Presidents Message;
I hope you have had a great start to the 2015-16 school year. It is always an exciting, busy time. Your efforts to give your students the best musical experience possible will be appreciated by the students and their families. Letʼs keep the excitement all year by supporting each other, and taking part in the many opportunities provided by our organization and other arts organizations in Michigan. I urge classroom and studio teachers to stay involved by using the workshops and festivals provided by MASTA to motivate students and help them expand their musical knowledge outside the classroom. Working together, networking and being involved will make your program stronger.
Behind the scenes we always have people working to offer these opportunities. We have two individuals leaving the Michigan Youth Arts position. I would like to thank Linda and Peter Tolias for all their hard work. We welcome Richard Piippo who will be joining us to take over that position. I am very excited and look forward to working with Richard. We are currently filling the studio teacher position as Dana Duncan is moving out of state. We wish her well. The rest of the board has worked hard all year and will continue do so on your behalf. If you ever have any questions/concerns please feel free to contact anyone on the board. We are all here to support you and will help whenever we can. If you are not active in the organization and would like to help out please let us know. Many hands make light work.
We are working on getting out the nomination forms for the MASTA Studio Teacher of the Year Award. Please participate in this process. Nominate and vote when the ballets are out. There are many worthy teachers and we should honor these individuals at every opportunity.
There are two conferences that I hope you consider attending this year. The Michigan Music Conference will take place January 21st-23rd in Grand Rapids. It is a great time to learn, network and socialize. The MASTA headliner will be Richard Meyer. Look for the registration at www.MichiganMusicConference.org. Our ASTA National Conference will be held in Tampa Bay, Florida on March 2nd-5th. The American String Teacher, Back- to- School Issue features a great preview of this amazing string conference. Take part in these professional development opportunities to learn from leaders in our field and recharge your batteries to keep the enthusiasm going all year long.
Have your best year yet!!
Tim Staudacher
MASTA President