Welcome to the 60th SCMTA Conference

Dear Conference Attendees,

Welcome to the 60th SCMTA Conference, a virtual event that provides each of us with a combination of live experiences and on-demand content. Your access will continue for two weeks after the close of our conference, until November 22. Enjoy!

Our live events begin with a presentation by our conference speaker, Sam Holland. His presentation will provide us ideas on how to structure our lessons for greatest impact. Gary Ingle, CEO of MTNA, has joined us to help us celebrate our 60th year. Directly following, I encourage you to attend our Member’s Meeting; your presence is requested as we finalize our new slate of Officers. We will honor Deborah Freeman, Teacher of the Year, and Kathleen Nungesser, MTNA Foundation Fellow. On Saturday, please participate in Share Your Favorite Repertoire Pieces—this informal event will help us stay connected through a dialogue about our favorite music for students.

We have two performances to enjoy. This year’s call for the commissioned composition was for a joyful work in celebration of South Carolina and our 60th anniversary. We are excited to hear Seth Custer’s piece inspired by our state bird, the Carolina Wren. Enjoy this premier performance by accessing it from our webpage. The second performance will conclude our conference on Saturday. Scott Price is sharing his students’ piano recital from the UofSC Carolina LifeSong Initiative, which serves students with special needs. This live broadcast event is certain to inspire.

Take time and explore the additional on-demand content. To highlight the special importance of our local chapters for our 60th year, each has prepared a short presentation about their chapter and events. Learn about the latest trends in piano and piano pedagogy from our collegiate members in their posters and lightning talks. Finally, a panel of four SCMTA members share their ideas on recitals during the pandemic. Thank you to all the contributors to this excellent content.

I would like to thank the many SCMTA members who have made this virtual event possible. Eunjung Choi has skillfully managed the schedule, transitioning to a virtual event. Robin Zemp has created the SCMTA website, posting registration and all the recording materials. The Uof SC MTNA Collegiate Chapter has facilitated the live broadcast sessions. I also thank Soohyun Yun for organizing the commission, Scott Price for the student activities, Joyce Nickles for the IMT presentation, and Howard Kim for the competition. Katie Chandler and Stephen Taylor have compiled the booklet, with special elements to commemorate our 60th year. Kathy Nungesser, our treasurer, is consistently hard at work, to make all of this possible. Finally, a special thank you to those of you the donated to SCMTA during your conference registration.

As we enjoy our live events, please say “hello” in the chat, share your questions, and engage in the dialogue. I look forward to seeing you all online and wish you all the best of health.

Respectfully,

Sara Ernst, PhD, NCTM | SCMTA President