About
The purpose of the Martin Area Music Teachers Associations is to promote professional and social relations between its members; to provide programs, discussions, and activities of instruction and interest to private, college, university, and conservatory music teachers and others interested in the music teaching profession; to raise the standards of music teaching, performance, and appreciation among music teachers, institutions, and the general public in Northwest Tennessee, and to encourage a greater respect on the part of the music teachers and the public at large for the music teaching profession.
The Martin Area Music Teachers Association (MAMTA) became an independently-recognized group in June of 1995. In previous years, music teachers in this area were affiliated with the West Tennessee Music Teachers Association, headquartered in Jackson, TN. MAMTA is affiliated with the state level organization Tennessee Music Teachers Association (TMTA) and the national level organization Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).
Teachers
Piano Teachers
Ms. Linda Farmer
Ms. Rita Winter
Ms. Reba Wade
Ms. Kathleen Parker
Ms. Heather Korn
Ms. Linda Williams
Dr. Elaine Harriss
Dr. Keith Herris
Voice Teachers
Ms. Heather Korn
Ms. Kathleen Parker
Rev. Elwood Doss, Jr.
Ms. Reba Wade
Ms. Rita Winter
Violin
Guitar
Percussion
Saxophone
Membership & Certification
Membership
Active membership is open to all persons engaged in any field of music teaching. Active members have the right to vote and to hold office.
Dues:
Local…………………..$5.00
State………………………$30.00
National………………..$79.00
Collegiate Membership:
Local…………$5.00
State………….$2.00
National……..$19.00
Visit the MTNA membership website to find a full description of all the membership information. You can choose to print and mail a membership application or apply and pay for membership online. The TMTA membership website also lists local membership fee details.
Certification
National and state certification programs provide for the recognition of a standardized minimum preparation for the profession of music teaching. For full information on MTNA certification, visit the MTNA certification website. For full information on TMTA certification, visit the TMTA certification website.
Events & Dates
Annual MAMTA Events
MAMTA Fall Music Festival
The Fall Music Festival is a non-competitive event open to students of all ages. Students receive a Certificate of Participation and positive and constructive written comments from an auditor. Pianists are asked to play two contrasting pieces at their level. Advanced students may enter two short pieces or one longer work. Vocal students should prepare one song. (Performance time allotted is 8 minutes.) Memorization is preferred. Mail entry forms and fees to Rita Winter by October 31. (Students of MAMTA members pay $5.00, and students of non-members pay $10.00.)
MAMTA Local Auditions
Local piano and voice auditions are held in the spring. Passing grades on musicianship tests are required for standard entrants.
Performance Date:
Location: UTM Fine Arts Building
Fees: Solo – $15.00; Ensemble – $7.50 per person
Entry forms and fees are due no later than April 1; mail to Elaine Harriss.
TMTA and MTNA Auditions and Competitions
State Auditions are held in June for elementary, junior high, and high school entrants; college entrant auditions are held in the fall. Students receiving a superior rating in the local auditions are eligible to compete in the June state auditions.
The nationally-affiliated MTNA autitions are held in the fall and begin at the state level; there is no local audition pre-requisite.
For the full information on the state and national auditions and competitions, you can find full details at TMTA’s competition website and at MTNA’s competition website.
Dates to Remember
MAMTA Dates for 2018-2019:
Potluck Luncheon:
Business Meeting & Teacher Performances:
Fall Music Festival:
MAMTA Meeting:
Monster Concert:
Local Auditions:
Planning Meeting:
Audition/Program Deadlines for 2018-2019:
TMTA & MTNA fall audition entries due to appropriate state chairman:
Fall Music Festival entry forms and fees due:
Monster Concert entries due to Mr. Elwood Doss, Jr.:
Local audition entry forms and fees due:
June state audition entries due to appropriate state chairman:
State and National 2018-2019 Dates:
TMTA Executive Board Meeting:
TMTA’s College/Adult and Nationally Affiliated Auditions:
MTNA Southern Division Competition:
TMTA Executive Board Meeting:
UTM Piano Competition:
MTNA National Conference & Auditions:
National Piano Guild Performances:
TMTA State Conference, Auditions:
TMTA Executive Board Meeting:
Materials for publication in Tennessee Music Teacher Due:
Teacher Biographies
Rev. Elwood Doss, Jr., RPT – Voice
edoss@utm.edu
(731) 587-5700
Rev. Doss serves as piano technician to the University of Tennessee at Martin and the West Tennessee area. An ordained Baptist minister, he served in Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky as vocational and bi-vocational Minister of Music since 1966, with 30 of those years as a vocational Minister of Music in three churches. He was a public school music teacher for 3 years in Missouri. He presently serves as the bi-vocational Minister of Music at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Martin.
