Conference

4:00-7:00 p.m.

KMTA and MMTA State Board Meetings

8:45 a.m.

Registration

The Collaborative Pianist: Singsational Scenarios - Marika Kyriakos and Lauren Schack Clark

Developing a Mental Skills Training Program for Lower-Advanced Pianists - Rebekah Jordan-Miller

Improving your Teaching Through Feedback - Sara Ernst

Nancy & Randall
Faber

Nancy and Randall Faber have combined their backgrounds as composer and performer to become leading supporters of the piano teacher and student. The husband and wife team has authored over 200 publications, including the bestselling PreTime® to BigTime® Piano Supplementary Library and the acclaimed method Piano Adventures®. The Fabers advocate piano study not only for personal expression and performance success, but also as a vehicle for the studentâs creative and cognitive development. Their philosophy is reflected in their writing, their public appearances, and in their own teaching.

Nancy Faber

Nancy Faber was named "Distinguished Composer of the Year" by the Music Teachers National Association for her award-winning composition Tennessee Suite for Piano and String Quartet. Her flute quartet, Voices from Between Worlds, was the winning composition for the 1994 National Flute Associationâs Professional Chamber Music Competition. Nancy Faber's music has been heard on network television and on public radio. Teachers of composition include Joan Tower, William Albright, and British composer Nicholas Maw; piano studies were at the Eastman School and Michigan State University.

Randall Faber

Randall Faber has toured Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. He was a master teacher for the World Conference on Piano Pedagogy, National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and the National Piano Teachers Institute. He gave recent recitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, St. Louis, Ann Arbor, Dallas and Austin, with upcoming engagements at the Wasserman Festival, the Gilmore Festival and the Portland International Music Festival. Dr. Faber holds three degrees from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. In 2005 he presented his academic research at the 9th International Conference on Motivation in Lisbon, Portugal.

Nick & Diane
Petrella

Nick Petrella is the Director of Education for Sabian Ltd., and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music. As a performer he has commissioned and premiered over a dozen compositions and has many solo and chamber music performances to his credit. Nick has played with several large ensembles including the Kansas City Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Michigan Opera. In 2002, he and pianist Diane Helfers Petrella formed the Petrella Ensemble, which has appeared throughout the US and in Mexico and Poland.

He received a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Iowa, a Master of Music from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Penn State University. Nick was on the faculty of Oakland University from 2002 to 2006 and was the Director of Percussion Studies at Texas Christian University from 1996 to 2001. In 1998, the TCU Percussion Ensemble performed as the first percussion ensemble invited to the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. During the 1992-93 academic year, Nick was invited to develop the percussion pedagogy course at the Royal Northern College of Music, England. It was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom. He was the percussion coach for two consecutive years with the World Youth Orchestra, in Switzerland and Taiwan, and has been an adjudicator for many marching, solo and percussion ensemble competitions throughout the US.

Committed to percussion education, Nick has published numerous articles in US and European music journals. He is the author of two Carl Fischer publications: The Ultimate Guide to Cymbals w/DVD and The Multiple-Percussion Book w/CD, which has been translated into French, German, Italian and Spanish. In 2006, Nick and Diane published The Musicians Toolbox, Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Music. He has been a consultant to many companies in the music industry and holds twelve designs for sticks, mallets and percussion accessories currently on the market. Nick is a Yamaha performing artist and has appeared as a clinician, teacher and performer throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.

Diane Helfers Petrella is currently Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where she teaches applied piano, courses in piano pedagogy and coordinates the group piano program. From 2001-2006 she held a similar position at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. She has also served on the faculty of Texas Wesleyan University and taught applied piano and class piano at the University of North Texas and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Diane received the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas, an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University, a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Music Education, magna cum laude, from Eastern Illinois University.

Nick and Diane Petrella recently published The Musicians Toolbox, Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Music. Diane has taught piano to pre-college students and adults and was on the piano faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for ten years. In 2002, she and Nick Petrella formed the Petrella Ensemble, which has since performed throughout the United States and in Mexico and Poland, and actively commissions new works for piano and percussion. Diane has presented her research at the national conferences of the College Music Society and Music Teachers National Association. She has appeared as a soloist with several regional orchestras and is active as a soloist, collaborative pianist, speaker and adjudicator throughout the United States.

