Join us for the second OK-ASTA Fall Symposium. Each year, we will bring a guest lecturer to Oklahoma to speak to ASTA members. Our ASTA Symposium will follow the OkMEA Conference that takes place in the morning. All events will be held Oklahoma City University.

Stacia Spencer is a senior lecturer in string pedagogy at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music and string coordinator for the Northwestern Music Academy. She also has been on the faculty of the Northwestern National High School Music Institute teaching violin, viola and chamber music. Prior to moving to the Chicago area, Ms. Spencer was an assistant professor of music at Indiana University School of Music where she taught classes in violin and viola pedagogy and was the assistant to Mimi Zweig at the IU String Academy. Ms. Spencer has a special interest in contemporary music, working with composers and performing new pieces. An eclectic musican and performer, she has been a vocalist and jazz singer in the Jon Eaton Pocket Opera Company in Chicago and New York.  As a singer and electric violist she has also performed and recorded in the rock genre. She received her bachelors and masters degrees in viola from Indiana University School of Music, where she studied with Mimi Zweig, Kim Kashkashian and George Janzer. Ms. Spencer’s students have won many competitions and have been featured on “From the Top”. They also participate in their school orchestras as well as the Chicago Youth Orchestras and the Midwest Young Artists Orchestras.

Join us for the first year of our annual OK-ASTA Fall Symposium. Each year, we will bring a guest lecturer to Oklahoma to speak to ASTA members.  Our ASTA Symposium will follow the OkMEA Conference that takes place in the morning.  All events will be held Oklahoma City University.  

Date: 10/17/13

Time: Lunch, provided for all ASTA members will begin at noon.  The lecture will begin at 1 p.m.  This event is free and open to all teachers. 

This year's guest lecturer is Brenda Brenner

Brenda Brenner was assistant professor of music (violin) at Indiana University from 1993 to 2006, when she was named associate professor of music (music education). She specializes in string music education, teaching applied violin, as well as courses in violin and string pedagogy.

In addition to her appointment to the Music Education Department, she continues to serve as assistant director of the IU String Academy, a position she has held since 1993. Her String Academy students have been featured in concerts in major venues throughout the United States and have presented tours in France, Japan, Sweden, and Spain.

Brenner, an active teacher and performer of chamber music throughout the United States, also teaches and conducts at the IU Summer String Academy and is assistant director of the IU Retreat for Professional Violinists and Violists.

She was previously a member of the faculty at Carleton College and an instructor at Eastman School of Music, where she was a member of the award-winning Augustine Quartet.

 OK-ASTA Master Teacher Workshop featuring Barbara BarberAuthor of Solos for Young ViolinistsAuthor of Scales for Advanced Violinists

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE - Seretean Center, Oklahoma State University

10am-12pm          Solo and Small Ensemble Masterclass

Do you have a young string student who would like to perform for Ms. Barber?  Do you coach a small string ensemble that is getting ready for contest?  Ms. Barber will listen to selected Oklahoma pre-college students and offer advice in this masterclass that will be open to the public.

12-2pm          Lunch (on your own)

2-5pm          Developing Artistry: Teaching Style Consciousness from the Beginning

Workshop with Barbara Barber

What makes a student sound like a student and an artist sound like an artist? Getting beyond the printed page is the essence of a musically convincing and emotionally expressive performance. This workshop will be a discussion and demonstration of the use and combinations of various techniques that add style and finesse to a string player’s performance.  Bring your instrument!