Dr. James Knight, KMTA Immediate Past President
The Kansas Music Teachers Association (KMTA) is a subsidiary of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and will be celebrating its 140-anniversary next year. KMTA offers a networking system for teachers and college students to keep them informed and up-to-date on techniques used by educators across the state. KMTA has six districts across the state, all of which are active in student and teacher events.
Active membership is open to all interested music teachers. This membership provides privileges of participation in the activities of the organization, holding office, and voting. Student membership is open to any college student of music.
Membership benefits include: (taken from the KMTA website)
- Local Association meetings and workshops
- Music Progressions program
- American Music Teacher magazine, with articles on pedagogy, studio management, relevant news from around the nation and more.
- Grant opportunities
- Insurance products
- Legal, tax, and business advice
- Networking opportunities
- Professional certification program
- State and national conferences
- Student performance opportunities
Students of KMTA teachers are entitled to participate in these events:
- District Auditions – October
- State Honors Auditions – November
- Local Association events
- Music Progressions – a comprehensive musicianship program – April or May
Highlights from last year until now include:
KMTA held its annual State Conference and meetings in conjunction with the Missouri Music Teachers Association, at UMKC Conservatory in Kansas City, MO on September 27-28, 2024. With the expanded base, attendees were treated to a broad array of performance, repertoire and pedagogy topics for private teachers. The event proved to be exciting and artistically rewarding. The KMTA president, Dr. James Knight and the MMTA president Dr. Chris Madden were both acting as VPs of Conference at this event.
This year’s state conference was held at Tabor College on September 26-27. Sheila Litke was the Conference Chair this year and it turned out to be a wonderful event with more than 60 people in attendance. Our guest clinician was Dr. Norman Krieger, professor of piano at Indiana University.
The Fall Auditions continue as a major offering of KMTA. A total of 35 students entered the MTNA Performance Competition, including the Composition Competition, in the year 2024-2025. 365 entries enrolled for the KMTA District Audition, and 332 entries for the State Competition for the fall of 2024. Both the presidents of District One and Two, and District Four have secured their district audition dates and locations for the fall of 2025. KU also confirmed the dates for the KMTA State Competition on November 8-9, 2025. The audition information will be updated on the website once all the dates and locations in all other districts are confirmed.
New rubrics were officially approved and implemented for the KSHSAA Regional and State Piano Festivals. Reactions from jurors and teachers were favorable for more complete information provided to the young performers as they receive their rating.
KMTA held the annual Honors Recital on February 28, 2025, at the KMEA ISW with invited performers from the Fall Auditions, winners and/or runners up for state and national categories. There was a full program with 11 students performing and 7 teachers represented. Among those were professors of piano from both KU and K-State. As an affiliate of KMEA, KMTA enjoys the rich camaraderie of fellow teachers across the state.
Music Progressions, our non-competitive comprehensive evaluation of progress in several written and performance areas were held from mid to late April. 5 districts were represented with 302 students and 28 teachers participating.
Each year the president of KMTA along with other members attend the MTNA National Conference, held each spring. Last year’s event was in Minneapolis, and the upcoming conference will be held March 21-25, 2026, in Chicago.
Tim Shook was honored at the MTNA Conference Gala as an MTNA Fellow representing Kansas.
Under the leadership of the technology chair, Dawn Ivers, the KMTA website has been updated.
The term for president of KMTA is two years. Dr. James Knight has just rolled off that position the end of September and the new president is Dr. Christina Liu, head of the music department at Bethel College. We look forward to her two years of leadership.
This is just a snapshot of the many activities that KMTA is involved with on an annual basis. We invite you to explore our website at ksmta.org for more information or to be involved.
