VMTA Conference, October 20-23, 2005

Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

Henry Doskey is a native of New Orleans, where he began his music studies with William Gillock. He holds the B.M. and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance from Southern Methodist University, where he had courses in Piano Pedagogy with Louise Bianchi; and the Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from Indiana University, where he was the only student ever to serve as Special Assistant to both Sidney Foster, with whom he studied for two years, and to Menahem Pressler, famed pianist and master teacher, and founder of the Beaux Arts Trio. Doskey was a student of Pressler's from 1971-1976, and has returned to Indiana University to substitute-teach for him on several occasions. His Doctoral Document, "The Piano Music of Albert Roussel" (1981), is considered the most thorough treatment of the subject in English.

In 1976 Dr. Doskey joined the Artist Faculty of the East Carolina University School of Music in Greenville, North Carolina, where he teaches piano, chamber music, and other courses for piano majors, including the piano literature sequence and a "Skills for Piano Majors" course, which he devised. His private students have been award recipients in numerous piano competitions sponsored by such organizations as the Raleigh Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the North Carolina Music Teachers Association, and the Tar River Orchestra Association. One of his students recently won the NC Division of the High School Composition Competition, sponsored by MTNA; another was a national finalist in the 2002 MTNA Baldwin Competition.

Doskey himself is the recipient of many awards, including the Sorantin Award (San Angelo, Texas Symphony Orchestra); the Musical Arts Award, presented by the Society of American Musicians, Chicago, which resulted in his successful appearance on the Allied Arts Piano Series in Orchestra Hall; and the 1998 Robert and Lina Mays award for Teaching Excellence, presented by the ECU Alumni Association. He has performed throughout the U.S. as a soloist and also as an accompanist and pianist in ensemble music of all kinds; his New York solo debut was in 1978.

In 1999 Doskey was invited to perform a recital at the Central Conservatory of Beijing, the major music school of the People's Republic of China; he also conducted master classes for students there. There has been a steadily increasing demand for his master classes and workshops, including those on the music of William Gillock. While a student of Gillock, Doskey saw many Gillock works as they appeared in manuscript, even playing some before they were published. Thus began a teacher- pupil relationship and friendship that lasted over thirty-five years. Shortly before his death in 1993, Gillock designated Doskey "the authoritative interpreter and judge of authenticity of stylistic treatment" in his music. Indeed, the Gillock catalog has become an important part of Dr. Doskey's repertoire, as he presents more and more concerts and workshops of Gillock works. Notable among these is his performance of an all-Gillock program at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M. (1995), and a Gillock lecture recital at the MTNA 2004 National Conference in Kansas City. In the spring of 2005 he visited Tokyo, on the invitation of the Tokyo Piano Teachers Music Guild, and presented a series of Gillock-related events, including an all-Gillock Lecture Recital, a series of master classes, and private lessons. Dr. Doskey is also known for his special performances of the music of Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Beethoven and Scriabin, among others.

Henry Doskey has recorded the complete catalog of the piano music of William Gillock, available from Green Mill Recordings (the sixth and final CD will be released in the fall of 2005); and has also recorded both books of Debussy Preludes. Please visit www.greenmillrecordings. com for more information.

Alan Weinstein holds degrees in music performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music. His principal teachers include Steven Doane, Robert Sylvester, Timothy Eddy and chamber music studies with the Cleveland Quartet, Menachem Pressler, Arthur Balsam, Gil Kalish, Walter Trampler, and Eugene Lehner.

Mr. Weinstein is currently an Artist in Residence at Roanoke College as well as Artistic Director of their Performing Arts Series. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of cello at Virginia Tech University. Mr. Weinstein is a founding member of the Kandinsky Trio, winner of national awards such as the Chamber Music America Residency Award. Mr. Weinstein has performed throughout North America and Europe in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Spivey Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Aronoff Center. He frequently collaborates with internationally acclaimed artists including Dawn Upshaw, Ida Kavafian, Theodore Bikel and Gunther Schuller.

