Our History
New York City, 1925: Sergei Rachmaninoff and George Gershwin are at their pianos composing while Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue was closing on 45th St; Jazz was the exciting new sound emanating from stylish uptown venues and Victor Talking Machines is releasing the first ever “electric recording” – piano pieces by Chopin and Schubert.
It seems appropriate that in the same year The Great Gatsby was depicting social decline, Aaron Ornstein founded the Associated Music Teacher’s League. It seems appropriate that it is against the background of the roaring twenties that Aaron Ornstein founded the Associated Music Teacher’s League. Ornstein believed that an association of professional instructors was needed in order to establish standards of excellence in musicianship and to ensure that high-quality music appreciation would flourish. Early AMTL patrons included the Damrosch brothers, Hollis Dann of New York University, Thomas Edison, Dimitri Mitropoulos, and the Steinway Company, which continues to be a leading benefactor to this very day.
Today’s AMTL counts scores of musicians and teachers among its membership, who volunteer their time and contribute resources to continue the mission chartered nearly a century ago. Having organized a multitude of well-received events such as the Young Musicians Concert, which was held annually at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall from 1935 to 2017, the AMTL keeps working on the evolvement of its activities into the new era. Within this framework, the AMTL nowadays sponsors students and hosts numerous performances throughout the year, including the Winter Musicales at the Choral Recital Hall at Queens College, the Mid-Season Musicales concerts at Christ & Stephen’s Church in Manhattan, the Honors Concert at Steinway Hall, as well as our annual international New York Young Performers Prize Competition, among many others.
Presenters also include many renowned musicians, such as Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Gyorgy Sandor, Ned Rorem, Cesare Longo, Arnold Steinhardt, Isabelle Vengerova, Seymour Bernstein, Martin Canin, Ann Schein, Cecile Licad, and Jerome Lowenthal.
Find out how you can become part of our rich heritage: BECOME A MEMBER or BECOME A SUPPORTER.
Message from the President
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Welcome to the Associated Music Teachers League (AMTL) about to enter the centennial in 2025.
As many of you, a huge and crucial part of my life as a professional pianist is to mentor the next generation of professional musicians, music lovers and future music supporters. I do so at Stony Brook University where I am teaching on the piano faculty.
Music is a powerful force for good in the world. Music is a language which speaks from one soul to another, with ideas that are both universal and personal. Music brings people together and sets them free.
Music teaches and music rewards. It teaches hard work, patience, discipline and dedication. It teaches sharing and connection to others; it teaches math, poetry and alchemy; and music rewards with beauty and fulfillment, the wonderful feeling of accomplishment and empowerment.
For all these ideas and so many others, the importance of the mission of the AMTL cannot be understated and has never been more needed than it is today. Every day, our membership is advancing these objectives, both fostering and fulfilling the aspirations of thousands of children and young adults in communities throughout the region. We teach them to connect and to share; we teach them to express themselves; we teach them to work hard, solve problems and achieve their goals.
We teach them Music.
I want to personally thank each and everyone of you for being part of this almost centennial institution.
I am grateful to the AMTL board which tirelessly works behind the scenes to make the hard work of every young performer and dedicated teacher come to fruition.
I hope you will continue to support the goals of our organization and wish for you a world filled with peace, love, and music.
Sincerely,
Dr. Pablo Lavandera
President 2023-2025
Associated Music Teachers League
Mission Statement
The Associated Music Teachers League is a tax-exempt non-profit 501(c)(3) music organization founded in New York City in 1925. Our membership consists of professional musicians, music teachers, university and conservatory faculty and students, and performing artists. We welcome individuals, organizations, and businesses to join us as both active Members or Sponsors.
Who we are
The purpose of the Associated Music Teachers League, Inc. is to advance, through music, cultural education, physical and mental development, and artistic achievement amongst the general public and to increase public awareness of the ability of music to communicate beyond ideological, cultural, and geographical boundaries. In furtherance of this purpose, the AMTL will promote and foster the study of classical music by presenting public concerts and lectures, providing performance and scholarship opportunities for young musicians, including competitive and non-competitive events, and promoting high artistic, pedagogical, and ethical standards in the study of music.
