SCMTA FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE
November 4-6, 2010
College of Charleston School of the Arts, Charleston
Robert Duke, conference clinician
Beautiful Friday, November 5, 11:00 am
Strategic Confusion Friday, November 5, 2:30 pm
Robert Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor in Music and Human Learning, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the founder of the National Forum on Research in Motor Learning and Music, a research collaborative devoted to the study of motor skill development and procedural memory consolidation. A former studio musician and public school music teacher, he has worked closely with children at-risk, both in the public schools and through the juvenile court system, and he directs an active research program in motor skill learning and procedural memory at UT.
Dr. Duke has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Music Education, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Psychomusicology, and other publications, and he has directed national research efforts under the sponsorship of such organizations as the National Piano Foundation and the International Suzuki Institute. He lectures frequently on the topics of human learning, systematic observation and evaluation, and behavior management, presenting workshops and teaching demonstrations throughout North America. He is the author of Scribe 4 behavioral analysis software, and his most recent books are Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction and The Habits of Musicianship: A Radical Approach to Beginning Band, which he co-authored with Jim Byo of Louisiana State University. The Habits of Musicianship, released in the spring of 2007, is distributed online cost-free through the Center for Music Learning.
"Reading Robert Duke's newly published collection of essays is like witnessing a lecture by this influential music educator: energetic, thought-provoking, incisive and down-to-earth.... [T]eachers will benefit immediately from his applications to the studio and classroom of the "expansive, rich body of data that illuminates the processes of knowledge acquisition and skill development." Duke's educational beliefs and prejudices are well-supported throughout the collection. He believes a music lesson can, and should, be as carefully planned as a military maneuver with goals clearly identified, strategy precisely outlined and tactics minutely executed. He then proceeds to describe those goals, strategies and tactics in as distinct and disciplined a manner as he would expect of any teacher under his guidance. As the supervisor of a piano class program for many years, I found myself nodding my head in agreement throughout the book. His essays on "Sequencing Instruction" and "Transfer" alone make this book essential reading for my graduate assistants and pedagogy classes. But to enjoy the essays like individual dishes on a buffet obscures what I believe is the book's fundamental ritornello: remember that what you're teaching is not necessarily what the student is learning.... At times Duke's reach exceeds his grasp, but there is so much complex and vital information that he clearly does grasp, that musician-teachers of every type will find this book a "must-read." --American Music Teacher
Shelia Paige, conference clinician
How Motion Affects Sound
Saturday, November 6, 12:00 noon
Sheila Paige, Executive Director of the Piano Wellness Seminar, has over 30 years experience in the work of Dorothy Taubman and an extensive background in Alexander Technique. She has also been a faculty member of the Dorothy Taubman Institute and is currently a faculty member of the Dorothy Taubman Seminar.
Ms. Paige’s reputation as a teacher attracts pianists nationally and she commutes to Dallas, Austin, Knoxville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Charlotte, Raleigh, Phoenix, and Memphis to teach on a regular basis. She has taught at Immaculata University and Chestnut Hill College in the Philadelphia area. Her students include many university faculty members and performers who have appeared with numerous orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Ms. Paige has gained international recognition as a presenter of lectures and master classes including those at the Taubman Symposium at the Selangor Institute of Music in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Recent lecture and workshop locations include, Dallas, Charlotte, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Cherry Hill, NJ, the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, Dallas Baptist University, the University of Texas at Tyler, and Vanderbilt University. Ms. Paige was also a featured presenter at the following conventions: Oklahoma Music Teachers in June 2005, the Music Teachers Association of California in July 2005, the Texas Music Teachers Association June 2006, and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers in February 2007. This season she presented at Oberlin University, Meredith College, Duquesne University, Clearwater Christian College, Dallas Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Cary Apex Music Teachers (NC) and Garland Music Teachers (TX).
An active performer, Ms. Paige has appeared in recital and with orchestras both locally and nationally. Her accompanying credits include an appearance at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, and her solo performances have been broadcast on national public radio.
Diana Popowycz, conference clinician
Initiation into Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Saturday, November 6, 10:15 am
Along with Maria Rosa Germain, Diana Popowycz is the co-founder of the Suzuki Strings of Madison. She received her BA from DePaul University and MS from the UW -Madison. Her Suzuki training has been with Kyoko Fuller, Kay Slone, Ed Kreitman, Teri Einfeldt, Margery Aber, Paul Landefeld, Alice Joy Lewis along with string pedagogy work with Mimi Zweig.
Diana holds a Dalcroze Eurhythmics Certificate from Carnegie Mellon University and has completed summer course work at Longy and Manhattan School of Music.
She has served as clinician for numerous Suzuki workshops,University programs, choirs and dance schools throughout the Midwest. Diana has been on the faculty of the Milwaukee Ballet, UW Madison School of Music, Madison Boy’s Choir, People’s Music School (Chicago) and Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago).
Along with her studio and group teaching at SSM , she coaches chamber ensembles for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony. She is the mother of three young musicians.
Diane W. Higgins, conference clinician
Get Out of that Musical Box: Teach Students How to Compose!
Saturday, November 6, 9:00 am
Diane W. Higgins is an Independent Piano and Composition Instructor, and she has maintained a music studio in the Charlotte area for over 30 years. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Salem College, where she studied piano with Clemmons Sandresky, music theory and composition with composer, Margaret Vardell Sandresky, and piano pedagogy with Margaret Mueller. Diane has also been a violin member with the Charlotte Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and Charlotte Civic Orchestra.
As a promoter of teaching composition in the studio, Diane has been invited to present composition sessions to pedagogy classes at universities and colleges, to teachers in local associations, and at State MTA Conferences. Her composition students have won first place prizes in state, regional, national and international competitions, and several of these compositions have been published in the National Piano Explorer Magazine, sponsored by Clavier Companion Magazine.
Diane received the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Foundation Fellow Award in 2007. She served on the Board of Directors of MTNA, President and Director of MTNA Southern Division, and National Chair of the MTNA Local Associations Forum. She is past President of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association, Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum, and Friends of Music at Queens University of Charlotte. She has served as a board member with the Friends of Music at Salem College, Charlotte Music Club, Charlotte Music Teachers Association, and she was founder/director of the Charlotte Music Career Fair.
For 17 years, Diane has served as a UNCG Piano Camp faculty member. She holds national certification from MTNA, and she has served as an adjudicator for piano and violin competitions in both North and South Carolina. Her articles and book reviews are published in the American Music Teacher national magazine.
Seth Custer, SCMTA commisioned composer
World Premiere
Friday, November 5, 2:00 pm
Seth Custer is a native of East Grand Forks, MN, where he grew up studying the saxophone and piano. He received his B.M. (2004) in saxophone performance from the University of North Dakota, and his M.M. (2006) in composition from Central Michigan University. He earned his Ph.D. in composition from the University of Iowa, where he studied with composer David Gompper. Custer remains active as a performer and composer, and is currently a member of the theory faculty at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. Recent commissions include works for saxophone/tape, youth orchestra, and saxophone/string quartet.