 |
MTNA Achievement Award
Randall and Nancy Faber
Nancy and Randall Faber have combined their backgrounds as composer and performer to become leading supporters of piano teachers and students. The husband-and-wife team are cofounders of the Faber Piano Institute and have authored more than 300 publications, including Piano Adventures method libraries for students of all ages, the PreTime to BigTime Piano Supplementary Library for student motivation, and materials for building foundational skills such as sight reading, ear training, note reading, and music theory. Their innovative, student-centered approach uses analysis, creativity, and expression to help students “develop musical minds and hearts.”
|
 |
MTNA Teacher of the Year
Scott Price, NCTM
The MTNA Teacher of the Year Award recognizes a teacher who has made a significant difference in the lives of students, has contributed to the advancement of music in their community and is an outstanding example of a professional music educator. The recipient of the 2026 MTNA Teacher of the Year Award is Scott Price, NCTM.
Scott Price is Carolina Distinguished Professor of Music and Coordinator of Piano Pedagogy at the University of South Carolina School of Music. He is the creator and served for 23 years as editor-in-chief of “Piano Pedagogy Forum,” which received the 2008 MTNA Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. His interests include teaching students with neurodiversities and unique learning needs. Scott currently serves as chair of Collegiate Chapters for the South Carolina Music Teachers Association. In 2020, he was recognized as a Carolina Distinguished Professor, the highest recognition given to a faculty member by the University of South Carolina.
|
 |
MTNA Distinguished Service Award
Rebecca Grooms Johnson, NCTM
Rebecca Grooms Johnson is a nationally respected leader in the field of piano pedagogy. She is an independent teacher and has taught extensively at the university level. Active in the Music Teachers National Association, she has served as President of the Ohio MTA, National Chair of MTNA’s Pedagogy Committee, and national Certification Chair. Rebecca exemplifies MTNA’s commitment to providing strong pedagogical training for teachers and a nurturing learning environment for students.
|
 |
MTNA Citation for Leadership
Jane Magrath
The 2026 MTNA Citation for Leadership recognizes Jane’s significant and lasting contributions to MTNA, to music teachers, and to the music teaching profession at large. Her book, The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature, has become the go-to resource for pianists throughout the country. Her published anthologies and promotion of standard classical teaching literature have been central to the current revival of interest in this music throughout the United States. In addition, her service to MTNA at the national level as contributor to American Music Teacher magazine, Conference Planning Committee chair, and frequent conference and master class clinician has been noted and greatly appreciated. Lastly, we must not forget the hundreds of students Jane has inspired and supported on their journey to become teachers and performers.
|
 |
Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award
Teaching Piano Pedagogy: A Guidebook for Training Effective Teachers
Courtney Crappell, NCTM, Author
Courtney Crappell is Dean of the Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), where he provides strategic leadership for academic programs in music, dance, and theatre. Since assuming the role in 2022, he has advanced initiatives that integrate artistic training with community engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional growth, including major fundraising efforts supporting the expansion and renovation of the Olson Performing Arts Center. Prior to joining UMKC, he served as Director of the Moores School of Music and Associate Dean of the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston.
Crappell is the author of Teaching Piano Pedagogy: A Guidebook for Training Effective Teachers (Oxford University Press, 2019) and has published research on music learning and well-being in journals including Psychology of Music. From 2009 to 2023, he authored a monthly column for the journal American Music Teacher, contributing more than 30 articles on music pedagogy, professional practice, and the evolving landscape of music education. He has delivered more than 60 refereed and invited presentations, workshops, and clinics at conferences and meetings, addressing topics in music pedagogy, higher education leadership, and community-engaged arts practice. He serves nationally as a Commissioner on the National Association of Schools of Music Commission on Accreditation and on the board of the Music Teachers National Association as the South-Central Division Director.
