If you are an independent music teacher in Chicago, then the Chicago Area Music Teachers Association (CAMTA) is for you!
CAMTA exists to serve the needs of independent music teachers of all instruments, their students, and parents in the Chicagoland area. Our organization aims to promote high standards of teaching, performance, and professionalism in the music community.
CAMTA is a direct descendant of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), which was founded in 1876. CAMTA is also an affiliate of the Illinois State Music Teachers Association (ISMTA).
We run a private group on Facebook that members are welcome to join. Check it out often for the latest news regarding CAMTA events and other things! Contact an admin to request to join (your CAMTA membership must be current).
Also, we now have a CAMTA Programs YouTube channel where members can rewatch or catch up on presentations. Please stay tuned as an announcement will be made in our Newsletter as well as our Facebook group.
Join us for our members’ meetings, held on the 2nd Friday of every month (September through June). This year, meetings will be held at PianoForte Chicago, except for September, December, January, February, and March, which will be held over Zoom. The Zoom meeting ID number and passcodes are published in the CAMTA Newsletters and on the CAMTA private group on Facebook. We hope to see you there!
Alessandra Odazaki Rodriguez, the 2023 CAMTA Member of the Year, is a pianist and piano teacher from Brazil. She holds a BA in Piano Performance from
São Paulo State University, where she studied under Dr. Claudio Richerme, a pupil of Guiomar Novaves. Additionally, she obtained a certificate from São
Paulo Municipal Conservatory, a free program offered by the city, where she studied for 11 years with Dr. Scheilla Glaser.
She moved to the United States to pursue a Master’s degree with a full scholarship at Southern Illinois University. During her time there, she won a concerto competition and performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466 with the Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra.
Currently residing in Chicago, Alessandra earned a Performance Certificate in Piano Performance from DePaul University. At the same institution, she had the opportunity to be coached by Professor Jason Moy on the harpsichord, performing Bach’s Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C Major, BWV 1061 with him and the DePaul Baroque Ensemble.
Alessandra is an active member of the Music National Teacher Association and the Chicago Area Music Teacher Association. Within the latter organization, she chairs the AIM (Achievement in Music) Theory Exam and serves as a board member.
She serves as a piano faculty member at DePaul Community Division and Merit School of Music, in addition to maintaining a private studio at the Fine Arts Building. Passionate about teaching, Alessandra has over 14 years of experience and is a certified Suzuki piano teacher. Her students have won prizes at local competitions and gained admission to music programs in Brazil and the United States.
Congratulations to our very own Heidi Mayer, for being designated as the 2024 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Foundation Fellow!
Heidi Mayer earned bachelor’s degrees in Piano Performance and Choral Music Education from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from Eastern Michigan University. As a Fulbright scholar, she received a Diploma in Vocal Accompanying from the Schule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. She then studied for many years at the Taubman Institute, and privately with Edna Golandsky in New York City. Her most beloved and influential teacher was French pianist and teacher, Annie Sherter, in Geneva, Illinois.
An MTNA nationally-certified teacher, Heidi currently maintains a thriving independent piano studio in Park Ridge and is grateful to be a faculty member of Northwestern Music Academy. Over several decades, she has held offices and chaired events for CAMTA and NSMTA, and served on the boards of both ISMTA and MTNA.
Her musical journey has been shaped by the guidance of teachers such as Charles Fisher, Joseph Gurt, Edna Golandsky, Flavio Varani, Hans Graf, Robert Schollum, Ed Parmentier, Annie Sherter, and so many esteemed colleagues in MTNA and local associations. She has performed master classes conducted by Dorothy Taubman, Dmitry Paperno, John Browning, and Joseph Banowetz.
Heidi expanded her interests beyond piano to include studying harpsichord with Edward Parmentier at the University of Michigan summer workshops and has performed all the Bach multi-harpsichord concerti with her harpsichord ensemble. After commissioning Minnesota composer, Asako Hirabayashi, to write a multi-harpsichord concerto, the ensemble premiered the work in Cincinnati at the Midwest Historic Keyboard Society Conference.
Heidi was the recipient of Teacher Enrichment grants from MTNA and The National Piano Technician’s Guild and was the first to be awarded ISMTA Teacher of the Year in 2015. She received the Steinway 2022 Teacher of the Year Award and is honored to have been named MTNA 2024 Foundation Fellow in Illinois.
In addition to her teaching, Heidi performs collaboratively with other local musicians and their students. In June 2023, Heidi was privileged and excited to perform a full recital for flute and piano, live on WFMT.
