Beginnings, Historic Perspective, and Today

First Meeting

On November 1, 1959, twenty-five interested music teachers met at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to discuss the organizing of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association, NCMTA.  The first state conference was held in January, 1960 at UNC Chapel Hill. 

Early Initiatives


Certification of piano teachers was one of NCMTA’s early initiatives. The plan for certifying the private piano teachers was adopted in 1962.  In 1963, the plan was revised to include four types of certificates:  Provisional, Standard, Experienced and Professional Advancement.

In the fall of 1963, it was decided to re-organize the NCMENC piano teachers section to merge with NCMTA.  The Piano Contest and Festival, which had previously been under NCMENC became activities of the NCMTA.  Other sections (voice, organ and strings) were later added by NCMTA.  In the fall of 1975, district piano workshops were added.  By 1976, there were over 700 students participating in the NCMTA spring Piano Contest Festival.  There were also Contest Festivals held in the areas of organ, string and voice.

Today

Currently NCMTA has approximately 500 members. We offer: an annual conference for continuing education of teachers; a national certification program for teachers; forums for teacher networking and development; student festivals, contests and competitions; scholarships for teachers; twice-annual publications; and more.

Publications

Two annual publications developed early on:  the North Carolina Music Teacher and the President’s Newsletter. Today, NCMTA communicates with its members through the North Carolina Music Teacher e-journal, the Conference Bulletin and/or Proceedings, and the association website. 

Historic Perspective

This section is under development. Please check back frequently to find more content as it becomes available.

  • Past Presidents
  • Foundation Fellows
  • Commissioned Composers
  • Digital Publication Archive
  • Scholarship Recipients: IMTF, MTNA, NCMTA
  • MTNA Foundation Fellows
  • Teacher of the Year Awards
  • Other Recognitions of Students, Teachers, NCMTA itself

Archives

Historical archives of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association are located in the Manuscript Division of Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Currently, our historian, Dr. CarolAnn Barry, is digitizing the archives. Stay tuned …click to see a sampling of conference proceedings and bulletins.

More Information Needed

More detail coming soon. Have something to contribute? Contact president@ncmta.org if you like to write and would like to contribute your knowledge and talent to the NCMTA website.