MTNA President, Gail Berenson, NCTM, is Professor of Piano at Ohio University, Athens, having served as Keyboard Division Chair for twenty-three years. She was awarded the "Distinguished Teacher of the Year" Award in 2000. Prior to her arrival at Ohio University in 1975, she taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana. An active performer and passionate chamber music collaborator, she performs with the Cardinal Trio with Ohio University colleagues, Marjorie Bagley, violin and Michael Carrera, cello and with flutist, Alison Brown Sincoff, as a member of the Ohio University Lyric Duo. As a result of her distinguished work as a piano pedagogue, along with her reputation as an expert on musician wellness issues, she is much in demand as a performer, clinician, master class artist, adjudicator, author, reviewer and pedagogy consultant. She has performed and lectured in over thirty states, as well as Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Portugal and Canada. She was a presenter at the European Piano Teachers Conference in Manchester, England in 2005 and in Funchal, Madeira in 2006.

Ms. Berenson began to build a reputation as a performing artist early when at age eleven she began accompanying the forty-member male chorus conducted by her piano teacher, appearing in concert throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. A native of Kenosha, Wisconsin, she continued her education at Northwestern University, completing degrees in piano performance, studying piano with Louis Crowder and Guy Duckworth. She also performed in master classes with world-renowned accompanist Gerald Moore, baritone Pierre Bernac, duo-pianists Vronsky and Babin and, at the Lucerne International Music Festival, with pianist and accomplished chamber musician, Mieczyslaw Horszowski.

Ms. Berenson is one of the co-authors of A Symposium for Pianists and Teachers: Strategies to Develop Mind and Body for Optimal Performance and, as a member of the Lorenz Advisory Board she contributed to the innovative piano method, Piano Discoveries, and is co-author of "Ask the Professor". She also authored a chapter entitled, "Music Medicine and Today's Piano Teachers," for the third edition of James Lyke's book, Creative Piano Teaching. A frequent author for Keyboard Companion, she has also written for the on-line journal, Piano Pedagogy Forum and served as a contributing editor to Piano & Keyboard.

She is the national President of Music Teachers National Association, an association of 24,000 members. She has also held the position of President-Elect, Vice President, Chair of the 2002 and 2003 MTNA National Conference Committees, served on the 1996 and 1997 Conference Committees and was one of the founding members of the MTNA Pedagogy Committee. She has held several national posts with the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy and the World Piano Pedagogy Conference and has chaired National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy's Wellness for Pianists Committee. A past president of the Ohio Music Teachers Association, she holds MTNA's Master Certificate in piano and piano pedagogy and was the recipient of the 1999 OMTA "Certified Teacher of the Year" award and the 2004 OMTA "Collegiate Teacher of the Year" award. Her students are performing and teaching in independent studios and on college faculties throughout the world. More information can be found at www.gailberenson.com. 

Ann M. Gipson, NCTM, president-elect, is associate professor of music and director of piano pedagogy studies at Texas Christian University. She has held faculty positions at Baylor University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Delta State University and the University of Kentucky, teaching applied piano, class piano and piano pedagogy. Gipson holds a bachelor of music degree from Eastern Illinois University and both an M.M. in piano performance and pedagogy and a Ph.D. in music education/piano pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, she has presented sessions at MTNA national conferences, the National Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum, and various state and local venues. Her articles have appeared in AMT, Clavier, Keyboard Companion and Piano Pedagogy Forum.

Gipson has been an active member of MTNA since joining as a collegiate member in 1978, while attending Eastern Illinois University. She has actively supported collegiate members by serving as faculty advisor of MTNA Collegiate Chapters at Oklahoma Baptist University and Baylor University. As a member of the Oklahoma MTA, she became active at the state level holding offices of president, vice president of membership and certification/president-elect, and vice president of local associations and collegiate chapters. She has held positions in local MTAs and currently serves as a director on the Fort Worth MTA board. Nationally, she was Conference Program chair for both the 2004 and 2005 MTNA National Conferences and currently serves on the task force for Collegiate Certification and as chair of a program sub-committee for the 2007 Conference.

