Music Teachers National Association

Music Teachers National Association
AbbreviationMTNA
Formation1876; 148 years ago (1876)
FounderTheodore Presser
Founded atDelaware, Ohio
Type501(c)(3) organization
31-1619186
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersCincinnati, Ohio
Membership17,000
CEO
Brian Shepard
President
Peter Mack
Websitehttp://www.mtna.org

Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) is an American nonprofit professional organization for the support, growth, and development of music-teaching professionals, with more than 17,000 members in 50 states, and more than 500 affiliated local and state organizations. MTNA offers a wide range of member resources, from leadership, teaching and personal health support, to insurance, financial and legal services. It also comprises two subsidiaries, the MTNA Professional Certification Program, and the MTNA Foundation Fund, which supports a variety of programs that include music competitions and commissioning of composers. MTNA was founded in 1876, and is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization in Ohio, with headquarters located in Cincinnati.[1]

History

Music Teachers National Association is an American organization founded in 1876 by Theodore Presser, who was both a musician and publisher. MTNA is credited in helping to establish an international pitch scale in 1883 as well as promoting international copyright law and giving official recognition to the American composer.[2] In 1967, MTNA approved the program for qualified teachers. MTNA is also known for commissioning compositions by American composers and presenting the annual Distinguished Composer of the Year Award. The association also holds annual competitions for young musicians at the local, state, and national level.[3] Currently, the organization has approximately 17,000 members, including teachers, performers, and composers, and more than 500 affiliated local and state organizations.

MTNA's purpose is to advance the benefit of studying music and music making to society and to support the professionalism of music teachers. MTNA maintains two subsidiary programs: MTNA Professional Certification Program and the MTNA Foundation Fund. The Professional Certification Program exists to improve the quality of professionalism in applied music teaching and assists the public in identifying proficient music teachers in their communities. The MTNA Foundation Fund supports programs that financially assist teachers and students with educational objectives while supplying an opportunity for individual and corporate support of MTNA and its programs.

Awards and Special Programs

As an association of music teachers, MTNA's mission is to elevate the professional level and develop the standing of all its members. MTNA is responsible for disseminating many publications, including books, journals, and pamphlets that have greatly impacted the profession of teaching music. MTNA also perpetually seeks newly published music and other teaching materials to raise awareness among its members.[4]

The Certification of Teachers

According to MTNA, "The National Certification Plan is one of the highest importance to the professional welfare of the music teacher, and it provides a means of measuring and recognizing his or her professional growth. It represents almost a century of consultation and deliberation on the part of America's musical leaders."[5]

MTNA Forums

The independent music teachers forum of MTNA was the first established in 1972, at the MTNA Convention in Portland, Oregon. After this initial meeting, IMTF organized different committees on the local and state levels. Its purpose was "To investigate the role of the full time independent teacher in American society today: the problems, advantages, and practices of this group, with the goal of establishing a true profession in this decade."[6]

Multiple forums now exist through MTNA. They provide an environment for open discussion and the expression of ideas. These forums meet annually at the MTNA conference.[7] These forums include:

  • Arts Awareness & Advocacy
  • Collaborative Performance
  • College Faculty
  • Collegiate Chapters
  • Independent Teachers
  • Local Associations
  • Wellness[7]

"Distinguished Composer of the Year" Award

First awarded in 1969, the terms of the Distinguished Composer of the Year Award state that an MTNA-affiliated state music teachers association could commission any composer of their choice to compose a work for their state convention. Recording and scores of these works could then be sent to the national headquarters in Cincinnati. From these commissions, one composer is selected each year by a panel of judges to receive the "Distinguished Composer Award," otherwise known as the "Composer of the Year" award.[8]

Previous winners include:

  • Robert McClure (2023)
  • Charles N. Mason (2022)
  • Delvyn Case (2021)
  • Peter Van Zandt Lane (2020)
  • Bret Bohman (2019)
  • Benjamin Krause (2018)
  • Philip Schuessler (2017)
  • David Gompper (2016)
  • David von Kampen (2015)
  • Christos Tsitsaros (2014)
  • Michael-Thomas Foumai (2013)
  • Thomas Osborne (2012)
  • M. Shawn Hundley (2011)
  • Seth Custer (2010)
  • Pierre Jalbert (2009)
  • William Price (2008)
  • John McDonald (2007)
  • David Froom (2006)
  • Michael Djupstrom (2005)
  • Stefan Freund (2004)
  • Liduino Pitombeira (2003)
  • Timothy Hoekman (2002)
  • David Mullikin (2001)
  • Elisenda Fábregas (2000)
  • Laurence Bitensky (1999)
  • Erik Santos (1998)[9]

