News
Links you can use
Professional Organizations
Arizona Music Educators Association
Arizona Band and Orchestra Association
Schools of Music in Arizona
Resources for Students and Teachers
Dallas Symphony - interactive site for students and teachers
Practice Spot - Fabulous site with practice suggestions, theory worksheets, games, program covers, fun manuscript paper, sight-reading, dictionary of terms, studio resources, and much more!
Summer Camps
Quartet Sabaku - various camp opportunities (see Calendar, too)
Curry Summer Music Camp at NAU
String Notes
Directory of Private String Teachers - click for a pdf list of teachers
A Feast for the String Lover’s Soul
by Jan McDivitt
Imagine attending a feast where each course of the meal tantalized your taste buds and made you eager to sample the next course. In flavor, the courses were all so different, but each left a lasting memory and contributed to an aesthetic whole that made you eager to repeat the entire experience again soon.
For me, the 2010 National ASTA Conference in San Jose, February 17-20 was just this--- a feast for the string lover’s soul. Sessions on every topic imaginable presented by amazing clinicians, master classes with legendary performers and teachers, school performing groups participating in the National Orchestra Festival, exhibits devoted entirely to strings, a performance by iPalpiti, an extraordinary young chamber group, open rehearsals of the National High School Honors Orchestra and their standing ovation performance of Mahler’s “Titan” Symphony--- all this and more contributed to my four-day feast of delicious strings.
The quality of the sessions and depth of knowledge impressed me. The presenters I encountered were obviously excited to be sharing their information with interested colleagues. Here is a glimpse of just a few of the sessions I attended:
Opening Ceremony David Wallace, faculty member at Juilliard, spoke with great passion about his composition work with New York city school children and their compositions performed by New York Philharmonic members. Another theme of his speech was the necessity of today’s string performers to be composers and performers in all styles. He concluded with his own improvisation on an American hymn tune using elements of fiddling, jazz, and classical styles.
Excellence in the Private Studio Phillip Baldwin from Whitworth University has made an extensive study of studio teaching and gave an in depth session on five areas which define excellence in the private studio. In a couple sentences I cannot do justice to how outstanding Dr. Baldwin’s presentation was, but here are a few thoughts from the “personal relations” portion of his lecture. “Method or sequence alone is not sufficient to create excellence. Students must be invested in your goals and you in theirs.” “To be successful, you must base your teaching on relationships.”- Bonnie Blanchard, Making Music and Enriching Lives. “Children are more often motivated by the relationship with the teacher than by the information.”- Ronda Cole.
A Sequential Approach to Teaching Intermediate Cello Technique Dr. Robert Jesselson from University of South Carolina has long been a favorite presenter of mine since I first saw him in Arizona in the 80s speaking about teaching students how to practice. He stressed the importance of a very deliberate, sequential approach to teaching cello at the intermediate level with an eye on self-discipline, organization, and building good habits. Dr. Jesselson recommends the Feuillard Daily Excercises for building bow technique. The majority of each lesson should be devoted to scales, etudes, and technique.
Siskiyou Violins from southern Oregon – Delightful all violin ensemble of about forty led by their director, Faina Podolnaya, played by memory for forty-five minutes.
Learning Together: Teaching Music Literacy Skills in the Beginning Literacy skills in the Beginning String Ensemble – Winifred Crock made a strong case for ample time on music reading preparation and readiness as being essential to success in music reading and gave a step-by-step demonstration of how to develop the skills of rhythm and meter, ear training, and singing and pitch.
Bridging the Gap: The Unjustly Neglected World of Intermediate Cello Repertoire or What to Teach Before Haydn C Major Concerto – Dr. Marie Aline Cadieux feels that far too often students study the Haydn C Major Concerto before their technique is really sufficient. She demonstrated many pieces from her repertoire list that are good music and prepare students for the standard concerto literature.
From Good to Great: Getting Grants and other Funding to Supplement Your String Program, Studio, or Studies – Brian Kellum, a doctoral student at University of Illinois and his wife, Andrea Kellum who works for the Healthcare Georgia Foundation gave a very thorough presentation on the plentitude of grants available, researching one that fits your proposal, how to apply for them, writing a winning grant, what granting foundations look for, tricks of getting a grant, and much more. The hand-outs were terrific and I'd be glad to share them with any Arizona ASTA member. Do you need money to fund a special activity for your group? Apply for a grant! (Don’t forget to look at the ASTA grants.)
