What Happens in Vegas...

My first ever trip to Las Vegas was a memorable one - most notably for the excitement of being among 2000 music teachers from across the country (and around the world) for the  2015 Music Teachers National Association National Conference. The daily schedule was jam-packed with seminars, workshops, division meetings,  masterclasses, competitions, and performances. Headliners for performances and masterclasses included Ann Schein, Lang Lang, Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galaway, Ann Schein, The Canadian Brass, and Lang Lang. Presenters included well-known musicians, educators, composers, and researchers. 

My favorite experiences included:

1. Observing masterclasses and performances by Ann Schein, Lang Lang, Alan Chow, Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galaway, Ann Schein, The Canadian Brass, and Lang Lang as well as MTNA Distinguished Composer of the Year Christos Tsitsaros.

2. Exploring teaching approaches to topics including musical analysis, applied theory and history,  improvisation technique, sight-reading, and memorization through the following sessions:

• Gathering of the Minds: Whole Musicians Are Greater Than The Sum of Their Parts (Julie Jaffee Nagel)
• Your Brain, Memory, and Performing With Confidence (Lois Svard)
• Musicians Are Athletes Too: Lessons From Sports Psychology (Dr. Patrick Gannon)
• Mindfulness Practice for Musicians (Vanessa Cornett)
• Where Have We Come From and Where Are We Now, Physiologically Speaking (John Chong, MD and Ralph Manchester, MD)
• Harnessing the Power of the Internet: Blogging and Social Media for the Musician (Joy Morin)
• The Art of Balance: Managing and Finding Joy in Your Professional Music Career (Jani Parsons)
• Wheeeere's The Beat? (Mary K Sallee)
• A Conversation with Ann Schein
• Jazz Improvisation: Beginning With The Blues (Ann Schein)
• The Royal Conservatory: Teaching Sight Reading, Improvising, Arranging, and Interpreting in Every Lesson (Forrest Kinney)
• Teaching Skills, Not Pieces (Beth Gigante Klingenstein)
• Elementary Imagination ( Wynn-Anne Rossi)
• The Trio Musicale: Chamber Music for Beginning and Intermediate Pianists (Mary Ann Ranney)

3. Participation in pedagogy tracks: 

• “A Deeper Look Into The Mind Body Connection And What It Has To Do With Music Making"
  
• "Advanced Piano/Teaching Artistry"
• "Young Professionals"

4. Participation in seminars on arts advocacy and state/division meetings.

5. Discovering new musical selections presented by composers and publishers, and new tools in musical technology through the exhibit hall.