Meet the 2003 Foundation Fellows. (MTNA Foundation Fund News).

Irene Peery-Fox

Irene Peery-Fox, NCTM, began her piano studies in Canada, where she eventually received awards and the highest marks in the country from both the Royal Irene Peery-Fox Conservatory of Toronto Utah and the University of Alberta. She received further degrees from the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory. She is currently a professor at Brigham Young University in Utah. She is well-known as a performer, lecturer and teacher. In 1997, she was nominated for a Presidential Seal of Honor. Peery-Fox holds master teacher certification from MTNA.

Eloise Halvorson

The daughter of homesteaders in North Dakota, Eloise Halvorson was a piano teacher for fifty-eight years in Williston, North Dakota, before her death in February 2002. She was president of the North Dakota MTA (NDMTA) and the North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs and founded the Northwest MTA local association. In 1995, she was named Teacher of the Year by the NDMTA. She was a member of the faculty of the University of North Dakota at Williston for sixteen years and received the Sioux Award, the highest alumni and foundation award, from the University in 1994. She was organist for her church for forty years and was a leader in the Head Start program in Williston.

Margaret Lorince

Retired professor emerita of West Virginia University (WVU), Margaret Lorince, NCTM, is now an independent piano teacher on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. While at WVU, she taught piano performance, developed an undergraduate and graduate pedagogy emphasis program and directed the preparatory department. She served as assistant chair of music from 1963 to 1965 and assistant dean of the College of Creative Arts from 1985 to 1986. Lorince has held numerous MTNA state, division and national offices, serving as national president from 1991 to 1993. Past president of the MTNA FOUNDATION, she served on the Board of Trustees and was most recently a member of the Planned Giving Committee. She holds degrees from Oklahoma City University and the Eastman School of Music.

Ruth Edwards

Ruth Edwards, NCTM, holds degrees from Northwestern University and has been on the faculties of Texas Wesleyan College, Northwestern University Ruth Edwards and the University of Connecticut New Hampshire (UNH). She maintained an independent studio until her retirement. At UNH, she taught piano pedagogy and accompanying and developed several series of annual workshops for piano teachers, high school pianists and adult piano students. Edwards has been an outspoken advocate for MTNA programs since she joined New Hampshire MTA more than thirty years ago. She has held leadership positions on all levels, including a term as national president from 1995 to 1997. She relocated to Connecticut in 1998 and occasionally coaches pianists, singers and ensembles and is an active community volunteer.

Jane Snow

Jane Snow received the bachelor and master of music degrees and the artist diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in both piano and voice. She is presently professor emerita in the Department of Music of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She was the founder of the UNM opera workshop, producing and directing sixteen operas from 1950 to 1968. In 1996, she Jane Snow was named Music Teacher of the Year by the New Mexico New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and, in 1993, received the Rose of Honor from Sigma Alpha Iota International for her outstanding leadership in music and the community. She has been a piano and vocal recitalist throughout the United States. She continues to teach in her independent studio.

Benjamin Whitten

Benjamin Whitten, NCTM, has served as president of Pennsylvania MTA (PMTA) and is presently Delaware State MTA (DSMTA) treasurer. He has been named Teacher of the Year by both PMTA and DSMTA several times and has served on the Board of Trustees and Advisory Council of the MTNA FOUNDATION. Professor emeritus at West Chester University and adjunct professor of piano at Elizabeth-town College, both in Pennsylvania, Whitten also is a member of the artist faculty of the Wilmington Music School in Delaware. He has taught at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and at the Loire Valley Music Institute in France. He has been awarded many performance prizes and scholarships and has performed extensively in Europe, South America, Canada and the United States.

Jane and James Bastien

The Bastien name has become synonymous with piano pedagogy. With more than 300 books to their credit, Jane, James and their daughters, Lisa and Lori, have inspired millions of teachers and piano students worldwide. Jane, an NCTM, currently maintains a full-time teaching schedule in her independent studio in La Jolla, California, and continues to create new materials for students. Jane and James received the award for lifelong dedication as piano teachers and composers from the Music Teachers Association of California in 1996. In 1999, they were presented with the MTNA Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their significant contribution to music and music education.

Paul Stewart

Paul Stewart, NCTM, is chair of the keyboard division at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where he teaches piano performance studies and pedagogy. He has served MTNA at many levels since becoming a member in 1973. He has served two terms on the MTNA Board of Directors and is the current MTNA president-elect. He was chair of the planning committee for the 2000 and 2001 national conferences, president of Southern Division, president of the North Carolina MTA and served two terms on the MTNA FOUNDATION Board of Trustees. A frequent adjudicator for MTNA-related competitions, he also conducts workshops for local MTAs. He recently premiered a performance of Jupiter's Moons, a six-movement work by Judith Lang Zaimont, which he commissioned for the 2000 UNCG Focus on Piano Literature.

The remaining 2003 Fellows will be profiled in the October/November issue of AMT.