Presenters - Adjudicators - Artists
2025 Featured Presenter
Dr. Kevin Chance, President
Music Teachers National Association
Dr. Kevin Chance serves as Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Alabama where he coordinates the Gloria Narramore Moody Piano Area. As soloist and collaborator, Kevin has performed throughout the United States and abroad, and recent orchestral appearances have included Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto, Grieg's Piano Concerto, Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and Saint-Saëns’s Le Carnaval des animaux. Performing regularly as a chamber musician, Kevin has been a member of the Semplice Duo with flutist Cristina Ballatori for the past 24 years, and their performances have included world premiers at the National Flute Association Conference as well as recitals in Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Alabama, and New York as well as Mexico and Europe.
Kevin has recently received a number of accolades for his teaching. Most recently, he was named a Leadership Board Faculty Fellow for the University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences, which recognizes excellence in teaching and research. In 2019, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Steinway and Sons Music Teacher Hall of Fame in New York City and was named 2019 Music Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. Additionally, he was named the 2015 Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Music Teachers Association. Kevin maintains an award-winning studio of college and pre-college students, and his students have garnered awards at the national and international levels. In demand as a clinician and adjudicator, he frequently presents at the MTNA National Conference as well as state and local music teacher organizations throughout the country. In January 2021, Kevin served as the headliner clinician for the University of Georgia Piano Symposium, and each summer, he serves on the faculty of the New Orleans Piano Institute each summer.
Kevin holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Louisiana State University, and Birmingham-Southern College, and his former teachers include Barry Snyder, Constance Knox Carroll, Anne Koscielny, Ann Schein, William DeVan, and Betty Sue Shepherd. Kevin has recently served as President of the American Matthay Association for Piano, and he currently serves as President of MTNA. He also recently joined the roster of Alfred Publishing, and his first three-volume series co-authored with Ingrid Clairfield, Rare Recital Treasures, will be released between October 2024 and Fall 2025.
Kevin has recently received a number of accolades for his teaching. Most recently, he was named a Leadership Board Faculty Fellow for the University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences, which recognizes excellence in teaching and research. In 2019, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Steinway and Sons Music Teacher Hall of Fame in New York City and was named 2019 Music Educator of the Year by the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa. Additionally, he was named the 2015 Teacher of the Year by the Alabama Music Teachers Association. Kevin maintains an award-winning studio of college and pre-college students, and his students have garnered awards at the national and international levels. In demand as a clinician and adjudicator, he frequently presents at the MTNA National Conference as well as state and local music teacher organizations throughout the country. In January 2021, Kevin served as the headliner clinician for the University of Georgia Piano Symposium, and each summer, he serves on the faculty of the New Orleans Piano Institute each summer.
Kevin holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Louisiana State University, and Birmingham-Southern College, and his former teachers include Barry Snyder, Constance Knox Carroll, Anne Koscielny, Ann Schein, William DeVan, and Betty Sue Shepherd. Kevin has recently served as President of the American Matthay Association for Piano, and he currently serves as President of MTNA. He also recently joined the roster of Alfred Publishing, and his first three-volume series co-authored with Ingrid Clairfield, Rare Recital Treasures, will be released between October 2024 and Fall 2025.
2025 Recital Artist
Dr. Caroline Oltmanns
Caroline Oltmanns is a pianist, presenter and pedagogue.
‘A star in the piano world’ (Donald Hunt, Pianist Magazine), she reveals in her playing a deep connectivity between music and culture. Her impeccable musical phrasing combined with an engaging stage presence have attracted audiences both in the US and abroad.
Caroline Oltmanns has recorded seven solo CDs on the Filia Mundi label. Her newest concept album WIND was recorded in the prestigious Reitstadel in Germany. Event highlights of this concert season include concert appearances in the United States, in Switzerland, and in the UK.
A Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University, Caroline Oltmanns has presented master classes and workshops in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Canada, and China. She serves as a regular screening member of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and she recently was appointed to the board of the documentary series Living the Classical Life.
Caroline Oltmanns received her early pianistic training in her native Germany based on the Walter Gieseking tradition. She is a Fulbright Scholar, an International Steinway Artist, a 2022 Steinway Top Teacher Awardee, and a Steinway Spirio Recording Artist. Her musical mentors were Robert Levin, John Perry, Vitaly Margulis and Malcolm Frager.
‘A star in the piano world’ (Donald Hunt, Pianist Magazine), she reveals in her playing a deep connectivity between music and culture. Her impeccable musical phrasing combined with an engaging stage presence have attracted audiences both in the US and abroad.
Caroline Oltmanns has recorded seven solo CDs on the Filia Mundi label. Her newest concept album WIND was recorded in the prestigious Reitstadel in Germany. Event highlights of this concert season include concert appearances in the United States, in Switzerland, and in the UK.
A Professor of Piano at Youngstown State University, Caroline Oltmanns has presented master classes and workshops in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, South Africa, Canada, and China. She serves as a regular screening member of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and she recently was appointed to the board of the documentary series Living the Classical Life.
