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UPCOMING NEPTA EVENTS
February Meeting
"Putting Recent
Memory Research
Into Practice"
Presented by
Cristina Capparelli Gerling
The First Parish of Watertown
Monday, Feb. 22
9:30am
Music Sale immediately beforehand
at 9am
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Member News
Psalm 19, a miniature oratorio for SATB soli, chorus and chamber orchestra, composed by Ruth Shyu, will premier on Sunday, Feb. 21, at Park Street Church as part of the church's bicentennial celebration. The work will be performed as part of the 8:30am and 11am church services by Park Street Choir and Orchestra. The 11am service will be broadcast on AM 590. Park Street Church is located at 1 Park Street, Boston(www.parkstreet.org).
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Rachel Goodwin will collaborate in an upcoming program presented by the Ashmont Hill Chamber Players on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3pm at Peabody Hall, All Saints Parish, 209 Ashmont Street, Dorchester, MA. The program features the following works: Brahms: Two Songs for Alto, Viola & Piano, Op. 91, Bridge: Three Songs for Voice, Viola & Piano, Sydeman: Three Songs After Emily Dickinson for Voice & Cello, Bernstein: Dream With Me for Voice, Cello & Piano, Beethoven: "Eyeglasses Duo" for Viola & Cello, and Sweet Power of Song and Vocal duets by: Mendelssohn, Dvorak and Early English Composers. General admission is $15; Senior Citizens & Students: $12; Family: $35. For more information and directions, please visit online at
www.ashmonthill
chambermusic.org or call 617.680.7542.
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Deborah Yardley Beers will perform her new work, "Inside Pictures," as Guest Composer-Pianist in a piano recital that also features Trudi Van Slyck, pianist, playing works of Nicholas Van Slyck and J.S. Bach. The recital will be held on Sunday, February 21, at 3pm at the New School of Music at 25 Lowell St., Cambridge, MA. Admission is free, and parking is available on the street.
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"The Sounds of Stow Chorus and Orchestra under the direction of Barbara Jones
will present Durufle's "Requiem," as originally scored for full
orchestra, on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3pm at the Hale Middle School in Stow
center. In addition, the chorus will perform Faure's beloved "Cantique
de Jean Racine," with Faure's own orchestration. Violinist Lawrence
Franko will round out the program with Benjamin Britten's Violin
Concerto. Visit the website Sounds of Stow for further details. Tickets are available at the door.
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Erlinda Salazar McGinty will
give a piano recital in the South Wing Auditorium, 1000 Southern Artery
in Quincy, on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3pm. Music of Bach, Haydn, Chopin,
Schumann, Lamb and Templeton will be performed and admission is free.
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Tatyana Shrago will perform on Wednesday, March 17 in the Manchester Community Music School's "Music's On the Menu" Brown Bag Lunch Concert from 12:10-12:50pm. The concert program will feature Frederic Chopin, Music and Letters, and will take place at Grace Episcopal Church, 106 Lowell Street, Manchester NH. Tatyana is dedicating her performance to the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birthday. Admission is free and attendees are invited to bring their lunch to eat during the concert. For more information please contact the Manchester Community Music School at: 603.644.4548.
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A. Ramon Rivera was recently treated to a surprise 70th birthday party at Rivera Hall, located at the Rivers School in Weston. The program was packed with tributes and performances from students, colleagues, family and friends many of whom travelled great distances to be in attendance. Some of you may know that this beautiful recital hall was recently named in Angel's honor. The setting was idyllic, with excellent acoustics and memorable music and stories. Congratulations Angel, and many, many more musical birthday festivities to arrive in the future!
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Many thanks to Valerie Snow, who stepped forward after the January Newsletter and volunteered to help Dianna Tetzlaff in the NEPTA High School Competitions!