He has appeared on television and radio broadcasts throughout the United States and Canada, including the McNeil/Lehrer Report, WNYC, and Performance Today on National Public Radio. Mr. Weinstein has served as a faculty member at the Hindemith Institute in Blonay, Switzerland, and has given over 200 master classes at institutions including Penn State, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Vanderbilt University.

His dedication to new music has led him to premiere compositions by artists such as Mike Reid ("Tales of Appalachia" performed in over 150 cities), John D'earth, Gwyneth Walker, and Jon Grier. His jazz performance collaborations have included guitarist Larry Coryell, Dave Samuels, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and as a harmonica player with Ray Charles.

Mr. Weinstein has recorded for Arabesque Records and the Brioso labels and plays a cello attributed to Albani circa 1680.

Tracy Cowden has recently joined the music department faculty at Virginia Tech as Assistant Professor of piano and vocal coach. She received the D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, and a B.M. degree in Piano Performance from Western Michigan University.

As a collaborative pianist, Tracy has performed in recitals with principal musicians from the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2004, she joined the Cavani Quartet for a performance of Schumann's Piano Quintet at the Spring Chamber Music Festival in Delaware, Ohio. She returned to central Ohio in March 2005 for a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra. Her interest in cross-disciplinary studies involving music and literature took her to Seattle in April, where she and Dr. Katrina Zook, a member of the University of Wyoming vocal faculty, presented a lecture-recital on Dominick Argento's song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf at the MTNA National Conference. Tracy has presented lectures on the art of collaborative piano in Ohio and Michigan earlier this year, and she will present a workshop at the College Music Society National Conference in November. Last year, Tracy released a CD with Dr. Nancy Gamso from Ohio Wesleyan University entitled "With Blackwood and Silver," which features modern duo repertoire for flute with piano and clarinet with piano.

Tracy has previously served as a faculty member at Ohio Wesleyan University, and as an adjunct faculty member at Kalamazoo College and Hope College in western Michigan. Her principal teachers have included Jean Barr, Douglas Humpherys, Fernando Laires, and Phyllis Rappeport.

Dr. Olga Maria Cehelska was born in a displaced person's camp in Austria following WW II. She came to the United States in 1949 with her Ukrainian parents, and became a naturalized citizen at the age of 10. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Temple University, a Master of Music in Music Therapy from the University of Miami, a Master of Science from the American College of Holistic Health, and a Ph.D. in Nutrition from the Clayton College of Natural Health. Besides teaching piano in Virginia, Dr Cehelska often performs on bandura, the national instrument of Ukraine. She worked with Young Audiences of Virginia for nearly five years, and brought Ukrainian history, culture, and music to thousands of students. She has performed for numerous civic and music groups, as well as on radio and television, and you will find her listed in Who's Who of American Women, and Who's Who in America. A flight instructor since 1974, Dr. Cehelska often incorporates the art of flying into her piano lessons, much to the delight of her students.

Vernon McCart has played numerous recitals, delivered lecture recitals, and attended many workshops and early music festivals. His specialty is music for clavichord and fortepiano of the 18th and early 19th century. His clavichord presentation for VMTA in the fall of 2004 was well received as was his fortepiano presentation for TMTF in the spring of 2005. In the spring of 2000 he was selected to compete in the Second Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas. He has coached on fortepiano with Penelope Crawford, Malcolm Bilson, and Lee Teply and modern piano with Lee Jordan-Anders.

Mr. McCart is a native of Garden City, Kansas. He studied piano with Charles Bath at Wichita State University, where he earned a Bachelor and a Master of Music in piano performance. He also earned a degree in Library Science from the University of North Texas. For 26 years, he was a librarian. His first position was as music cataloger at the University of Virginia and later, fine and performing arts reference librarian at Old Dominion University. He retired from librarianship in 1998.

