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UPCOMING NEPTA EVENTS
Monday May 24 Annual Meeting
Recital and Annual Luncheon
The First Parish
of Watertown
9:30am
Preceded at 9am
NEPTA Music Sale
Bring your checkbooks!
Luncheon following at Porcini's
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Member News
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Duo con Anima, Fern Abrams and Joan Garniss will present "The Magic Piano" at First Parish Church on the Green in Lexington Friday, June 18 at noon. The program will be: Passacaglia in C Minor, Bach/Garniss; Waltzes from "Der Rosenkavalier", R. Strauss/Singer; Variations in G for Piano, 3 Hands by Cooke; Billy the Kid by Copland; Rondo for two pianos by Chopin.
This free concert will mark the release of the Duo's second CD, Piano Partners. Included are both 2 piano and four hand works by Clementi, Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Milhaud and Shostakovich. It is available from HiRoc Records at 12 Stanley Rd, Waltham MA 02452.
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Greetings
Incredibly, the month of May is here and our last meeting of the year is quickly approaching. This first year of my term as President, has been so enjoyable for me getting to know members better and being a part of the events and meetings throughout the year. It has at times been intense, trying to juggle teaching and being a Mom (and swim and hockey driver) to an almost-13-year-old-girl and 10-year-old-boy, but I've found that this experience has enriched my life immensely.
This year could not have been so successful without the support of the NEPTA Board, who has done a fantastic job of providing new opportunities for members as well as reigniting existing programs with such positive energy. I thank them tremendously for their tireless efforts, and for putting up with the antics of my dog Hogan at our quarterly meetings!
For those of you who have yet to volunteer within NEPTA, I urge you to speak with me about doing more in this great organization. Believe me when I say that the rewards greatly outnumber any possible drawbacks.
As this is the last NEPTA newsletter until September I would like to wish all of you a restful, reinvigorating summer, filled with amazing adventures. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday, May 24.
Lydia Reed-Guertin
President
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NEPTA Music For Sale
Our NEPTA music sale is back for the last time this year, once again graciously organized by Ruth Ross, Music Library and Donations Chair. Please join us prior to the May 24 meeting 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 with prices ranging from $1-$2.
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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Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting and Awards Recital featuring performances by NEPTA's competition winners will be held on Monday, May 24, 9:30am, at the First Parish in Watertown.
The business portion of the morning will precede the concert followed by the nomination of three candidates for the 2010-2012 board terms: Robert Finley, Cindy Null and Veda Kogan.
I am very excited at the possibility of working with these wonderful teachers, but at the same time am reluctant to say goodbye to Shelley Reeves and Tanya Shrago, as they complete their respective terms on the board. I wish them all the best in their future musical endeavors! The third board member, who was listed as retiring at this time, my sister, Elizabeth Ann Reed, was elected as Executive Secretary by the board in January of this year, and she will continue in this role until 2011.
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Honorary Members
In recent times, it has been tradition to award honorary memberships during important anniversary years. Since this is a 60th anniversary year, the board has voted unanimously on the recommendation of the Honorary Membership Committee to bestow honorary memberships to the following members:
PEG BACHELDER, JANNA BRUENE, MIRIAM GARGARIAN, IRENE REED AND SHANN WOOD
The contributions that these NEPTA members have made to the organization through their volunteer efforts over the years are vast and immeasurable. Their exemplary devotion to NEPTA and extensive resumes are impressive, and their long-lasting impact through collegiality and friendship remarkable. Please join me as I recognize and award each honorary member that morning.
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April Updates
April was a whirlwind of activity beginning with the Teachers Exchange in Wellesley, presented by Colleen Campbell, Janice Zaganjori and Adele Dreyer on how to teach students popular and jazz repertoire. Their ideas and focus all complemented one another, and some brave volunteers worked on improvisation, and used suggested creative scale fingerings (on purpose!) among other activities. Please join me in thanking the panelists for enlightening our morning with such creative ideas.
The following week, 18 NEPTA members and guests travelled to NYC on our planned Steinway Factory Field trip. The day began at 9am with delicious breakfast treats provided by Steve Hauk at M. Steinert and Sons in Natick, after which we happily boarded the bus to begin our trip. After a brief lunch stop in Connecticut, we arrived in NYC around 3pm at the LaGuardia Courtyard Marriot, rested briefly, and again boarded the bus to have dinner and attend the opera "Tosca" at Lincoln Center. The performance was incredible, and I was happy to share my first trip to the MET with my NEPTA friends, some of whom were also experiencing Lincoln Center for the first time!
