Music is CENTRAL!
June 27-29, 2026
Susan Chan • Mengyiyi Chen • Rose Freeman, NCTM • Jody Graves, NCTM • Eleanor Gummer • Leann Osterkamp He • Meg Krieg, NCTM • Stephen Lewis, NCTM • Szu-Chia Lin • Christina Liu, NCTM • Roger McVey, NCTM • Kira Miller, NCTM • Marina Munter, NCTM • Jan Rowen Music, NCTM • Dilyara Oliver • Greg Presley, NCTM • Melody Puller • Representation and Advocacy Committee • Karen Scholten • Anna Schultz • Sarah Silvia, NCTM • Jeff Snedeker • Rhonda Snook • RoseMarie Tamburri • Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM • Ryan Worswick • Chiao-Yu Wu
Susan Chan
Celebrated pianist and educator Susan Chan offers revelatory performances of “tremendous musicianship and technical mastery.” (Fanfare Magazine) She holds a DM degree from Indiana University, serves as Professor of Music at Portland State University, and has performed, taught and presented internationally. Her CDs include Echoes of China: Contemporary Piano Music (Naxos).
Scenes from a Jade Window: A Multimedia Lecture-Recital of New Teaching and Performing Pieces by Major Contemporary Chinese Composers
In this lecture-recital several new teaching and performing piano pieces written by internationally renowned Chinese composers between 2009 and 2018 are introduced and performed. These composers are namely Zhang Zhao, Alexina Louie, Lei Liang and Tan Dun. Some of these compelling, diverse and deeply expressive pieces works drew inspiration from Chinese folk music, instruments, poetry and philosophy, while others are results of interdisciplinary projects with oceanographers and film makers, as well as response to requests for pedagogy pieces valuable for students. This music provides a window through which one can experience the works of some of today’s finest Chinese composers.
Mengyiyi Chen
Dr. Mengyiyi Chen is a pianist and educator holding a DMA in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas and an MM from the Manhattan School of Music. Her debut album, Mel Bonis: Piano Solo Volume 1 (Toccata Label), received high praise from major music magazines.
Shades of Childhood: The Poetic World of Mel Bonis’ s Scènes enfantines
By analyzing this set of piano miniatures, Dr. Chen reveals the childhood scenes depicted in Bonis’ Scènes enfantines, offering late beginner and early intermediate pianists new insights into expression and musical storytelling, while providing teachers practical approaches for guiding students in practice and performance.
Rose Freeman, NCTM
Rose Freeman delights in the timeless art of music as a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, WSMTA Certification Chair, and pianist of “The Musical Mountaineers.” It’s her joy to organize collaborative music concerts in her community and teach students from her “Alpine Acoustics” studio in Bothell.
MTNA Certificaton Toolbox
How can MTNA Certification contribute to your success as a professional independent music teacher? Join Rose and your colleagues to learn about the 5 Teacher Profile Projects and renewal process. If you are considering Certification, or have already started your projects, come to create a Toolbox of support at this interactive workshop.
Jody Graves, NCTM
Dr. Jody Graves is a distinguished solo and chamber concert artist, teacher of piano and public speaker. She has performed concerts across the globe, is the pianist with the acclaimed Sapphire Trio, and has served as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. state department. She is the Director of Music at EWU.
Make the Art of Your Work…A Work of Art
Often the passion for what we love to do as artists becomes simply a matter of “working to stop working” or even a routine that becomes “automatic”. This is not a session about asking you to ‘do more’ but is designed to interact, toss around some ideas, and come away with some specific tools to advance our shared joy as teachers and performers of music. We need to refresh our relevance! The more time we spend filling our “well”, the more we have to give when we work with the people in our lives – and everyday unfolds as a work of art!
Eleanor Gummer
Eleanor conducts research and edits music by women composers, expanding the canon through teaching and publications. In addition to teaching, she curates and authors methods for piano, guitar, and violin.
The Historical Status of Women in Music
Historically, women were expected to learn to play instruments along with basic music concepts, but were seen as emotional rather than intellectual, unable to produce works of any merit and faced major barriers to publishing under their own names. Opportunities often depended on family support—particularly if they came from musical households or had encouraging husbands—allowing limited success within social constraints. Eleanor Gummer will present her research on the lives, challenges, successes of women and their compositions through the last 300 years —revealing a wealth of music that enriches both performance and teaching, extending far beyond the customary canon.