Janice Wenger, NCTM, vice president, appears both as soloist and collaborative performer throughout the United States and recently performed at the Janacek Academy of Music in Brno, Czech Republic. She holds degrees in piano performance from Kansas State University, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. As professor of music at the University of Missouri-Columbia since 1978, she teaches studio piano, accompanying and piano literature, and she accompanies faculty recitals and serves as coordinator for the keyboard faculty.

Wenger has been selected to lecture for the American Liszt Society, the Missouri MTA and the College Music Society. She has judged performance competitions for MTNA, Missouri MTA, Kansas MTA, MTNA’s West Central Division, Kansas City MTA, St. Louis Area MTA and the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs. She serves as executive director for the Missouri State Applied Music Program, a program for high school students to receive credit for applied study with independent teachers in the state.

For many years, Wenger served as official accompanist to the MTNA student competitions in the West Central Division and at the national finals. She has held multiple leadership positions throughout all levels of MTNA, including Missouri MTA secretary and treasurer; and West Central Division Group Piano chair, president-elect and president. Wenger has served as a member of the national board of directors and chair of the Collaborative Performance Forum and the Collaborative Performance Task Force.

Judith A. Price, NCTM, secretary/treasurer, from Olympia, Washington, holds a B.A. degree in music theory from Eastern Washington University and maintained an independent piano studio for 30 years. During her tenure as a private teacher, Price was very involved in her local associations, holding a number of positions including president and treasurer of two local associations. She has served Washington State MTA in many capacities including two terms as president.
Price is the executive manager of WSMTA, maintaining the business office for the association, which includes administrative activities, advertising and marketing as some of her duties. As chair of the WSMTA Investment committee, Price was instrumental in the development of the investment policies and procedures for the scholarship funds and investment accounts. She presently serves as treasurer of the investments.

Named an MTNA FOUNDATION Fellow at the 2006 MTNA National Conference, Price chairs the MTNA Ethics committee. She served on the MTNA Board of Directors (2000–2002), was a member of the Finance committee and a trustee on the MTNA FOUNDATION Board. Prior to service on these Boards, Price was chair of the National Certification Board, following four years as the Northwest Division certification representative on that Board, Northwest Division President, a member of the Leadership Summit Planning committee and the Membership committee.

Paul Stewart, NCTM, is MTNA immediate past president. He is chair of the keyboard division at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where he teaches piano performance studies and pedagogy. He holds a D.M. degree in piano performance from Florida State University, an M.M. degree from the University of Illinois and B.M. and B.M.E. degrees from Indiana University.
Prior to becoming president-elect, Stewart was MTNA treasurer. During 2000–2001, he served as chair of the National Convention Planning Committee for the Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., Conventions. As a member of the MTNA Foundation Board of Trustees, 1996–1998 and 2001–2003, Stewart has chaired both the MTNA Foundation

Teacher Enrichment Grant Committee and the MTNA Awards Committee. As a 1996–1998 and 2001–2003 member of the MTNA Board of Directors, he was a national representative to Wisconsin, Indiana and Nevada and chaired the MTNA Policies and Procedures Committee (1996–1998).
Stewart’s service to the Southern Division began in 1986 as local chairman for the MTNA Southern Division Meeting/Auditions and continued as college audition chair, vice president for auditions and president. His involvement with the North Carolina MTA goes back to 1973 when he chaired the state Baldwin competition and includes service four times as site chair for state conventions, vice president for conventions and state president, 1985–1987. Stewart is a frequent adjudicator for MTNA-related competitions and has given a number of workshops for local Music Teachers Associations. His recent performances include Schubert’s Trout Quintet (2002), solo piano recitals in North Carolina (2001) and a premier performance of Jupiter’s Moons, a six-movement work by Judith Lang Zaimont that Paul commissioned for the 2000 UNCG Focus on Piano Literature. His article, “The Piano Music of George Rochberg and the New Romanticism,” appeared in American Music Teacher in January 1989.