Caroline Oltmanns received her early pianistic training in her native Germany based on the Walter Gieseking tradition. She is a Fulbright Scholar, an International Steinway Artist, a 2022 Steinway Top Teacher Awardee, and a Steinway Spirio Recording Artist. Her musical mentors were Robert Levin, John Perry, Vitaly Margulis and Malcolm Frager.
2025 Adjudicators
Dr. Stephen Thomas, DMA - Piano |
Mary Papoulis - Strings |
Dr. Stephen Thomas, pianist, has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, China, Europe, and Japan. His performances have been broadcast for Chinese television and for radio stations such as WQXR in New York City. He has recorded and performed with principal players of the San Francisco Symphony in Davies Hall and in concerts throughout the Bay Area.
Dr. Thomas frequently adjudicates piano competitions and presents master classes and lectures throughout the country and internationally. He served as President of Idaho Music Teachers Association from 2016-18 and at the national committee level for Music Teachers National Association. His students have won many competitions and awards and have been accepted into music festivals such as Aspen, Chautauqua, Brevard, and the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival. His students have also been accepted with scholarships into major music programs such as the Eastman School of Music, Indiana University, University of Southern California, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, Rice University, Arizona State University, and the Royal College of Music in London. He holds degrees in piano performance from Brigham Young University (B.M.), Yale University (M.M.), and the University of Michigan (D.M.A.), having studied with Irene Peery-Fox, Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, and Arthur Greene. He has undertaken additional studies with Ann Schein, with Anne Øland at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark, and with the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory. Dr. Thomas is currently Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and has served as Associate Dean in the College of Performing and Visual Arts at Brigham Young University-Idaho. Previous to this appointment, he taught for 15 years at California State University, Stanislaus where he also served as Chair of the Department of Music and as Acting Dean of the College of the Arts. |
Mary Papoulis has 32 years' experience teaching violin and performing as concertmaster with the Great Falls Symphony and its Cascade Quartet. In addition to her own private violin teaching and chamber coaching, she has adjudicated at state and district Montana festivals, taught at the Olympic Music Festival in Washington, the Summer Youth Orchestra Workshop in Bozeman, and a chamber music workshop with the Cascade and Ying Quartets in Great Falls.
A native of New York, Mary has a creative performance style that has taken her all over the world, and to all corners of Montana. She has toured with the String Orchestra of the Rockies and also performed with numerous festivals, including the Assisi Performing Arts Festival in Italy, Big Sky Classical Music Festival, Amadeus Festival, Big Sky Alive contemporary music festival, and soloist with Solero Flamenco in the Houston Spanish & Flamenco Festival. She holds a DMA from SUNY Stony Brook, MM from Eastman, and BM from Indiana University. She studied baroque violin with Stanley Riche and jazz violin with the Turtle Island String Quartet. Mary is also a certified Kripalu yoga instructor, Tamalpa Life Arts Process practitioner and teacher of Nia Technique. She is the proud mother of two college students at Montana State University and University of Idaho. |
Conference Presenters
Dr. Jordan Neiman is an active teacher and performer in the Flathead Valley. A graduate of Flathead High School, he received his BM at UNC School of the Arts, MM and GPD at the Boston Conservatory, and DMA at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a cognate in pedagogy. Primary teachers included: Kay Lund, Clifton Matthews, Jung-Ja Kim, and Awadagin Pratt.
At the Boston Conservatory, he was the winner of the H. Wilfred Churchill Piano Competition in 2013 and attended Pianofest in the Hamptons 2014. Jordan has played concerts and recitals around Montana, the South, New England, New York, Canada and Switzerland. A former professor at Northern Kentucky University School of the Arts, Jordan keeps busy through teaching, performing, and collaborating. Jordan is the music director at Bigfork Community United Methodist Church, performs keyboard with the Glacier Symphony and Chorale, the current president of the Kalispell Area Music Teacher's Association, and will begin teaching at Flathead Valley Community College this fall. |
Amelia R. T. Sears, M.A., M.M., B.M. is a multi-genre violin and viola instructor, freelance performer, and recording artist. She founded Artwork Music Studio in Missoula in 2015 and provides music lessons alongside her husband, Adam Sears. She is passionate about supporting others as they define and enact their life goals, which also drew her to the realm of real estate. Amelia is proud to serve her Western Montana community as a Realtor® with Glacier Sotheby’s International Realty.
An active member of the western Montana arts community, Amelia performs with String Orchestra of the Rockies and is frequently featured as a guest artist with the John Floridis band and other incredible local talent. She recently joined the Board of Directors for the Montana Youth Symphony and looks forward to generating more support for this high-level workshop and performance opportunity for young artists from Montana. In 2023, Amelia completed a Master of Arts in Music Psychology in Education, Performance and Wellbeing from University of Sheffield, UK. She also holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance from Ohio University. She earned her Bachelor of Music Business degree at University of Puget Sound. Her longstanding interest in Scandinavian culture led her to apply for the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America adult student instrument loan program in 2018 and was awarded a two-year loan of a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. In their non-musical time, Amelia and Adam like to garden, work on house projects, and forage for culinary mushrooms. Their dog Bowie prefers frisbee to all other forms of entertainment. |