Not too busy to care: 2009 MTNA National Conference.(Dear Reader)(Music Teachers National Association)

Atlanta is a city rich with history and culture, and is known as the "city not too busy to care." It is often pointed to as an example of successful urban development and growth. Evidence of this can be seen everywhere from the beautiful skyline to the many prosperous restaurants, shops and businesses spread throughout the city. Atlanta has grown to be a major metropolitan center in the United States and is a thriving center of business, arts and tourism. What an exciting site for the 2009 MTNA National Conference, March 28-April 1 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in the heart of beautiful downtown Atlanta.

The 2009 conference planning committee has assembled an outstanding program of more than 100 educational sessions and industry showcases presented by well-known clinicians, including Brian Chung, Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield, Scott Houston, Barbara Lister-Sink and Catherine Rollin. Topics will include a wide variety of subjects that will provide information and resources for the diversity of our membership. It is my pleasure to provide you with some of the highlights of this year's conference.

Arrive early in Atlanta and you can take advantage of the pre-conference sessions, which include Pedagogy Saturday, Professional Studio Saturday and Collegiate Expo. Pedagogy Saturday, with the theme "Music for a Lifetime: Learning and Teaching Strategies for Adults," will be headlined by Robert Roush. Roush, of the Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine, will focus for the first time on teaching adults and meeting the needs of adult students of all ages. Professional Studio Saturday, and its theme "A Studio Without Walls," will focus on excellence in teaching with modern tools, particularly tools that extend the reach of the teacher beyond the studio setting. Collegiate members are encouraged to attend the Collegiate Expo and participate in a workshop featuring young professionals talking about the transition from being a student to becoming a professional.

Performance Coach Don Greene will give the Conference's keynote address touching on ways a musician can transform pre-performance anxiety into onstage success. Workshops such as the Recreational Music Making and Group Teaching Track, as well as the Technology Track and, for the first time ever, a Collaborative Performance Track will be offered. The Collaborative Performance Track is a series of sessions that ...