VLMTA of North Carolina: Year Four in 2024-25!

YOU ARE INVITED!

Email: llagrimas@wcu.edu for more info

Registration opens in January 2025!

Visit the NCMTA State Festival site for more information

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Meet your 2024-25 Officers!
President: Leonidas Lagrimas, NCTM
Vice President/President Elect: Tara Mock
Secretary/Treasurer: Shereen Ivey
Past President: Vicky Fischer Faw

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Meeting Link: Use for all regular VLMTA Monthly Meetings

Next Meeting: Friday, January 24, 2025, 10am EDT

Topic: Coming Soon

Agenda:

• Officer Announcements
• Lightning Talk
• Scale Olympiad Update
• Presentation

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Scale Olympiad

Did you miss the inaugural Scale Olympiad? The event was widely supported throughout NC – thank you to all participating teachers, students and judges! See below for further information and FAQs. We look forward to our 3rd Annual Scale Olympiad in 2025!

• Video overviewing of the Scale Olympiad – with video examples of a student performing different levels!
• Minutes from the July 28 meeting, explaining the nuts-and-bolts of Scale Olympiad.
• Levels and requirements of the Scale Olympiad
• FAQs for Scale Olympiad 2024
• Scales and Arpeggios Fingering Chart
  

Further questions? Contact us at vlmtascaleolympiad@gmail.com.

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Meeting Archives

Meeting Dates	Topic / Presenter	Recording	Materials
11/22/24	Continuing the Legacy: The Music of Margaret and Christopher Goldston	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 10/25 Meeting (Connor Chee, Presenter)
10/25/24	Harmonizing Cultures: Integrating Indigenous Music into Piano Pedagogy Presenter: Connor Chee	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 9/27 Meeting (Elizabeth David-Everhart, presenter)
9/27/24	John Williams likes Fourths: Discovering the Superpowers in your Neurodivergent Students Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Everhart	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 8/30 Meeting (William Perry, presenter)
8/30/24	Finding the Perfect Piece with Piano Music Database Presenter: William Perry	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 7/26 meeting Click here for Kevin Woosley slideshow
7/26/24	Life Wellness for Busy Musicians Presenter: Kevin Woosley	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 6/28 Meeting and Tonya Kirk slideshow (Conference Preview)
6/28/24	Business Meeting	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 4/26 Meeting
4/26/24	Does your Feedback Need Fixing? How to Find Words That Matter Presenter: Leila Viss	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 3/29 Meeting
3/29/24	10 Tech Hacks for the Modern Studio Presenter: Ryan Greene	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 2/23 Meeting
2/23/24	Teaching Strategies and Repertoire to Use on Your Next Teaching Day Presenter: E.L. Lancaster	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 1/26 Meeting
1/26/24	The Transposed Musician: Teaching Universal Skills in the Music Lesson to Improve Performance and Benefit Life Presenter: Dylan Savage	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 11/17 meeting
11/17/23	Finding the Voice in the Music Lesson-Oh, the Things That Might Mean! Presenter: Cathy Pescevich Kreplin	Meeting Recording
10/27/23	Studio Refresh!  Essential Business Topics to Revisit Annually Presenter: Karen Thickstun	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 9/29/23 Meeting
9/29/23	Transforming Struggling Students With Pure Tones Presenter: Karen Knight	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 8/25 Meeting
8/25/23	Double Feature: 1) Fun pieces from NCMTA Junior rep lists you may not know 2) Sneak peek at an upcoming 3-volume pedagogical edition of the complete keyboard works of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Presenter: Doug Jurs	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 7/28 Meeting
7/28/23	Scale Olympiad: Our Fall 2023 Fundraiser	Meeting Recording: Please Refer to this recording for information about the Scale Olympiad!	Minutes of 6/30 Meeting
6/30/23	Meet your NCMTA State Leadership/Officer reports	Meeting Recording
4/26/23	Expanding Repertoire Choices Presenter: William Chapman Nyaho	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 3/31 Meeting
3/31/23	MTNA National Conference recap
2/24/23	Our Students Have Something to Say!  (Exploring Student Creativity in Your Studio from Start to Finish)  Presenter: Diane Higgins	Meeting Recording
1/27/23	Storm in the Studio:  Pedagogical Strategies for Teachers Instructing Students with Hyperactivity, Disruptive Behaviors, and Inattention Presenters: James Douthit, DMA and Kathryn Douthit, Ph.D.	Meeting Recording	Minutes of 11/18 meeting: Click here
11/18/22	Why Didn’t I Think of That? Presenter: Dennis Alexander		Minutes of 10/28 Meeting: Click Here
10/28/22	The Joy of Teaching “Typical” Students Presenter: Martha Hilley
9/30/22	Arranging your Students’ Success: Incremental Steps to Teaching Scales and Chords  Presenter: Dr. Vicky Fischer Faw, NCTM		Minutes of prior meeting-Click Here
8/26/22	Evaluating (and composing) Pedagogical Repertoire. Presenter: Dr. Andy Villemez, CCM	Meeting Recording	Presentation Handout-Click Here
7/29/22	Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Ideas for Productive Lessons When Students Don’t Practice. Presenter: Laura Chu Stokes, NCTM	Meeting Recording	Presentation Handout-Click Here Minutes of prior meeting – Click Here
6/24/22	ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING	Meeting Recording (Email llagrimas@wcu.edu if prompted for passcode)	Minutes of Prior Meeting
4/29/22	A Seat at the Piano: Mindfully Changing the Canon – Presenter: Annie Jeng, DMA
3/25/22	Ask-me-anything – Presenter: Kevin Chance, DMA
1/28/22	Real World Approaches to Sight-Reading – Presenter: Leonidas Lagrimas, PhD