Crappell earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, with an emphasis in piano pedagogy, from the University of Oklahoma (OU). He also holds the Master of Music in Piano Performance from OU and the Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, summa cum laude, from Louisiana State University.
|
|
|
MTNA Advocacy Award for Impact on the Music Teaching Profession
Helen Walker-Hill
Judith Anne Still
Pianist and musicologist Helen Walker-Hill was born in 1936, in Winnipeg, Canada, where she received her early musical training from her mother, Margaret. Helen went on to be a Fulbright fellow, studied with Nadia Boulanger, and received her M.A. in musicology from Smith College and DMA in piano performance at the University of Colorado, where she served as adjunct associate professor. From 1987 on, wanting to use music of black women composers in her piano performance and teaching, Helen dedicated herself to uncovering the material, receiving numerous grants and fellowships to support her work.
In 1998, she was a Rockefeller resident fellow in the humanities at the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College, right here in Chicago. (I highly encourage you to explore The Helen Walker-Hill Collection, 1887–2012, in its Digital Commons.)
Helen was married to the composer George Walker from 1960 to 1975 and had two sons, violinist and composer Gregory T.S. Walker and playwright Ian Walker. She continued her research as an independent scholar and lived in Colorado until her passing in 2013.
Judith Anne Still, the daughter of William Grant Still and Verna Arvey, is an accomplished writer and champion for her father’s music. Judith Anne has won several awards for her writing, including an Independent Publisher Book Award in 2008. She won a full scholarship offered by USC to academically gifted students of color and majored in English in USC Dornsife. She continued her studies and graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a master’s degree in English in 1968.
Following the passing of her father, in 1978, Judith Anne discovered many of his manuscripts that had been packed away. In 1980, to celebrate her father’s legacy, she founded William Grant Still Music. Because of her tireless efforts for the last 45 years, her father’s music is now becoming widely known among new generations of music lovers. In addition to published works, Still’s works are now performed or broadcast on the radio more than 40,000 times a year.
Established in 2023 by the MTNA Board of Directors, the Advocacy Award honors individuals who have significantly impacted the music teaching profession while, at the same time, advancing the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and access.
|
 |
Gary L. Ingle State Leadership Service Award
Mark Stevens, NCTM
Mark Stevens enjoys a dynamic career as a solo pianist, collaborative artist, teacher, and adjudicator. An active commissioner, he recently performed the world premieres of 10 new pieces composed by a diverse range of early to middle career American-identifying composers. He has been an active and committed teacher for 25 years and currently serves as Director of Keyboard Studies and Assistant Professor of Piano at South Dakota State University. As president of the South Dakota MTA, he is active in service to his profession at the state level and beyond.
|
 |
Stecher & Horowitz Power of Innovation Award
Brock Chart
MTNA-Stecher & Horowitz Power of Innovation Award is provided through the generosity of its benefactors and namesakes, Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz, whose own life and work epitomized the power of innovation.
Brock Chart is a composer, piano studio owner, and entrepreneur based in Lawrence, Kansas, whose work sits at the intersection of creativity, pedagogy, and innovation in music education. Through his compositions, teaching, and publishing ventures, Brock has become a leading voice in reimagining how contemporary music can be made accessible, engaging, and, most of all, fun for both piano students and teachers alike.
|
 |
Stecher & Horowitz Foundation–MTNA Joyce B. Cowin Career Grant
Madeline Rogers, NCTM
Originally from Eldorado, Illinois, Madeline Rogers earned a Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Doctorate in Musical Arts from the University of Nebraska. She is a recurring scholar at Brahmshaus Baden-Baden in Germany. Madeline is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and serves as Assistant Professor of Keyboard Studies at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.
|
 |
Stecher & Horowitz Foundation–MTNA
Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz Career Grant
Jacob Wang
Jacob Wang is a pianist, educator, and arts administrator whose work spans solo, chamber, and orchestral performance, as well as music education and community engagement. He earned his degrees in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Michigan, where he served on faculty in the Piano Pedagogy Lab Program. He is currently the resident pianist at Music Haven, a nonprofit, tuition-free after-school music program, and teaches chamber music at an arts magnet school in New Haven, Connecticut.
|
 |
Stecher & Horowitz Foundation–MTNA
Gateway Prize for Advancement in the Arts
Katherine Benson
A joint collaboration of the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation and the MTNA Foundation Fund, this prize signifies not just the philanthropic commitment of Norman and Melvin to MTNA, but also their dedication to classical music through the quality of teaching, research, performance, and scholarship in music, all of which is a direct reflection of the standards of MTNA. The first Stecher and Horowitz Foundation–MTNA $25,000 Gateway Prize for Advancement in the Arts goes to Katherine Benson.