NEPTA Members at the Steinway Factory  | The next morning, we packed up and headed out to the Steinway Factory and were greeted by tour tour guide, Bob Berger, Directory of Quality at Steinway and Steve Dawe, General Manager of M. Steinert and Sons in Boston. Steve specifically drove down to NY in order to be with us, and his welcoming presence and contribution to the tour was much appreciated!
The tour was incredible, and we were all so amazed to learn about Steinway's history and its manufacturing process and the stunning description of the production steps and attention to detail demonstrated by workers at every level. As I said to some at the end of the tour, I had never missed my own piano so much, and couldn't wait to come home and play it, open the lid and look at all of the parts with a completely new perspective!
After a delightful and delicious lunch at the Buccaneer Diner, we boarded the bus back to Boston and arrived back in Natick by dinner time.
Again, many thanks to all who made this tour so successful, and especially Diana Tetzlaff, who organized all of the details, and was so attentive to all of our needs, including using her GPS feature on her phone to help the driver negotiate the routes in and out of NYC. It was truly a relaxing, fun extravaganza for all of us!
Finally, the month of April closed with our Student Masterclass on April 26, led by master teacher Judith Gordon. The performers and pieces were beautifully presented, and the comments delivered by Judith inspiring in a very positive manner.
The teachers, students and
parents did a fantastic job of accommodating their schedules and
preparing for the Masterclass, especially in light of the school
vacation week that immediately preceded our meeting.
Thank you to our Student Masterclass chair, Janet Ainsworth, who so capably organized the morning's meeting, and also took the photos below.
Clarence Chaisson, student of Sylvia Chambless, who performed 2 intermezzos from Brahms' Six Pieces for Piano, Op.118.
Karen Bouchard, student of Niva Fried, who performed the first movement of Schubert's Sonata No. 16 in A minor, Op. 42 D. 845.
Layla Siraj, student of Helena Vesterman, who performed the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata No.12 in A Flat Major, Op.26.
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NEPTA Dues are Due May 31
NEPTA members can now renew their dues online for 2010-2011 at www.nepta.info through the secure PayPal site, or with a credit card. Or, download the registration form and mail with a check to Lindsey Robb, our NEPTA Treasurer.
The deadline to be included in NEPTA's printed directory is May 31.
Now that most of you have completed your 2009 taxes, it's not too early to think of donations and write-offs for next year. Please consider donating to the NEPTA Scholarship fund and support our organizational efforts as you renew your dues.
Below is a reprint from the March newsletter in case you missed this information from Sue Demb regarding updates to the NEPTA website.
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Dear NEPTA Member,
I am pleased to let you know that the updated NEPTA website is now available. Changes have been made to two areas:
FOR MEMBERS adds the following links:
1. Membership Directory where you can access members by last name or by town.
2. Update Your Information where you can change information, including signing up to have your name available for piano teacher referrals from the website.
3. Pay Your Dues where you can update your information and pay your dues using a credit card or PayPal. After you pay your dues, you can "continue shopping" and make a donation to the Scholarship Fund.
OR print out a dues form and send it with a check to Lindsey Robb, our NEPTA Treasurer. But you can only download the form after checking your information on the website and confirming that your information is correct (click the "Continue" button at the bottom of the page to get to the confirmation page).
4. Donate to the Scholarship Fund where you can make a donation with a credit card OR you can print out a form for mailing a check.
These links all require that you log in to access them. The first time you log in you will have to create a new password, which you can change in the future or, if you forget it, you can have it emailed to you. On the first log in page, click on the link Create or Change Your Password to create your password.
FIND A TEACHER
If you have updated your information and checked that you want referrals from the website, click on the Find a Teacher link at the top of the page and put your zip code in the form at the bottom. You should see your listing, with all the information you added to the form.
Want to add more or change something? Just go back and update your information.
Don't want referrals any more? go back and update your information by unchecking the checkbox "Do you want referrals from the website?".
I hope you enjoy these new features. They will make many volunteer jobs for NEPTA easier.
Please let me know what you think and if you have any problems with the site.
Sue Demb
Former webmaster, NEPTA
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New England Piano Teachers' Association 