We’re back resting in our room tonight and discussing our day. MTNA conference is my highlight of the year for teaching and today was a great reminder to me of how important creativity is in every lesson.
The performers from yesterday, Time Out For Three, were so creative in their approach to making music together. They’ve found so much success in making beautiful music with classical music and popular music. Such fun stories!
Today the MTNA Distinguished Composer of the Year, David von Kampen, also performed his piece, “Under the Silver and Home Again”. Such a gorgeous piece with five varying parts with so many textures and characters. And such a beautiful performance! The commissioning programs of national, state  and local associations are so neat!!
I caught half of the Univ. of South Carolina collegiate session, The World At Your Fingertips; Exploring Multicultural Styles Through Beginning Composition and Improvisation at the Piano. Later I also enjoyed Kevin Olson’s session, How to Inspire Pianists to Improvise Fantastic Fantasias. Both sessions had many ideas to incorporate into lessons and reminded me of how important creativity is in every lesson.
We also spent time at the exhibits, so much fun stuff!

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For dinner we enjoyed great food and conversation at the Compose Create dinner organized by Wendy Stevens. So many amazing teachers to meet and learn from! And of course we got a picture with that fun lady.
Looking forward to the mini sessions tomorrow and lots more wonderful learning.

Author: Whitney

Whitney Hawker, NCTM, teaches group and private piano at Weber State University, Utah. She loves surprising students with the perfect piece or a new exciting game! After graduate school, she missed sharing ideas and resources daily with colleagues so she and her friend, Spring, began blogging together at 4DPianoTeaching.com