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First Group Lessons of the school year! Come prepared to perform a piece and listen to your fellow young pianists. There will be theory games and piano trivia!
4-5pm
Outstanding Artist Piano Competition (State Level)
MTNA National Competition for Washington State
Central Washington University
Group Performance Lesson - Concertos and More! Come listen and perform your Concerto and other pieces for the group. This class will be in a recital format, with friends and family for our audience!
Sunday, 11/15 @ 2-3pm. Please RSVP.
Please Note: There will be BOTH private and group performance this week, as we finalize preparations for the annual OMTA Concerto Competition.
Annual OMTA Concerto Competition!
Date: Nov. 21 & 22, 2026
Location: GO Church
Stay tuned for exact time for our studio - TBA!
This annual event provides holiday, classic and jazz pieces for the Olympia community. B&N also generously donates a percentage of sales to the OMTA Scholarship and Education programming.
No lessons - Winter Break.
Keep your fingers in condition with your technique exercises!
Work on your Piano Pal composition!
Perform for others and learn more of your new pieces!
Group Performance Class - Piano Pals are revealed!
Present your brand new original composition to your secret Piano Pal, and get to hear your composition as well!
No private lessons this week, unless previously arranged.
Group Lesson - MAP prep!
Students will perform their two MAP pieces memorized for their fellow young pianists.
Please Note: There WILL be private lessons in addition to Group Lessons this week, as we prepare for MAP.
Lessons will be asynchronous this week. Please record and send me your two MAP pieces no later than Wed. March 10. I will send you lesson notes via email.
Recording and listening back to yourself is a valuable way to gain feedback and learn to play better. Listen carefully, mark which spots need work, and decide if you are expressing yourself the way you want to sound. I highly encourage you to try it often!
Our annual OMTA Music Artistry Program will take place on March 15-17, 2027. Exact times will be announced in February. The two Visiting Artists are: Dr. Ross Salvado and Dr. Roger McVey.
Location: Westminster Presbyterian
Date and Time TBA
Chair: Dr. Ramona Allen & Jentry Wilson
Students recognized by the Visiting Artists as exceptional at MAP are honored to perform at the OMTA Honor Recitals.
Location: Westminster Presbyterian Church
Time: 1:30 and 2:30pm recitals
Chair: Dr. Ramona Allen and Jentry Wilson
Group Performance Class - No Private Lessons.
Our annual Scale Olympics - have your Guild Audition technique ready and go for gold!
Last Group Lessons for the year! Be prepared to play your Guild Repertoire (from memory) for the class.
Guild Auditions (date late May or early June)
Location: TBA
Date/Time: TBA
Students performing at the National Level will present 7 memorized pieces and 3 technical phases - congratulations on this big achievement!
Imanuel Lutheran
Dr. Moore (one of my old professors at the University of Redlands!) will present on the Dalcroze-Eurhythmics method.
Dalcroze education offers an experiential way of teaching and learning music through purposeful movement. Playful yet rigorous in approach, it provides a process for awakening, developing, and refining innate musicality through:
Eurhythmics provides training in structural elements (beat, rhythm, meter, texture, phrase, and form) and aesthetic elements (dynamics, nuance, articulation, and affect). As students gain control of their bodies, they become freer to express themselves creatively in both movement and music.
Solfège trains the eyes, ears, and voice, enabling a student to listen to music and transcribe it onto paper, and to look at sheet music and hear it internally without the use of an instrument.
Improvisation enables students to create music instrumentally or vocally, usually beginning with movement or vocalization to facilitate the creative process. Bodily gestures relate to gestures used at the instrument, clarifying connections between movement and music.
The Taubman Approach is a comprehensive piano pedagogy developed by Dorothy Taubman in the mid-to-late 20th century. It focuses on coordinate, natural body movements and correct skeletal alignment to achieve virtuosity and eliminate playing-related pain and repetitive strain injuries
Washington Center for Performing Arts
Start the fall with a piano recital, because Chloe is back! After graduating from our studio in 2025, she is now at the University of Washington School of Music, pursuing a Bachelors in Music, Piano Performance. She will present a short recital (45 min) of her past year. Works by Bach, Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin, along with a couple duets with me. Everyone is welcome!
CWU, Ellensburg
Check back to see updates on Phoebe’s State Honor Recital Performance and Alex’s Composition premiere!
Spring Recital
Sunday, June 7 @ 2pm - a celebration of a great piano year!