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Sadly, one of our longtime members, Jo Morgan, from Canton, MA, passed away on June 27, 2009. Her daughter, Joan Morgan, recently contacted me to tell me this upsetting news. Our thoughts are with her family as they continue to heal from this great loss. Joan recounted that her mom often spoke of NEPTA, and was challenged and excited about the activities and she met wonderfully inspiring people. It is comforting to know that music has the power to sustain and give hope in such difficult situations. The family has requested if teachers or friends would like to honor Jo that donations are made to the NEPTA Scholarship Fund.
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Please submit member news for inclusion in the next newsletter by the 30th of the month to lydiaguertin
@yahoo.com. | |
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February Greetings
As our organization begins to celebrate NEPTA's 60th Anniversary Year in 2010, I reflect on the history and events that have made our teachers' association so influential to our members and students. Reading accounts of past meetings going back to the 1970's, brings back vivid memories of my playing in the NEPTA recitals when they were at the First Church in Boston. Of course I am really dating myself, however, today, our students still participate in these showcase recitals, and NEPTA contributes to the musical foundations of these talented young students. It has been a pleasure to hear the wonderful performances, and I thank our Junior Recital Committee, Dianne Impallaria, Nancy Burstein, Maureen Hamilton and our Intermediate I Committee, Indiana Chalsen, Linda Gatzke and Houry Schmeizl, for their hours of dedication to run these successful events. Bravo!
January Meeting Highlights
Our January meeting, featuring Sandra Rosenblum, was extremely well attended, attesting to the power of her valuable research and knowledge. Sandra had such insight and commentary, which inspired us all to examine our own Chopin editions with a more critical eye. As one member said to me afterwards, "We could have spent a whole week with Sandra." Thank you for inaugurating 2010 with such happiness! Please click here for program notes beautifully prepared by Jean Alderman.
Steinway Factory Tour
One board member has suggested the goal of having 60 members and guests attend our Steinway Tour in April! Perhaps this may seem unrealistic with our busy schedules and lives; however, this will be a fabulous way to acknowledge NEPTA as we immerse ourselves in the craftsmanship and construction of these beautiful instruments. A strong testimonial came from a close teacher friend of mine who has been on the Steinway Factory Tour, who relayed that "not a day goes by that she does not think about the experience in her own teaching."
It's not too late to register for this exciting trip! Please click on these links for itinerary details and registration form and submit by Wednesday, Feb. 24. Any questions should be directed to Diana Tetzlaff at diana.tetzlaff@mac.com.
Lydia Reed-Guertin
President
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NEPTA Music Sale at February/March Meetings
 Our NEPTA music sale is back by popular demand, once again organized by Ruth Ross, Music Library and Donations Chair. Please join us prior to the February and March meetings (both on the 22nd of the month) at The First Parish starting at 9am.
Members are asked to bring their checkbooks and any music that they are willing to donate that morning. Music on sale that morning will include some collections from our NEPTA Music Library that Ruth is gradually disbanding.
The sale serves three purposes:
1. Teachers have access to music that perhaps has gone out of print
2. Standard teaching methods and collections can be acquired at a very reasonable price
3. All proceeds go directly to the NEPTA Scholarship Fund.
Please direct any questions to Ruth Ross at rrosspiano@aol.com.
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February Meeting
Cristina Capparelli Gerling joins us on Monday, Feb. 22 at 9:30am to speak about "Putting Recent Memory Research into Practice."
Cristina is travelling specifically from her native country of Brazil, where she is Professor of Music and Chair of Keyboard Studies, to enlighten us with her research and observations. This should be a stimulating topic, and one that can easily be applied to all ages of students and teachers.
Cristina's background is extensive and varied, and she has recorded CD's and given performances all over the United States, Canada, England, France, and Portugal. Cristina speaks English very well, but I look forward to reviewing my Portuguese language skills with her! Hope to see you all there.
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Nancy Oliva Prize Winners
The following students were awarded the Nancy Oliva Awards for their wonderful performances at the Intermediate I recitals on Jan. 31.