As an active member of the Old Dominion University Music Department's Classical Period Piano Competition Committee for the past 18 years, Mr. McCart has served as a preliminaries judge for many of those years. He has also served a board member of the Norfolk Chamber Consort and secretary of the Hampton Roads Early Music Society. He has been a member of the Tidewater Music Teachers Forum for 12 years.

For the past six years, Mr. McCart has been teaching piano at the Arts Enter in Cape Charles, Virginia. His hobbies are gardening, cooking and swimming.

In the future Mr. McCart wants to demonstrate the clavichord and fortepiano to as many piano teachers and college students as possible so that they are not just words in history books, but instruments cast new light on the music of the 18th century.

Samantha Luck grew up in a musical family in Great Falls, Montana. She followed in the footsteps of her three greatest role models, her sisters, by studying piano along with hand bells, violin and a little accordion. Since everyone in the family played several instruments and sang, it was a little like growing up in a Broadway musical!

Samantha's music study began at the age of 2. She was enrolled in a music appreciation class and soon began formal piano study through the Suzuki piano method. After high school, Samantha decided to combine her love of music and interests in science (particularly psychology, child development and medicine) by studying Music Therapy. While attending Radford University in Radford, Virginia, she expanded her musical knowledge by studying guitar, percussion, harp, harpsichord, brass and stringed instruments as well as advanced collegiate piano. After completing her coursework at Radford, Samantha completed a six-month music therapy internship at Cherry Psychiatric Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina. In 2000 Samantha received her Bachelors of Music Therapy degree and is a Board Certified Music Therapist.

Samantha began teaching piano while in high school and has found it to be her passion. Along with her regular piano, guitar and voice students, Samantha also accepts students with special needs into her studio, including those with autism, cerebral palsy, visual impairments, ADHD, and other learning challenges. She moved to Newport News in November of 2003 and re-opened her studio in the Hidenwood area.

In addition to teaching, Samantha keeps up her performance skills by playing in churches as well as studying the pipe organ. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Virginia Music Teachers Association, the Peninsula Music Teachers Association, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and continues her National Board Certification in Music Therapy. Her goal at Luck Studios is to develop each student's love of music and to provide lessons for all interested students regardless of the challenges that student may experience.

It will be necessary to have a visitor's parking permit for everyone who drives a vehicle onto the campus. This includes judges for the competitions, the competitors, and all attendees, those who pre-register as well as those who register at the conference. Be sure to indicate on the registration form which days you will need to park your vehicle on campus by circling the day needed. We need to know exactly how many passes to obtain from the school. There is also metered parking on campus. However, you must still pay the parking meter (even though you have a parking pass) if you chose to use the metered parking.

Parking permits will be handed out at the Virginia Tech Visitor's Center, which opens at 8:00 o'clock each morning. If you need to be on campus before the Visitor?s Center opens, please make arrangements with Tracy Cowden (tcowden@vt.edu) or Wanda Hall (wmhstudio@charter.net) so that you may get your parking permit the day before.

Directions to the Visitor's Center from the hotels:

From the Microtel Inn, take Ponderosa Drive to Arbor Drive, turn left. From Hampton Inn, turn left onto Arbor Drive. This becomes Drieling Drive. Turn left onto Pepper's Ferry Road (114). Take 460 West until you reach the traffic light at Southgate Drive. Turn right onto Southgate Dr., and stop at the Visitor's Center on the right. From there, you will receive a Visitor's Permit and directions to the available parking areas near the Squires Student Center. You may park in the Shultz Lot, along the Alumni Mall (but you must pay for a metered parking spot, even with the Visitor's Permit!), the Squires Lot, the Architecture Annex Lot, or any other parking area designated faculty/staff/visitor.

The following websites have maps of Blacksburg and of Virginia Tech. Please look at them before the conference to help familiarize you with the parking areas: www.parking.vt.edu/lotmap.htm and www.bev.net/visitors/map.php.

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