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For the Record |
| ISSUE 9 ::
Sunday March, 19 2006 |
PAST ISSUES |
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From the
President's Desk
Millie Eben, President
PMTA's Local Associations (LAs) have a
long-standing history of
excellence—excellence in performances, in
activities, in creative opportunities made
available to members and their students. I
enjoy learning about these events in your
newsletters, chatting about them at our
state conferences, and reading about them on
the website. There are:
· Bus trips to Philadelphia and New York to
hear international artists;
· Clinicians and artists such as Marvin
Blickenstaff, Ann Schein, William Westney,
Jacques Vois, Martha Mier, Intercultural
Journey's Udi Bar-David;
· Workshops teaching jazz improvisation,
humor in music, choosing piano methods,
choosing appropriate repertoire, business
aspects of teaching; (be sure to check out
the Clinician Directory on our website to
see what is available!)
· Student recitals, performance classes,
masterclasses, monster concerts, festivals,
playathons.
Three of our LAs have terrific websites
which you can access from the PMTA website.
Whether you have a website or not, PLEASE
take advantage of the PMTA website to list
your activities.
Even with all these exceptional offerings
and activities, our Local Associations face
challenges:
· Not enough volunteers;
· Not enough money;
· Decrease in attendance at events (students
and members);
· Finding suitable locations and quality
equipment to hold events.
These are also problems faced by many
nonprofit organizations—musical and
non-musical. But they can be solved.
However, a necessary ingredient in any
solution is change—a shift in routine,
modification of procedure or reassessment of
both attitude and focus. If something
doesn't work anymore, it is time to ask:
"What are we trying to accomplish?;" then
evaluate how we are doing it and decide how
we can do it differently to achieve our
ultimate goals. The solutions to the
problems we face today cannot be solved with
the same level of thinking we used when we
created them. Some things to consider is:
· Changing our activity level (increase or
decrease)
· Changing our focus (less teacher/more
student, or vice versa; more community
involvement);
· Changing our structure (smaller Board);
· Aggressive fundraising.
A change in activity might mean reducing the
number of membership meetings to two per
year. A change in focus could mean more
student events (i.e. co-op events with other
local music/arts organization;
nonperformance festivals, guest speakers)
and less teacher education workshop.
Changing the structure of Board of Directors
or Executive Committee, or both, might
include eliminating one VP position,
combining secretary/treasurer position.
(Nonprofit organizations must have a minimum
of three Executive Committee officers:
President, Pres-Elect/First VP and
Secretary/Treasurer. When your group meets
to discuss these changes, keep in mind your
organization's mission state and bylaws as
amendments might be in order.) Fundraising
is not a popular activity for any
organization, but it is necessary. Monster
concerts and playathons have become the most
popular vehicles to this end. While much
work is involved, they are really worthwhile
learning experiences in many way.
Of course, solutions will vary according to
the dynamics of a particular group; but
hopefully these suggestions might spur some
thought in another direction for finding
your own solutions. Our organizations are
always in a state of transition—in the
process of becoming. It is exciting to
reflect on where we are going and how we can
better serve the needs of the individual,
group and community we live in. It will be
risky and difficult...and we will make
mistakes. But as John Maxwell says: "If you
aren't making mistakes, its a sure sign
you're playing it too safe." (from Living at
the Next Level)
Here are a few other miscellaneous items
which have come up in discussion these past
few months—in no particular order....
CONGRATULATIONS, JEAN FOX!
The PMTA Board of Directors voted
unanimously to honor Past-President Jean Fox
with Honorary Membership. Jean has served
this organization is so many capacities and
on so many levels, this honor is but a small
token of our appreciation for her
dedication, talent, tenacity and her faith
in this organization and in all of us. She
has been a tireless advocate for the
independent music teacher, and has
demonstrated countless times that
independent teaching is viable profession.
Jean as served as music teacher and mentor
to so many of us across the state, including
myself.
In addition, the Lehigh Valley MTA has been
instrumental in establishing an MTNA
Foundation Fellow in Jean's honor, which
will be announced at the upcoming national
conference in Austin, Texas. Anyone wishing
to contribute to the Jean Fox Fellow should
send donations directly to MTNA Foundation.
Jean—thanks for everything you do!
WELCOME TO OUR NEW PMTA SECRETARY
Sue Garnhart, Pittsburgh Local Association,
has agreed to assume the Secretary
responsibilities for the 2006 season. Thank
you, Sue!
