September 2025

Before we get to the topic of your volunteer work for EMTA, tell us just a bit about your teaching, including things such as what areas of music you teach, any specializations you offer, approximate number of students in your studio, and anything else you’d like for us to know. 
My studio is currently slightly larger than my comfort level at 28 private students and two group classes of 4 each. I teach both piano and voice lessons, and many students take both piano and voice. For piano, I prioritize working with beginners and neurodiverse students, because I feel especially equipped to work with this group. For voice lessons, I offer a 15-minute add-on to piano lessons for the youngest students that covers aural skills and performance skills. And for the teenage and adult voice students, I teach more traditional voice lessons with a focus on cross-training in both classical and contemporary styles. In the summers, I teach Music Together with Alley Bell Music.

Most of us are busy people and volunteering takes – TIME! How do you [or did] you balance your teaching load with the amount of time that you do [or did] devote to EMTA work? 
I fold EMTA volunteering into my studio-management. As I grew up, I watched my mother chair many events and hold board positions in our local MTNA group. For me, volunteering with our organization feels like a natural part of being a piano teacher and voice teacher. My sense of time-management and work-life balance is ever-evolving and I am lucky to be in a period of my life with fewer family demands.

We know that you have served EMTA as Chair of the Musicianship Festival. Are there other volunteer activities that you would like us to know about? 
At the moment, I don’t have any other groups with which I volunteer.  

Is there a special memory about one of your volunteer activities that you would like to share? 
Seeing and learning the behind-the-scenes of the Musicianship Festival was filled with special memories. I am so thankful to all of the teachers who rallied around me this past year as I learned this new volunteer position. I’m looking forward to taking all that I learned into the next year!
We generally volunteer for the purpose of doing something to benefit students or the EMTA membership.

Please tell our readers about any benefits or personal rewards that you feel that you got from doing volunteer work for EMTA? 
For me, the most important benefit is having colleagues: as private teachers we are often very isolated and volunteering is a way to find community in our industry. In addition, I’ve also learned and nurtured skills like leadership, management, using spreadsheets, and communication. Many of my students love the EMTA events, and volunteering ensures that these events continue! 

Do you have any thoughts that you would like to share with EMTA members who are
considering taking on volunteer roles? 
Learn as much as you can from your predecessors in whatever role you are considering. (There are so many mistakes I made last year that could have been avoided had I asked more questions of my predecessors!) If you are on the fence about volunteering, know that it is possible to be generous with your time while maintaining healthy boundaries. Volunteer positions come with a variety of time-commitments and there will be one that fits the time you are willing to give. 

EMTA Volunteer of the Month is coordinated by EMTA member, Rick Asher.