National Conference

The MTNA National Conference, which is held annually, brings together the constituents of the MTNA membership. National competitions highlights the performances of students in all instrument areas, including composition. The national conferences also include master classes, technology and informational sessions, pedagogy sessions, and evening concerts. Members have the opportunity to participate in the national conference by submitting proposals and papers for presentation.[10]

MTNA National Conferences

National Conference of The Music Teachers National Association[11]
Conference Conference Site Year
1st Delaware, Ohio 1876
2nd Chautauqua, New York 1878
3rd Cincinnati, Ohio 1879
4th Buffalo, New York 1880
5th Albany, New York 1881
6th Chicago, Illinois 1882
7th Providence, Rhode Island 1883
8th Cleveland, Ohio 1884
9th New York, New York 1885
10th Boston, Massachusetts 1886
11th Indianapolis, Indiana 1887
12th Chicago, Illinois 1888
13th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1889
14th Detroit, Michigan 1890
15th Cleveland, Ohio 1892
16th Chicago, Illinois 1893
17th Saratoga Springs, New York 1894
18th St. Louis, Missouri 1895
19th Denver, Colorado 1896
20th New York, New York 1897
21st New York, New York 1898
22nd Cincinnati, Ohio 1899
23rd Des Moines, Iowa 1900
24th Put-in-Bay, Ohio 1901
25th Put-in-Bay, Ohio 1902
26th Asheville, North Carolina 1903
27th St. Louis, Missouri 1904
28th New York, New York 1905
29th Oberlin, Ohio 1906
30th New York, New York 1907
31st Washington, D.C. 1908
32nd Evanston, Illinois 1909
33rd Boston, Massachusetts 1910
34th Ann Arbor, Michigan 1911
35th Poughkeepsie, New York 1912
36th Cincinnati, Ohio 1913
37th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1914
38th Buffalo, New York 1915
39th New York, New York 1916
40th New Orleans, Louisiana 1917
41st St. Louis, Missouri 1918
42nd Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1919
43rd Chicago, Illinois 1920
44th Detroit, Michigan 1921
45th New York, New York 1922
46th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1923
47th St. Louis, Missouri 1924
48th Dayton, Ohio 1925
49th Rochester, New York 1926
50th Minneapolis, Minnesota 1927
51st Cleveland, Ohio 1928
52nd Cleveland, Ohio 1929
53rd St. Louis, Missouri 1930
54th Detroit, Michigan 1931
55th Washington, D.C. 1932
56th Lincoln, Nebraska 1933
57th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1934
58th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1935
59th Chicago, Illinois 1936
60th Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1937
61st Washington, D.C. 1938
62nd Kansas City, Missouri 1939
63rd Cleveland, Ohio 1940
64th Minneapolis, Minnesota 1941
65th Cincinnati, Ohio 1942
66th Cincinnati, Ohio 1944
67th Detroit, Michigan 1945
68th Detroit, Michigan 1946
69th St. Louis, Missouri 1947
70th Boston, Massachusetts 1947
71st Chicago, Illinois 1948
72nd San Francisco, California 1949
73rd Cleveland, Ohio 1950
74th Washington, D.C. 1950
75th Dallas, Texas 1952
76th Cincinnati, Ohio 1953
77th St. Louis, Missouri 1955
78th Chicago, Illinois 1957
79th Kansas City, Missouri 1959
80th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1961
81st Chicago, Illinois 1963
82nd Dallas, Texas 1965
83rd St. Louis, Missouri 1967
84th Cincinnati, Ohio 1969
85th Miami Beach, Florida 1970
86th Chicago, Illinois 1971
88th Portland, Oregon 1972
89th Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1973
90th Los Angeles, California 1974
91st Denver, Colorado 1975
92nd Dallas, Texas 1976
93rd Atlanta, Georgia 1977
94th Chicago, Illinois 1978
95th Seattle, Washington 1979
96th Washington, D.C. 1980
97th Phoenix, Arizona 1981
98th Kansas City, Missouri 1982
99th Houston, Texas 1983
100th Louisville, Kentucky 1984
101st Dearborn, Michigan 1985
102nd Portland, Oregon 1986
103rd New York, New York 1987
104th Salt Lake City, Utah 1988
105th Wichita, Kansas 1989
106th Little Rock, Arkansas 1990
107th Miami, Florida 1991
108th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1992
109th Spokane, Washington 1993
110th Washington, D.C. 1994
111th Albuquerque, New Mexico 1995
112th Kansas City, Missouri 1996
113th Dallas, Texas 1997
114th Nashville, Tennessee 1998
115th Los Angeles, California 1999
116th Minneapolis, Minnesota 2000
117th Washington, D.C. 2001
118th Cincinnati, Ohio 2002
119th Salt Lake City, Utah 2003
120th Kansas City, Missouri 2004
121st Seattle, Washington 2005
122nd Austin, Texas 2006
123rd Toronto, Ontario 2007
124th Denver, Colorado 2008
125th Atlanta, Georgia 2009
126th Albuquerque, New Mexico 2010
127th Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2011
128th New York, New York 2012
129th Anaheim, California 2013[11]
130th Chicago, Illinois 2014
131st Las Vegas, Nevada 2015[10]
132st San Antonio, Texas 2016[10]
133rd Baltimore, Maryland 2017
134th Orlando, Florida 2018
135th Spokane, Washington 2019
136th Chicago, Illinois (virtual) 2020
137th Atlanta, Georgia (virtual) 2021
138th Minneapolis, Minnesota (virtual) 2022
139th Reno, Nevada 2023
140th Atlanta, Georgia 2024
141st Minneapolis, Minnesota 2025