Gary L. Ingle is executive director of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Cincinnati, Ohio, the oldest music teacher association in the United States. MTNA, founded in 1876, is a professional association of 24,000 studio music teachers who teach in independent and collegiate settings nationwide. MTNA’s mission is to advance the value of music teaching and music making to society and to support the professionalism of music teachers.

Dr. Ingle is a career professional in association management and academia. Prior to his December 1996 appointment to MTNA, he was executive director of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity in Evansville, Indiana. As the leader of Phi Mu Alpha, he oversaw the fraternity’s work with more than 200 collegiate chapters across the country, as well as the activities of the Sinfonia Foundation.

Dr. Ingle’s academic career spanned 10 years with Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri During his tenure, he attained the rank of full professor of music and served as chair of the department of music, as dean of the Casebolt School of Fine Arts, and ultimately as vice president for enrollment management. As a conductor, he directed his choirs on four international tours to continental Europe, Great Britain, and two to the Far East. While in Asia, his choirs sang for the Far East Broadcasting Company and in Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, for the Baptist World Congress.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. Ingle holds the doctor of musical arts degree with emphases in conducting, voice, and higher education administration from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at Samford University in Birmingham. Additional studies include the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham. Dr. Ingle currently serves as the president of the National Music Council, which represents the United States to the International Music Council (established by the United Nations and a part of UNESCO). He is a member of the advisory board of From the Top, the public radio program dedicated to encouraging, supporting and celebrating the commitment of young people to music and the arts. Dr. Ingle also is a member of the editorial advisory board for the magazine, Making Music: Better Living Through Recreational Music Making, a magazine devoted to the health and wellness benefits of music making. He served on the board of trustees of the American Classical Music Hall of Fame from 1998–2003, serving as secretary of the board from 2000–2003. Dr. Ingle is listed in the International Who’s Who in Music, Who’s Who in America, Outstanding Young Men of America, Community Leaders and Noteworthy Americans, the Dictionary of International Biography and other prominent biographical resources.

	Fay Swadley Adams, NCTM, chairs the keyboard area at the University of Tennessee. She has served as Tennessee MTA president and as a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas Board of Directors. Awards include TMTA Teacher of the Year, YWCA Outstanding Woman in the Arts Award, Chancellor’s Citation for Service to UT, UT’S Volunteer Spirit Award, and Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award for the UT School of Music.
	Lezlee Johnsen Bishop, NCTM, an independent music teacher with a degree in piano pedagogy from Utah State University, has been involved as Utah MTA membership chair, conference coordinator and state president. She has served on MTNA grant and task force committees and as Southwest Division president-elect.
	Thomas Ediger, NCTM, is director of choral activities and professor of music at Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska. He directs choirs, teaches other music courses and maintains a private piano studio. Ediger is West Central Division president-elect and has been chair of MTNA’s Composer Commissioning program. Active in the Nebraska MTA, he has served as composition chair, treasurer, vice president, president-elect and president.
	Ellen Flint, Ph.D., is associate professor of music at Wilkes University. She is currently a member of the board of the Pennsylvania MTA, coordinator of the MTNA-PMTA Young Artist Chamber Music Competitions and Eastern Division Competitions Chair.
	Debra Florian, NCTM, is a past president of Washington State MTA. A member of MTNA for more than 25 years, she has served in many local and state offices and has chaired Washington’s Leadership Seminar and MTNA Competitions. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, Florian maintains a large independent studio.
	Celinda Hallbauer, NCTM, a professor at Central Texas College, has degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University. She is president of Texas MTA and has served in several state offices including vice president for student affairs and president-elect. Hallbauer also is an active member of her local association and was on MTNA’s state syllabus task force.
	Karen Thickstun, NCTM, teaches piano and piano pedagogy at Butler University and is director of the Butler Summer Piano Camps and the Butler Community Arts School. She maintains an independent studio in Nashville, Indiana, and serves on the NCKP Independent Teacher committee. Thickstun holds a B.A. degree from Duke University, an M.M. degree from Butler University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Virginia. She is a past president of the Indiana MTA and was awarded the 2002 IMTA Distinguished Service Award.