Virtuoso International Festival
Formerly the Virtuoso Festival, to celebrate the works of the romantic, impressionistic, and contemporary musical eras, the VAFI competition opens its doors to pianists and instrumentalists of the world. Recently revised and expanded, this inclusive educational festival aims to inspire youth and adult musicians to create and share their artistry from anywhere in the world – even from his or her living room through pre-recorded YouTube video links.
The SIPF provides within its friendly and accessible format an outlet to express one’s inner voice through the performance of 19th century and later masterworks.
Those familiar with last year’s festival will note no significant changes to 2025 Virtuoso Artists Festival.
Place: St. Martins University, Fine Arts Building
Bring your music! Bring yourself, dressed neatly, nails trimmed, ready to play!
Schedule:
11:30 Phoebe (HS Diploma!)
1:00 Claire
1:20 LUNCH
2:20 Landon
2:50 Shaylan
3:10 Rye
3:30 BREAK
3:45 Grant
4:15 Alex
Group Performance Class 6 - Final class of the year. Perform your Guild repertoire for everyone!
The MLP (Music Literacy Program) is an annual exam to test theory knowledge. Top scores are posted in the WSMTA State website. A fee is associated with this event.
The Pop/Jazz/Duet Recital features students performing favorite tunes. Free to the public.
Location and Time: TBA
Group Performance Class 5 - Tech Olympics! Be ready to play your technical phases for the GOLD! SILVER! and BRONZE!
This recital will be featuring local music teachers. Come watch your teacher on the hot seat!
Location: TBA
Date/Time: Sunday afternoon, March 29, 2026
Place: Westminster Presbyterian, Boulevard Rd
Students from the MAP Program will be selected by our Visiting Artists to take part in the OMTA MAP Recognition Recitals.
Date: Sunday afternoon, March 15, 2026. 1:30 and 2:45 recital times
Location: Westminster Presbyterian
Date: March 11-13, 2026
Place: St. Martins University, Krielsheimer Hall/Fine Arts Building
Wednesday, 3/11:
11:10-Phoebe
11:50 - Alex
12:25 - Rye
12:40 - Landon
Thursday, 3/12
11:05 - Grant
11:40 - Shaylan
12:05 - Linnea
12:30 - Gracie
Music Artistry Program (MAP) is an annual event in which students statewide perform in studio masterclasses and receive one-on-one coaching by Visiting Artists in a positive, noncompetitive learning environment.
Group Performance Class 4: Tuesday, March 10 @ 4pm!
Come ready to perform your 2 MAP pieces one more time for your fellow young pianists. You’ll also have a chance to “Be the Visiting Artist”!
No private lessons this week, due to Group Lessons and MAP.
OMTA is pleased to feature local students performing works by Baroque Composers (c. 1600-1750). Free and open to the public.
Location: Westminster Presbyterian Church
Times: 9:30am, 10:45am, 12 noon - our studio will be at the 10:45 recital!
OCO Concert featuring the OMTA Concerto Winners (Phoebe and Moskowski!)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 22 @ 2:30pm
Place: Capitol High School Performing Arts Center
Tickets and info can be found here: https://www.olympiachamberorchestra.org
Chopin NW Competition:
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 9 AM–6 PM. (You must be available all day. No requests for specific times.)
Mercer Island Presbyterian Church
3605 84th Ave. SE
Mercer Island, WA 98040
Group Performance Class - first class of 2026! Our secret “Piano Pals” will finally be revealed. Get ready for the annual composition performances!
Winter Break - share your music with family and friends!
An annual community event put on by the OMTA, this is a delightful and casual
opportunity to share your festive holiday, jazz, and classical pieces with others! Feel free to dress in Christmas-themed accessories to get in the spirit of the season!
Time: 3:30-4:45.
About the event
Each December Pianova Piano Service brings an acoustic piano to a public location and local piano teachers have their students perform holiday music for the public! It's a great way to promote piano playing to the community and it gives students a lower-stress venue to practice playing in front of others.
Donations
We will have a donation box for those who want to support our organization. Additionally, Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of sales during our event to Olympia Music Teachers. Please encourage everyone you know to come shop during our event - it really helps us out!
Happy Thanksgiving Week! Enjoy your time with family and friends!
OMTA Annual Concerto Competition - https://www.olymusicteachers.org/competitions
Location: Gospel Outreach Church
5 Divisions:
Elementary, Intermediate A, Intermediate B, Advanced A (Baroque/Classical), Advanced B (Romantic/Contemporary)
More information TBA!
Concerto Recital will feature our fabulous students who have been learning various concerti for the competition next week! Families and friends are welcome.
Location: Allen Studio
Date/Time: Sunday, November 16 @ 1:15-2:15pm
© 2016 Ramona Allen