Please click on the District Conference you are interested in:
- District I Conference in MARYSVILLE on October 18, 2025
- District III Conference in TACOMA on October 11, 2025
- District V Conference in MOSES LAKE on October 4, 2025
- District VII Conference in SPOKANE on October 18, 2025
Did you know that some chapters offer members grants to attend district, state, and even national conferences? Check with your chapter to find out if they offer conference fee grants.
DISTRICT I CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 18, 2025
9:30 am to 2:30 pm
Registration is available at the door.
Marysville United Methodist Church, Marysville
Explorations in Artistry: Color, Texture, Nuance, Pedaling
Presenters:
Dr. Kay Zavislak, NCTM
Dr. Michelle Huang, NCTM
Dr. Yoon-Wha Roh, NCTM
WSMTA/MTNA Members and non-members:
• register after October 11: $60
Students: $30
Schedule:
9:30 am – 10:00 am: Check-in and socializing/coffee/tea
10:00 – 11:00 am: Dr. Kay Zavislak presents “When is Stealing OK? Some thought on Rubato”
11:00 am – 11:15 am: Break
11:15 am – 12:15 pm: Dr. Michelle Huang presents “Decoding the Mystery of Pedalling”
12:15 – 1:15 pm: Lunch (provided with registrations made by October 11)
1:15 – 2:15 pm: Dr. Yoon-Wha Roh presents “Sound & Color Palettes Through the Lens of Scriabin’s 24 Preludes”
2:15 – 2:30 pm: Wrap-up and Q&A
Dr. Michelle Huang, NCTM
A native of Taiwan, pianist Michelle Huang enjoys a rewarding career as a dynamic soloist and chamber musician. She is equally at home performing music ranging from the esteemed masters to the novel voices. Since moving to Seattle in 2021, she has collaborated with musicians from the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, and Seattle Pro Musica to curate and present innovative programs. She is happiest when playing concerts that allow her to storytell, to make connections, and to create an expansive and imaginative listening experience for the audience.
She has appeared as a guest artist across the continents, giving concerts, lectures, workshops, and master classes. As a devoted educator, she held teaching positions at Lincoln Memorial University, Edward Waters College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. In addition to collegiate teaching, she maintains a vibrant private teaching studio in Seattle, where she works with a group of piano students with immense
talent.
She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Master of Music from the University of Tennessee, and Doctor of Music from Florida State University. Her mentors include Barbara Rowan, David Northington, and Read Gainsford.
Dr. Yoon-Wha Roh, NCTM
Acclaimed as “a pianist who lets her piano work do the talking, transporting her audience not only to a clearly defined place but also into a colorful adventure” (Hyde Park Herald), Yoon-Wha Roh has been acknowledged for her versatile and sophisticated performances. Roh has appeared as a celebrated soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, New Jersey Garden State Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, Sungnam Philharmonic Orchestra, and New York Classical Symphony Orchestra. Roh has been featured on WFMT and KPBX radio stations and Korean monthly music magazines, Eumak Journal and The Piano, for her performances and interviews.
Roh has won awards and prizes from London International Music Competition, Clara Schumann International Competition, Manhattan International Music Competition, National Artist Competition, American Prize, International Moscow Music Competition, Carles and Sofia Piano Competition, Piano Texas Concerto Competition, and Hakata Fukuoka International Piano Competition among others.
Notable performances have been presented at the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center Bruno Walter Auditorium, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Seoul Arts Center, Aspen Harris Concert Hall, New York Steinway Hall, and Jordan Hall. Her international appearances include performances in Prague, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Germany and South Korea.
Roh is also active as a clinician and competition judge. She has served as a competition judge for Manhattan International Music Concours, East Coast International Competition, and New York International Music Concours among others. Roh currently teaches at Washington State University as Assistant Professor of Piano.
Dr. Kay Zavislak, NCTM
American pianist Kay Zavislak enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, and clinician. She holds degrees Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. As a performer, Dr. Zavislak has given solo and chamber concerts regionally and nationally, in addition to public performances in Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and Japan. In collaboration with flutist Leonard Garrison and saxophonist Bill Perconti, Dr. Zavislak has also recorded two commercial CDs for Centaur Records. Before joining her family in Bellingham WA in 2013, she was an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music, and is currently on the piano faculty at Western Washington University. She is in high demand for her performance-practices themed workshops and frequently invited to adjudicate regional festivals and competitions. Dr. Zavislak is a co-artistic-partner for Bellingham House Concert Series and she delights in performing as a member of Duo Cascadia with Dr. Jensina Oliver. Dr. Zavislak studied piano under the guidance of Arthur Greene, Logan Skelton, Yoshie Kora, and Miyoko Hamamoto, harpsichord with Edward Parmentier, and organ with Marilyn Mason.