Meet Clara Schumann: Romantic Trailblazer (with Sarah Silvia)
Meet Clara Schumann (aka Sarah Silvia) and Frau Freulich, a journalist from Dusseldorf, Germany (aka Eleanor Gummer). Hear about her childhood and her scandalous courtship with composer Robert Schumann. Clara will reveal her innovative recital programming formula and her gender-defying career.
As Frau Schumann faced Robert’s illness, she grappled with budgeting, mothering seven children and performing to make ends meet. Johannes Brahms became a devotee of the Schumann family, involved in Clara’s life, assisting with family matters and supplying emotional support. Uncover the emotional cost and consequences of her early widowhood, large family and consequent professional commitments.
Leann Osterkamp He
Steinway Artist, Dr. Leann Osterkamp He, is a highly sought after vocal/chamber coach and collaborator, having collaborated internationally with artists such as William Bolcom, Bright Sheng, Steve Blier, Amy Burton, Julia Choi, and Miki Sasaki. The NY Times has described her as bringing “descriptive color” to her collaborations and the LA Times labeled her as a “strong” collaborator with “the desired flashiness.”
The Art of Subtraction: Accompanying at the Highest Level
Collaborative artistry requires a multi-disciplinary approach of being able to orchestrate, transcribe, reduce, and “re-compose” a score to educate young musicians, create artistry and maximize efficiency in rehearsal with other professionals, and accurately and musically realize a performance of a work. Drawing on years of professional collaborative work, Dr. He will show examples of how playing less and/or reimagining the score is crucial in concerto accompaniment, vocal accompaniment, competition accompaniment, and more.
Meg Krieg, NCTM
Meg Krieg graduated from Whitworth University with a Bachelor’s degree in Music and an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy. While at Whitworth, Meg studied piano with Judith Schoepflin and organ with Michael Young. Upon receiving her degree, Meg studied organ with Werner Schumacher at the Konstanzer Kirche in Ditzingen, Germany. She received further training in organ with Monte Maxwell at the Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, MD, and with Frederick Frahm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bellingham. Meg serves Spring Creek Bible Church as a pianist in addition to directing choir and orchestra.
From Hymns to Harmonies: The Creative Art of Worship Through Music (with Karen Scholten)
As church pianists there are many opportunities to use creative hymn-playing techniques for congregational singing. The life of a church pianist can vary from week to week and season to season: you may be called upon to improvise background or transitional music or compose parts for vocalists and instrumentalists all in a limited time frame. Creating well-crafted accompaniments can be challenging, but you can learn to be a more unique and artistic accompanist, thereby serving your congregation in a more meaningful way.
Stephen Lewis, NCTM
Dr. Stephen Lewis is a music teacher, concert pianist, composer, and conductor living in Portland, Oregon. He gives presentations to music teachers frequently throughout Oregon and adjudicates state and district festivals. He performs solo recitals and with area performing groups frequently. He is passionate about creativity and sharing his knowledge.
The Mighty Wrist: Mastering the Motions of the Wrist for Optimal Piano Technique
This talk is an in-depth look at the wrist, wrist motions involved in piano playing (lateral, up-down, elliptical, rotational, drawer, and stationary) and how they help various techniques and textures we often teach or play. Dr. Lewis will explore how and why these motions are so crucial to piano playing, and provide knowledge and flexibility to improve teaching, practicing, and performing on the piano. This talk also includes a brief historical overview of how piano technique evolved from harpsichord technique, particularly how the wrist plays a more crucial role in finger relaxation and arm weight in piano technique.
Szu-Chia Lin
Szu-Chia Lin, born in Taipei, Taiwan, is a pianist, collaborative pianist, and educator. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, North America, and Taiwan. Lin holds a DMA from the University of Kansas, a Master’s from Boston University, and a Bachelor’s from the University of Taipei.
Notes Across Time: Selected Taiwanese Children’s Piano Works and Musical Identity
Taiwan’s twentieth-century piano repertoire for children reflects a dynamic interplay of cultural, political, and educational influences. Focusing on composers born between 1895 and 1950, this study traces Western roots in children’s piano pedagogy, including Enlightenment ideas and Friedrich Wieck’s contributions, and explores their impact on Taiwanese teaching and composition. Using Taiwan as a case study, it highlights how local culture and historical circumstances shaped Western pedagogical trends, showing through selected works by composers such as Chen Mao-Shuen and Lai Deh-Ho how children’s music embodies both evolving educational practices and broader cultural transformations.