He is a Registered Piano Technician, certified by the Piano Technicians Guild, Kansas City, KS. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree from UT Martin, a Master of Music Education degree from Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and has completed Theology/Religious Education studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a life member of the American Choral Directors Association; a life member of Optimist International; a member of the Martin Area Ministerial Alliance; the West Tennessee Minister of Music Fellowship; the Tennessee Baptist Church Music Conference and sings in the Tennessee Baptist Men’s Chorale. He also serves as the adviser for UTM’s Sigma Psi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, men’s music fraternity.
He has served since 1990 as adjudicator for the West Tennessee Solo & Ensemble Contest; has served as adjudicator for both Middle School and High School Choirs for the West Tennessee Vocal Music Association; and has served as Church Music and Senior Adult Ministry clinician in North Carolina, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, New Mexico, and Nova Scotia. His children, Chuck, Deborah, and Daniel, hold degrees from UT Martin, two as Music Majors; one as a Music Minor, and Deborah holds a Master of Elementary Education degree also from UT Martin.
Ms. Linda Farmer – Piano
linspell@hotmail.com
(731) 364-5283
Dr. Elaine Harriss – Piano
elaineh@utm.edu
(731) 587-4601
Dr. Elaine Atkins Harriss, Professor of Music at the University of Tennessee at Martin, is a pianist, flutist, and early childhood music specialist. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Dr. Harriss has been at UTM since 2001 and served the Department of Music as chair for six years.
Dr. Harriss as a pianist is well-known for her solo and collaborative playing and has extensive piano duo, duet, and eight-hand experience with her partner Allison Nelson. Recent performances included Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the UTM wind ensemble at the Canon Center in Memphis and Piano Music of Poulenc, featuring La Histoire de Babar with narrator Interim Chancellor Dr. Robert Smith and Sonata for Two Pianos assisted by Dr. Johnathan Vest. She is currently pianist with the University Trio. Elaine’s flute performing included 25 years as principal flutist with area orchestras, 18 years of chamber work as flutist with the University Trio, many solo recitals, and the premier of Sam Ewell’s Ramble for Flute and String Orchestra.
To serve the musical needs of the community, Dr. Harriss maintains a pre-college music studio, and for 19 years directed Kindermusik of Martin which served over 1,500 children birth through age seven. She was Director of Educational Standards and Professional Development for Kindermusik International of Greensboro, N.C., for many years and served as president of the International Kindermusik Educators Association from 1999-2003.
Dr. Harriss has taught over 50 workshops on five continents and has made presentations at meetings and conventions of the National Piano Pedagogy Conference, the Music Educators National Conference, the Kindermusik Educators Association, the Australian Kindermusik Educators Association, the Hawaiian International Conference on Arts and the Humanities, and the Tennessee Music Teachers Association. She was named Tennessee Music Teacher of the Year by the TMTA, is a past president of that group, and now serves as the state competition chair. In 2013 she was named a Foundation Fellow by the Music Teachers National Association. Dr. Harriss is also a past president of the Tennessee Federation of Music Clubs and currently serves as president of NFMC’s Martin Philharmonic Music Guild.
