Summer 2010

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the 30th year of Piano Teachers Forum! We had a prosperous and fruitful time together in 2009-2010 and now approach the start of another season with new visions and ideas gleaned from our past experiences. For the most part, our officers and committee chairpersons have remained the same. This has made for smooth sailing as we plan for our own professional enrichment, as well as performance opportunities for our students.

For those who are new to our group, we are an organization of professional piano teachers who meet the first Friday morning of every month at Jacob’s Music on Route 1 in Lawrence Township to hear programs from renowned speakers and clinicians. In addition, we sponsor an annual Piano Festival, featuring a syllabus with a theme and student honor recitals. Opportunities are available to become involved in the leadership of PTF by working on one of our many committees or taking an officer position as part of the Executive Board. To become a member, please fill out the Membership Application and mail it along with your check. (Applications cannot be processed without payment.) In order to receive future mailings and be listed in our membership book, you must get your application to us by October 15. Members who join after the deadline will not be eligible to enter students in Festival 2011. Guests may attend our meetings for a $10 guest fee.

We have two exciting pieces of news about the beginning and the end of our upcoming season. We are being offered an extra "free" meeting in September by our generous member, Russell McTague, as he presents a Meditation workshop at Jacob’s Music. And thanks to the hospitality of Lidia Usami, in June we will have a social event to end our calendar year at Lidia’s home. As to our programs, there are so many top-notch speakers, it is hard to highlight just a few. However, we would like to mention that Sheila Page will be presenting Body Mapping in January; Paul Moravic will speak on 21st Century Music in February; and Peter Takacs will be with us in April for Pulse, Tempo, Rhythm and Phrasing! As for our committees, you probably already noticed our new and updated brochure included in your mailing. Many thanks go out to Jean Parsons and Colette Adams for their fine work. Our two performance groups for teachers and the DVD/Video Library all continue on. Do not forget about the added benefit of being covered under PTF’s liability insurance for your personal recitals (Please contact Russell McTague for further details). One final mention, please stay tuned for a new idea that the Board has in mind to launch our Outreach Program this coming season.

There are so many creative and generous people who give much time to make PTF the great professional organization that it is. We extend many thanks to all of those who contribute time and talents. We greatly value each and every member and hope that everyone will plan to participate in as many of our activities as he or she is able. Make this be the year you say "yes" to something you have not yet experienced at PTF!

PROGRAMS As you can see from our list of clinicians, Vice President Barbara Duffy has worked very hard and once again has put together an amazing listing of professionals to inspire and teach us. All of our speakers came from our May meeting requests and suggestions, and you will see that Barbara took special care to secure people to speak in a wide variety of categories. Thank you, Barbara, for a job well done.

FESTIVAL 2011 Our theme this year is Colorful Impressions. Our Syllabus Committee, headed by Suzanne Lehrer and Nancy Merkel, have used the theme of "color" to present pieces with a variety of subjects and technique. They also attempted to include newer literature that has not been on past syllabi. Nancy Merkel is chairman of Festival 2011, which will take place at TCNJ on Saturday, March 14, 2011. Nancy has already begun to plan and assess in anticipation of next year’s event. Again we are searching for a Festival Recital Chairperson. Last year two people worked together on this. Keep in mind that it is one of the few jobs that does not require you work at the Festival on Festival Day. Please contact Nancy if you interested in this important job.

SCHOLARSHIP Our PTF Scholarship has been revamped this past season and will be presented to an incoming TCNJ music student this Fall. Beryl Kutrieb will continue to work closely with the TCNJ Music Department to ensure that our scholarship may find its way to piano education and/or pedagogy students.

DVD/VIDEO LIBRARY Helen Wang will continue to organize our DVD/Video Collection. We have revamped the name since more of our collection is now on DVD. Helen has nothing new to report and will continue with the same system for borrowing. Contact her for more information.

PERFORMANCE GROUPS There continue to be two performance groups for our teachers. Many thanks to Rita Asch and Russell McTague for hosting these two groups each month. Rita usually hosts her group at 10 AM on the 3rd Friday of the month. Last season Russell hosted on Tuesday; however, there have been some alterations to the schedule through the year, so please see the announcements and emails for current details on a monthly basis.

WEBSITE Do not forget to check the website for all the information regarding PTF that is sent in the mail, our membership form, as well as the announcements that are available at our meetings. You will also find the Syllabus from this year as well as years past, Festival information, the DVD/Video lending library listings, and other interesting information about our group.

OUTREACH Yelena Masotti will continue to oversee our Outreach committee. We will be planning a special month for Outreach activities to happen. More information will be sent out as we finalize dates and venue possibilities.

NEW PTF BROCHURE Jean Parsons and Colette Adams have completely revamped our PTF brochure. We hope you will use this to provide others with information about our group. See Jean or Colette if you would like to take a few to distribute or if you know of a good location for us to have our brochure on display.

OCTOBER MEETING As is our custom, the October meeting is devoted to playing the music of the syllabus. The October 1st meeting will begin 9 AM sharp, with coffee at 8:30 AM (one-half hour earlier than usual). Suzanne Lehrer and her committee are organizing the performers for this event.

I look forward to seeing everyone in September for our Meditation workshop with Russell!

Kathy Toth, President