Conference

9:00 a.m.

KMTA Board Meeting

Shopping the Exhibits

Fred
Karpoff

Fred Karpoff, a Steinway Artist has performed at venues in Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Finland, Italy, China, and the U.S. A former USIA Artistic Ambassador and a prize winner in several international piano competitions, he was awarded the DMA from the Peabody Conservatory. His major teachers include Ann Schein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Robert Weirich, and he was a frequent performer in the master classes of Leon Fleisher.
Highly sought after for his keen understanding of interdependent piano technique, Fred Karpoff has presented master classes and workshops at universities, festivals, music teachers' associations and conventions throughout the United States, Europe and, most recently, China. Formerly on the faculties of Peabody and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, he is Associate Professor of Piano at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University.
With award-winning documentary film director, Richard Breyer, he produced 3-D Piano, a multi-DVD series and book on piano playing and teaching, released in 2009. More information is available at www.fredkarpoff.com.

James
Funkhouser

James Funkhouser is a native of New Hampshire. While attending Andover Academy and the University of New Hampshire, he studied horn with Walter MacDonald of the Boston Symphony. As a student at the Juilliard School of Music he studies horn under James Chambers, composition with Bernard Wagenaar, and theory with Vincent Persichetti, Robert Ward, and Richard Franko Goldman. After serving two years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Band, he played first horn in the Calgary Philharmonic and then settled in Kansas City, playing horn with the Kansas City Philharmonic and later, the Kansas City Symphony. Currently an adjunct instructor of music at Baker University in Baldwin City, KS where he teaches horn, composition, and musical form and analysis, Jim Funkhouser has also been the conductor of the Overland Park Orchestra since 1981, a community orchestra that has enjoyed presenting a complete season of concerts every year since its founding in 1973. An annual Halloween concert was added to their season in 1980 and has grown into their most popular family event, now sponsored by the Brown and Gold Club of Johnson County Community College. The orchestra has collaborated with many local guest artists, including soloists from the Kansas City Symphony and Kansas City Lyric Opera.

Christy
Williams

Christy Williams, NCTM, is an independent piano teacher who lives in Goddard, KS, a suburb of Wichita. Christy received her Bachelor's in Piano Performance and Master's of Music in Piano Pedagogy from Wichita State University. Christy has served as president of Wichita Area Piano Teacher's league, vice-president of Wichita Metropolitan Music Teacher's Association and taught piano class at Wichita State. She enjoys playing the piano for her church worship team and accompanying. Her piano students have won Wichita area competitions and also Kansas Music Teacher's state auditions. Recently she has helped co-coach 2 duet teams, which were able to place 2nd and 3rd in the MTNA senior duet competition.

SESSION: Duets that Go the Distance!
Christy will share the kind of literature that took students all the way to the top of the MTNA rung of competition, and that will take our students far in their enjoyment of great literature--and each other!

Jennifer
Fink

Jennifer Fink, NCTM, maintains an active private music studio in Olathe, Kansas. She holds a B.A. in Piano Performance and Applied Pedagogy from MidAmerica Nazarene University. Jennifer is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. In 2011 she was honored to be named the KMTA Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
In addition to teaching, Jennifer performs frequently as a freelance accompanist throughout the Kansas City area. She is an active member of the Kansas City Music Teachers Association and the Olathe Music Teachers Association.
Jennifer believes in a comprehensive and multi-sensory approach to music education and enjoys developing materials and curriculum that allow her students to experience music through movement and hands-on activities. She shares a wide variety of materials through the popular Pianimation website, a blog and resource site for music educators.

SESSION: Hands-On Theory Resources
Jennifer's resource site <pianimation.com> is chock-full of creative games and materials for music students. Come and experience her tailor-made learning activities for the Music Progressions curriculum. You'll have just as much fun as your students as you prepare together!

Sally
Buxton

Sally Buxton, NCTM, has operated an independent piano studio for over 40 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. She is a past-president of the Wichita Metropolitan Music Teachers Association (WMMTA), and has served as Co- Chair for ten of its annual community festivals. Before WMMTA began, she served on the board of the Wichita Area Piano Teachers League (WAPTL).
Sally has written and produced summer camps for students of her studio and other WMMTA teachers. She is a past KMTA Music Progressions Chair and worked with KMTA teachers to finish the revisions and corrections of the Music Progressions Curriculum. She is a frequent facilitator for Music Progressions and adjudicator of local festivals. Currently serving as President of the Kansas Music Teachers Association (KMTA), she is also the organist for St. Michael's Western Rite Orthodox Christian Church in Wichita, WMMTA treasurer, certification chair, and festival Chair for WMMTA's summer festival: the 2012 Music Olympics.

SESSION: Fostering Excitement and Motivation & Momentum
Are your students eager to progress through the levels of Music Progressions? Do you enjoy sharing "The" unique feature of our Kansas-grown evaluations with them? Have you experienced the exciting "turning point" in Music Progressions preparation? What innovative ideas have you discovered in preparing your students? Come and be prepared to take part in this interactive session!

Wendy
Stevens

Wendy Stevens, NCTM, is a composer, pianist, and teacher. She received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Pedagogy and her Masters of Music in Theory and Composition from Wichita State University where she studied with Pulitzer Prize Nominee Walter Mays. Wendy graduated summa cum laude and was a recipient of the MTNA stAR award (Student Achievement Recognition Award) and a finalist for the MTNA Studio Fellowship Award. She has also taught theory at Wichita State University and adjudicates for music events regularly. In addition to her studio teaching, she has served as a church musician playing the piano and organ for more than twenty years.
Wendy is a member of MTNA, KMTA, and her local association WMMTA. She has served as president and many other positions in WMMTA. She is a nationally certified teacher of music and is a member of ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Wendy enjoys composing and giving presentations on creativity, composition, and technology. Her students have won various prizes for their compositions at a local and national level. Wendy's own compositions are published with Concordia Publishing House, Augsburg Fortress, and Hal Leonard. Wendy maintains a very useful website and blog for piano teachers and composers at www.ComposeCreate.com.

SESSION: On-line Resources
Wendy's innovative Music Progressions worksheets through her website <ComposeCreate.com> are so numerous, we've asked her to give us a tutorial on how to best utilize them. Her materials mirror exactly the concepts and skills the students will need to master at each level, so they are the answer to our need for comprehensive preparation!

SESSION: Best Stress-Free Business Practices
In this session, we will explore how our policies and business practices can significantly contribute to our happiness, contentment, and affluence as a teacher. If you have ever felt that you need more vacation, might be overworked, don't make enough money, have makeup policies that are abused, or are just tired of teaching, come to this session to learn how simple, solid business practices can save your sanity. You will be astounded at some recent local research about our teaching profession and will not want to miss learning how this affects you in your community!

SHOWCASE: Rhythm Menagerie
Do you have students struggling with rhythm in your studio? Do you wish adjudicators said of your students, "Wow, their rhythm and counting skills are phenomenal!"? In this showcase, Wendy Stevens will tell us how a Jerboa Jumping Mouse, Tarsier, Javan Flying Frog and more exquisite animals can assist your students in developing amazing rhythm skills. She will introduce us to an exciting resource called Rhythm Menagerie that will captivate and motivate our students to practice and perfect their rhythm.

Even if you already have Rhythm Menagerie Book 1, come and see the second book designed to continue developing rhythm in your older students. You and your students will love the new artwork that appeals to more advanced students! Attendees will receive a special discount on Rhythm Menagerie as well as an adorable bookmark that will pique the curiosity of your family, friends and students.