2024-2025 NAMTA Programs
Please check each event if it will be held online or in-person. If you are not part of our membership and would like to attend an event, please email our President, Simone Parker.
Friday November 8th 2024, 10:00am - Steinway Piano Gallery, Nashville
General Meeting & Enrichment Program
Join us for the first Teacher Enrichment Program of the 2024-2025 year! Please RSVP for this event and feel free to bring a friend who may be interested in joining NAMTA as well. New members can join on mtna.org
Agenda:
9:45am - Meet & Greet
10:00am - Call to Order and Program
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Body Mapping and Injury Prevention
with Simone Parker, NAMTA president and licensed body mapping educator.
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Simone Parker teaches piano, violin, and viola at her independent studio, Sparkling Keys and Strings, and joined the Austin Peay State University (APSU) department of music faculty in 2012 and the Vanderbilt University - Blair School of Music faculty in 2023. Since Spring 2015, she offers group and individual sessions in the Alexander Technique and in 2024, she has become a licensed Body Mapping Educator, presenting the course "What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body.” Further, Mrs. Parker performed as the principal pianist at the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and assistant pianist with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. She regularly accompanies and performs with students in her independent studio, other community studios, and APSU music students.
Simone Parker has earned a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) in Piano Performance and a Master of Music (with honors) in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy at Austin Peay State University (APSU). She is actively involved in several professional organizations and regularly attends workshops and conferences to further her training. In May 2015, Simone Parker graduated from a three-year teacher certification process with the Chesapeake Bay Alexander Studies Program and the following Fall she became a certified Alexander Technique teacher accredited through the professional organization Alexander Technique International (ATI). The Alexander Technique is a practical discipline to develop body and mind coordination and to create ease of movement and flexibility. In 2023, she joined the first teaching cohort of mBODYed with Shawn Copeland and completed her licensure in Body Mapping through the Association for Body Mapping Education (ABME) by the end of the year. Body Mapping discovered by Bill Conable is the conscious correction and refining of one's Body Map to produce efficient, graceful, and coordinated movement.
Since 2014, she has been a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), accredited through the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and in 2010, she was awarded the Excellence of Teaching Award
from the APSU-Community School of the Arts. The award recognizes Simone Parker for her continuous and consistent dedication to realizing the very best from her students, teaching them that in music as in life, great endeavors bring great rewards.
For more information about Simone Parker, please visit www.simoneparker.org or contact her directly at SparklingKeysAndStrings@SimoneParker.org.
Winter Workshop
Saturday, February 15 2025
Steinway Piano Gallery, Nashville
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REGISTRATION DEADLINE - FEB. 1st 2025
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Below is the meeting schedule for this morning:
9:30am - Registration Opens (Free for members, $50.00 for non-members)
10:0am - Dr. Don Greene, "Winning on Stage"
11:30am - Lunch
1:00pm - Janna Williamson, NCTM, "Building a Foundation for Expressive Performance (Training Students to Perform Historical Repertoire)"
1:45pm - Break
2:00pm - Janna Williamson, NCTM, "Crafting an Excellent Studio Recital/Creative and Developmentally Appropriate Performance Opportunities"
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About the Presenters
Dr. Don Greene, a peak performance psychologist, has taught his comprehensive approach to peak performance mastery at The Juilliard School, Colburn School, New World Symphony, Los Angeles Opera Young Artists Program, Vail Ski School, Perlman Music Program, and US Olympic Training Center. During his thirty-two year career, he has coached more than 1,000 performers to win professional auditions and has guided countless solo performers to successful careers. Some of the performing artists with whom Dr. Greene has worked have won jobs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Montreal Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, National Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, to name just a few. Of the Olympic track and field athletes he worked with up until and through the 2016 Games in Rio, 14 won medals, including 5 gold. Dr. Greene has authored eight books including Audition Success, Fight Your Fear & Win, and Performance Success. In 2017, Dr. Greene was named a TED Educator and collaborated with musician Dr. Annie Bosler to produce the TED-Ed How to practice effectively…for just about anything. The video went viral receiving over 31 million views across Facebook and YouTube.
Pianist Janna Williamson, NCTM, maintains an independent studio in West Chicago, Illinois. She previously taught at the Wheaton Yamaha Music School from 2001-2020 where she also served as Supervisor of Private Lessons. Now she coaches teachers worldwide through her YouTube channel, online courses, and individual teacher consultation service. Her YouTube channel features free pedagogical content, with a particular focus on how to teach intermediate historical repertoire. Janna holds master’s and bachelor's degrees in piano performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. She currently serves as President of the West Suburban Music Teachers Association.
Friday, April 11th, 2024 at 10:00am- Steinway Piano Gallery, Nashville
Teacher Celebration!
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Join us as we celebrate the end of the school year!
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