Pianist Katherine Benson is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician, adjudicator, and teacher, and has performed across the U.S. and abroad. She is the Artistic Director and pianist for The Paramount Chamber Players and a cofounder of the Knoxville International Piano Festival and Competition. Katherine holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Eastman School of Music, and Northwestern University. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music, Piano at The Pennsylvania State University.
|
| |
State Affiliate of the Year
Maine Music Teachers Association
Amy Irish, NCTM, President
This award recognizes the most outstanding state music teacher association that has shown excellence in fulfilling its mission to its members throughout the state, to the music teaching profession, and to the public at large.
|
| |
Local Association of the Year
Des Moines Music Teachers Association
Mary Beth Shaffer, NCTM, President
This award recognizes the MTNA local association that makes significant contribution to the music teaching profession through participation in national, state and local programs
|
| |
MTNA Collegiate Chapter of the Year
Utah State University MTNA Collegiate Chapter
Ginny G. Bastian, President
Cahill Smith, Advisor
The MTNA Collegiate Chapter of the Year Award is given to the MTNA collegiate chapter that demonstrates excellence in its chapter activities.
|
 |
American Music Teacher Article of the Year
“Fueling the Flame: Sustaining a Career in Music without Burning Out” by Pamela D. Pike, NCTM
October/November 2025 Issue
The American Music Teacher Article of the Year Award award is presented by Music Teachers National Association to the author(s) of an outstanding feature article written expressly for American Music Teacher.
Pam is the Spillman Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Associate Dean of Research, Creative Practice, and Community Engagement in the College of Music & Dramatic Arts at Louisiana State University. She has served as editor-in-chief of Piano Magazine since 2018 and is founding co-editor of the Journal of Piano Research. This marks the second time she has won AMT Article of the Year.
|
 |
MTNA e-Journal Article of the Year
“Envisioning a Future Musical Self: Identities of Dropout and Continuing Adolescent Piano Students” by Karen Gerelus
April 2025 Issue
The MTNA e-Journal of the Year Award is presented by Music Teachers National Association to the author of an outstanding feature article written exclusively for the MTNA e-Journal.
Karen is a third-generation piano teacher, musician, author, and scholar. She is an examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music and active member of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations. Aside from her private studio teaching, Karen gives workshops and masterclasses, adjudicates, and is featured on podcasts.
|
|
|
MarySue Harris Studio Teacher Fellowship Award
Caelyn Meier, NCTM
Madelyn Morrell
Seungkyu Oh
Renee Sadorf
MarySue Harris Studio Teacher Fellowship Award, a grant funded by the MarySue Harris Endowment Fund, is presented annually to three recently graduated independent studio music teachers who demonstrate commitment to the music teaching profession and outstanding studio development.
Caelyn Meier is a Nationally Certified Music Teacher and the owner of The Piano Lab, a studio specializing in group piano instruction and young beginners. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Maranatha Baptist University with concentrations in Piano Pedagogy and Arranging/Composition.
Madelyn Morrell is a violinist, Irish traditional fiddle player, budding pedagogue, and emerging academic. Beginning violin at age 5, Madelyn has since studied with many internationally celebrated Irish fiddle players and is now a sought-after Suzuki violin and Irish fiddle teacher, maintaining a busy teaching schedule throughout New England. Madelyn was unable to join us here in Chicago.
Born in South Korea, pianist Seungkyu Oh graduated from Seoul National University and continued his studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he is currently pursuing his Doctor of Music in Piano Performance and Literature. Seungkyu also serves on the faculty of the Young Pianist Program at Jacobs.
Renee Sadorf is a pianist based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, inspiring students of all ages through her private piano studio, Silver Keys Music. She also teaches applied piano lessons at Lancaster Country Day School and serves as an adjunct professor at Lancaster Bible College.
|
