Campbellsville University to host 2014 Annual Competitions and Conference of KMTA

CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY (10/21/2014)(readMedia)-- Campbellsville University and the School of Music will host the 2014 Annual Competitions and Conference of the Kentucky Music Teachers Association on Nov. 1-4.

Dr. Wesley Roberts, professor of music, is the host of the conference.

"This event will bring approximately 250 students and teachers from across the Commonwealth of Kentucky to our campus for an extensive series of student competitions, lectures, exhibits and recitals. This will be the fourth time Campbellsville University will have hosted the association, following conferences in 1985, 1999 and 2008," he said.

Campbellsville University music students will join with other university students in competitions on the state level known as Bluegrass Young Artists and nationally at the Kentucky level of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).

Winners of the MTNA competition will proceed to Southern Division in January in Knoxville, and those winners will proceed on to the national finals in Las Vegas in March 2015.

Among Campbellsville University students competing in the competitions are Han-Yi Huang of Taiwan (bassoon); Brittany Sapp of Bowling Green, Ky., (flute); Saori Kataoka of Japan (trumpet); Ian McGuffin of Bardstown, Ky., (voice); Steven Adams of Bardstown, Ky., (organ) and the Campbellsville University Graduate Piano Ensemble (Chia-Yin Chen, Hsin-I Guo, Shu-Hua Lin and Hsing-Yi Tsai, all of Taiwan).

The conference will feature three concerts that are open to the public. The Kentucky Composer's Concert will be on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m., followed by a reception hosted by the School of Music, and the Conference Artist Recital on Monday, Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.

Concert pianist Stephen Beus, a first-place winner in several competitions, will be featured in a concert co-sponsored by the Central Kentucky Arts Series. The Central Kentucky Music Teachers Association will be providing a reception after this program. Both concerts will take place in Ransdell Chapel.

The All-State Piano Ensemble will give the closing concert on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. in the Student Activities Center. The public is invited to attend these programs.

Conference lectures will include pedagogical and historical presentations. Among the many presenters will be Reid Alexander, an internationally renown pedagogue who teaches at the University of Illinois, who will speak on teaching techniques for young pianists.

Jack Ashworth from the University of Louisville will give a lecture/recital on the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the composer's death.

Roberts of Campbellsville University will give a lecture/demonstration in celebration of the 300th anniversary of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's birth, and tours of the university's Vogt-Farrar Historic Keyboard Collection.

Dr. Lisa McArthur, professor of music at Campbellsville University, will be coordinating events for pre-college level students in music theory and the Campbellsville University Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of CU's Dr. Chad Floyd, associate professor of music, will be performing.

Exhibitors will include Gist Piano Center of Louisville, Cundiff and Sons Piano Service of Campbellsville and Vintage Piano Works of Georgetown, Ind., in addition to numerous university exhibits.

Dr. Bill Budai, associate professor of piano at CU, will be concluding his term of service as KMTA president at the conference.

In addition to faculty in the School of Music, the Central Kentucky Music Teachers Association (Judith Davis, president) is assisting with hospitality for the KMTA conference attendees.

The Central Kentucky Arts Series (Dr. Tony Cunha, president) is co-sponsoring the Conference Artist Recital.

The conference schedule may be found at: http://kymta.org/conferenceschedule.html. Contact Roberts at wmroberts@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5287 for more information.

Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master's degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.

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