MTNA Presidents

Presidents of The Music Teachers National Association[11]
Name Home State Year(s)
Eben Tourjee Massachusetts 1876
James A. Butterfield Illinois 1878
Rudolf de Roode Kentucky 1879
Fenelon B. Rice Ohio 1880 - 1881
Arthur Mees Ohio 1882
Edward M. Bowman New York 1883 - 1884
Smith N. Penfield New York 1885
Albert A. Stanley Rhode Island 1886
Calixa Lavallee Massachusetts 1887
Max Leckner Indiana 1888
William F. Heath Illinois 1889
Albert Ross Parsons New York 1890
Jacob H. Hahn Michigan 1892
Edward M. Bowman New York 1893 - 1894
N. Coe Stewart New York 1895
Ernest R. Kroeger Missouri 1896
Herbert W. Greene Unknown 1897 - 1898
Max Leckner Indiana 1899
Arnold J. Gantvoort Ohio 1900
Arthur L. Manchester Texas 1901 - 1902
Rosetter G. Cole Illinois 1903
Thomas á Beckett Pennsylvania 1904
Edward M. Bowman New York 1905
Waldo S. Pratt Connecticut 1906 - 1908
Rosetter G. Cole Illinois 1909 - 1910
Peter C. Lutkin Illinois 1911
George C. Gow New York 1912
Charles H. Farnsworth New York 1913 - 1914
J. Lawrence Erb Ohio 1915 - 1917
Charles N. Boyd Pennsylvania 1918 - 1919
Peter C. Lutkin Illinois 1920
Osbourne McConathy Massachusetts 1921
J. Lawrence Erb Ohio 1922
Charles N. Boyd Pennsylvania 1923
Leon N. Maxwell Louisiana 1924 - 1925
Harold L. Butler New York 1926 - 1927
William Arms Fisher Massachusetts 1928 - 1929
Howard Hanson New York 1930
Donald M. Swarthout Kansas 1931 - 1932
Albert Riemenschneider Ohio 1933
Karl W. Gehrkens Ohio 1934
Frederick B. Stiven Illinois 1935
Earl V. Moore Michigan 1936 - 1937
Edwin Hughes New York 1938 - 1939
Warren D. Allen California 1940
Glen Haydon North Carolina 1941 - 1942
James T. Quarles Missouri 1944 - 1946
Russell V. Morgan Russell V. Morgan 1947
Raymond Kendall Michigan 1947 - 1948
Wilfred C. Bain Indiana 1949 - 1950
Roy Underwood Michigan 1950 - 1952
John Crowder Montana 1953
Barrett Stout Louisiana 1955
Karl O. Kuertsteiner Florida 1957
Duane O. Haskell Arkansas 1959
LaVahn Maesch Wisconsin 1961
Duane A. Branigan Illinois 1963
James B. Peterson Nebraska 1965
Willis F. Ducrest Louisiana 1967 - 1969
Celia Mae Bryant Oklahoma 1970 - 1973
Julio Esteban Maryland 1974 - 1975
Nadine Dresskell Arizona 1976 - 1979
Robert V. Sutton Massachusetts 1979 - 1981
Joseph Brye Oregon 1981 - 1983
Frank McGinnis California 1982 - 1985
Sigfred Matson Mississippi 1985 - 1987
Dolores Zupan Missouri 1987 - 1989
Richard Morris Ohio 1989 - 1991
Margaret Lorince South Carolina 1991 - 1993
James C. Norden Wisconsin 1993 - 1995
Ruth Edwards New Hampshire 1995 - 1997
L. Rexford Whiddon Georgia 1997 - 1999
Joan M. Reist Nebraska 1999 - 2001
R. Wayne Gibson Georgia 2001 - 2003
Phyllis I. Pieffer Washington 2003 - 2005
Paul B. Stewart North Carolina 2005 - 2007
Gail Berenson Ohio 2007 - 2009
Ann Gipson Texas 2009 - 2011
Benjamin D. Caton Tennessee 2011 - 2013
Kenneth J. Christensen Montana 2013 - 2015
Rebecca Grooms Johnson Ohio 2015 - 2017
Scott McBride Smith Kansas 2017 - 2019
Martha Hilley Texas 2019 - 2021
Karen Thickstun Indiana 2021 - 2023
Peter Mack Washington 2023 - Present