Christina Liu
Dr. Christina Liu, NCTM is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Department at Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, teaching music history, music theory, piano pedagogy, class piano, and applied piano lessons. A passionate educator, she is also active as a soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician.
Playing to Personalities: Enhancing Learning Using Bartle’s Player Types
Much attention has been applied to determining a student’s learning style using systems such as Keith Golay’s Learning Patterns or VARK learning styles, but these systems primarily categorize cognitive preference. Bartle’s Player Types, developed by Richard Bartle in 1996, focuses on intrinsic motivations and preferences instead and can be adapted to enhance a student’s learning experience. Today’s students face unprecedented levels of distractions due to the pervasive presence of digital devices and social media – leveraging Bartle’s Player Types allows teachers to design lessons that resonate with students’ intrinsic motivations, helping to sustain interest and commitment.
Roger McVey, NCTM
Roger McVey has performed throughout the U.S., in Europe, Asia, Mexico, and New Zealand. He is Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard Studies at the University of Idaho. Dr. McVey regularly adjudicates for the Washington State Music Teachers Association and is a board member of the Idaho Music Teachers Association.
The Forbidden Pleasures of Playing, Teaching, and Creating Transcriptions
Once looked down upon as frivolous or ‘less serious repertoire’, transcriptions are actually fun, appealing, and useful in developing artistry at any level. Historically, piano transcriptions were created by pianists such as Franz Liszt either as appealing concert pieces based on popular tunes, or else to promote other composers’ works that were deserving of attention. This presentation will explore the challenges of teaching and playing transcriptions. Dr. McVey will play examples from the (vast) repertoire, and discuss his own experience of creating transcriptions from rock, pop, and video game music.
Marina Munter, NCTM with Kira Miller, NCTM and Rhonda Snook
Marina Munter, NCTM, received her bachelor’s degree in choral conducting from Smolensk Music College, Russia and a master’s degree in piano pedagogy from Central Washington University. Marina currently holds the position of WSMTA District V Director and Moses Lake chapter’s MAP co-chair. Marina maintains her music studio, where she is teaching piano lessons to her 90 students.
Kira Miller, NCTM, earned her bachelor’s degree in music history and literature from Western Washington University. While at WWU, she participated in Collegium Musicum, which toured Europe, including Italy and Hungary. Kira is an active member of Music Teachers National Association and currently holds the position of WSMTA President and Vice President for the Grays Harbor Music Teachers Association. Kira moved to Montesano in 2021 where she works for the County and continues teaching and accompanying, including for the Grays Harbor Opera Workshop.
Rhonda Snook is an active member of the Moses Lake-Central Basin chapter and serves as the chapter’s secretary. She received her music degree (vocal emphasis) from the University of Washington. Rhonda teaches vocal and piano lessons in her Moses Lake music studio.
Taking Back Your Power and Finding Strength Within
Trauma can look different for everyone, but people in abusive relationships often may suffer from issues of self-esteem, identity crisis and anxiety.
Kira Miller, NCTM, Rhonda Snook and Marina Munter, NCTM, will share their personal experiences in rediscovering their identity outside the abusive relationship, rebuilding self-esteem, managing the intense stress and using their expertise with music as a powerful tool for personal healing and coping.
Jan Rowen Music, NCTM
Jan teaches piano and piano improvisation in Olympia Wa. She uses her love of improvisation to compose and arrange music for her students and others. She incorporates the Dalcroze philosophy to teach rhythmic concepts to students.
Rhythmic Concepts and Movement
This session will deal with ways to incorporate the musician’s whole body into the music being played, or sung. I will demonstrate ways to teach basic pulse, meter and rhythms, and movement to music that teachers can use in their studios. It will be an interactive session where the attendees will be free to move about the room and experience pulse, beat, rhythms.
Dilyara Oliver
Dilyara Oliver is a pianist and educator trained in the Taubman Approach through study with Brenna Berman, Golandsky Institute faculty. She holds degrees from the Kazakh National Conservatory and the University of New Orleans and has served on the faculty of Loyola University New Orleans.
Healthy Piano Technique: An Introduction to the Taubman Approach
This presentation offers an introduction to the Taubman Approach and explores how its principles support healthy, efficient, and effective piano teaching. Dorothy Taubman’s work is centered on understanding body mechanics and how the fingers, hand, and forearm function as a coordinated unit. By emphasizing natural alignment and coordinated movement, teachers can help students reduce tension, develop reliable technique, and play with greater ease and control.
