Developing the independent music studio. (Independent Music Teachers Forum).(Calendar)

Jump-start your attendance at the National Conference in Salt Lake City with Professional Studio Saturday, March 15, 2003. The focus of our sessions this year is how to raise the overall level of our studios. So much of our attention is directed to teaching the individual student--to differences in learning styles and aptitudes--that we occasionally need to focus our attention on things we can and should do to motivate and inspire our studios as a whole.

The morning sessions will be devoted to two different perspectives on achieving growth and development of the independent studio. Both sessions feature panel presentations by nationally known teachers. The first session, "Strategies for Growth and Inspiration," from 9:00 to 10:30 A.M., will focus on the panelists' three different perspectives.

Rosita Kerr Mang will encourage us to reach each student, to motivate, cajole or inspire the commitment and practice needed to really make a difference in each student's musical development. It is Rosita's passionate belief (All Rosita's beliefs are passionate.) that one of the more important factors in developing a fine independent studio is the teacher's ability to connect with each student's motivation on a personal level. She will share with us her thoughts on how we can develop our skills in this area.

Joan M. Reist, NCTM, will focus on ways to organize and promote the group aspect of the studio. We all are becoming increasingly aware of the motivational and inspirational powers of peer interaction in our studios. Joan will bring us her ideas about how to harness more of this potential energy.

As the third panelist, I will approach the question from a structural point of view. I will outline plans of action and organization to put the individual and group motivations in a context where students' achievements over time contribute to the studio's development as an organic, growing whole. There will be time for audience questions and reactions following the panel discussion.

The second morning session, from 10:45 A.M. to 12:00 NOON, "Practice Techniques to Inspire Development of Your Independent Studio," is a presentation by Irene Peery Fox, NCTM, and Scott McBride Smith, NCTM, about studio practice techniques. We have asked and heard the question, "How did you practice that?" How often is the answer a thing of truth, intelligence and beauty? I, for one, am looking forward to what Irene and Scott, who have both achieved outstanding results in their independent studios, will share with us.

After a lunch break, Professional Studio Saturday will reconvene from 1:00 to 2:30 P.M. for "Issues Facing the Professional Independent Studio: Tuition, Studio Policies, Zoning, Legal and Accounting Issues." For anyone who was unable to attend last year's sessions in Cincinnati, this updated session is designed to distill these vital areas of our professional lives. The ability to earn a professional income and have a studio structure compatible with our lives are subjects near and dear to our hearts. We have much to be proud of as a profession, yet a way to go to make our chosen career a truly viable option for the talented teachers we must train and inspire to take our place when (or if) we ...