Newsletter

November/December 2022

President's Message

From our President, Kim Farrell

During this special season of gratitude, I find myself continually thankful for the support and flexibility of our board members, chairs and committee members who work so hard to make fun, meaningful and rewarding events for our members and students. Thank you all!

CNYAMT had an exciting Halloween recital on Sunday, October 30th at the Piano & Organ Center. A huge thank you goes out to Barb Irwin and Robbie Padilla for organizing it all. Teachers and their students enjoyed participating by dressing up in costumes and performing “spooky” music. Congratulations to all on a "spooktacular" afternoon!

Our monthly Friday Forum is a great chance to meet and chat with members on various topics related to our teaching. Our chair, Mary Whittington, is planning a presentation for the next forum on hands-free page turning using the tablet and butterfly pedal systems. Please join us for

this interesting talk on Friday, December 9th at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom.

Plans for our next holiday recital/fundraiser are well under way thanks to Bernadette Kessler and Beth Scott. We are having the recital IN PERSON this year at the Barnes & Noble on Route 31 in Clay on Saturday, December 3rd. It will run from 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Stop by and support CNYAMT.

Mark your calendar for the next Community Outreach Recital on Sunday, February 12th to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It will be held in person at Maple Downs Senior Living Environment in Fayetteville. Keep an eye out for more information in the new year.

I wish you all a very healthy and blessed holiday Season.

Happy New Year!

All members are welcome to join us at the next board meeting on Wednesday February 8th at 10:30 a.m. 

For a Zoom invitation, contact Kim:  [email protected]

Click below for the

Bookfair Fundraiser

3956 NY-31, Liverpool, NY 13090

Our Barnes & Noble Bookfair Fundraiser will take place Saturday, December 3rd, 2022. On that day, Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of our total sales purchased in the Liverpool store to CNYAMT at NO cost to you! This fundraiser is vital in funding our Senior Scholarship, Senior Merit Scholarship, and Tuition Assistance Programs.

Plan now to spread the word to your friends and family and use the voucher for in-store purchases at the Liverpool location on Saturday, December 3rd. You may download the vouchers to share with friends and family and post on your social media accounts.

This event is great for CNYAMT community awareness and as you know, our students love this event!

Thanks to all our teachers for participating:

9:30 - 10:00 Melissa Sieling

10:00 - 11:00  Mary Whittington

11:00 - 12:15  Ida Trebicka and Amy Heyman

12:15 - 1:00   Dana DiGennaro

1:00 - 1:30    Barb Irwin

1:30 - 2:00  Michelle Wilcox

2:00 - 2:30  Bernadette Kessler

2:30 - 3:00  Jane Wolf

3:00 - 3:30   Kim Farrell

3:30 - 5:00  OPEN TIME SLOTS

5:00 - 6:00  Ya-Wei Tseng

6:00 - 7:00  Laura Enslin

Barnes & Noble Vouchers

James Lee Vatter

Memorial Fund

Piano Assistance Program

The James Lee Vatter Memorial Fund was established in memory of our special colleague and his passion for students. The purpose of the program is to provide monetary assistance towards the purchase of a piano for a student in need. The amount of assistance is based on the availability of funds, as well as the applicant’s referral from their CNYAMT teacher.

• Teacher must be a current CNYAMT member in good standing as of October 1, 2022.
• Teacher must be the instructor of the instrument the applicant will purchase.
• Teacher must be an active participant in our yearly events.
• Teacher must be active in choosing the instrument.

James L. Vatter Memorial Fund Application

For further questions and information, contact

Bernadette Kessler: [email protected]

CNYAMT Hosts the 

Symphoria Instrument

Discovery Zone

Saturday, January 28, 2023

9:45- 10:25 a.m. 

Inspiration Hall, 709 James St., Syracuse

The second concert of the Symphoria Kid’s Concert Series explores Charles Darwin’s observations about the origins of music. The Instrument Discovery Zone gives students that are attending the concert an opportunity to try out a variety of instruments.

This is a great opportunity for our students to earn community volunteer hours and CNYAMT event credit. If you are interested in participating, and/or sending a student, contact Bernadette Kessler at [email protected].

BOO!

SCARY SCORES WAS A SPOOKTACULAR SUCCESS!

