Wednesday, September 9

Location: Brookwood Library Board Room

Please note: This is a new meeting room for us. The Board Room is located upstairs; an elevator is available.

Schedule

10:00–10:30 a.m. – Business Meeting and Social Time
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. – Presentation by Lynda Lybeck-Robinson, NCTM

Refreshments: Snacks will be provided. Please bring your own beverage.

Never Underestimate the POWER of Simplicity

Great composers of any age don't begin with perfection. They begin with possibility.

Join composer and educator Lynda Lybeck-Robinson for a workshop filled with practical composition strategies, engaging call-and-response exercises, and inspiring student examples that help teachers nurture confident and creative young musicians.

About the Presenter

Oregon native and Linfield College graduate Lynda Lybeck-Robinson founded the first private piano studio in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands in 1997.

A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), she serves as MTNA Northwest Division Director-Elect and Alaska MTNA Certification Chair. Hal Leonard has published over 70 of her compositions, including the popular piano solo Williwaw and the intermediate collection Alaska Sketches.

Throughout her career, Lynda has helped students discover their own musical voices. She continues to compose alongside her students, sharing practical strategies that make composition approachable, joyful, and creative.

Outside the studio, Lynda loves photography and walking her dog, Julia.

Questions? Ask Chairs Wilma Hawkins or Susan Todd (Contact info located in the OMTA Directory; login required).

• Entries Due October 2, 2026 (register on the OMTA Website)

This event is an adjudicated, masterclass format

Please Note - Repertoire Festival Saturday, October 24 in the MORNING and EARLY AFTERNOON, at Calvary Lutheran Church

Questions? Ask Chairs Wilma Hawkins or Susan Todd (Contact info located in the OMTA Directory; login required).

Schedule

• 10:00–10:30 a.m. – Business meeting and social time

• 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. – Presentation by Dr. Stephen Lewis

Refreshments: Snacks will be provided. Please bring your own beverage.

The Four Senses of Piano Playing: Engaging Hearing, Sight, Touch, and Proprioception for Optimal Learning and Performing

How do we achieve a flow state when performing? An important part of entering a flow state is coordinating the four senses we rely on while learning and performing music: hearing, sight, touch, and proprioception. In this presentation, Dr. Stephen Lewis will discuss current scientific understandings of how our brains and bodies process these senses and how consciously engaging all four can enhance teaching, practicing, and performance.

About the Presenter

Dr. Stephen Lewis, NCTM, is a music teacher, pianist, composer, and conductor based in Portland, Oregon. He has more than twenty years of experience teaching piano, composition, music theory, and music history in both private studios and higher education.

Stephen serves as President-Elect of the East Portland District of the Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA) for the 2025–2027 term. As a pianist, he performs solo recitals, including his Modernist Piano Series, and regularly collaborates with organizations such as the Oregon Symphony, Fear No Music, 45th Parallel, and other local ensembles. He is also the accompanist for the Portland Symphonic Choir.

As a composer, his works have been performed throughout the United States and in Italy, including performances by Fear No Music and on the ChatterPDX series in Portland.

Dr. Lewis earned both a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and a Ph.D. in Composition from the University of California, San Diego. He is also a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he majored in Composition and Piano Performance.

When he is not making music, Stephen enjoys hiking, reading, wine tasting, and traveling.

For more information, visit https://www.stephenlewiscomposer.com/.Presenter - Joseph Hoffman - "Teaching Rhythm with the Child's Brain in Mind."

Schedule (Venue: TBD)

10:00–10:30 a.m. – Business meeting and social time
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. – Presentation by Dr. Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM

Refreshments: Snacks will be provided. Please bring your own beverage.

Essential Elements of Music Analysis as a Resource in the Studio

Having a basic understanding of how a piece of music is constructed is an essential step toward delivering a convincing performance, yet students' understanding of this knowledge is often incomplete.

This presentation focuses on simple elements of formal analysis and common harmonic progressions, providing teachers with practical tools to help students:

• Determine the formal design of a piece

• Understand the essential elements that hold a composition together

• Learn and memorize music more efficiently and confidently

Drawing from his performing and teaching experience, Dr. de la Torre will discuss topics including mapping out a piece of music, creating formal diagrams, and identifying common harmonic procedures and keyboard textures through examples from the standard repertoire. A bibliography will be provided.

Presenter: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre, NCTM

Dr. Ricardo de la Torre is an active performer, teacher, adjudicator, curator, and scholar. He has performed throughout North America and Europe and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in Mexico and the United States. A finalist and prize winner in numerous competitions, he has received grants and scholarships from a variety of cultural and government institutions.

He performs regularly as one half of Duo Powers–de la Torre with Dr. Lark Powers. The duo's first album, featuring the music of Uruguayan-American composer Miguel del Águila, will be released this year.

Dr. de la Torre serves as an instructor at Pacific Lutheran University, the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and Concordia Arts & Music Academy. He previously taught at East Central University in Oklahoma, where he instructed a variety of music courses.

An active scholar, he has presented lectures and lecture-recitals at local, regional, national, and international conferences. His articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals in Mexico, Colombia, and the United States, and he regularly writes program notes for the National Autonomous University of Mexico's professional orchestra, OFUNAM.

Born in Mexico City, Dr. de la Torre attended the pre-college program at the Escuela Superior de Música before earning his bachelor's degree with honors. He later received a Master of Music degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he served as a teaching assistant and collaborative pianist. His principal teachers include Ana María Tradatti, Fernando García Torres, Evelyne Brancart, and David Korevaar.

In addition to his teaching and performing, Dr. de la Torre has served as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens, coordinated Tacoma's Listen Live at Lunch summer concert series, serves on the board of Early Music Seattle, and directs Orquesta Northwest's Latino Chamber Music Festival in Seattle each fall. He is also in demand as an adjudicator throughout Washington and the Pacific Northwest and currently serves as a Visiting Artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association's Music Artistry Program.

Schedule

10:00–10:30 a.m. – Business Meeting and Social Time
10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. – Presentation by our OMTA State President Amie Belisle, MM, NCTM

Refreshments

Snacks will be provided. Please bring your own beverage.

Presentation: Fun With Purpose

Join Amie as she speaks to us about continuing the work of community building that began at our August conference presentations titled "Fun with Purpose."

Join us for some fun as we meet together for our last presentation of the year!

Please Bring:

• A dish to share

• Any enjoyable ensemble music you'd like to play

We'll begin with a brief district meeting, set presentation dates for next year, enjoy brunch together, and finish with some fun ensemble sight-reading.

We hope you'll make plans to join us for a great morning of food and music with your Hillsboro Area District colleagues!