NEPTA logo 2013  
   New England Piano Teachers' Association     
                       Newsletter                                             September 2013
In This Issue
September Greetings
Program Booklet in the Mail
Nancy O'Neil Breth at Our First Meeting
NEPTA Teachers' Recital
Music Sale
Music Book Door Prizes
Miriam Pizer Award
Dues Renewal
Membership Survey
Volunteering Opportunities
NEPTA Calendar of Events 2013-2014
NEPTA'S Facebook Page
Parking Reminder
UPCOMING EVENTS
 

First Meeting  

Sept 23, 2013 

NANCY O'NEIL BRETH

"Go Home and Practice" 

First Parish of Watertown

9:30 AM     

~ Music Sale immediately preceding Sept Meeting ~ 

9:00-9:30 AM 

 

Sept 30, 2013

Please don't forget to renew your dues by Monday, Sept 30, in order to qualify for participation in the 2014 NEPTA recitals and competitions.

 

Oct 28, 2013 

RAMI BAR-NIV

"Piano Playing Fingering, Technique, and Interpretation" 

 First Parish of Watertown 

9:30 AM

 

Nov 18, 2013

Teachers' Exchange:

"Successful Approaches to Teaching Beginners, Outside of Method Books" 

Wellesley Library

9:30 AM  

 ~ Member Coffee Hour ~

9:00-9:30 AM 

 

Dec 9, 2013

LUIZ de MOURA CASTRO

Teacher Master Class with NEPTA Teachers

We are still looking for performers! Please contact Shaylor Lindsay s.m.lindsay@comcast.net

First Parish of Watertown

9:30 AM 

MEMBER NEWS

Pianist Gila Goldstein, a member of the faculty at BU School Music, will perform her faculty recital on Monday, September 16, 2013, at 8:00 PM, at the school's concert hall, 855 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Program will include works by Bach, Chopin, Liszt and Paul Ben-Haim. Please visit her website: www.gilagoldstein.com

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Educational Bridge Project invites you to the 24th Russian-American Festival, October 25 - November 8. It will include many events dedicated to piano teaching and performance. On Sunday, Oct 27, 2:00 PM, Harvard University's Lowell House (10 Holyoke Place, Cambridge) will host an annual A Musical Afternoon at Harvard with a program of classical and contemporary music. The well-known Russian piano pedagogue, Zora Tsuker, will give a master class at the NEC on Saturday, Nov 2, 2 PM. On the same day, Nov 2, at 3 PM, M. Steinert & Sons (162 Boylston St., Boston) will host a concert dedicated to piano music of Russia and America, where pupils of NEPTA members, Tanya Schwartzman and Irina Y. Gelman, will perform along with their young counterparts from S. Petersburg, Russia. One of the festival's highlights will be the concert of Miroslav Kultyshev, the Laureate of the Tchaikovsky International Competition, on Nov 5, 8 PM at the Tsai Performance Center, Boston University (685 Commonwealth Ave.). Admission is free. For more information contact Irina Y. Gelman at  
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Dianne Goolkasian-Rahbee is passing along the following information about The Young Composers' Festival, which is being held at the Community Music Center of Boston. It is a lovely opportunity for young musicians to submit their compositions to be performed by professional players. The deadline for submission is December 17.

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The newly revised book "Scales, Chords, Arpeggios" by Thuyen Phiet in the "See, Hear, Play" series just published. It offers practicing processes for learning and preparing scales accurately, playing chords with precision and preparing using techniques to play arpeggios fluently. Please contact Thuyen Phiet thuyenphiet@yahoo.com with all your questions.

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Any member of NEPTA making a move to the Mt. Washington Valley would be interested in the Mountain Top Music Center; a growing non-profit organization filling the area with music! It is a remarkable school of instruction as well as a variety of concert offerings. Nancy Bornhofft nlbornhofft@gmail.com will be happy to introduce any fellow members to this community!

***

From Emily Mott:
MoCo Music School in Arlington needs piano (and possibly) voice teacher(s) as they expand.

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Please submit member news for inclusion in the next newsletter by the 20th of the month to gelmanpiano@aol.com.

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Visit us at www.facebook.com/NEPTApiano to view a multitude of pianistic news and opportunities in the Boston area. You may post your own up-to-the-minute concert listings and see the latest news 
from your NEPTA friends! YouTube videos of your concert performances are especially welcome.  
 
Irina color pic SEPTEMBER GREETINGS

Welcome, all returning and new members, to NEPTA's 2013-2014 Season! I hope that your summer has been refreshing and relaxing and wish you a successful and productive teaching year.
Nancy Breth We look forward our first meeting of the school year on September 23 at 9:30 AM at the First Parish of Watertown. Nancy O'Neill Breth will be presenting "Go Home and Practice." She has taught and coached numerous pianists and chamber groups and has written several books on practicing the piano. This promises to be a convicting and inspiring session.

We are all very excited to see our newly-designed, modern website up and running. It is now a pleasure to use! We are enormously grateful to Sue Demb, Colleen Campbell, Cindy Null, and Lydia Reed-Guertin, of the NEPTA website committee, who worked hard this summer to finish this important project!
We are all very excited to see our newly-designed, modern website up and running. It is now a pleasure to use! We are enormously grateful to Sue Demb, Colleen Campbell, Cindy Null, and Lydia Reed-Guertin, of the NEPTA website committee, who worked hard this summer to finish this important project!

