NWSMTA meets monthly, September through May. Meetings are held at various locations. Please check the location for each month. In December we have our holiday party, and in May we have our spring luncheon. Our business meeting begins at 9:45, followed by a special program at 10:30. Come join us!
Program Listing 2022-2023
Program Listing 2022-2023
September 19 - “Welcome Back”: Helen Grosshans and the “Rethinking NWSMTA Programs Committee
We are so excited to welcome back our members after two “long cold lonely winters”! Please plan on joining us Monday, September 19, 9:45 AM at the Rolling Meadows Library to get acquainted and reacquainted with each other and with our programs and events. Helen Grosshans and the “Rethinking NWSMTA Meetings” Committee will be on hand to meet, greet, and treat (yes, there will be refreshments!), so come on down to hear the grand plans for our 2022 -2023 school year. Spoiler alert: there have been some changes! If you cannot join us in person, we hope to see you on Zoom (but do keep in mind, no virtual treats can be provided!)
We are so excited to welcome back our members after two “long cold lonely winters”! Please plan on joining us Monday, September 19, 9:45 AM at the Rolling Meadows Library to get acquainted and reacquainted with each other and with our programs and events. Helen Grosshans and the “Rethinking NWSMTA Meetings” Committee will be on hand to meet, greet, and treat (yes, there will be refreshments!), so come on down to hear the grand plans for our 2022 -2023 school year. Spoiler alert: there have been some changes! If you cannot join us in person, we hope to see you on Zoom (but do keep in mind, no virtual treats can be provided!)
October 17 - “The Times They are a’Changin”: all you need to know about “Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge” and “Festival of Pianos”
Please join the Festival of Pianos and Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge Committees for our October 17 program “‘The Times They are a’Changin’- All you need to know about the new ‘Festival of Pianos’ and ‘Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge’ events”. Committee members will be on hand to detail substantial changes to these events and to provide teachers with some inspiration to offer these wonderful opportunities to their students.
Please join the Festival of Pianos and Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge Committees for our October 17 program “‘The Times They are a’Changin’- All you need to know about the new ‘Festival of Pianos’ and ‘Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge’ events”. Committee members will be on hand to detail substantial changes to these events and to provide teachers with some inspiration to offer these wonderful opportunities to their students.
November 28 - ”The Chicago Connection: Exploring the piano music of Florence Price, Margaret Bonds and Betty Jackson King through the Keys to Inclusion Initiative": Dr. Susan Tang
The session will focus on introducing the “Keys to Inclusion Initiative” through highlighting a selection of early intermediate through advanced repertoire of three incredible women musicians who were composers, mothers, teachers, and performers; all of different generations but who shared a history rooted in our beautiful city of Chicago.
BIO:
Susan Tang is Associate Professor of Piano at Northeastern Illinois University, artistic director of the Chicago Chamber Music Festival (an intensive summer workshop for young artists) and a founding member of Keys to Inclusion (an multi-institutional initiative to explore the piano repertoire of Black American composers).
An active professional performer, Susan enjoyed a successful New York solo piano debut at Carnegie-Weill Hall. New York Concert Review has described her playing as having “well-grounded technique…fluid, elegant readings…highly effective interpretations” a pianist “with an assured playing that sparkled" by the Baltimore Sun and a “fluent pianist” by the Chicago Tribune. In a recent piano duo performance the Chicago Classical Review noted, “The piano four hands team of Louise Chan and Susan Tang literally threw themselves into their amplified instruments, making the dislocated rhythms, explosive roars, glistening high notes and low rumbles speak with acute beauty and concentration.”