Executive Board
Pablo Lavandera, President 2023-2025
Pianist Pablo Lavandera came from Argentina to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar in 1998. Mr. Lavandera earned a Doctorate in Piano Performance from the State University of New York Stony Brook. He was a First Prize Winner of the 2009 Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition in the collaborative artist category. He performes as soloist and chamber musician through the Americas and Europe (Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall,Teatro Colon Buenos Aires among many others). Currently Dr. Lavandera is a Artist in Residence at the State University of New York Stony Brook where he teaches piano, chamber music and an accompanying class at the undergraduate level.
https://www.stonybrook.edu/
Julie Jordan, 1. Vice President 2023-2025, NYYPP & Honors Recital 2023-2025
Pianist, Pedagogue and Impresario, Steinway artist and Founder/Artistic Director of the New York Concerti Sinfonietta. Dr. Julie Jordan taught on The Juilliard School for 3 decades (1985-2015) where she created the Piano Concerto Class as well as Solo and Collaborative Piano Class in the Evening Division. Julie Jordan has established herself through her extensive experience in creating successful performance opportunities through her gifted students of all ages “debut” series, International Shining Stars which showcase the cutting edge performers, ranging from dynamic professionals and young chamber ensembles to conservatory star soloists.
Julie Jordan earned degrees:
DMA-MSM • MM-The Juilliard School • MFA-UCLA • BM-Dominican University California (magma cum laude).
https://www.juliejordanpresents.com
Jeong-Hwa Park, 2. Vice President, Winter Musicales 2023-2025
Jeong-Hwa Park has regularly appeared in recital venues in New York such as Carnegie Hall, LeFrak Concert Hall at Queens College, the London Piano Festival, among many others. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in piano performance from Arizona State University and received Suzuki Teacher Training from the School for Strings, NY. Currently, Ms. Park is an adjunct faculty member at Nassau Community College; serves on the piano faculty at Center for Preparatory Studies in Music at Queens College; and teaches Suzuki piano at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
http://www.myo.org/
Linda Sinanian, 3. Vice President 2023-2025
Linda Sinanian has toured Europe, the United States and Canada in performances of the solo, chamber music and orchestral repertoire.
Dr. Linda Sinanian was the Founder and Artistic Director of the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival and has held faculty positions at: Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, Clayton State University and the Preparatory Colleges of Boston University and Stony Brook University. Linda is a founding member of Stony Brook University’s Pre-College and served on its Board of Directors. She has presented masterclasses throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe and receives students from throughout Asia and the Middle East.
She earned her Doctorate from Stony Brook University and holds advanced degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory. Linda has recorded with Arista, Sony and the Newport Classics labels.
Ardently dedicated to the musical education of the next generation, Dr. Linda Sinanian remains devoted to her private studio teaching.
www.chamberosity.com
Yen Ling Liu, Treasurer 2023-2025
Yen Ling Liu earned a MS in Computer Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She formerly worked for Computer Associates as a professional computer software engineer. However, her heart is in music. She has raised her three children to love music, with two playing the violin and one the viola.
Evelyn Ulex, Treasurer Assistant 2023-2025
was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. Ms Ulex studied at the Musikhochschule “Hanns Eisler”, University of Arts in Berlin and at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, holding a Master of Music degree and Pianist Diploma.
Highlights include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, National Sawdust, Symphony Space, Summer Festival at Rutger’s University, Berlin’s Konzerthaus and Berlin Philharmonie She has been featured on Berlin Radio’s “Artist Portraits” series, WWFM, Sirius XM and can be heard on E1 Entertainment (Koch classics), Steinway/Arkive Records Label, Tango Malambo. She is a Steinway Artist.
www.evelynulex.com
Anthony Newton, Winter Musicales 2023-2025
Pianist, B.M. Queens College, M.M. Manhattan School of Music. Piano Instructor/Concert Coordinator at the Center for Preparatory Studies in Music at Queens College. Organist/Choir Director at Trinity Lutheran Church, Scarsdale.
http://www.musicteacherslist.com
Don Isler, Mid-Season Musicales 2023-2025
Pianist Donald Isler is the founder of KASP Records, which has produced CD’s of his playing of unusual as well as standard repertoire, and also performances by three great pianists of the past, Adrian Aeschbacher, Constance Keene and Bruce Hungerford. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he teaches privately, and at the Hackley School Music Institute. This year he will also lecture at Mannes College of Music.
http://www.kasprecords.com/donaldisler.htm
Max Antig, NYYPP & Honors Recital 2023-2025
Pianist & Organist. He has been a member of AMTL since 2008, leading the Mid-Season Musicales for 8 seasons. He has been a private piano instructor in the NYC area in the last 30 years. He also has been an active church musician and has served as Music Director at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church( Woodhaven, NY) from 2000-2015. Served as Organist to Trinity Lutheran Church ( Shelton, CT) from 2015-2021 and currently appointed as new Music Director at Immanuel Lutheran Church in 2022. He attended the University of Santo Thomas, Philippines (BM), the University of Northern Iowa (MM), and SUNY Stonybrook (DMA Program), under the tutelage of Stella Goldenberg Brimo, Howard Aibel and Martin Canin. In his student days, he won several First Prizes, including the following: Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Colorado); Schubert Club Music Competition (Minneapolis, MN); Jacksonville-McMurray Competitions (Illinois); J. Earl Lee Piano Competition (South Dakota). He has appeared as Soloist with the Philippine Philharmonic, Manila Symphony, Cultural Center of the Philippines Symphony, Wartburg Symphony (IA), and Fort Collins Symphony Orchestras (CO). He has performed in NYC venues that include Alice Tully Hall, Weill Hall, CAMI Hall, and Steinway Hall. Max served as the AMTL President for two terms, from 2015 to 2019.