Thanks to the participation of Robbie Padilla, Bernadette Kessler, Lisa Zippi, Mary Whittington, Barbara Irwin, Jane Wolfe, Melissa Sieling, Gayle Ross and 31 of their amazing music students, the audience was treated to a rich variety of spooky tunes, movie and show tune classics, classical music favorites and even a few originals! Kids in costumes added to the afternoon’s entertainment! Thank you to our on-site photographer and new President, Kim Farrell!

A big shoutout to the generosity of The Piano and Organ Center for providing the venue and a special voucher for a savings on anything purchased in the store. We all enjoyed an afternoon of “boo-tiful" music and had a howling good time!



Robbie Padilla and Barb Irwin, Co-Chairs

Free Lyon & Healy Piano

Contact Julie at

315-558-8264



2023 CNYAMT Senior

Music Merit Scholarship

This scholarship is offered to high school seniors pursuing a college degree in music. 

• No audition is required.
• Applications must be submitted by May 15th
• The Music Merit Scholarship forms are now available on our CNYAMT website.

If you have a student who is a high school senior and is planning to major in music next year at an accredited university or college, please encourage them to apply. If they meet the following eligibility requirements and are interested in applying, they must have their applications in by May 15th. It has been determined by the Scholarship Committee that the award this year will be $1000, to be divided among deserving applicants. The student must be a high school senior, in good academic standing, on track to graduate during the current academic year. 

• The student must currently be taking lessons from a CNYAMT teacher who has been a member since Oct. 2021.
• The student must have participated in CNYAMT performances, events or competitions during the past three years. 
• Students who have won the high school scholarship competition are not eligible for this scholarship. 
• The student must be approved by their current CNYAMT teacher. (signature needed on last page) 
• The student must submit their scholarship application on or before the deadline date, May 15th.

(The merit scholarship should not be confused with the competition scholarship for which the student must compete.)

If you have any questions, please contact Barb Irwin, [email protected] or 458-9020.

Attention Chairs!

Please check your page on our website at cnyamt.org and make sure the information is accurate. Send updates and changes to

[email protected]

Check out our social media....

Attention

ALL Members!

Please check your biography on the Membership Page and make sure it is accurate and up-to-date. (Password is Iteachmusic.)

Send any revisions to [email protected]

Grow Our Page!

Be sure to send pictures and write-ups of events that happen during the year to cnyamt@gmail.

com

to be uploaded to our website, Facebook and Instagram pages. Share our pages on your own pages to grow our following and membership.

CNYAMT Private Facebook Group

Along with our CNYAMT Facebook page, which highlights events and information about our organization, CNYAMT now has a CNYAMT private Facebook group for members called CNYAMT Member Forum. This private group is for members of CNYAMT to discuss anything related to teaching music. Post a question, share an interesting resource, or tell us what's happening in your studio or classroom! Only CNYAMT members can join this group and the content posted here is not viewable to others. Please do not share student names or identifying information without their consent and ask before sharing anything posted here. Thank you for being a part of this supportive social space! Want to be a part of this exciting new group? Send an email to one of the admins of the page so they can add you. 

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Have you checked out our

TEACHER RESOURCES page on our website?

It provides useful information from our members to our members about all things music. Have something you'd like to share? Send it to Joanne at [email protected] to be uploaded.

Friday Forum has been a wonderful way for CNYAMT members to get to know each other and share in the collective wisdom, expertise, and sense of humor in our community of teachers.

The forums on Zoom are scheduled for the 2nd Friday of each month throughout the school year. Our next Friday Forum is scheduled for Friday, December 9, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. Please note the new time and refer to the CNYAMT Calendar for our monthly dates.

Feel free to contact Mary Whittington with topics you'd like to discuss. Please join us for stimulating conversation and virtual camaraderie!

Previous forum topics are posted on our website under Friday Forum!

CNYAMT Sunshine

Are you a person who loves to spread good cheer? We are looking for a volunteer who could send out a greeting on behalf of our members to express our sympathy, condolences, or get well wishes to members who have lost a loved one or a pet, had surgery, or required hospitalization for an illness. If you’d like be our Sunshine person, contact Kim Farrell: [email protected]