2013 Conference Award Recipients
Presented March 9–13
in Anaheim, California
Achievement Award
Morty and Iris Manus, Beverly Hills, California
Morty and Iris Manus were honored with the MTNA Achievement Award at the 2013 MTNA National Conference in Anaheim, California. Morty and Iris Manus have been fierce advocates for music education all of their lives. As president of Alfred Music Publishing, Morty has watched the company grow from a small importer of music for silent films under his father, Sam Manus, to the largest educational music publisher in the world with more than 90,000 active print, DVD, audio CD, enhanced CD, software and Blu-ray titles in international circulation. The company is made of composers and authors, as well as staff members in seven offices worldwide. Alfred publishes a variety of music genres for all levels of difficulty, from novice to expert. The styles include educational, reference, pop and performance pieces for teachers, students, hobbyists and performers. His wife Iris is vice president and executive producer of Alfred. She began working at the company part-time while in high school, where she met Morty. Through the years, Iris continued to work part-time at Alfred in a variety of capacities, providing leadership for the company in many areas. She began work on a full-time basis in the late 1960s as executive producer and a member of upper management.
MTNA Distinguished Service Award
Phyllis Pieffer, NCTM, Aberdeen, Washington
The ninth annual MTNA Distinguished Service Award was given to Phyllis Pieffer. Pieffer, NCTM, is an MTNA immediate past president. She has been actively involved in MTNA for 30 years, having previously held such positions as MTNA president-elect and vice president for membership development; Colorado state president, certification chair and competition chair; West Central Division president and junior high competition coordinator; and MTNA high school performance competitions coordinator. Pieffer holds degrees in piano performance from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, and in music theory from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She was instrumental in developing the Foothills Music Teachers Association in Lakewood, Colorado. While residing in Colorado, she served as assistant professor and chair of the music department at Colorado Christian University (CCU) in Lakewood, in addition to maintaining a successful independent music studio. During her tenure at CCU, she regularly performed in chamber music, solo and duo-piano recitals. Pieffer also has served as an adjudicator throughout Colorado and for the National Guild of Piano Teachers. As a clinician, she frequently gives programs on parliamentary procedure as well as various piano pedagogy topics. Now residing in Aberdeen, Washington, Pieffer teaches piano and theory at Grays Harbor College, operates an independent music studio and performs as part of a duo-piano team and a flute-piano ensemble.
MTNA Teacher of the Year
Tamás Ungár, Fort Worth, Texas
The 2013 MTNA Teacher of the Year is Tamás Ungár. Ungár is a piano professor at Texas Christian University and founder and executive director of the PianoTexas International Academy & Festival. He is a world renowned piano teacher and attracts students from all across the globe. Ungár has taught at the Chopin Festival in Duszniki, Poland, and given master classes in Germany, Poland, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. Since 2006 he has been artistic director of the Beijing International Piano Festival, an annual event that attracts students and teachers from all over China and neighboring countries. In 2010, Ungár received the prestigious Presidential Scholar Program’s Teacher Recognition Award. Prior to his present position at TCU, Ungár taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, London’s Purcell School and the University of California at San Diego. As a pianist, Ungár has performed concertos with the Sacramento Symphony Orchestra, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, appeared as soloist/conductor in Mozart Piano Concertos at the University of Leeds where he was Artist-in-Residence, and given recitals and master classes at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. Ungár records exclusively for Cala Records.
State Affiliate of the Year
Michigan MTA
Garik Pedersen, president
The Michigan Music Teachers Association is the 2013 MTNA State Affiliate of the Year. The award is based on membership growth and retention, certification, teacher education and programs, collegiate chapters, Foundation Fund contribution, programming for students, community outreach and advocacy, and quality and content of publications.The award was accepted by Garik Pedersen, president of the Michigan Music Teachers Association. Adrienne LeBlanc, NCTM, is the president of the Florida State MTA.
Local Association of the Year
Northwest Suburban MTA (Illinois)
Maureen Flood, president
The Northwest Suburban Music Teachers Association in Northwest Chicago, Illinois, was selected as the 2013 MTNA Local Association of the Year based on a balance of several important criteria, most importantly on service to the community, involvement in the Northwest Suburban activities, and support of MTNA programs. The award was accepted by Janice Razak, NCTM, president of the Illinois Music Teachers Association. Maureen Flood is president of the Northwest Suburban MTA.
Benjamin Whitten Collegiate Chapter of the Year
Southwestern Assemblies of God University (Texas)
Heidi Borden, president
Amanda Lee Hing, advisor
The Southwestern Assemblies of God University Collegiate Chapter is the recipient of the 2013 Benjamin Whitten MTNA Collegiate Chapter of the Year Award. The president of the Chapter is Heidi Borden and the faculty advisor is Amanda Lee Hing. The Southwestern Assemblies of God University Collegiate Chapter of the MTNA serves as a model chapter for student organizations across the country.
Distinguished Composer of the Year
Thomas Osborne: Honolulu, Hawaii
Overheated: Commissioned by the Hawaii MTA
Raised in Greenfield, Indiana, Thomas Osborne went on to study with his principle teachers Edward Applebaum, Claude Baker, Donald Crockett, Don Freund, Arthur Gottschalk and Stephen Hartke, earning degrees from Indiana University, Rice University and the University of Southern California. His music has been played by the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, the New England Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony, the T’ang Quartet, pianist Jason Hardink, and many others. He has received commissions from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the New York Youth Symphony, Korean gayageum soloist Ji-Young Yi, the IronWorks percussion duo, and the Intermezzo Chamber Music Series (Salt Lake City), among others. Osborne has lived in Honolulu since 2006, and is associate professor of composition and theory at the University of Hawaii. He is active as a conductor, and directs the University of Hawaii Contemporary Music Ensemble. He is spending the 2012–13 academic year in Seoul, South Korea, as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar, composing music for Korean and Western instruments in combination.