Martha Movasseghi, Archive & Commemorative Funds 2021-2024
B.Mus. in Piano Performance, Syracuse U., M.Mus. in Voice, Indiana U. at Bloomington, Faculty at Ohio U. and CUNY/Aaron Copland School of Music,
AMTL President — 4 years, current AMTL Board and chairperson for Commemorative Funds, Archives and History. Extensive solo and ensemble performances, adjudicator for state and national music events, consultant to state and national public and private institutions and organizations, private music studio.
Linda Strasser, Recording Secretary, Musical Theatre 2023-2025
Linda Strasser earned a BA in Drama/Fine Arts from Colorado College, which led to a successful career in professional musical theatre. She was a Broadway-level performer in New York City for twenty-five years. Her credits include “Les Miserables”, “Cats”, the First National Tour of “The Sound of Music” with Richard Chamberlain, “Ragtime” and many others. She appeared in the smash Off Broadway hit “Forbidden Broadway” for more than two years and is featured on The Volume 2 cast recording as “Liza”. Linda won a Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist for her cabaret show in Manhattan and has performed with the New York City Opera. She is a member of Actors Equity Association and The National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Linda has been a professional voice teacher and coach for more than twenty years, and specializes in musical theatre. Many of her students have been accepted to top tier musical theatre conservatory programs including Marymount, Boston Conservatory and Montclair University.
Mescal Wilson, Corresponding Secretary 2023-2025
Pianist: Piano Faculty, Greenwich House Music School and the Spence School. Solo recital tours in Europe, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. Member of the cello/piano duo Sofia Ensemble with tours of Southeast Asia, Canada and the U.S. Recording on Centaur Records. M.S. degree from The Juilliard School and B. Mus. degree from the University of Texas at Austin. AMTL President, 2011- 2015.
https://www.greenwichhouse.org/person/mescal-wilson/
Rorianne Schrade, 2021-2024
Rorianne Schrade has been lauded for chamber music performances, recordings, and recitals in the U.S. and Europe (Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall and other major venues). Having won an array of prizes (from Concert Artists Guild, Washington International, National Arts Club, Artists International, and others), she taught at the Manhattan School of Music (Prep Division) for over a decade and performed numerous solo recitals in Weill Hall to critical acclaim. Graduate of Juilliard (BM, MM) and Temple (DMA), Dr. Schrade teaches privately, performs as a Steinway Artist, directs Sevenars Music Festival in Massachusetts, and writes for New York Concert Review.
www.RorianneSchrade.com
&
Evangelia Sofianou – Administrative work for AMTL
K. Scheubner – mediadesign.services – Website development & admin
Zorba Media – Webhosting
Honorary Life Members
Carole Edwards
Esther Hoffmann
James Lyke
Sylvia Samuels
Paul Sheftel
Honorary Associate Members
Steinway & Sons
Dr. Darius Movasseghi
Andrea Nairne
Dorothy Rittenhouse
Beethoven Pianos
Bechstein Pianos
Klavierhaus
Past Presidents
Dr. Gustave Becker (1925 – 1929)
Ernest Ash (1929 – 1933)
Paul Jelenek (1933 – 1936)
Dr. Verne Westlake (1936 – 1937)
Jean S. Buchanan (1937- 1939)
Everett Engstrom (1939 – 1940)
Ruth Bradley (1940 – 1945)
Rose Raymond (1945 – 1953)
Cecile Hindman (1953 – 1957)
May L. Etts (1957 – 1961)
Elizabeth Z. Perry (1961 – 1965)
Marian K. Gabriel (1965 – 1967)
Augusta Yelin (1967- 1971)
Lucy Boyan Balakian (1971 – 1973)
Muriel Books (1973 – 1977)
Kenneth Gilmore 1977 – 1981
Muriel Brooks (1981 – 1985)
Rosalyn Tobey (1985 – 1989)
Regina Rubinof (1989 – 1992)
Christopher Liccardo (1992- 1997)
Martha Movasseghi (1997-2001)
Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov (2001 – 2003)
Anthony Newton (2003 – 2005)
Joyce Chung Liu (2005 – 2007)
Eric Birk (2008 – 2011)
Mescal Wilson (2011 – 2015)
Maximillan Antig (2015 – 2019)
Evelyn Ulex (2019 – 2023)