DISTRICT III CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 11, 2025
9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Mary Baker Russell Recital Hall
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma
Presenter: Dr. Emely Phelps
Schedule:
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Coffee
10:00 – 11:00 am
Presentation: “Resonant Voices: Raising up piano works by women composers”
11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Lecture Recital: Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Preludes for Piano and American musical legacy12:15 – 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm – Masterclass
REGISTRATION (coffee and lunch included if registration received by October 3. After October 3, registration fee will not include lunch.):
WSMTA/MTNA Members: $40
Non-members: $45
Students: $10
Emely Phelps, pianist
Praised by the Boston Globe for her “fleet, energetic, and bright-toned” playing, pianist Emely Phelps enjoys a versatile career as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher and currently serves as Limited-Term Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Georgia. Second prize winner of the 2023 Ernst Bacon Prize for American Music, she has given more than 50 performances over the past two years, with recent highlights including chamber music performances with A Far Cry and the Cassatt Quartet, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Ohio University Wind Symphony, duo recitals with violinist Christine Harada Li, flutist Jeiran Hasan, and trombonist Lucas Borges, and the start of her first solo album featuring a survey of American piano music. Emely appears on the albums Unbounded with violinist Dawn Wohn, and Discovering her Voice with flutist Hannah Porter Occeña, both featuring duos by female composers, performs regularly with Electric Earth Concerts, and has been on the faculty of the T-Town Chamber Music Festival, Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, Anchorage Chamber Music Festival and Yellow Barn Young Artists Program. She was a founding member of Trio Cleonice, with whom she spent eight years performing across the United States, Europe, and China, and previously served as Associate Piano of Instruction in Piano at Ohio University.
DISTRICT V CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 4, 2025
9:30 am to 2:30 pm
Immanuel Lutheran Church
1020 S. A Street, Moses Lake, WA
Presenter: Dr. Peter Mack, NCTM
Schedule:
9:30 am – Social Time
10:00 am – “Not Only Fur Elise: Gorgeous Unknown Compositions by Well-Known Composers”
11:30 – Lunch
1:00 pm – “The Art of Competition: Being Ready To Win”
2:15 – 2:30 – Q&A
REGISTRATION before September 27, 2025:
$40 for non-members
$35 for WSMTA members
$10 for students
* After September 27, 2025, each registration fee will increase by $5.
Presentation Descriptions
“Not Only Fur Elise: Gorgeous Unknown Compositions by Well-Known Composers”
Everyone is familiar with “Für Elise”, and rightly so. However, in this lecture we will explore pieces (all by well-known major composers, most of them of mid-level difficulty) that are equally amazing, but far less familiar.
Sections from over forty works are performed, and there is an extensive handout in which the difficulty for each piece is assessed, along with its publishing information.
“The Art of the Competition: Being Ready to Win”
It seems that Competitions are everywhere these days. In this talk, Peter Mack reveals how he prepares his students to enter competitions, and what to do to give them the best chance at winning. He gives his ideas about repertoire – which composes to choose and which to avoid, timelines for preparation, and which students are best in which areas. Dr. Mack even covers things like performance attire, and psychological preparedness. He also talks about why he finds Competitions incredibly valuable, and how they are one of the main motivating forces in his studio.
DISTRICT VII CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 18, 2025
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Music City Spokane
1322 N. Monroe, Spokane, WA
Presenter: Dr. Curtis Pavey
Schedule:
10:00 – 10:30 am
Coffee/Social Time and Music Shopping
10:30 am – 12:00 noon
“Nurturing Improvisers: Fostering Creativity in Private Lessons”
12 noon – 12:45 pm
Lunch (an assortment of sandwiches will be available for all participants)
12:45 – 1 :45 pm
“Unlocking Baroque Artistry: Embracing the Past in the Present”
1:45 – 2:00 pm
Q&A Session
REGISTRATION before and at the door:
$40 for teachers
$20 for students
DISTRICT II CONFERENCE
The next District II Conference will be in the 2026-2027 academic year.
DISTRICT IV CONFERENCE
The next District IV Conference will be in the 2026-2027 academic year.
DISTRICT VI CONFERENCE
The next District VI Conference will be in the 2026-2027 academic year.