Susan Tang has performed and toured with Mabou Mine’s Dollhouse, been featured live on New York City’s WQXR and Chicago’s WFMT, performed with the Eastman Symphony Orchestra along with receiving the coveted Performer’s Certificate. Invitations to perform and teach have taken her throughout Canada, United States, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Colombia where she has performed at festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, Jewel Box Series, Dame Myra Hess, Savannah Music Festival, and Shriver Hall Concert Series. She is also the co-editor with Marc Ponthus of Elliot Carter: A Centennial Celebration, has published articles in Clavier Magazine and has presented at both the MTNA and College Music Society’s national conferences, the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy and is a member of the Royal Conservatory Of Music's college of adjudicators.
Susan Tang received her BM and MM degrees from the Eastman School of Music studying with Nelita True and DMA from Manhattan School of Music with Nina Svetlanova.
Deadline: December December 5
Entries due for masterclass on January 16 with Dr. Susan Tang:
“Music of Composer of Diversity”
The session will focus on introducing the “Keys to Inclusion Initiative” through highlighting a selection of early intermediate through advanced repertoire of three incredible women musicians who were composers, mothers, teachers, and performers; all of different generations but who shared a history rooted in our beautiful city of Chicago.
BIO:
Susan Tang is Associate Professor of Piano at Northeastern Illinois University, artistic director of the Chicago Chamber Music Festival (an intensive summer workshop for young artists) and a founding member of Keys to Inclusion (an multi-institutional initiative to explore the piano repertoire of Black American composers).
An active professional performer, Susan enjoyed a successful New York solo piano debut at Carnegie-Weill Hall. New York Concert Review has described her playing as having “well-grounded technique…fluid, elegant readings…highly effective interpretations” a pianist “with an assured playing that sparkled" by the Baltimore Sun and a “fluent pianist” by the Chicago Tribune. In a recent piano duo performance the Chicago Classical Review noted, “The piano four hands team of Louise Chan and Susan Tang literally threw themselves into their amplified instruments, making the dislocated rhythms, explosive roars, glistening high notes and low rumbles speak with acute beauty and concentration.”
Susan Tang has performed and toured with Mabou Mine’s Dollhouse, been featured live on New York City’s WQXR and Chicago’s WFMT, performed with the Eastman Symphony Orchestra along with receiving the coveted Performer’s Certificate. Invitations to perform and teach have taken her throughout Canada, United States, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and Colombia where she has performed at festivals such as the Ravinia Festival, Jewel Box Series, Dame Myra Hess, Savannah Music Festival, and Shriver Hall Concert Series. She is also the co-editor with Marc Ponthus of Elliot Carter: A Centennial Celebration, has published articles in Clavier Magazine and has presented at both the MTNA and College Music Society’s national conferences, the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy and is a member of the Royal Conservatory Of Music's college of adjudicators.
Susan Tang received her BM and MM degrees from the Eastman School of Music studying with Nelita True and DMA from Manhattan School of Music with Nina Svetlanova.
Deadline: December December 5
Entries due for masterclass on January 16 with Dr. Susan Tang:
“Music of Composer of Diversity”
January 16, 2023 - Masterclass, Music of Composers of Diversity: Dr. Susan Tang
(Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday)
Start preparing your students now for a masterclass presented by Dr. Susan Tang from Northeastern Illinois University featuring “Music of Composers of Diversity”. The Monday, January 16, 9:45 AM meeting will take place on a school holiday with a snow date scheduled for Monday, February 20 (another school holiday). This is a wonderful opportunity to explore for yourself and with your students new and exciting repertoire by composers of diverse backgrounds.
Since much of this music has been forgotten or overlooked, Dr. Tang has referred us to a website which provides a database for many of these piano pieces.
Go to https://www.aseatatthepiano.com/database:
Dr. Tang also mentioned that the music of black composer Florence Price provides a large selection of repertoire with a wide range of playing levels for our students. Some of her music will be available to browse at our October 17 meeting:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FZ5HMX9rzoglDzINamDMzIof-ZMwRZDE8ngnm9UnpsI/edit
AiM levels will be assigned to pieces by submitting a request to the AiM Committee. In addition, a category for “Music of Composers of Diversity” will be included for the new Awards event, “Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge”.
