Foundation Fund: 2007 MTNA Foundation Fellows.(Association News)(List)

Editor's Note: This list is the first half of the 2007 MTNA FOUNDATION Fellows. The second half will be published in the October/November 2007 AMT.

The MTNA FOUNDATION FUND Fellow Program honors deserving individuals who have made significant contributions to the music world and the music teaching profession. In its eighth year, this program supports the efforts of MTNA through donations to the MTNA FOUNDATION FUND in an individual's name.

Gail Berenson is professor of piano and chair of the keyboard division at Ohio University, Athens, where she was awarded the "Distinguished Teacher of the Year" Award for 2000. She is currently MTNA president. Berenson's association with MTNA began in 1968. Since that time, she has been active on local, state and national levels, serving in a variety of offices and on a number of committees. Holding degrees from Northwestern University, Berenson has performed and lectured in more than 25 states, as well as Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel and Canada. She is a noted expert on musician wellness issues.

Tinka Knopf de Esteban, MTNA member since 1991, was formerly a member of the piano faculty and associate dean at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. She has served MTNA as president of the Eastern Division and national vice president. She has two publications, A Graded List of Suggested Repertoire for the Preparatory Levels and Liszt: Technical Exercises, Abridged and Annotated for the Young Pianist, and is the author and editor of the Piano Curriculum Guide and its accompanying material. Currently, Knopf serves as a pedagogical consultant to the Conservatori Professional de Music I Dansa de les Illes Baleares.

Susan Duehlmeier is a listed Steinway Artist who has appeared many times with the Utah Symphony and with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, Czech Radio Orchestra, the Armenian Philharmonic, the Westminster Orchestra, the Salt Lake Symphony and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. She currently serves as piano area chair at the University of Utah, while maintaining a class of private students. She is known for her support of the Utah MTA competitions and programs. Her own students have won prizes in major state, national and international competitions and have appeared in the "Salute the Youth" concert series.

Priscilla Heard has been an active member of the Texas Music Teachers Association since 1964, where she has served on the theory testing committee and has served in various offices and as chairman of competitions for the Central Texas MTA. Heard is author of American Music, 1698-1800, published in 1976. In 1994, she was recognized by TMTA for Outstanding Pre-College Teaching Achievement and in 2005, her church established the Priscilla Heard Scholarship Fund for students majoring in church music. She held piano workshops and competitions at Temple College, where she was also director of a summer music camp.

Diane Higgins, NCTM, is an independent piano teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina. She holds a B.M. degree in piano performance from Salem College. Through the North Carolina MTA, she has served as president, president-elect/vice president of state conventions, vice president for publicity and MTNA Scholarship Foundation, treasurer, director of state piano contests, chair of the state piano teachers section and chair of junior high state auditions. Higgins is founder and director of the Charlotte MTA Music Career Fair. She is currently the MTNA Southern Division Director and on the MTNA Board of Directors.