WHO WE ARE

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!

 2024 CAMTA MEMBERS OF THE YEAR

Anne Marie Kuhny

Dr. Kuhny is Artistic Director and Piano Educator of DuPage Musical Arts Academy. She enjoys coaching students from age four to 84, including many budding young artists. She is a frequent adjudicator and presenter at the local and national level. She is Chair of the ISMTA North Piano Competition as well as Chair of the CAMTA Sonata-Sonatina Festival, and has been Coordinator for the Joint Chapters Workshop since 2018.

Dr. Kuhny is certified in teaching all seven Suzuki Piano levels and received the Suzuki Certificate of Achievement in 2024. She incorporates ear-training and traditional methods, as well as theory and history, into each student’s lesson plan. She is honored to have been named a Steinway Top Teacher in 2021. In addition, she was named Member of the Year for both the Chicago Area Music Teachers Association and West Suburban Music Teachers Association in 2024 for her contributions to the education of both students and teachers.

Dr. Anne Marie Kuhny holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the University of Illinois, studying with Dr. Ian Hobson, plus two master’s degrees (Piano Pedagogy and Piano Performance). Dr. Kuhny studied for five years at Indiana University with Dr. Karen Shaw starting at age 12, and beforehand with Mr. John Reglin of Chicago.

KASIA SZCZECH-DLUGOSZ

Pianist, Harpist, Composer

Kasia Szczech-Dlugosz is a Chicago based composer, pianist, harpist, who is working to take music to a whole new level. Graduating from DePaul University studying Composition under Christopher Jones and Seung-Won Oh, in addition, completing a Master's Degree in Music Education - Vocal & Choral focus - has lead her to experiences allowing her ideas to flourish. 

Her interest in contemporary classical new music, education, and show production has sparked at the Chicago Academy for the Arts where she attended high school. Ensemble Dal Niente guitarist, Jesse Langen, has been her mentor since beginning her high school studies. 

Kasia has been internationally commissioned by ensembles from various locations around the globe. Examples include: DissonArt Ensemble in Greece and Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago, Illinois. Kasia is also part of a youth Ensemble called Chicago Arts Initiative, directed by Jesse Langen. Chicago Arts Initiative has collaborated with Studio MusikFabrik in Chicago and Darmstadt, Germany in the International New Music Festival. Furthermore, Kasia has attended music festivals and exchange programs such as: SOTA in Singapore, The International Music Festival in Castelnuovo de Garfagnana Italy, School of the Arts Montreal.

Throughout the year Kasia can be found composing works that take one through a variation of sounds that blossom in your imagination. She keeps her roots and traditions by incorporating many Polish Folklore Highlander melodies in her music. 

Since the age of 6, Kasia has dreamt of forming her own orchestra, composing music, and conducting while simultaneously helping those in need. With this dream, A Magical Keys Christmas Extravaganza was born, creating a non-profit organization. 

Kasia currently resides as the Music Director at St. Albert the Great, is the owner and teacher with her sister, violinist, Karolina Szczech at Magical Keys Institute of Music, currently holds the position of secretary on the board for CAMTA, Chicago Area Music Teacher's Association, and is currently publishing all her books from her Magical Keys Method. 

You can find Kasia and her sister performing all around Chicago as a duet at many events throughout the year including their concert series.

 2024 MTNA Foundation Fellow

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.