American String Teachers Association

The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all areas of stringed instruments from kindergarten to the collegiate level, private teachers, performers, institutions of higher learning and business partners serving all instruments, accessories, sheet music and more for the teachers, students and players of stringed instruments.

Another key goal of the association is providing learning opportunities to play bowed string instruments for the next generation of American students and to place those students into orchestras as they grow more proficient. Besides advocating for string instrument study at all age and proficiency levels in various frameworks, ASTA provides professional development, online and print resources for pedagogical content, scholarly publications, music advocate resources, student-level competitions and evaluation programs, a career center, community connections through state chapters, and other resources.

History

Originally two separate groups, ASTA and NSOA (National School Orchestra Association), the whole organization is now referred to as "ASTA". The organization is currently led by Dr. Rebecca MacLeod from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The immediate past president is Dr. Kristen Pellegrino at University of Texas at San Antonio.

ASTA string curriculum

In 2011, ASTA published its first national model curriculum intended to be used as one of the standards and benchmarks for Kindergarten–grade 12 strings and orchestra programs thanks to Stephen Benham. The curriculum can be used as a reference by teachers and can be presented to administrators and parents. It includes the teachings of Shinichi Suzuki, Paul Rolland, Kató Havas, and others, and is available in both print and electronic formats.

National awards

The following awards are given by ASTA:

ASTA National Conference

Each year, ASTA holds its national conference, the only national conference focused solely on strings and the string community.

National String Project Consortium

The String Projects began in 1948 to provide programs in universities for string-instrument instruction for young children. The first project was started at the University of Texas. Former ASTA President Robert Jesselson led an expansion to other universities, based on the model at the University of South Carolina, which included undergraduate students. These projects continued for decades and gained national attention. The National String Project Consortium (NSPC) was formed in 1998 to address the shortage of string-instrument teachers in public schools in the United States. By 2007, NSPC, having expanded to 24 sites, became independent from ASTA. It currently includes 35 string projects at universities around the United States.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Hans Jørgen Jensen Receives 2010 Artist Teacher Award from American String Teachers Association". Northwestern University. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ Jean G., Smith (December 1983). "Organizing Disciplines: The Development of ASTA and NSOA". Music Educators Journal. 70 (4): 56–57. doi:10.2307/3400824. JSTOR 3400824. S2CID 142973522. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Associate Professor of Music". UNCG. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ "ASTA Board of Directors". ASTA. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  5. ↑ "ASTA Ups Alternative Offerings at Annual Conference". String Magazine. March 28, 2011. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ "National Orchestra Festival". American String Teachers Association. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  7. ↑ "A crescendo of violins and cellos in the schools". April 9, 2002. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  8. ↑ Jim, Przygocki. "Addressing the String Teacher Shortage Around the Country" (PDF). The National String Project Consortium. Retrieved December 20, 2012.[permanent dead link]