The Presidential Meeting, which took place this June at "The Cottage" restaurant was enjoyed by all who attended, and served as a platform for pleasant conversation, the sharing of memories of NEPTA's past and the exchange of ideas for NEPTA's future. 
The Program Booklet and Membership Directory are on the way, both beautifully prepared by Tina Ho, our Program Booklet Coordinator. We are immensely grateful to Tina for taking on the daunting task of organizing and updating our booklet and directory. Thanks to Cindy Null, Sue Demb, Colleen Campbell and Natacha Rist for volunteering their time and expertise for proofreading, printing and mailing out NEPTA packages! In past years, our booklet was prepared by Lindsey Robb, our acting Treasurer, to whom we are always grateful for maintaining it so ardently for so many years and making himself available to pass along his wealth of experience.
Thank you, NEPTA volunteers and contributors, for helping the NEPTA community grow and thrive! I am grateful to everyone who helped during my first months of presidency and would also personally like to thank Colleen Campbell, our Immediate Past President, for her constant support and for being a warm and knowledgeable resource to me during my transition to presidency. Also we are eager to welcome back Janna Bruene to her Membership Chair position.

I am very excited for this coming teaching year. We have many varied events planned for the 2013-2014 NEPTA season, including speaker series, teachers' exchanges, recitals, and competitions. I hope to see you all enjoying our lovely events! 
NEPTA has much to look forward to, beginning with our first Speaker Series event on Monday, September 23rd at 9:30 AM at the First Parish of Watertown. Please be sure to mark your calendars with the complete roster of NEPTA guest speakers and master teachers, so wonderfully organized by Shann Wood, Chair of our Program Committee. As always, visitors are welcome throughout the year to all program events for a fee of $10. This first meeting, however, includes free admission for all guests. Please plan to arrive early for NEPTA's monthly music sale beginning at 9:00 AM, managed by Ruth Ross and benefiting NEPTA's Scholarship Fund.  
 
I look forward to seeing you all at our first meeting on Monday, September 23rd!

Best regards,

Irina Y. Gelman 
President

NEPTA TEACHERS' RECITAL      

Announcing the third annual NEPTA Teachers' Recital, to be held on Saturday, February 8, 2014 at 6:30 PM in the Rivera Hall of the Rivers School Conservatory in Weston. This will be a very festive occasion, featuring piano solo, duet, and chamber music, followed by an elegant wine and cheese reception. Donations will benefit the Susan B. Demb Teacher Enrichment Fund. Robert Finley, NEPTA Vice President, will be organizing the program. We are still looking for solo performers and a volunteer to organize the reception for this event. Please contact Robert Finley at rsfinley@charter.net or call 508-393-6740 if you are interested in participating.

If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute to the Susan B. Demb Teacher Fund, please send your check to Lindsey Robb, Treasurer, 40 Montvale #3, Roslindale, MA 02131.
MUSIC SALE  
Our Music Sale is back by popular demand, once again organized by Ruth Ross, Music Library and Donation Chair. Please join us prior to the February, April and May meetings at The First Parish starting at 9 AM. Members are asked to bring their checkbooks and any music that they are willing to donate that morning.

The sale serves three purposes:
  • Teachers have access to music that, perhaps, has gone out of print
  • Standard teaching methods and collections can be acquired at a very reasonable price
  • All proceeds go directly to the NEPTA Scholarship Fund

Please direct any questions to Ruth Ross at rross@aol.com.

MUSIC BOOK DOOR PRIZES   
Please join our first NEPTA meeting on September 23rd at the First Parish of Watertown and take a chance to win in a raffle two pieces of new contemporary music!
MIRIAM PIZER AWARD  
The Miriam Pizer Award, created in memory of Miriam Pizer, was established for students Grades K-5 who are in need of assistance for lesson tuition or other essential expenses. Each teacher may submit one student's name for a lottery drawing. The prize is $250 and the submission deadline is October 15. Please send your name along with your student's name by email to Irina Y. Gelman.
DUES RENEWAL   
Thank you for your timely renewal of membership dues! Please remind your fellow teachers who may have forgotten to renew or are new to NEPTA that dues must be received by September 30, 2013 in order to be eligible to enter students in NEPTA's recitals and competitions.
MEMBERSHIP SURVEY COMING SOON   
In October, NEPTA will launch its first ever membership survey. This will take about 10 minutes of your time to complete, and your answers will help NEPTA tremendously in planning its programs and in providing a better fit for members' needs. Topics include the types of teaching you do, what types of NEPTA events you most enjoy, and how NEPTA can best communicate with you. Please plan to take a few minutes to fill it out!
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES 
Historian and Photographer needed! Please contact gelmanpiano@aol.com if you are interested in this position.
NEPTA'S FACEBOOK PAGE  
Remember that you can post your own up-to-the-minute concert listings and other items of interest for the Boston piano community on NEPTA's Facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/NEPTApiano to see the latest news from your NEPTA friends! YouTube videos of your concert performances are especially welcome.
PARKING REMINDER
PARKING METER -COLLEEN CAMPBELL Please be aware that Watertown has restricted parking on the side streets immediately surrounding the First Parish and thus eliminating any "free parking." The metered spots in the parking lot adjacent to the church can accept coins up to a maximum of 8 hours (blue meters only), thereby removing the need to go feed the meter during our meeting breaks, offering instead an opportunity to socialize with NEPTA friends and colleagues.