Erika & Evan
Kinser

Erika Kinser is a second year DMA student studying piano performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Before pursuing her doctorate, she successfully ran her own studio business as a teacher, performer, and collaborator in Dallas, Texas. She holds a double master's degree in piano pedagogy and performance from Southern Methodist University and a bachelor's degree in piano performance from the University of Oklahoma.

Evan Kinser is an economist for the Dallas-based company, Dean Foods. He holds a double bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master's of Business Administration from the University of Wisconson-Madison.

Rebekah
Jordan-Miller

Sara Ernst

Jack Winerock

Jack Winerock received undergraduate and master's degrees at the Juilliard School of Music and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. Currently Professor of Piano at the University of Kansas School of Music, he was awarded the prestigious Kemper Teaching Award in 2003. In 2009, he was chosen Teacher of the Year by the National Federation of Music Clubs.

Winerock received Second Prize in the International Bach Competition, made his orchestral debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C, and played his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. He has toured Europe, Asia, and South America as well as the United States. In 1986, he gave the first performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in the People's Republic of China, and in l990, he was appointed the first U.S. Visiting Professor at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw.

Winerock has achieved national and international acclaim as a performer, teacher, and lecturer. He has performed and given numerous master classes in Korea, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. His students have won prizes in national and international competitions, including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the MTNA, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and the Johanna Hodges. They hold important faculty positions both in the United States as well as in conservatories in Europe and Asia. Winerock is also Artistic Director of the International Institute for Young Musicians (IIYM) Piano Competition and Festival held every summer at the University of Kansas.

Lyric coloratura soprano, Marika Kyriakos, joined the faculty of the Arkansas State University Music Department in the fall of 2008. As Associate Professor of Music, her primary responsibilities are teaching studio voice and directing the opera program. Though originally from Columbia, Missouri, Kyriakos came to ASU from Texas where she taught at Tarleton State University of the Texas A & M System for nine years. Both a singer and pianist, Kyriakos completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance at the University of Texas in Austin. She also holds the Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory.

Kyriakos is an active performer of oratorio, opera, and recital literature in the United States. Her favorite projects in professional development involve studying, teaching and performing abroad. In 2007 she taught and performed in Tuscania, Italy in collaboration with the Lorenzo de Medici school. Finding that her students benefited greatly from the study abroad program, she is determined to continue promoting educational experiences through diverse, multi-cultural learning environments. She recently traveled to Greece to set the groundwork for a summer vocal training program in Athens. Other recent summer ventures have included leading roles and assistant director with the Rome Opera Festival in Italy as well as studies and performances in Nice and Paris, France. Kyriakos is married to Brian Henkelmann, who is the organist at First United Methodist Church as well as accompanist for various ASU choirs. Their daughter, Nina, keeps them on their toes as she has just recently surpassed the terrible twos.

Lauren Schack Clark is Associate Professor of Piano and Keyboard Activities Coordinator at Arkansas State University. She was voted Teacher of the Year 2008 by the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association and Lieutenant Colonel Barney Smith Professor of the Year 2009 by the ASU Student Government Association. Recent performances have included solo recitals in Naples, Italy, at Berklee College of Music, and at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. In 2008 she performed a recital at the University of Florida as part of the ASU Double Reed and Piano Trio, and played programs with violinist Stephen Sims at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Denison University. Her solo CD was released by Centaur Records in February 2008, and contains piano music written by Boston composer Dr. Rosey Lee, faculty, Berklee College of Music. Her playing may also be heard on the recently released CD, "Wildfire: Music of Karen Griebling" on the Vienna Modern Masters label.

Her book, Keyboard Theory and Piano Technique, was recently published by Longbow Publishing. Dr. Clark performed at the 2006, 2008, and 2009 International Double Reed Conferences, the 2008 Tuba Euphonium International Conference, and as soloist with the Delta Symphony Orchestra. She was selected to perform at the 2005 TCU-Cliburn Institute Teachers Session in Fort Worth. She has given solo performances and master classes at the University of Mississippi, University of Central Arkansas, Henderson State (AR) University, Williams Baptist College, and Arkansas Northeastern College. She has played with principle players of the Boston Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Scottish National Symphony, Slovenian Radio Symphony, Cincinnati Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony, and Memphis Symphony, and with faculty members of the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, Cincinnati-College Conservatory, Oberlin College, the University of Texas, the University of Memphis, and Arkansas State University. She concertized in Paris in 1997 in conjunction with the Institute for Advanced Vocal Study, and again at the 2001 French Piano Institute. With her husband, bassoonist Dr. Dale Clark, she has played at the Cork School of Music, Ireland, Florida State University, the University of Washington-Seattle, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Nebraska, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Boston Conservatory. She has appeared with the Marian Anderson String Quartet and the Memphis Chamber Music Society, and was the pianist for Opera Memphis during the 1998-99 season.

