Nominees for president-elect.(Benjamin D. Caton and Kenneth Christensen are the Music Teachers National Association nominees for president-elect)

Benjamin D. Caton, NCTM, holds a Ph.D. degree from the Ohio State University and a pedagogy/musicianship certificate from the Kodaly Musical Training Institute. He studied at the Sixteenth International Music Workshop (piano pedagogy)in Exeter, England, and at the International Kodaly Symposium in Kecskemet, Hungary.

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He is professor of music at East Tennessee State University, where he teaches aural skills, piano and piano pedagogy. His teaching experiences range from first-grade public school music classes to graduate music courses. Caton is a former chair of the ETSU Music Department. He maintains a studio of pre-college piano students.

Caton's belief in the importance of MTNA's local associations has led him to serve as president of his local Music Teachers Association for three biennia over a period of 20 years. Positions in the Tennessee MTA include recording secretary and president. He served as editor and co-author of the Tennessee MTA Musicianship Manual. In MTNA's Southern Division, he served as president, president-elect, secretary and collegiate competitions chair. At the national level, Caton has served as a member of the MTNA Board of Directors and FOUNDATtON Board of Trustees (2000-2002) and MTNA Secretary/Treasurer (2003-2005).

In 2004, Caton was named the first recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given by Tennessee MTA. Other honors include the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs Foundation for the Advancement of Music Award for Excellence, the John Phillip Sousa Award (while playing trombone in high school band), and being named an MTNA FOUNDATION Fellow. He served two terms as member of the Music Advisory Panel for the Tennessee Arts Commission.

His articles have appeared in Clavier, Music Educators Journal, American Music Teacher and The Tennessee Musician. He has presented numerous sessions at local and state associations. His most memorable performance was accompanying the ETSU Men's Ensemble in the Chicago Symphony's Orchestra Hall at the American Choral Directors Association national convention.

"I am so grateful to the many MTNA members who give so much of themselves to their profession, to their students and to MTNA. Our society is indebted to them more than we can ever imagine. It is an honor to be a candidate for this office, and if elected, I promise my very best as MTNA continues to advance the cause of music and music education for the profession, for our students and for the general public. MTNA plays a crucial role in preserving our cultural heritage and leading the profession as we face the demands and challenges of an ever-changing society," he says.