What was so great about the MTNA National Conference in Atlanta?

Everyone has a different experience at a National conference.  It may be your first conference or your fifth one or you may have attended more than you can count!  You may be attending as a Board member from your state, or as an individual participant, or perhaps as an elected National officer.  You may be attending different meetings and sessions as your colleagues.  The fun part is when you gather outside the sessions for a meal, a coffee, a walk, or an excursion and you get to compare notes and go full music nerd discussing your profession!  Those conversations cannot take place during our normal daily routines and go a long way in forming deeper professional connections.

Here’s a picture of a tiny door in Atlanta!

So for me, Atlanta 2024 was especially rich as I had not attended a national convention in several years and there were so many participants this year from Massachusetts. We had a wonderful group of students who were encouraged to attend by Esther Ning Yau.  And, Alison Barr was chosen as National Teacher of the Year, so there were some lovely celebrations around that honor.  In the Exhibit Hall, I listened to Catherine Rollin play from her new collection of Museum Masterpieces and I chatted with Dennis Alexander, two of my favorite teaching composers. I spoke with the people who run Mymusicstaff.com through which I organize my business! And I learned about a new data base for searching for piano literature for students using all kinds of metadata called Pianomusicdatabase.com!

I always carve out some time to see what is special about the host city, and will remember the epic Aquarium, the trolley tour of Atlanta, the National Park devoted to Martin Luther King, and a visit to the East side Beltline Trail which was almost a highway but instead became a pedestrian connector for many communities in Atlanta.

I have never regretted attending an MTNA convention and I hope to be able to attend next year in Minneapolis! And I hope to see more colleagues attend their first convention!

Submitted by Dorothy Travis