DSPF 2006
Aimee McCullen, DSPF Chair has accepted an
official invitation from Penn State
University and Steven Smith to hold the 2006
DSPF State Festival at PSU on Saturday,
December 2nd! Good work, Aimee and
committee!
MTNA/ASCAP LICENSING AGREEMENT
Did you know that MTNA has a special
licensing agreement with the American
Society of Composers, Authors, and
Publishers (ASCAP), granting MTNA and its
Divisions, State and Local Affiliates a
blanket license to publicly perform
copyrighted music, if the copyright holder
is a member of ASCAP, for the entire
organization?
To comply with this agreement, state and
local affiliates must send two copies of any
association-sponsored event program during
which copyrighted music is performed to the
MTNA Assistant Executive Director by June 30
of each year. This is done to ensure ASCAP
composers are properly credited for the
performance. No attendance figures are
required from the states or locals.
MTNA submits the report, the programs, and
pays the licensing fee to ASCAP on behalf of
the entire association. We are pleased to
provide our affiliates this beneficial
service. If you have any questions, please
contact Marge Bengel, Assistant Executive
Director at mbengel@mtna.org.
GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
All Local Association events (NOT individual
teacher events) are covered by the MTNA
General Liability Insurance Policy. If your
association is sponsoring an event
(convention, competition, festival,
workshop, etc.), your association is insured
against claims arising from bodily injury
and property damage that might occur at this
event. All you need to do to receive a
certificate of coverage is go to the MTNA
website (www.mtna.org/localassoc.htm) and
complete the form. It will be mailed to you
and/or to the place requiring the
certificate. For specific information on
what is covered, visit www.mtna.org/liability.htm.
LOCAL ASSOCIATION RIGHTS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
A Local Association has the right to require
that individuals participating in a locally
sponsored event pay the local dues.
Generally, the state and local bylaws
include a statement to that effect in their
Active Member definition, or in the event
guidelines or policies and procedure —i.e.
to participate in local activities, the
member's dues must be paid by a certain
date. There are some individuals who belong
to several LAs so they and their students
can take advantage of the activities. PMTA
does enforce this with state level
activities including the conference, the
Keystone competitions, the 2003 PianoFest at
Temple, masterclasses, etc. To participate
in the MTNA competitions at the State
Preliminary level and at the division and
national levels, an individual must pay the
national and state dues.
HONORARY MEMBERSHIPS
Local Associations MAY offer honorary status
to individuals on their own without
involvement or approval of either the state
or the national organization. Many times,
honorary members are retired and only appear
on the local roster (i.e. don't join
national/state). This is always a nice
tribute to longtime members for their
dedication. There are also locals that offer
discounted dues to senior members (over a
certain age to be determined by you); some
limit their activity (voting, student
participation, etc), others do not.
JOINING A LOCAL ASSOCIATION BUT NOT STATE OR
NATIONAL
Despite the fact that the Bylaws of both
MTNA and PMTA do not agree with this
practice, it does occur—and not only in
Pennsylvania. Of course, neither the state
nor the national organization has the time
or desire to monitor which LAs are doing
this. During my tenure as MTNA's National
Local Association Chair, it was my
observation that such a practice did nothing
to foster a meaningful relationship between
the branches of MTNA and it's members, but
did reduce volunteerism by eliminating
accountability, and any sense of pride or
ownership in the organization at all levels.
I would encourage LA Boards to examine
thoroughly whether such a practice would
actually be of any long-term benefit to your
group.
CHARGING ADMISSION TO LA STUDENT EVENTS
This is one of those veritable tightropes we
walk and must be very careful so as not to
jeopardize our 501c3 nonprofit status. If
you are considering charging admission to
your student concerts, please explore the
copyright resource link on the MTNA website—www.mtna.org/copyrightresources.htm.
Here is a portion from that website which
addresses the issue:
School Concert Exemption: School ensembles,
students, and teachers, can put on a
performance of a non-dramatic literary or
musical work at a school concert as long as
no money changes hands. That is, nobody can
gain any direct or indirect commercial
advantage; no fee or compensation can be
paid to the performers, promoters or
organizers; and no admission charge can be
levied. (Exception: if there is an admission
charge, ALL of the proceeds must be used
only for educational or charitable purposes
and should be accountable in the
organization's financial records.) The
performance may not take place if the
copyright owner objects in writing seven
days before the performance.
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