Greg Presley, NCTM
Greg Presley, a graduate of Yale and Juilliard, teaches at Gonzaga University and has presented many times at WSMTA and other conferences. He’s an active performer (Spokane Symphony and others) and collaborative pianist(cellist Zuill Bailey and others ) as well as a piano teacher.
Training the Tactile Sense at the Piano
A tactile awareness of the keyboard (rather than a visual awareness) is essential for proficient sightreading, for speed, for accuracy, for technical ease and facility, and to solve thorny problems of jumps and passage work. In addition, sensitivity in this area also greatly affects tone and balance.
Melody Puller
Melody Puller grew up in the Inland Northwest, cultivating a love for music through study at North Idaho College and the University of Idaho, where she studied with Professor Jay Mauchley. She lived for a time in Burlington, Vermont, where she had the opportunity to study the Debussy Preludes with Elaine Greenfield, who served as her musical mentor for many years. She returned to the Northwest to be near her family and has served as Head of the Piano Department at the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint since 2017.
Opening the Door to Student Imagination Through the Debussy Preludes
Melody Puller will discuss the benefits of teaching Debussy to develop student awareness of musical imagination, nuance, and creativity by showing how the music unlocks possibilities to build touches, pedal techniques, and sensibilities.
Representation and Advocacy Committee
The WSMTA Representation and Advocacy Committee meets regularly. Their ongoing discussions explore issues of access to music study and diverse repertoire for all types of students and for all types of teachers. They also seek to identify structures and practices at the local and state level that may (even inadvertently) help maintain inequity, and develop strategies to support each other in addressing them.
Travel the World through Music
Welcome to our inaugural voyage! We’ll be traveling around the world through music, sampling local sounds and inspiration. Our trip will start from home with a Washingtonian composer, then continue on to visit China. Picture yourself walking along the Great Wall of China while we hear local music, new and ancient. Next, we simply must visit Egypt! The iconic pyramids belong on everyone’s bucket list. Our musical travels will encompass the British Isles, and more besides! If you have music you’d like to share with us, we’ll save some time for additional compositional destinations!
Karen Scholten
Karen Scholten studied piano with Martha Helder and organ with Claire V.G. Thomas. She attended Seattle Pacific. Karen was hired as an organist at the Laurel Community Baptist church and went on later to be hired as their music director of adult and kids choirs, also playing for the congregational singing each Sunday morning. She enjoys playing worship music with her husband at church, for a men’s gospel quartet for 25 years, for weddings, choirs, fundraisers and various community events.
From Hymns to Harmonies: The Creative Art of Worship Through Music (with Meg Krieg)
As church pianists there are many opportunities to use creative hymn-playing techniques for congregational singing. The life of a church pianist can vary from week to week and season to season: you may be called upon to improvise background or transitional music or compose parts for vocalists and instrumentalists all in a limited time frame. Creating well-crafted accompaniments can be challenging, but you can learn to be a more unique and artistic accompanist, thereby serving your congregation in a more meaningful way.
Anna Schultz
Anna Schultz is a music educator with a Master’s degree in Pedagogy, a piano teacher, and the author of Music and Piano Camp Curriculum. With over 10 years of teaching experience, she uses a variety of methods and especially enjoys incorporating Montessori-inspired approaches. These methods support young learners, students with ADHD, and group classes by helping students learn and retain material more effectively.
Applying Montessori Methods to teach students with ADHD, Disabilities, and preschool age
Participants will learn the core principles of the Montessori method and why it is so effective for young learners and students with ADHD and disabilities. The presentation will demonstrate the learning process using Montessori teaching tools, tactile activities, and hands-on games that naturally support focus and attention. Attendees will also explore strategies that help students remember musical concepts more easily through movement, repetition, and sensory engagement.
Sarah Silvia, NCTM
Silvia is a piano teacher focusing on music literacy and expressive playing. For the last 18 years she has been a living history interpreter with the Washington Civil War Association, committed to recreating the past and educating the public about the time. She can always be found at the evening dances.
Meet Clara Schumann: Romantic Trailblazer (with Eleanor Gummer)
Meet Clara Schumann (aka Sarah Silvia) and Frau Freulich, a journalist from Dusseldorf, Germany (aka Eleanor Gummer). Hear about her childhood and her scandalous courtship with composer Robert Schumann. Clara will reveal her innovative recital programming formula and her gender-defying career.
