National Officers Election

MTNA members will be electing National officers beginning in February 2007. Included here are the nominees as recommended by the MTNA Nominating Committee. The committee nominates two candidates for each position.

MTNA members also may submit nominations for the ballot. To do so, you must send to the MTNA headquarters, a petition indicating your nominee(s) signed by one hundred (100) active members. This petition must be received no later than December 1, 2006.

In accordance with Article VI, Sec. 2 of the MTNA Bylaws, this slate of two candidates per office was prepared by the MTNA Nominating Committee. Members also may submit nominations: MTNA Bylaws, Article VI, Section 3: "Nominations for National ... offices, other than those presented by the Nominating Committee, may be added to the election ballot by petition signed by one hundred Active Members and received at the business offices of the Association no later than three (3) months prior to the scheduled date of the election."

The February/March 2007 issue of American Music Teacher will contain a ballot and voting instructions. Online voting also will be available at that time.

NOMINEES FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT

Benjamin, NCTM, holds a Ph.D. degree from The Ohio State University and a pedagogy and musicianship certificate in Kodaly. He is professor of music at East Tennessee State University, where he teaches aural skills, piano and related courses. His teaching experiences range from first-grade public school music classes to graduate music courses. He maintains a studio of pre-college students. Caton has served as president of his local Music Teachers Association for two biennia; Tennessee state MTA president; Southern Division president, president-elect, secretary and collegiate competitions chair; and a member of the MTNA Board of Directors and Foundation Board of Trustees (2000-2002) and MTNA Secretary/Treasurer (2003-2005). Honors include the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Foundation for the Advancement of Music Award for Excellence, the John Phillip Sousa Award (while playing trombone in high school band) and being named an MTNA FOUNDATION Fellow. His most memorable performance was accompanying the ETSU Men's Ensemble in the Chicago Symphony's Orchestra Hall at the 1999 American Choral Directors Association national convention. His articles have appeared in Clavier, Music Educators Jornal, American Music Teacher and The Tennessee Musician.

"I am so grateful to the many MTNA members who give so much of themselves to their profession, to their students and to MTNA. Our society is indebted to them more than we can ever imagine. It is an honor to be a candidate for this office, and if elected, I promise my very best as MTNA continues to advance the cause of music and music education for the profession, for our students and for the general public. MTNA plays a crucial role in preserving our cultural heritage and leading the profession as we face the demands and challenges of an ever-changing society," he says.

Ann M. NCTM, is associate professor of music and director of piano pedagogy studies at Texas Christian University. She has held faculty positions at Baylor University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Delta State University and the University of Kentucky, teaching applied piano, class piano and piano pedagogy. Gipson holds a bachelor of music degree from Eastern Illinois University and both an M.M. in piano performance and pedagogy and a Ph.D. in music education/piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, she has presented sessions at MTNA national conferences, the National Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum, and various state and local venues. Her articles have appeared in AMT, Clavier, Keyboard Companion and Piano Pedagogy Forum.

Gipson has been an active member of MTNA since joining as a collegiate member in 1978, while attending Eastern Illinois University. She has actively supported collegiate members by serving as faculty advisor of MTNA Collegiate Chapters at Oklahoma Baptist University and Baylor University. As a member of the Oklahoma MTA, she became active at the state level holding offices of president, vice president of membership and certification/president-elect, and vice president of local associations and collegiate chapters. She has held positions in local MTAs and currently serves as a director on the Fort Worth MTA board. Nationally, she was Conference Program chair for both the 2004 and 2005 MTNA National Conferences and currently serves on the task force for Collegiate Certification and as chair of a program sub-committee for the 2007 Conference.

"My participation in MTNA throughout the years has played an important role in enriching my personal life and my professional development. While serving in a variety of local, state, and national leadership positions, I have had the occasion to meet colleagues and develop friendships throughout the country. The association's membership is quite varied and therefore brings many perspectives to the music teaching profession. MTNA's rich history of supporting teaching and enriching the musical, professional, and personal lives of its members continues due to its great respect for the diverse membership and viewpoints of its dedicated professionals. I am proud to be a member of MTNA and am honored to have been nominated to serve MTNA as president-elect. I look forward to the possibility of serving the membership in this most important role," she says.

NOMINEES FOR VICE PRESIDENT

NCTM, is an independent music teacher, active adjudicator, lecturer and church musician. She resides in North Salt Lake, Utah, where she has operated a large studio for more than 35 years. Many of her students have won local, state and national competitions in performance and composition and gone on to become professional musicians and teachers.

Educated at the University of Utah, has performed internationally in Great Britain, Europe and Australia. She has designed music curriculum for both public and private school systems and is currently teaching theory certification classes for her local association. Cheney has provided many years of leadership as a local association president, Utah MTA state president and served on the national advisory committee for the Independent Music Teachers Forum. She was Southwest Division competition coordinator, president-elect and president and recently completed a term on the MTNA Board of Directors, chairing the Independent Music Teachers Forum.

"As a young student teacher, I was encouraged to join MTNA. Since then, my membership has impacted every aspect of my professional life, enhancing my teaching and therefore benefiting my students. My greatest sense of accomplishment comes from the many students who have gone on to become teachers, directly impacting the minds and lives of others. MTNA provides a unique venue where an independent music teacher from North Salt Lake can dialogue with the professor of a distinguished school of music, resulting in an electric exchange of ideas, heightened awareness and treasured camaraderie.

"By working daily, hand to hand with many students, and through the valuable experience gained while serving on the Board of Directors, I understand the needs of the teacher and the benefits MTNA provides:

* Reaching the teacher, bringing forth legitimate benefits to teachers on every level

* Supporting local and state associations

* Promoting professionalism through certification

* Encouraging Student Chapters, the future of the organization

* Recognizing outstanding students and teachers

* Advancing music making in our communities

"Receiving this nomination is the highest achievement of my professional career. The strength of this organization is in its members. It is my personal goal to listen intently, respond with the utmost integrity to your voices and uphold the high standards of our organization," she says.

NCTM, appears both as soloist and collaborative performer throughout the United States and recently performed at the Janacek Academy of Music in Brno, Czech Republic. She holds degrees in piano performance from Kansas State University, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. As professor of music at the University of Missouri-Columbia since 1978, she teaches studio piano, accompanying and piano literature, and she accompanies faculty recitals and serves as coordinator for the keyboard faculty.

Has been selected to lecture for the American Liszt Society, the Missouri MTA and the College Music Society. She has judged performance competitions for MTNA, Missouri MTA, Kansas MTA, MTNA's West Central Division, Kansas City MTA, St. Louis Area MTA and the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs. She serves as executive director for the Missouri State Applied Music Program, a program for high school students to receive credit for applied study with independent teachers in the state.

For many years, Wenger served as official accompanist to the MTNA student competitions in the West Central Division and at the national finals. She has held multiple leadership positions throughout all levels of MTNA, including Missouri MTA secretary and treasurer; and West Central Division Group Piano chair, president-elect and president. Wenger has served as a member of the national board of directors and chair of the Collaborative Performance Forum and the Collaborative Performance Task Force.

"The officers of MTNA on the national level must be responsive to all of the general membership, but especially to the leadership from local, state, and division organizations. With such a long-standing, successful history to build upon, the national board of directors must allocate resources and energy on the national level to activities that promote music teaching while planning for changes in the future," she says.