in, PhD, NCTM
As active musicians and music teachers, our professional obligation goes far beyond the instruction we offer in our studios. How we serve as arts advocates can impact our students’ lives, our communities, and indeed, our nation. This presentation offers helpful information on how to advocate for the arts on a multitude of levels. It covers what “the arts” really means and offers robust and effective arguments on the importance of art for art’s sake for those who do not understand their value. It covers the positive impact that the arts have on our brains and the ways the arts can be used to improve wellness, education, and community life. Government funding for the arts is addressed, as are ways music teacher groups can work together to prevent laws that damage our profession. Finally, it addresses the impact we can have when we serve as day-to-day advocates for the arts.
in, PhD, NCTM
Our jobs can be wonderful; we can love all we offer to our students, the creative curriculum we develop, the relationships we nurture, and the freedom of running our own studio. But at times we can also feel stressed, overworked, undervalued, burnt out, burdened with financial concerns, or maybe just bored. This presentation covers five crucial and intertwined types of self-care for the independent music teacher: financial health, professional health, business health, emotional/mental health, and physical health. If any one of these five areas suffer, they all can suffer.
Although not everything in life is within our control, much is. There are numerous things we can do to keep ourselves professionally content, financially secure, emotionally well, and physically fit. This presentation offers valuable suggestions on ways to take care of ourselves and our studios and includes an extensive handout of helpful resources.
The professional life of MTNA President-Elect Beth Gigante Klingenstein, NCTM, reflects a multi-faceted teaching career, exciting leadership positions, decades of performing and an abundance of service to MTNA.
Beth’s extensive teaching career encompasses three distinct tracks: her independent studio in Virginia; Valley City State University (VCSU) in North Dakota; and, while at VCSU, simultaneously founding, directing and teaching at the VCSU Community School of the Arts. These venues allowed Beth to teach students of all ages and a variety of topics including chamber music and piano pedagogy. Her community work was recognized in 2007, when she received the North Dakota Governor’s Award for the Arts.
Beth’s groundbreaking research on the business concerns of the independent music teacher resulted in her first book, A Business Guide for the Music Teacher, which led to more than 160 presentations on business, pedagogy and advocacy. She has since written more than 40 articles, a second book, The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook, and 50 successful grants. She has significantly impacted the business practices of MTNA members and was the first author of AMT’s business column and MTNA’s first Business Resources coordinator. Her third book, Arts Advocacy: A Guide for Musicians, Artists, Administrators, and Arts Enthusiasts, is due to be published in March 2027.
Outside of MTNA, Beth’s leadership experience includes being chair of the VCSU Music Department followed by executive director of the North Dakota Council on the Arts. Her interest in leadership is reflected in her final degree, a PhD in Educational Leadership. Within MTNA, she served twice as NDMTA’s state president and three times on the MTNA board, first as WCD director, next as secretary-treasurer, and currently as president-elect. She served on 11 national committees and numerous state and local committees. Beth’s dedication was recognized in 2023, when she received MTNA’s Distinguished Service Award.