Please send your questions and your entries for the masterclass (include teacher, student, age, composition, composer) to nwsmta99@gmail.com by Monday, December 5. We are being flexible with time allotted to the masterclass, but Dr. Tang will choose the final program.
(Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday)
Start preparing your students now for a masterclass presented by Dr. Susan Tang from Northeastern Illinois University featuring “Music of Composers of Diversity”. The Monday, January 16, 9:45 AM meeting will take place on a school holiday with a snow date scheduled for Monday, February 20 (another school holiday). This is a wonderful opportunity to explore for yourself and with your students new and exciting repertoire by composers of diverse backgrounds.
Since much of this music has been forgotten or overlooked, Dr. Tang has referred us to a website which provides a database for many of these piano pieces.
Go to https://www.aseatatthepiano.com/database:
- Search by title, composer, nationality, gender, level, etc
- Click on a specific piece to see sources for scores, leveling, and, in some cases, recordings.
Dr. Tang also mentioned that the music of black composer Florence Price provides a large selection of repertoire with a wide range of playing levels for our students. Some of her music will be available to browse at our October 17 meeting:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FZ5HMX9rzoglDzINamDMzIof-ZMwRZDE8ngnm9UnpsI/edit
AiM levels will be assigned to pieces by submitting a request to the AiM Committee. In addition, a category for “Music of Composers of Diversity” will be included for the new Awards event, “Midwest Keyboard Performers Challenge”.
Please send your questions and your entries for the masterclass (include teacher, student, age, composition, composer) to nwsmta99@gmail.com by Monday, December 5. We are being flexible with time allotted to the masterclass, but Dr. Tang will choose the final program.
February 20 - Snow date for January masterclass or Zoom-only Business Meeting
March 20 - “How Long is a Quarter Note?” and other questions from the 19th Century performance practice: Dr. Ann Chang
“If we could only ask Mozart… “
We’ve all seen it- notes with staccato markings, or under a slur, or no markings at all. The first two seem simpler to interpret, but how about the third category? My musical life changed (for the better!) while searching for the answer to this one simple question: “How long is a quarter note?” The process opened the floodgate to a myriad of notational knowledge I didn’t know I didn’t know! Let’s explore some of them together and see how they can be applied to a few of the most commonly studied works from the Classical-era. The results may surprise you.
Pianist Ann Chang's curiosity and wide-ranging professional interests have taken her in many directions, allowing her to forge a unique career and establish a distinguished reputation. Upon returning to her beloved hometown of Chicago in 2020, she performs regularly and teaches at the Ann Chang Music Studio and the Music Institute of Chicago. She is also the Founder of Act3 Arts Consulting LLC.
Ann was the Artistic Director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska- an executive role for 12 years. Dr. Chang is a Fulbright Scholar specializing in Classic-Performance-Practice. She has held the position of Associate Professor (piano) for over 24 years and Director of Career Development-Music Entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music. Dr. Chang was the Founder and Director of the award-winning Meadowlark
Music Festival and a former TEDx and TEDwomen Speaker. She is a recipient of a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University-Jacob School of Music. Ann is a mother of three delightful young adults, Sarah, Hannah, Peter, and one adorable dog, Indiana Jones.
“If we could only ask Mozart… “
We’ve all seen it- notes with staccato markings, or under a slur, or no markings at all. The first two seem simpler to interpret, but how about the third category? My musical life changed (for the better!) while searching for the answer to this one simple question: “How long is a quarter note?” The process opened the floodgate to a myriad of notational knowledge I didn’t know I didn’t know! Let’s explore some of them together and see how they can be applied to a few of the most commonly studied works from the Classical-era. The results may surprise you.
Pianist Ann Chang's curiosity and wide-ranging professional interests have taken her in many directions, allowing her to forge a unique career and establish a distinguished reputation. Upon returning to her beloved hometown of Chicago in 2020, she performs regularly and teaches at the Ann Chang Music Studio and the Music Institute of Chicago. She is also the Founder of Act3 Arts Consulting LLC.
