The PMTA Board of Directors has received
numerous comments -- positive and negative
-- regarding the move to a paperless
organization. The benefits of going
paperless are many:
· Financial saving will help fund: *MTNA
competitions (which always set us back
$1500-$2000 annually); *travel grants for
competitors; *clinicians and artists for
annual conferences; *development of new
programs;
· Current officer contact information, both
state and local;
· Updated membership contact information: On
the average, about 40% of membership changes
its phone, email or mailing address after
the handbook goes to print which makes it
immediately obsolete. BUT PLEASE EMAIL ANN
TREXLER IF YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION
CHANGES!;
· Less clerical work for our volunteer
members;
· Keeping all deadlines current;
· Immediate access to current forms for DSPF,
competitions, grants, etc.
The downside? A few members do not have
email; but even that decreases each year.
They will receive the once-a-year mailing in
August with everyone else. This is where I
am enlisting the assistance of our Local
Association Presidents to assist in relaying
the information to these individuals. The
other concern is not having the member
database for the entire state...which I'm
not sure is really an issue. Everyone will
receive in January the current state officer
list with the Member Resource Booklet. We
all have received our own Local Association
member database. If you've visited the
website lately, you'll notice that if you
have a website it can be directly linked
from the state website! (Great way to
advertise your activities.)
PMTA Website
The website will be a continuous ‘work in
progress' with abundant possibilities for
the future. In researching across the
country, a ‘paperless' organization is the
wave of the future as operating costs soar
and personal time diminishes for our
volunteers. Aimee McCullen has put in a
tremendous amount of time and effort into
this website. We thank her profusely! Here's
what's in store for pamusicteachers.org:
· member directory and financial forms will
be the only items under password;
· clinician directory will be complete;
· all information from the handbook can be
found on the website;
· conference and DSPF information more
easily navigated; forms will be available in
Word and pdf;
· advertisers and supporters will have
information and links online;
· For the Record articles are now grouped by
issue and easier to navigate (found under
"For Teachers", no password).
For the Record has some dedicated
advertisers. Please thank them when you see
them!
A visit from your President!
During the upcoming two years as PMTA
President, I would welcome the opportunity
to visit your Local Association to chat, to
participate in a forum, to present a
workshop....whatever you desire. Please call
or email me if you'd like to schedule a
visit.
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