Extraordinary music.

Upon becoming Executive Director of MTNA in December 1996, I made a commitment to visit all of our state affiliates as soon as practical. It is well established that the CEO of any major national organization must be out among the members and leaders. The job cannot, and should not, be confined to "sitting behind the desk." Only by being with the grassroots, rank-and-file members can one get the proper perspective of the length and breadth of the organization.

Since that time, I have attended thirty-eight state conferences. This has been the most valuable experience of my tenure as executive director. The opportunity to converse with state, local, division and national leadership, as well as with our members in these locales, has enabled me to get to know our association from top to bottom and from inside out. The experience has confirmed what I already knew about MTNA--that our organization is strong and our members are doing many significant things to further the cause of music in America and to influence positively the lives of their students.

But what impresses me most is the strong alliance we have forged with our affiliates. I have come to view MTNA metaphorically as "a powerful cathedral organ through which the tonal resonations of thousands of individual pipes are fused into the same extraordinary music." Think about it: a powerful cathedral organ is comprised of thousands of individual pipes, each different from the others--some deep and resonant, some shrill and piercing, some low pitch, some high pitch--yet when played together, they produce extraordinary music.

So it is with MTNA, which is comprised of thousands of individual members, from all over the country and each different from the others--some independent teachers, some collegiate, some keyboard, some voice, some strings, some percussion and on and on--yet, when we work (or should I say "play") together through association, we make extraordinary music and are able to exert an influence not possible for the individual teachers/members alone.

I am proud to be a part of this vital association of music-teaching professionals. I look forward to visiting the remaining state affiliates over the coming years. But more than that, I anxiously anticipate the exceptional opportunities ahead of us to meet the needs of music teachers all across the country ... and the world.