Tabor College to host recital
Reception to follow recitals
The Newton Music Teachers Association has "Adopted A Composer" as a highlight for this year's work Dr. Kevin Olson of Elmhurst College near Chicago is their composer.
The students of NMTA members have studied his music and fifty-one students will present their numbers on March 12, in two recitals at Tabor College Chapel-Auditorium in Hillsboro, Kansas.
Also featured on this recital day will be a three-part premiere/presentation that Olson has composed for the Newton Music Teachers Association. The premiere pieces are titled "Showdown in Dodge City," "Call of the Meadowlark," and "Storm Chasers." The performers will also be students of NMTA teachers.
Olson is an active pianist, composer, and faculty member at Elmhurst College near Chicago, Illinois, where he teaches classical and jazz piano, music theory, and electronic music. He holds a doctor of education degree from National-Louis University, and bachelor's and master's degrees in music composition and theory from Brigham Young University.
A native of Utah, he began composing at the age of five. When he was 12, his composition "An American Trainride" received the Overall First prize at the 1983 National PTA Convention in Albuquerque, N. M. Since then he has been a Composer-in-Residence at the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy and has written music for the American Piano Quartet, Chicago a cappella, and several piano teachers' associations around the country.
Olson maintains a large piano studio, teaching students of a variety of ages and abilities. Many of the needs of his own piano students have inspired his publication of nearly forty books and solos.
Students will be able to meet Dr. Olson at a reception following the recitals for autographs and photos. One more feature of this event is the poster contest entries by the students illustrating their performance numbers — the first place winner will be featured on the cover page of he program brochure.
The Newton Music Teachers Association is an affiliate of the Kansas Music Teachers Association. Nineteen members comprise this group of piano teachers. The members are Albena Akers, Melody Bontrager, Karla Conner, Shirley Goering, Roberta Gingerich, Lillian Harms, Connie Hendrickson, Marcia Jacobs, Carol Klingenberg, Bev Lister, JoAnn Nickel, Rebecca Olson, Renae Peters, Marilyn Reimer, Beverly Richards, Karen Schlabaugh, Sheila Schmitt, Deborah Toews, and Donna Woolery. Dr. Sheila Schmitt is the president of the organization.
