PMTA Conference: Sessions

This session helps piano teachers understand tuning, regulation, and basic repair concepts to demystify recurring piano problems. Learn what’s normal, what needs attention, how mechanics affect tone and technique, and how to communicate more confidently with technicians and parents.

Mieczyslaw Munz (1900-1976) was one of the most acclaimed concert pianists and teachers of the twentieth century. His life, however, was filled with tragic turns intertwined with some of the most famous people and events of the twentieth century. This session explores his life and legacy and ultimate triumph over tragedy.

Clinic: Kính T. Vũ
Living Again: Music Education as a Pathway Toward Connection and Freedom

How are we musicians fully aware of our responsibilities to self and others? Frankl’s (1959) emphatic advice to “live as if [we] were living already for a second time” (p. 111) is a call to re-member ourselves, to connect deeply with others, and strive for freedom as music leaders.

This session will explore the musical topic of the “Cowboy Horse”—an evolution of Monelle’s “Noble Horse”—and its usage in film music from Westerns. Music from the silent film era through today will be covered, with specific case studies coming from Ennio Morricone and Ludwig Göransson.

Transgender and gender-expansive vocalists experience voice as deeply tied to sex, gender, and social perception. This project explores new collaborative methods in classical music that support bodily autonomy and community. Countertenor Cole Denton’s art song collection, including works by Sasha Guerra and Burghart Rice, highlights LGBTQIA+ experiences and develops new performance practices.

How do we find meaning in the AI era? This session frames technology as a “digital assistant” for professional resilience. Learn how simple tools automate routine tasks, allowing educators to reclaim time for artistic connection and the human spirit—preserving the teacher-student encounter in challenging times.

This lecture-recital showcases works by twentieth and twenty-first century composers who used their creative voices to transform political or personal adversity into profound statements of resilience and hope. The presenter will perform works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Viktor Ullmann, Arvo Pärt, Ludovico Einaudi, Florence Price, and Frederic Rzewski.

This lecture-recital explores Six Songs for Children (1947) by Japanese composer Yoshinao Nakada, written as Japan recovered from World War II. Setting poems by six authors, the cycle draws on Japanese poetic traditions and seasonal imagery. Through analysis and performance excerpts, the session offers interpretive and pedagogical approaches to teaching meaningful art song repertoire.

Drawing upon themes in Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull, this clinic explores how instructors can guide students while supporting neurodivergence, anxiety, or trauma. Participants will learn practical accommodations, creative workarounds, and compassionate strategies to meet students where they are and help them succeed with sensitivity and purpose.

This session illustrates ways that playing the piano can provide a bridge to hope, meaning, and emotional and psychological health.   Donna Beech focuses on her experiences with fifteen adult students, ranging in age from fifty to eighty-five, and concludes with 15-year-old piano student Eric who has cerebral palsy. 

The 25-minute session focuses on the effect of the polyphony between two distinct musical cultures, Russia and West. The session will include a closing performance of Prelude and Fugue in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 29 by Sergei Taneyev, reflecting Russia’s historical analysis and absorption of Western traditions in Classical and Baroque periods of polyphonic writing.

A lecture-recital which showcases 3 separate pieces of varying difficulty by Ukrainian composer Sergei Bortkiewicz, an underrepresented, poorly known composer and performer. The presentation begins with a brief overview of Bortkiewicz and then features a pattern of performance followed by basic pedagogical analysis of the pieces in order of difficulty.

The Optimal Theory of Motor Learning explains that enhanced expectations, autonomy, external focus of attention optimize learning and performance. Hear how dopamine supports music practice and explore excellent focus cues for different players, situations, and learning styles. Discover how to use imagination and motivation to make your practice optimal. 

This workshop will introduce participants to specific strategies for working with students to heighten body awareness, increase stature and enhance expression at their instrument. The presenter will guide participants through steps that will help  students find their full height and experience more ease in their playing.

Right-hand injuries have historically outnumbered left-hand injuries, yet pianists uniquely sustained careers through left-hand repertoire. This presentation examines left-hand repertoire and pedagogy, then explores neuroscientific evidence on interlimb transfer, showing how focused left-hand and bimanual practice improves coordination, independence, and performance, suggesting more effective practice strategies for piano education today.

Aaron Copland continues to exude a major influence; however, his piano works are undervalued as pedagogical and concert material. In honor of Copland’s 125th birthday, this presentation will explore his piano works within both contexts.

Artistry should be the goal of every pianist: color, shading, dramatic effect, and “singing line.” The piano’s damper pedal is one of our most useful artistic tools.  This presentation will offer ideas and techniques for artistic pedal use, applied to piano music especially of Mozart, Chopin, and Debussy.