Collaborative events in Toronto. (Forum Focus: Collaborative Performance.

"Collaboration is the theme of the 2007 MTNA Conference in Toronto, Ontario. By now you certainly realize that the conference will be a collaborative effort between the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations, The Royal Conservatory of Music and MTNA. In this spirit of collaboration with our Canadian colleagues, and following the successful presence of collaborative arts at last year's conference, a wide variety of collaborative events will take place throughout the conference this year.

You will not want to miss the Opening Session, Friday March 23, which will feature 2006 MTNA Senior Piano Competition winner Lo-An Lin and Lucas Porter, winner of the Open Piano Class at the 2006 National Festival Competition, performing with Canada's Royal Conservatory of Music Orchestra. Lin is taught by Yoshikazu Nagai, and Porter is taught by John Hansen at Acadia University. The concert is sponsored by the Yamaha Piano Corporation of America and Yamaha Canadian Music Ltd.

Saturday evening, March 25, in Roy Thomson Hall, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Bramwell Tovey, will perform Stephen Chatman's Over Thorns to Stars, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 and Symphony No. 3 "Organ" by Saint-Saens. Tovey will be joined by Jane Coop as solo pianist and Patricia Krueger, organist.

Women of Firsts is a lecture/recital exploring rich and evocative music for voice and piano written by Grayzna Bacewicz of Poland and French composer Lili Boulanger. The music, relatively unknown in North America, is worthy of serious study by students. This session will be presented by Daniel Weeks and Naomi Oliphant.

The Percussion Plus Project--Amy Barber, Tanya Gille, Vergie Amendola and Christopher Martin--will present a session entitled Beyond Bartok: Exploring Other Works for Two Pianos and Percussion. The Percussion Plus Project presents two works for two pianos and percussion that pay homage to Bartok's ground-breaking Sonata of 1937 and take the potential of this unique chamber music configuration to another level.

Debussy's masterwork for two pianos, En Blanc et Noir (1915) will be discussed from a pianistic, compositional and historical perspective. Special emphasis will be given to the fascinating inner program of the second movement. This session will be presented by Claire Wachter and Dean Kramer.

Christine Kefferstan, Laura Kobayashi and Susan Bestul will present a lecture/recital that includes a performance of Clara Schumann's Trio in G Minor, Op. 17. This session will acknowledge a remarkable woman composer. Written in 1846, the Trio reveals very little of the unsure feelings Clara had about composing.

Can Collaborative Teaching Serve Emotional and Intellectual Individuality? This is the question that will be answered by Elizabeth and Eugene Pridnoff. Each person has specific characteristics that are unique and unlike anyone else in the world. Developing those special qualities requires that we acknowledge a diversity of opinions and approaches to performing and teaching that have equal validity.

As chair of the Collaborative Performance Forum, I invite you to attend the Collaborative Performance Forum Session. In this meeting we will embark on an open discussion from teachers and performers from the United States and Canada. We will collectively share ideas and focus on future projects that will make the visibility of the collaborative arts strong throughout MTNA. I look forward to seeing you there.

Kenneth Christensen is an independent piano teacher and active performer, adjudicator and clinician. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance. Christensen currently serves as Northwest Division Director on the MTNA Board of Directors.