Distinguished Composer Honorable Mention
Phillip Parker: Russellville, Arkansas
Alliterations
Distinguished Composer Honorable Mention
Alejandro Rutty: Greensboro, North Carolina
Cantabile Hop
American Music Teacher Article of the Year
Pamela D. Pike, NCTM: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
"Sight-Reading Strategies For The Beginning And Intermediate Piano Student: A Fresh Look At A Familiar Topic": Published February/March 2012
The American Music Teacher Article of the Year Award is presented to the author of an outstanding feature article written expressly for the AMT. This year’s award was presented to Pamela D. Pike for her article “Sight-Reading Strategies For The Beginning And Intermediate Piano Student: A Fresh Look At A Familiar Topic.” The article appeared in the February/March 2012 AMT. Pike, NCTM, Pike is assistant professor of piano pedagogy at Louisiana State University, where she coordinates the group-piano and piano pedagogy program. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, Southern Illinois University and the University of Oklahoma, she has extensive experience teaching piano to students of all ages, both privately and in group settings. In 2002, she founded the “Third-Age Piano Program” for senior citizens to study piano and make music in a group setting. The program has become a model for successful community engagement as the class members travel to their surrounding community and perform ensemble repertoire using portable MIDI keyboards. Along with AMT, Pike has been published in the International Journal for Music Education: Research, Music Education Research, Problems in Music Pedagogy, Clavier Companion and Keyboard Companion. She has presented research papers at international conferences in China, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada, Italy, Serbia and the United Kingdom. She has presented at recent College Music Society and MTNA national conferences. Pike is the chair of the Adult Learning Committee for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, where she also serves on the Research Committee. She is currently serving a two-year term as president of the Baton Rouge Music Teachers Association. Her research interests include distance learning, teaching older adults, group teaching techniques and cognition and human learning.
Studio Teacher Fellowship Award
Jennifer Stadler, NCTM: Bexley, Ohio
Jennifer Stadler is the 2013 recipient of the Studio Teacher Fellowship Award. Stadler is a nationally certified teacher of music from Bexley, Ohio, where she operates a private keyboard studio. She graduated from Capital University cum laude with a bachelor of music degree in keyboard pedagogy in 2010. She also took graduate course work at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. While at Capital University, she received a scholarship from the Collegiate Fellowship Scholarship Competition and a presenter grant from the National Conference of Undergraduate Research. Stadler also received a study grant from the American Guild of Organists. Stadler is chairman of the CEOMTA District Festival at Capital University and was a judge at the NFCM Festival at Ohio State University. She is principal organist and choir director at David’s United Church of Christ, and has worked as a music instructor at Bexley Park and Recreation.
Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award
Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction by Robert Duke, Austin, Texas
This year’s recipient of the Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award is Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction, by Robert Duke. It was selected for its significant and unique contribution to the field of piano pedagogy. Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and head of music and human learning at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education and director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also an advisor to the Psychology of Learning Program at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. Duke has received the National Association for Music Education’s Senior Researcher Award, and has directed national research efforts under the sponsorship of such organizations as the National Piano Foundation and the International Suzuki Institute. His research on human learning and behavior spans multiple disciplines, including motor skill learning, cognitive psychology and neuroscience. A former studio musician and public school music teacher, Duke has worked closely with children at-risk, both in the public schools and through the juvenile justice system.
Piano Technicians Guild Scholarships
Bob Pajer, NCTM
Snoqualmie, Washington
Ann Marie DuHamel, NCTM
Morris, Minnesota
The winners of this year’s MTNA-PTG Scholarship winners are Bob Pajer, NCTM, from Snoqualmie, Washington, and Ann Marie DuHamel, NCTM, from Morris, Minnesota.
Pajer has been selected as recipient of the $750 MTNA-PTG Teacher Recreational Music Making Workshop scholarship. Pajer, NCTM, is a freelance pianist and piano teacher. He is founder and owner of Snoqualmie Piano Studio on the Ridge, established in 1999, where he has taught a full complement of students since its beginning. Pajer has been teaching piano for more than 60 years, beginning his career as a teacher at the Williamsburg Settlement Music School in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of Rutgers University, from which he holds a bachelor of arts degree. Prior to university training, Pajer attended Mannes College of Music in New York City, where he studied piano, bassoon, theory, composition and harmony. He is former jazz pianist for the United States Air Force Band and served as assistant band director for 592nd Air Force Band.
The recipient of the $1,000 MTNA-PTG Teacher Continuing Education and/or Performance Study scholarship is Ann Marie DuHamel of Morris, Minnesota. DuHamel, NCTM, is the head of keyboard studies at the University of Minnesota, Morris, where she coordinates and teaches solo, collaborative and group piano, as well as piano pedagogy. She will complete a DMA in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa in 2013. Prior to her time at UI, she was assistant director of the Central Minnesota Music School (now Wirth Center for the Performing Arts), and has also served on faculty at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City and the Performing Arts Institute of Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania.