11.30District Conferences
District Conferences are continuing-education events for teachers of all instruments and voice. They are opportunities to share ideas with our colleagues from all over Central Ohio. No attendance fees for non-members.
Fall Conference
Date: Monday, September 14, 2009
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Graves Piano and Organ Company
Program: “Exploring Performance Anxiety”
Guest Speaker: Dr. Joyce Alesandrini
Every performer, professional and amateur, young and old, has suffered through some degree of performance anxiety. If that performance anxiety is a fact of life for all musicians, how can we face those problems related to stress in performance? Let’s analyze the causes and effects of our performance anxieties, explore what happens to us physically and psychologically, and learn what we can do to prepare for successful performance through mental imagery, self-talk and relaxation techniques. Hand-outs, bibliographies, and time for group brain-storming will be provided! Don’t miss this topic which touches each of us in our musical lives!
Dr. Joyce L. Alesandrini, bassoonist and pianist, is a Professor of Music, and currently the Coordinator of Theory at Muskingum University where she also teaches bassoon, oboe and piano. Additionally, Dr. Alesandrini coordinates the Gender studies program. She is a frequent guest conductor, organist, and pianist at area churches and has performed with the Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra, Muskingum Valley Symphonic Winds and the Zanesville Memorial Band. Dr. Alesandrini received a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Wyoming, a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in Arts Education from The Ohio State University. She was formerly on the faculty at the University of Wyoming and Western Wyoming College where she founded and conducted the Western Wyoming Community Orchestra. For her efforts in bringing the arts to that community she was awarded the Young Career Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women chapter. Additionally, she was visiting adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University. She is a member of Music Educators National Conference, Delta Omicron, Phi Kappa Phi, American Association of University Professors, and American Association of University Women. Dr. Alesandrini was recently elected the founding president of Muskingum University’s Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.
Spring Conference
Followed by Annual Membership Meeting
Date: Monday, April 5, 2010
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Graves Piano and Organ Company
Program: “Learn Your Chords, Kid “
Guest Speaker: Bradley Sowash
One of the biggest challenges which beginning improvisers face is
mastering the fundamental aspects of harmony, including how it relates to key signatures and scales, how to construct and interpret popular chord symbols, how to develop chord fluency, and why would anyone would want to know this stuff anyway ?
Using techniques developed in Sowash’s private teaching studio, participants will learn a practical approach to teaching harmony, pop/jazz chord symbols and key signatures that reinforce students’ understanding of the chord/scale relationship. Fun and practical applications of music theory for participants of all ability levels will be included through live demonstration and written examples.
Mr. Sowash will include tips gleaned from his years as a jazz musician on making chords and scales more fun to practice and more relevant to your students’ repertoire.
Columbus’s own acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, author, recording artist, and educator, Bradley Sowash, has delighted listeners of all ages in concert halls and churches throughout the United States and Europe for over two decades. His emotional style and formidable technique have prompted favorable reviews in national publications including The Village Voice and Billboard Magazine among others. As a sideman, he has played with such luminaries as The Cab Calloway Orchestra and The Mills Brothers. His broadcast credits include national radio airplay on NPR’s “Morning Edition” among others and he has been a regular guest on the PBS-TV series, The Piano Guy since its inception. His publications include several volumes of jazz hymn arrangements published by Augsburg Fortress Press and educational jazz piano books published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company and Houston Enterprises.
He maintains a private studio in Columbus, Ohio and is in demand as a clinician at universities, music stores and conferences nationwide.
Chairman:
Suzanne Burg
1338 Wheeling Ave.
Zanesville, OH 43701
(740) 450-7237
Attendance earns recertification credit.