Ann was the Artistic Director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska- an executive role for 12 years. Dr. Chang is a Fulbright Scholar specializing in Classic-Performance-Practice. She has held the position of Associate Professor (piano) for over 24 years and Director of Career Development-Music Entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska Glenn Korff School of Music. Dr. Chang was the Founder and Director of the award-winning Meadowlark
Music Festival and a former TEDx and TEDwomen Speaker. She is a recipient of a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University-Jacob School of Music. Ann is a mother of three delightful young adults, Sarah, Hannah, Peter, and one adorable dog, Indiana Jones.
April 17 - “Advanced How to Read and Play from a Lead Sheet”: Eric Sutz
This program is going to be more open ended for the requests from NWSMTA teachers. We will work on comping, voicings, harmonization, soloing and much more. Don't worry if you aren't comfortable with this subject. The program will be lots of fun and filled with information. If you have special requests of what information you'd like me to cover, please contact me through nwsmta99@gmail.com
Eric Sutz graduated with a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University in 1980. While at DePaul he played a wide variety of engagements in addition to teaching piano and guitar. He has been employed as a musician, accompanist, arranger, conductor, and teacher for over 44 years.
From 1981-1993 Eric worked full time as a music director, rehearsal and audition pianist for the Candlelight, Marriott Lincolnshire, Wisdom Bridge and Goodman Theater. Eric also taught music theory at Carmel HS and was the assistant and primary choral director, accompanist, and solo pianist for the European tour of the Concert Choir.
Eric studied classical piano with Eloise Niwa and Joyce Sklar, conducting with Dr. William Huber and Kevin Stites, and jazz studies with Judy Roberts, Howard Levy, Larry Novak, Willie Pickens, John Campbell, Joel Daley, Mike Kocour, and Greg Fishman. He also studied the history and styles of the great Chicago boogie and blues artists with Erwin Helfer. He has been an active member of the NSMTA since 1978. His book: “How to Play and Teach Popular Music Creatively” was published in 1986 and has had three printings. Eric is a faculty member of the Music Institute of Chicago and Stevenson HS and has been teaching in his Wheeling, IL home studio since 1984. His hobbies include: Martial arts, investing, travel, yoga, scuba-diving, history, natural history and reading.
This program is going to be more open ended for the requests from NWSMTA teachers. We will work on comping, voicings, harmonization, soloing and much more. Don't worry if you aren't comfortable with this subject. The program will be lots of fun and filled with information. If you have special requests of what information you'd like me to cover, please contact me through nwsmta99@gmail.com
Eric Sutz graduated with a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University in 1980. While at DePaul he played a wide variety of engagements in addition to teaching piano and guitar. He has been employed as a musician, accompanist, arranger, conductor, and teacher for over 44 years.
From 1981-1993 Eric worked full time as a music director, rehearsal and audition pianist for the Candlelight, Marriott Lincolnshire, Wisdom Bridge and Goodman Theater. Eric also taught music theory at Carmel HS and was the assistant and primary choral director, accompanist, and solo pianist for the European tour of the Concert Choir.
Eric studied classical piano with Eloise Niwa and Joyce Sklar, conducting with Dr. William Huber and Kevin Stites, and jazz studies with Judy Roberts, Howard Levy, Larry Novak, Willie Pickens, John Campbell, Joel Daley, Mike Kocour, and Greg Fishman. He also studied the history and styles of the great Chicago boogie and blues artists with Erwin Helfer. He has been an active member of the NSMTA since 1978. His book: “How to Play and Teach Popular Music Creatively” was published in 1986 and has had three printings. Eric is a faculty member of the Music Institute of Chicago and Stevenson HS and has been teaching in his Wheeling, IL home studio since 1984. His hobbies include: Martial arts, investing, travel, yoga, scuba-diving, history, natural history and reading.