As Frau Schumann faced Robert’s illness, she grappled with budgeting, mothering seven children and performing to make ends meet. Johannes Brahms became a devotee of the Schumann family, involved in Clara’s life, assisting with family matters and supplying emotional support. Uncover the emotional cost and consequences of her early widowhood, large family and consequent professional commitments.
Jeff Snedeker
Dr. Jeffrey Snedeker has taught French horn, brass teaching methods, and music history at CWU since 1991. He has performed and presented on five continents, and published three books, over 50 articles, and five CD recordings. His students have competed in MTNA competitions, including the 2025 National Senior Brass winner.
Improvisation Games: Expanding Comfort Zones for Students and Teachers
Over the past ten years, I have developed a curriculum for improvisation for my applied students in studio classes and lessons. Using a variety of methods and materials, including Jeffrey Agrell’s improvisation games, jazz playalongs, and a variety of purposeful activities and learning strategies, my students have made important musical strides that have affected their futures as performers and teachers. In this presentation, I will share the details of my improvisation curriculum, including the materials used and their sequencing, as well as ways of adapting these ideas to all levels of private and group settings, encouraging discussion among participants regarding their own experiences with improvisation.
RoseMarie Tamburri
For RoseMarie, music is a vehicle for connection. Her main teaching goal is to help students build a lifelong love of music. RoseMarie holds a Bachelor of Music degree (Cornish College), and a Training Specialist Certificate (University of Washington). She is an active member of WSMTA (Seattle Chapter).
Improvise…With Words!
Writing can be therapeutic, self-searching, or just plain fun. In this session, our instrument will be the Pen (or device). We will: Do a free-style riff on music; create a 5-minute autobiography; and write a letter to your “future” self. The goal is to express yourself through the written word. The insights you gain may help you set music goals for yourself and your students; and if you are in the process of attaining your NCTM credential, this exercise will help clarify your philosophy of teaching. (There will be treats!)
Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM
Dr. Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM, holds degrees from Escuela Superior de Música (Mexico City), Indiana University, and the University of Colorado. An active teacher and performer, as well as an avid and experienced presenter on many topics, he currently teaches in Tacoma.
Essential Elements of Music Analysis as a Resource in the Studio
Having a basic understanding of how a piece is put together would seem like a necessary step to deliver a convincing performance, yet students’ grasp of this knowledge is often less than complete.
Focusing on simple elements of formal analysis and common harmonic progressions, the aim of this lecture is to provide some tools to help students determine the form of a piece, understand the elements that make it hold together and how this knowledge can help them learn and memorize it.
Topics include mapping out a piece, drawing a formal diagram, and identifying common harmonic procedures and keyboard textures.
C. R. Ryan Worswick
Seattle, WA native and dedicated teacher of music and math, C.R. Ryan Worswick has been deeply involved in helping the teachers of Washington State build out their technological capacities in the face of the challenges of the last five years, serving for two years as the state tech chair/advisor, and continuing to this day as ad-hoc tech support for conferences and more.
Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Music Online
This is a Zoom focused presentation that will cover the basics of establishing your online studio, from digital settings, through equipment, student setup, and the staging of the physical side of your efforts so that your teaching style is unlocked online. Time permitting we will also cover basic considerations of recitals, group classes, and duets online.
Chiao-Yu Wu
Taiwanese pianist Chiao-Yu is a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, studying with Robin McCabe. She has served as a piano instructor at New York University and UW, was a Teaching Excellence Award finalist in 2023 and 2025, and actively performs and collaborates throughout the Seattle area.
Evocation of Childhood in Piano Music, Painting and Poetry
Childhood has long served as a powerful motif across the arts, commonly associated with innocence, imagination, and nostalgia, but also with loss and melancholy. Composers such as Schumann, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, and Glière evoked childhood not to compose for children, but to reflect on their past as adults. Similarly, painters including Renoir, Murillo, and Picasso, and poets such as Wordsworth, used childhood to explore memory, intimacy, and empathy. This research examines how childhood functions as an aesthetic strategy across artistic disciplines.
2026 WSMTA CONFERENCE FACILITIES PROVIDED BY:
2026 WSMTA CONFERENCE SUPPORTED BY:
WSMTA Teacher Enrichment Fund