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Link to final draft of Bylaws.

VLMTA Meeting #2 Friday, February 25, 2022 11:00 am EST

Unable to attend the most recent meeting? Click the button below to view the video recording. Password required – please contact one of the VLMTA leadership team.

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VLMTA, 1/28/22 – Inaugural Meeting

The inaugural Virtual Local Music Teachers Association – VLMTA of Western North Carolina – held its official organizational meeting and launch party Friday, January 28, 2022, 11am-noon on Zoom

Officers

• President – Vicky Fischer Faw, Alleghany County, fischer@elon.edu
• Secretary/Treasurer – Laura Chu Stokes, Watauga County, eznotespianostudio@gmail.com
• President-Elect and Vice President – Leonidas Lagrimas, Jackson County, llagrimas@wcu.edu

Who was invited 

All interested NCMTA members in Western North Carolina. The organizational meeting targeted western NC teachers who are already members of NCMTA/MTNA.  If you couldn’t make it but are interested in joining, or if you know of NCMTA members not yet on our radar, please let us know!

Agenda            

• Organization and Ceremonial signing of the charter
• Discuss goals and next steps in moving forward together to serve the specific musical needs of our region
• Presentation by Dr. Leonidas Lagrimas, NCTM, DMA, NCMTA Collegiate Chair, Assistant Professor Western Carolina University) “”

What was accomplished

• 18 members signed the charter
• 4 VIP guests from NCMTA were in attendance
• Officers were elected
• Plans for the next meeting were announced:  FRIDAY, FEB 25, 11:00 am (Save the date!)
• Before that meeting we will share two things:

                Draft of our new bylaws for discussion and approval

                A survey to learn more about each other, share ideas and lay the groundwork for future. That survey is on its way soon—I’m not sure it was clear that we didn’t have it ready to go today.

What else?

Reach out to music professionals who are not yet NCMTA/MTNA members. While it is a challenge for us to identify potential members across such a large area, you know who your neighbors are.  MTNA and VLMTA are offering substantial financial incentives for first-time new members, so please invite them to contact us, and invite them to the next meeting. 

Warmly,

• Vicky Fischer Faw, NCTM, President VLMTA fischer@elon.edu
• Laura Chu Stokes, NCTM, Secretary/Treasurer VLMTA eznotespianostudio@gmail.com
• Leonidas Lagrimas, NCTM, Vice President for Membership/Technology VLMTA llagrimas@wcu.edu

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IMPORTANT NOTE FROM VLMTA
If you’re an NCMTA member and would like to join VLMTA, you can always add our Virtual Local MTA by logging into your MTNA account – annual dues are $10.

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