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10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00-12:30 - Presentation by Joseph Hoffman

Event Flyer

The Well-Rounded Musician
Do you teach your students to transpose? Do you ever read lead sheets? What about
improvising and harmonic analysis? Even beginners can tackle these often-overlooked but
highly useful skills if taught in the right way, opening doors to creativity and deep music theory
comprehension to last a lifetime!

About the Presenter
Joseph Hoffman, founder of Hoffman Academy and creator of the Hoffman Method for
Piano, began playing piano when he was 6 years old. A YouTube personality, Kodaly-certified
music educator, and former faculty member at BYU’s School of Music, Mr. Hoffman has
dedicated his professional life to developing an innovative new piano method along with a host
of online tools, games, and resources for students and teachers that make learning piano fun.
His online piano lessons have reached over 200,000 students across 115 countries,
transforming the way piano education is accessed worldwide.
Joseph Hoffman is also active as a composer and conductor, and his original works have
been heard in many performance halls. From 2011-2013, Mr. Hoffman served as orchestra
conductor of the Portland Ensign Choir and Orchestra. Mr. Hoffman regularly serves as an
adjudicator of piano festivals and events and provides training to piano teachers on the Hoffman
Method. He has created a collection of popular song arrangements for beginning through late
elementary piano students, “Mr. Hoffman’s Popular Hits for Piano,” published by Hal Leonard,
and a vocal pedagogy book in collaboration with Betty Jeanne Chipman, “Singing with Mind,
Body, and Soul,” published by Wheatmark Press. https://www.hoffmanacademy.com/

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10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00am - Program - Discussion - Teaching Syllabus Technique

Contact Cherise da Cunha for Zoom link (contact info in the OMTA directory, login required.)

10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00am - program TBA

Contact Cherise da Cunha for Zoom link (contact info in the OMTA directory, login required.)

10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00-12:30 - Presentation by Dr. Lark Powers, NCTM

Revisiting Roots: Reviving Folk Songs
Folk songs have much to offer the developing student: accessible and pleasing melodies,
limited harmony, balanced phrases, and great variety in character, as well offering an
opportunity to connect with past generations and to explore a student’s cultural background.
However, a common lament is that many children no longer know many folk songs. This
presentation will explore strategies in which teachers can bring folk songs into their student’s
lives, including ideas to use them as a vehicle to develop music theory, harmonization ability,
singing and playing, and other musicianship skills. In addition, resources will be shared for
finding folk songs which show multicultural awareness and which can be chosen to support the
cultural identity of one’s students. Discussion will be included about equity of representation and
avoiding a lack of contextualization, as well as more information about evaluating the historical
context of problematic folk songs.

About the Presenter
In demand as a solo and collaborative artist as well as an adjudicator and presenter,
Dr. Lark Powers has performed across the U.S., and in Europe, Canada, and Latin America. In
addition to collaborations with ensembles, including the Tacoma Symphony, Olympia Symphony
Orchestra, Fort Collins Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the Tacoma Opera, and
the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, she appears in two-piano concerts as part of the
duo she forms with pianist Ricardo de la Torre, including a performance as soloists with the
Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and a Washington
state Visiting Artist, she is a frequent presenter on topics including managing performance
anxiety, the creativity inherent in the Baroque repertoire, the pedagogy of keyboard harmony,
and more. Regularly presenting at national and state conferences, she is also part of OMTA's
Nellie Tholen Grant Presenter Program, speaking to districts across Oregon, and has presented
at the Western Early Keyboard Association Conference in 2025, the Society for American
Music's National Conference in 2025, the NCKP 2023 Piano Conference, and performed at
MTNA's Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum in 2022 and multiple times for the Encuentro
Pianistas Costa Rica festival, as well as presenting regularly at WSMTA state conferences.
She is Associate Professor at Pacific Lutheran University where she teaches applied
lessons, collaborative piano, and coordinates the group keyboard program. A proponent of new
music, she specializes in the music of Latin American composers, with frequent commissions
and premiers, including works by Migel del Aguila and Moises Bertran. She can be heard on
recordings with the Pan Pacific Ensemble on Albany records, and her piano duo's first
recording, featuring the music for two pianists of Migel del Aguila, will be released this year. Dr.
Powers received degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder, the Peabody Institute, the
University of the Pacific, and the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris.

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10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00am - Presentation by Dr. Lisa Neher

Overcoming Money Myths
As artists, most of us were encouraged to focus only on our passion for music, because art is
supposed to be its own reward. To make matters more complicated, our broader culture avoids
talking about money, treating the topic as gauche. But music teachers offer incredible value to
their students and families and need and deserve financial stability in exchange for the services
we provide. This workshop will discuss prominent money myths in our music culture, how they
impact our careers in areas such as underpricing and giving away extra unpaid time to our
clients. Next, we will discuss strategies to overcome these money myths. You will leave with
practical tools that you can apply to how you manage your studio, set your rates, set boundaries around your time and expertise, and re-wire your internal perspective and emotional life
regarding money.

About the Presenter
Multi-talented mezzo-soprano, composer, and actor Lisa Neher delivers “intensity,
power, and vocal prowess” (Oregon ArtsWatch), captivating audiences with richly attuned
musical fluency and heartfelt performance. “A supremely talented artist,” (Willamette Week),
Neher channels a signature combination of high intelligence, deep passion, fierce tenacity, and
an ever-youthful spirit, offering a rare degree of excellence and versatility alongside the ability to
“sincerely convey… joy and wonder” (Oregon ArtsWatch). Her wide-ranging experience across
genres informs gutsy character portrayals integrated with vivid storytelling through musical
performance, making her a magnetic presence onstage known for a voice that is “especially
alive… full and rich” (Oregon ArtsWatch).
Alongside her flourishing vocal career, Neher is an award-winning composer whose music
has earned recognition from the Oregon Music Teachers Association (Composer of the Year
2025), the Flute New Music Consortium, ICDA/ICF, Mirror Visions Ensemble, and the Celebris
Ensemble. Commissioning ensembles and organizations include the National Association of
Teachers of Singing, American Harp Society, Cincinnati Song Initiative, and Opera Santa
Barbara.
Her interdisciplinary training and Doctor of Musical Arts degree inform not only her
compositional craft but also her interpretive depth as a performer, giving her singing an
uncommon level of clarity, intention, and emotional resonance. A visionary creator and leader,
Neher is the Founder and President of New Wave Opera, a company that shares fresh,
relatable stories by living composers through the medium of opera. Through all facets of her
work, Neher champions contemporary storytelling that embraces both the wildness of the
natural world and the intimate complexities of human experience.
https://www.lisanehermusic.com/

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10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00am - Program - TBD

Contact Cherise da Cunha for Zoom link (contact info in the OMTA directory, login required.)

10:30am - Welcome & Brief Business Meeting

11:00am - Planning for 2027-2028