I could continue to tell you about the inspiring master classes, or sessions by Brenda Brenner from Indiana University, or the Bio-feedback for musicians session, but telling you about the national ASTA Conference never can equal the experience of actually being there and hearing these terrific clinicians in person. Start saving and plan to attend next year’s conference in Kansas City! You owe it to yourself!
by Jan McDivitt
Imagine attending a feast where each course of the meal tantalized your taste buds and made you eager to sample the next course. In flavor, the courses were all so different, but each left a lasting memory and contributed to an aesthetic whole that made you eager to repeat the entire experience again soon.
For me, the 2010 National ASTA Conference in San Jose, February 17-20 was just this--- a feast for the string lover’s soul. Sessions on every topic imaginable presented by amazing clinicians, master classes with legendary performers and teachers, school performing groups participating in the National Orchestra Festival, exhibits devoted entirely to strings, a performance by iPalpiti, an extraordinary young chamber group, open rehearsals of the National High School Honors Orchestra and their standing ovation performance of Mahler’s “Titan” Symphony--- all this and more contributed to my four-day feast of delicious strings.
The quality of the sessions and depth of knowledge impressed me. The presenters I encountered were obviously excited to be sharing their information with interested colleagues. Here is a glimpse of just a few of the sessions I attended:
Opening Ceremony David Wallace, faculty member at Juilliard, spoke with great passion about his composition work with New York city school children and their compositions performed by New York Philharmonic members. Another theme of his speech was the necessity of today’s string performers to be composers and performers in all styles. He concluded with his own improvisation on an American hymn tune using elements of fiddling, jazz, and classical styles.
Excellence in the Private Studio Phillip Baldwin from Whitworth University has made an extensive study of studio teaching and gave an in depth session on five areas which define excellence in the private studio. In a couple sentences I cannot do justice to how outstanding Dr. Baldwin’s presentation was, but here are a few thoughts from the “personal relations” portion of his lecture. “Method or sequence alone is not sufficient to create excellence. Students must be invested in your goals and you in theirs.” “To be successful, you must base your teaching on relationships.”- Bonnie Blanchard, Making Music and Enriching Lives. “Children are more often motivated by the relationship with the teacher than by the information.”- Ronda Cole.
A Sequential Approach to Teaching Intermediate Cello Technique Dr. Robert Jesselson from University of South Carolina has long been a favorite presenter of mine since I first saw him in Arizona in the 80s speaking about teaching students how to practice. He stressed the importance of a very deliberate, sequential approach to teaching cello at the intermediate level with an eye on self-discipline, organization, and building good habits. Dr. Jesselson recommends the Feuillard Daily Excercises for building bow technique. The majority of each lesson should be devoted to scales, etudes, and technique.
Siskiyou Violins from southern Oregon – Delightful all violin ensemble of about forty led by their director, Faina Podolnaya, played by memory for forty-five minutes.
Learning Together: Teaching Music Literacy Skills in the Beginning Literacy skills in the Beginning String Ensemble – Winifred Crock made a strong case for ample time on music reading preparation and readiness as being essential to success in music reading and gave a step-by-step demonstration of how to develop the skills of rhythm and meter, ear training, and singing and pitch.
Bridging the Gap: The Unjustly Neglected World of Intermediate Cello Repertoire or What to Teach Before Haydn C Major Concerto – Dr. Marie Aline Cadieux feels that far too often students study the Haydn C Major Concerto before their technique is really sufficient. She demonstrated many pieces from her repertoire list that are good music and prepare students for the standard concerto literature.
From Good to Great: Getting Grants and other Funding to Supplement Your String Program, Studio, or Studies – Brian Kellum, a doctoral student at University of Illinois and his wife, Andrea Kellum who works for the Healthcare Georgia Foundation gave a very thorough presentation on the plentitude of grants available, researching one that fits your proposal, how to apply for them, writing a winning grant, what granting foundations look for, tricks of getting a grant, and much more. The hand-outs were terrific and I'd be glad to share them with any Arizona ASTA member. Do you need money to fund a special activity for your group? Apply for a grant! (Don’t forget to look at the ASTA grants.)
I could continue to tell you about the inspiring master classes, or sessions by Brenda Brenner from Indiana University, or the Bio-feedback for musicians session, but telling you about the national ASTA Conference never can equal the experience of actually being there and hearing these terrific clinicians in person. Start saving and plan to attend next year’s conference in Kansas City! You owe it to yourself!
.jpg)
