Welcome!

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!


Member News
2024 MTNA Foundation Fellow Heidi Mayer

Heidi Mayer 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.


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