Divisions

During the Chicago convention of 1948, the MTNA Executive Committee established the divisional organizations. Each state was assigned to a particular division, even though the state in question, at the time, may not have had an organized chapter of the MTNA.[12] The Current Divisions are as follows:

East Central Division

  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Michigan
  • Ohio
  • Wisconsin

Eastern Division

  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • District of Columbia
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia

Northwest Division

  • Alaska
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • Wyoming

South Central Division

  • Arkansas
  • Louisiana
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas

Southern Division

  • Alabama
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Virginia

Southwest Division

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Hawaii
  • Nevada
  • New Mexico
  • Utah

West Central Division

  • Colorado
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • North Dakota
  • South Dakota[13]

State Associations

All fifty states and the District of Columbia have affiliations with MTNA. Forty-nine state (forty-eight states, and the District of Columbia) music teachers associations were established between 1876 and 1969.[14] The final two states to be established were Maine in 1976[15] and Alaska in 1982.[16]

State Affiliates

Music Teachers National Association State Affiliates
State Organization Year Affiliated With MTNA
Alabama AMTA 1953[17]
Alaska AKTA 1982[16]
Arizona ASMTA 1928
Arkansas ASMTA 1920
California CAPMT 1968
Colorado CSMTA 1954
Connecticut CSMTA 1965
Delaware DSMTA 1960
District of Columbia WMTA 1954
Florida FSMTA 1953
Georgia GMTA 1955
Hawaii HMTA 1969
Idaho IMTA 1957
Illinois ISMTA 1886
Indiana IMTA 1951
Iowa IMTA 1885
Kansas KMTA 1921
Kentucky KMTA 1953
Louisiana LMTA 1953[18]
Maine MMTA 1976[15]
Maryland MSMTA 1957
Massachusetts MMTA 1960
Michigan MMTA 1885
Minnesota MMTA 1921
Mississippi MMTA 1955
Missouri MMTA 1895
Montana MSMTA 1927
Nebraska NMTA 1953
Nevada NMTA 1967
New Hampshire NHMTA 1968
New Jersey NJMTA 1961
New Mexico NMMTA 1951
New York NYSMTA 1963
North Carolina NCMTA 1960
North Dakota NDSMTA 1957
Ohio OMTA 1879
Oklahoma OMTA 1952
Oregon OMTA 1915
Pennsylvania PMTA 1953
Rhode Island RIMTA 1963
South Carolina SCMTA 1961
South Dakota SDMTA 1955
Tennessee TMTA 1953
Texas TMTA 1952
Utah UMTA 1957
Vermont VMTA 1965
Virginia VMTA 1965
Washington WSMTA 1915
West Virginia WVMTA 1966
Wisconsin WMTA 1951
Wyoming WMTA 1963[19]

References

  1. ^ "Home". www.mtna.org.
  2. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 12-13
  3. ^ Rita H. Mead “Music Teachers National Association.” In Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2007-2013 – Accessed September 20, 2013. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/19451
  4. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association," 1976, 156.
  5. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 161.
  6. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 166.
  7. ^ a b "MTNA Forums". Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  8. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 167.
  9. ^ "Distinguished Composer of the Year Award". Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  10. ^ a b c "National Conferences". Archived from the original on 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  11. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 94.
  13. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 103.
  14. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 106.
  15. ^ a b "Under Construction". me.mtna.org.
  16. ^ a b "Under Construction". ak.mtna.org.
  17. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 101.
  18. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 102.
  19. ^ Ulrich, "A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association." 1976, 102-103.