Grace Lee (student of Rita Mikvlinsky)
Angelique Scully (student of Tanya Schwartzman)
Kevin Sherman (student of Valerie Henkin)
Kunwoo Shin (student of Lilit Karapetian)
Congratulations to these students and their teachers! These non-competitive awards are given annually to seventh graders who study in an independent studio in recognition of their musical efforts and to encourage a continuation of their studies. Many thanks to Linda Vieira, our Nancy Oliva Chairperson, for giving up so much of her time and effort on this committee.
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Recital Dates and Postmark Deadlines
Sunday, Feb. 28
Intermediate II Recitals at The First Parish of Watertown. Three different programs beginning at: 2:30pm*, 4:30 and 6:15pm.
Sunday, March 7
Senior Recitals at the First Parish of Watertown, 2:30-8pm*
Sunday, March 14
Composition and Jazz Recital and 20th/21st Century Recital
The First Parish of Watertown, 2:30-6pm*
Ensemble and Adult Recitals
Steinert and Sons, Natick, 5-8pm
RECITALS*
Please
note that our rental contract with The First Parish gives us permission
to access the building ONLY AT 2pm. ALL STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS AND
FRIENDS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER THE BUILDING PRIOR TO 2PM. Please be
respectful of this rule as many times, the church has meetings after
their services and understandably do not want NEPTA to infringe on
their time. Our future recitals depend on your support, so please
emphasize this to your students if they are performing in the 2:30
Recital.
Postmark Deadline Reminders for Recitals and Competitions
Feb. 20
Mildred Freiberg Middle School Competition
Ruth Davidson High school and Alice Hamlet Senior Competitions
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Announcing an All-NEPTA Teachers' Recital
This is an opportunity to share your artistic talent with fellow teachers and with the community. The venue will be the First Parish of Watertown, on the evening of Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010.
A suggested donation of $15 will raise money for the First Parish Chair Campaign (see below for more information). Solo and four-hand works are welcome with a time limit of 10 minutes per performer. Please join in this exciting new event! If you would like to perform, please send your name and the piece's composer, title and duration to Colleen Campbell at campbell.c2@gmail.com.
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First Parish Chair Campaign
The
First Parish of Watertown has launched a fundraising campaign to
replace the existing red and blue chairs in the sanctuary. NEPTA has
had a longstanding relationship with The First Parish, and we are so
fortunate to have such a lovely setting for our programs and recitals.
In the past, NEPTA supported the financial goal of purchasing the
piano; in fact the organization gave more than 40% of the total cost
through donations and recital benefits. Our Teachers' Recital, to be
held in the fall, will act as a fundraiser towards this Seat Campaign,
with a suggested donation for admission.
If members would like to make a more significant contribution, please read the letter below from the Rev. Mark Harris, describing in more detail the goals of the Chair Campaign.
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Dear NEPTA Members,
The First Parish of Watertown, the home for NEPTA recitals and program meetings, is sponsoring a campaign to purchase new, matching chairs for our sanctuary. This campaign was launched over a year ago to make the sanctuary more attractive and more welcoming. Our existing chairs desperately need to be replaced and the type of chairs we've selected will allow us additional flexibility in seating arrangements. This letter invites you to join us in this campaign.
Our effort is off to a very strong start. We have received more than $14,000 to date - the equivalent of 95 chairs. However, we still need to reach our goal of 136 new chairs needed for our growing congregation. We still need to raise nearly $5,000.
Our plan is to purchase 22 arm chairs for the ends of each row, and 114 side chairs. We hope to raise the remaining in the next few months. We have recently placed our order. It is beneficial to purchase all the chairs at one time to maximize the discount available for buying in quantity. We would appreciate having the difference covered by new donations, so that our budget is not severely impacted.
We hope that you will consider making a contribution to help us reach our goal. We invite you to "buy" one, or more, chairs at $150 each. You are also welcome to make a donation in a different amount, or to make a pledge to be paid over 8 months. Checks should be made out to the First Parish of Watertown, 35 Church St., Watertown, MA 02472. For more information please contact Rev. Mark Harris at: minister@fpwatertown.org.
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New England Piano Teachers' Association 