MTNA's worldwide influence.

It is said that music is a universal language, and after my experiences this summer, I've come to appreciate this adage even more. I have had the privilege--and pleasure--of meeting with representatives of the music-teaching field throughout the world.

As president of the U.S. National Music Council, an association of America's trade and membership music associations, of which MTNA is a member, I serve on the planning committee for the International Music Council's Music Word Forum. The committee met in Paris in June to plan the event, which will be held in Los Angeles, October 1-3, 2005. Musicians from more than seventy nations will be represented at this important international meeting.

A meeting with representatives of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (CFMTA) in Montreal, Canada, served to solidify MTNA's partnership with our colleagues to the north. Plans are moving forward for the 2007 MTNA National Conference that will be held in conjunction with the CFMTA in Toronto, Canada. Other possible areas of collaboration also were discussed.

In July, I was invited to give the address at the opening ceremonies of the first-ever Beijing Music Festival. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, this event brought students and professionals from across the globe to Beijing to share goals and ideas through music making and socializing in an environment of historical and cultural significance. I was accompanied by MTNA President Phyllis Pieffer. While there, Phyllis and I spoke to attendees and government officials about music teaching in America, emphasizing MTNA's role and its importance to music teachers.

This month, President Pieffer and I will attend the European Music Teachers Association's conference in Rome, Italy, reciprocating the attendance of EMTA's President Nadia Lasserson at the 2004 MTNA National Conference in Kansas City.

Throughout these travels, we are advocates, spreading the word about music making and MTNA. Although music is a language spoken throughout the world, every country on every continent takes a different approach to music teaching. Just as we learn from others in our own local and state associations, it is my hope these travels will pave the way for an international exchange of ideas and information between all of us and our colleagues around the world.

This issue of AMT is an opportunity to learn from our peers in other instrument areas. Pedagogy Saturday VIII, held at the 2004 MTNA National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, explored the topic of "Teaching for Independence: Creating Lifelong Musicians." Reports from each session of that day-long event are found beginning on page 20.

This has been an exciting time for me. As my travels have taken me around the world, I have seen new global possibilities for MTNA and you--its members. I believe we all can learn from our colleagues in other nations.