North Shore Music Teachers Association

Connecting the Chicago North Shore community to music educators since 1974.

The North Shore Music Teachers Association (NSMTA) is a group of teachers from the Chicago suburbs who love music and love to teach! We gather for meetings each month to network, exchange ideas, and gain inspiration. We organize events for our students including competitions, recitals, and non-competitive festivals and exams.

Click on any of the links for quick access to NSMTA information:

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NSMTA News and Announcements

  • 2025 IMSTA Foundation Fellow: Jennifer Cohen

    We are so proud of our own Jennifer Cohen, recipient of the esteemed ISMTA MTNA 2025 Foundation Fellow Award. 

    She was honored at the 2025 MTNA Conference Gala in Minneapolis in March and said it was the highlight of her career. Congratulations, Jennifer!

    Click Here

  • March Newsletter

    Read the latest issue of The SCORE, NSMTA’s monthly newsletter!

    All issues of The SCORE can be found at www.nsmta.org/thescore

    Read the March Issue

  • 2024 Member of the Year: Anthony Ty

    Anthony Ty has served NSMTA in great capacities with his technical skills in marketing and social media. He also expertly runs the live stream monthly meetings, making the programs accessible to all our membership. Congratulations and thank you for your service, Anthony!

    Read about Anthony

  • Free Headshot Session

    NSMTA was pleased to contract a photographer from Schoott to take members headshots during the October 28 meeting. For more information on this offer, read the September issue of The Score.

    Participating members: please check your email for a headshot survey. Your input is greatly appreciated!

    Read the September SCORE

  • 2024 Teachers Recital & Luncheon

    The 50th anniversary of NSMTA’s founding was celebrated at the annual Teachers Recital & Luncheon on June 10, 2024.

    View the recital program and gallery of pictures at www.nsmta.org/teachers-recital-luncheon.

    View the gallery

NSMTA Monthly Meeting

Join us on the 4th Monday of the month as we gather for our monthly member meetings!

The next monthly meeting is on March 24, 2025.

  • 9:30-10:00 Pre-Meeting Presentation

  • 10:00 Business Meeting / Coffee & Refreshments

  • 11:00-12:00 Program

We are pleased to offer hybrid meetings:

  • In-person at Northfield Community Church (400 Wagner Road, Northfield, IL 60093).

  • Online via Zoom (link emailed to members the weekend prior along with the newsletter).

Head over to the Calendar of Events (or click on the picture) for event information.

Fellow MTNA Members are invited!

Members of other local chapters are always welcome to join our monthly meetings. This is in the collegial spirit and to engage a wider audience for esteemed program speakers. Contact programs@nsmta.org for more information.

MARCH PRE-MEETING

Presenter: Eric Sutz

Jazz Technique

This program will give you many other options to help build your students technical skills. If you'd like to get many other creative options and ideas for building technique, ear training and transposition, please join me for the pre-meeting.

Read Eric Sutz’s biography here.

MARCH PROGRAM

Presenter: Matthew Hagle

Heavenly Lengths: Solving the Problems of Schubert’s Unique Piano Style

This presentation will explore some of the necessary ideas and skills for an effective performance of this deceptively difficult composer. There will be discussion of some of the most important background ideas, treatment of some pianistic concerns, and performances of some shorter pieces. I hope to see you there!

Read Matthew Hagle’s biography here.