Dr. Harriss served as the 2007-08 president of the UT Martin Faculty Senate, the 2013-14 president of Phi Kappa Phi, and as a past member of the Martin Historic Zoning Commission and the Martin Beautiful Committee. She is president of the Martin Area Music Teachers Association and an adviser to UTM’s Sigma Alpha Iota chapter (music fraternity for women), She and her late husband Ernie Harriss II have two sons and a daughter-in-law, Ernie Harriss III, and Edward and Elana Harriss, and three grandchildren, Blase Edward Harriss, Ronin Atkins Harriss, and Ella Louise Harriss. Elaine is an elder in Trinity Presbyterian Church and serves as pianist for Trinity services.
Dr. Keith Herris – Piano
herrisk@bethelu.edu
Keith D. Herris, a native of Canton, Ohio, is currently Chair of the Division of Music and Religion and Associate Professor of Music at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee. His teaching areas include music theory, music appreciation, applied piano, piano pedagogy, and class piano. Dr. Herris holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Michigan State University where he studied with Artist-in-Residence Panayis Lyras. He has also studied with well-known pedagogues Marvin Blickenstaff and Jane Magrath. He additionally holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Goshen College (IN).
Dr. Herris continues to be an active soloist, collaborative artist, and chamber musician. He has received first prize in numerous piano competitions throughout Indiana, Michigan, and Oklahoma, including the Chopin Youth (Collegiate) Piano Competition in South Bend, IN, Donna Turner Smith Memorial Competition at the University of Oklahoma, and the OMTA Graduate Piano Competition. Additionally, he was runner up in the Oklahoma State MTNA Competition and named a finalist in the Kalamazoo Bach Festival and Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Dr. Herris has performed as soloist with the Bethel University Singers and Orchestra, three times with the Goshen College Orchestra, and was guest soloist with the Michigan State University Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr. Herris collaborated in a performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall and is the principle pianist for the Jackson Symphony Orchestra.
As a member of MTNA, TMTA, and Martin Area MTA, Dr. Herris has served as an adjudicator for auditions and competitions throughout west Tennessee as well as a presenter for local music teachers. Dr. Herris is a member of the McKenzie Rotary Club and Music Director at the McKenzie First Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He also enjoys collaborating with his wife, Melissa, who has a degree in musical theatre, and has three lovely daughters.
Ms. Heather Korn – Voice, Piano, Saxophone, and Guitar
kornstudioLLC@gmail.com
(731) 487-1884
Heather Korn taught an award winning full-time private voice and piano in Las Vegas from 2001 – 2009. She recently relocated her teaching studio to Trenton, Tennessee.
She holds both a bachelors and a masters degree in vocal performance and has an extensive background in pedagogy, solo and ensemble performance, drama ensemble direction, and non-profit leadership.
Many of her current and former students are pursuing their own careers in music theatre, pedagogy, and composition.
She is a proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Music Teachers National Association, National Federation of Music Clubs, The Tennessee Theatre Association, and the Gibson County Chamber of Commerce. She was an intern with the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department – New York, NY, in 1996.
She attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1997.
Heather Korn has studied with Margie Marrs, Ai-Ze Wang, Peggy Holloway, Mary Ann Hart, and Michael Cochran.
Ms. Bethany Ostenson – Violin
Ms. Kathleen Parker – Voice, Piano, and Percussion
lukeandkathleen@juno.com
(731) 885-4618
Ms. Reba Wade – Voice and Piano
(731) 587-5893
Ms. Linda Williams – Piano
(731) 885-5459
Ms. Rita Winter – Voice and Piano
rbwinter72@gmail.com
(731) 885-1763
Rita Winter is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin with a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. Winter resides in a small community between Union City and Martin, and is the owner of The Music Place, where she teaches private voice and piano lessons.
Along with teaching, Winter currently performs with the UTM Singers, the First United Methodist Church Choir of Union City, and works as a collaborative pianist with three UTM vocal majors.
Winter says that students who are currently pursuing music should not give up in their journey. “There’s an exciting world out there waiting for you to enrich it. Remember that luck is where preparation meets opportunity,” she said.
Martin Area Music Teachers Association 