Utah Music Teachers Association state conference at Weber State University

The Utah Music Teachers Association state conference will be held on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 at Weber State University, with guest clinicians Marvin Blickenstaff, Scott McBride Smith, and Kevin OlsonGo to www.utahmta.org for more info.

Here are bios provided by the UMTA"

"In a career that has now entered its fifth decade, Marvin Blickenstaff has distinguished himself not only as a performing artist, an artist/teacher, a method author, a lecturer and clinician, but as a great human begin and a compassionate leader. In all these categories, there is no one more respected and beloved than Marvin Blickenstaff. Few can perform in the world's great concert halls one day, give a workshop to local piano teachers in the hinterlands the next, write a method book the next, and manage an international conference the next. Yet, Marvin Blickenstaff has done this and more for four decades with little sign of slowing down," said Sam Holland, Professor at SMU and TMTA Collegiate Teacher of the Year, 2006.Scott McBride Smith is a recognized leader in music education. As the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of PIano Pedagogy at the University of Kansas, he focuses on national issues of teacher training and piano pedagogy. As President and CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians, he leads a summer program offering specialized training for gifted young performers from around the world. And as co-author of the groundbreaking new series American Popular PIano, he has helped create a course of study for today's student—providing tools that inspire the necessary hard work while playing music they love. Dr. Smith is co-author of the college text The Well-Tempered KEyboard Teacher and associate editor of the magazine Clavier Companion. He is co-author of Christopher Norton's Guide to Micorjazz. Dr.Kevin Olson, professor of piano at Utah State University and writer for the FJH Music Company, will present several ways that classical-trained piano teachers can easily introduce improvisation and composition in creative, efficient ways.