Her students have won first prizes in such competitions as the Delta Symphony Concerto Competition, Tennessee Music Teachers Association Auditions and the Beethoven Club Competition. She is currently First Vice President of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association. Dr. Clark is the immediate past President of the Delta Music Teachers Association, former chair of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association Chamber Music and Young Artist Competitions, and has served as Secretary of the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association and the Greater Memphis Music Teachers Association. She is certified in piano and pedagogy through the Music Teachers National Association, and has published in Clavier Magazine. Dr. Clark taught at the University of Memphis and was Director of the Community Music School there. She received the 2006 Faculty Award for Professional Service from the ASU College of Fine Arts. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Boston University, a Master's in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, a Graduate Diploma from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Hartt School of Music. Her principle teachers were Raymond Hanson, Eda Mazo-Shlyam, Deborah Sobol, and Thomas Stumpf.

Elizabeth Mueller Grace

Elizabeth Mueller Grace, NCTM, has concertized throughout the United States as orchestral soloist, chamber musician and recitalist. Her performances have been praised for their "depth of sound, intelligent interpretation and fluid technique." Ms. Grace graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Music degree in piano performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University. She was the first woman to receive the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Fellowship Award for graduate study at the Eastman School of Music, and did post-graduate study at the Aspen Music Festival, the Music Festival of Florida and the Dorothy Taubman Institute. A frequent collaborator, Ms. Grace performs in a variety of chamber ensembles nationwide. Most recently, she performed at Drake University with Barbara Leibundguth, former co-principal flutist in the Minnesota Orchestra, with duo-pianist, Dr. Janet Fetterman, and at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.

As a pedagogue, Ms. Grace has taught at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and Rice University in Houston, Texas. Having studied the Taubman Approach since 1986 with Eleanor Hancock and Edna Golandsky in New York City, Ms. Grace has extensive experience teaching tension-free playing as well as the principles of injury prevention. In addition, she has maintained a private piano studio in numerous cities and currently teaches in New York City and Overland Park, KS. For 15 years, she was a member of the artist faculty at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado and served as the Center's Music Director for 8 years.

Natalie
Wickham

Natalie is past president of South Central Kansas MTA and Wichita Metropolitan MTA and is currently serving as Technology Chairperson for KMTA. She also runs the popular Music Matters Blog, an online compendium of creative, practical, and up-to-date resources for the independent music teacher. When she's not teaching, Natalie can often be found sitting at her computer working on a project of some sort. From developing websites to writing and publishing her new book, Pajama School, to designing materials for her students, each project encourages a fresh approach and presents an exciting opportunity to try new ideas!

In 2005, Nathanael founded the Cortona Contemporary Music Festival (in Tuscany, Italy) with the intent of providing international exposure and training for young artists. Now known as soundSCAPE, the festival unites composers and musicians from around the world in the performance of new music. Each summer, the festival hosts 40 participants for two weeks in Northern Italy, featuring workshops, master classes, and private lessons with an internationally renowned faculty.

In a habit of speaking from stage almost as much as he plays, Nathanael derives true joy from the educational act of performing. From 2001 to 2005, he taught applied piano, literature, and pedagogy as a faculty member of the music department at Eastern Mediterranean University on the island of Cyprus. In June of 2004, EMU hosted the 1st Beshparmak International Piano Festival and Competition, of which he was a founding member. The festival seeks to engender a musical dialogue between the war-torn communities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and with the international community at large.

Additional pedagogical activities encompass the adjudication of local and state MTNA competitions throughout the Midwest. He has also served as a guest artist/clinician for the 2006 Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival at Hastings College, and the 2007 New Music Festival at the University of Nebraska–Kearney. Additionally, Nathanael has conducted master classes at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, the Summer Piano Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi Texas, and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Nathanael holds the DMA in piano performance from the University of Kansas, where he studied with professor Jack Winerock. He holds additional degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Nathanael will be joining the faculty of Missouri Western State University in August 2009, as an Assistant Professor in Applied Piano and Pedagogy.