October 15-16, 2015
University of Nebraska Kearney
Fine Arts Building
2506 12th Avenue
Kearney, NE 68849
Conference Guest Artist/Clinician: Peter Mack
Peter Mack is well known for his extensive repertoire, having performed twenty-six concertos with orchestras. A choral scholar at Trinity College Dublin, and a fellow of Trinity College London, he has a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Washington. His principal teachers were Frank Heneghan and Bela Siki. In 2013, Dr. Mack received the extraordinary honor of being asked to deliver both the Advanced Piano Masterclass at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) annual convention in California and the Masterclass for MTNA Winners at the biennial National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) in Illinois. His students are frequent winners of local, national, and international competitions. He is the proud teacher of eighteen MTNA national finalists, and two MTNA national first place winners.
A former board member of MTNA, Peter Mack was the chair of the MTNA National Conference Planning Committee for the 2014 Chicago conference. Peter Mack’s 2014 list of engagements includes performances in two of the most acoustically perfect performance spaces in Europe: the Salle Cortot of the Ecole Normale in Paris, and the Haydnsaal of the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. Dr. Mack is Professor of Piano Performance at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.
“Mack is one of those lucky ones, born with a completely balanced set of talents. He has perfect piano hands, his technique is all but infallible, he has boundless temperament, style and taste, and above all, he communicates directly….In all capacities he is indefatigable….”
–Los Angeles Times
Conference Guest Clinician: Scott McBride Smith
Interest in his philosophical and cognitive approach to music teaching has resulted in appearances across the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America, including workshops and showcases at every Music Teachers National Association Conference since 1999. But he has never lost the ability to see humor in the profession and laugh.
A long-time teacher of prize-winning students in Irvine, California, Dr. Smith’s students were the California State Champions in the years 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009. Former students have been First Prize winners in the Naftsger Competition, Tchaikovsky Competition and in MTNA competitions. His former student Alan Woo won the Julliard School Concerto Competition in 2010, at the age of 19 and the Juilliard Bachauer Competition in 2014. A chamber music coach as well as piano teacher, Scott McBride Smith coached the Wakarusa Trio to the 2013 First Place in the MTNA Chamber Music (Strings) national competition. The group went on the win the Coleman-Barstow Prize at the 2014 Coleman Chamber Music Competition. He had three national finalists in different MTNA competitions in 2014 and one national finalist in 2015.
Dr. Smith is co-author of the college text The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher and associate editor of the magazine Clavier Companion. He is co-author of Christopher Norton’s Guide to Microjazz.
Dr. Smith has served as Visiting Professor at the Bela Bartok Conservatory in Lima, Peru; at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts; and in Taiwan, sponsored by the International Piano Teaching Foundation. He was a faculty member at the Rocky Ridge Music Center Adult Piano Seminar in Summer 2015.
Scott McBride Smith received his doctorate from the University of Southern California, where he was co-winner of the Outstanding Graduate in Piano award. He is a member of the European Piano Teachers Association and a Level One Certified member the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association. He is president-elect of the Music Teachers National Association.
Commissioned Composer: David von Kampen
David is a six-time Downbeat Award winner in graduate-level jazz writing categories, winner of the 2014 San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Project, winner of the National Band Association’s Young Jazz Composers Competition, and received Honorable Mention in the 2014 New York Youth Symphony First Music Commissions. He has over 40 choral and instrumental compositions and arrangements published with G. Schirmer, Concordia Publishing House, UNC Jazz Press, and others.
David is active as a pianist and musical director in jazz and theater settings, and as a clinician for both vocal and instrumental ensembles. He is currently an adjunct professor of composition at Concordia University, Neb., and directs the Chamber Singers and Women’s Chorus at Christ Lutheran Church in Lincoln. David is a member of ASCAP and the American Choral Directors Association. He lives with his wife Mollie and daughter Gretta. Learn more at www.DavidvonKampen.com.
Hotel Information
Country Inn & Suites
105 Talmadge Rd. (North of I-80, first right)
Kearney, NE 68847
Reservations:
308.236.7500 (direct)
Special Rate: $76.00
Use code: NMTA
Reservation deadline: September 30, 2015
Microtel Inn & Suites
104 Talmadge Rd. (North of I-80, first right)
Kearney, NE 68847
Reservations:
308.698.3003 (direct)
Special Rate: $69.00
Use code: NMTA
Reservation deadline: September 30, 2015
Summer Bulletin and Registration Form
Download the 2015 Summer Bulletin for information on the following:
- 2015 State Conference Schedule
- Hotel Accommodations
- MTNA/NMTA Competitions
- NMTA State Festival
- Important Dates to Remember
- NMTA State Conference Registration Form (you can type your information in the fields, then print and mail).
Click here to download the 2015 Summer Bulletin!
David von Kampen (b. 1986) is a composer living in Lincoln, Nebraska. David’s creative work spans a wide variety of genres and styles, including jazz, choral music, hymnody and liturgy, solo voice, chamber music, and musical theater. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas, and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nebraska.Scott McBride Smith is a recognized leader in worldwide music education. As the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Kansas (since 2010), he focuses on national issues of teacher training and piano pedagogy. As President and CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians, he leads a summer program offering specialized training for gifted young performers from around the world. And as co-author of the groundbreaking new series American Popular Piano, he has helped create a course of study for today’s student – providing tools that inspire the necessary hard work while playing music they love.Irish pianist Peter Mack is in great demand as a performer, clinician, convention artist, adjudicator, and teacher. Celebrated for his moving playing, and his easy rapport with audiences, he has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia, India, and the former Soviet Union. He is the winner of the New Orleans, Young Keyboard Artists, and Pacific International Piano Competitions. His prize in the Sherman-Clay competition included a Steinway grand piano. Naturally, he is a Steinway artist!