Upcoming Events:

DAMTA 2021 Spring Programs

All programs at 10:30am on Zoom – Watch DAMTA Passalongs for the Zoom links a day or two before the event.

January 13 2021 – Kristen Jordheim – Music, Culture and Society – a Look at Community Music

This program will introduce and overview music’s role in the health of a community for music educators and
therapists. How does a teaching studio make a difference? What about the actions of a local or state
association? How do we live the MTNA theme “Music is for Everyone”?
Bio: Kristin Jordheim couldn’t have known that singing at the hospital bed of her grandfather at age four would lead
to a career in music therapy and teaching. She holds music therapy and therapeutic recreation degrees from New
York University. She is a Music Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC) who owns a private practice, Advantage Music
Therapy, and a teaching studio in Denver. Kristin is active in DAMTA , currently serving as DAMTA Past President,
and a member of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)

February 10, 2021 – Solomon Chapman – Gifts of Gospel Music

Pianist Solomon Chapman examines how his trial-by-fire training in Gospel music shaped his philosophy, informed
his pedagogy, and equipped him with a skill set that has served him well in other professional music settings.
Chapman reflects on pleasant, uncomfortable, and even embarrassing musical experiences in church, experiences
that he now considers “gifts” and is eternally grateful. In addition to shedding light on a community and culture that
may not be widely discussed in music education circles, Chapman hopes to challenge music instructors to investigate
how elements of the Gospel music learning tradition can be integrated into their own teaching methodology.
Bio: A native of Denver, Solomon J. Chapman is a sought-after musician within the Gospel and Jazz communities of
Colorado. At age nine, he began formal lessons with pianist Marie Clark. In the same year, he also began serving as
lead pianist of his church, St. John Church of God in Christ, under the musical direction of his mother, Christeen
Chapman. Through countless performances in concert and liturgical settings as a teenager, Solomon became an
active gospel accompanist and collaborator in music-ministry projects in Colorado. He graduated from Overland
High School in 2011, gaining such honors as the George Eastman Young Leaders Award and the John Philip Sousa
Band.
Solomon received both academic and music talent scholarships to study at the Metropolitan State University of
Denver. As a student at MSU Denver, he performed in many areas of the music program, including the MSU Denver
Big Band, Jazz Combo, Vocal Accompanying, Classical Chamber Music, and Wind Ensemble. In the Spring of 2016,
he graduated Magna Cum Laude from MSU Denver, earning a Bachelor Degree in Music Composition.
Currently, Solomon is active as a composer, arranger, and educator. His works have been featured in local
ensembles like The Rhythm of Life Community Chorus and the MSU Denver Wind Ensemble as well as in Colombia,
South America through ColomboAmerican Medellín’s 2015 Jazz Camp and Festival. Passionate about music
education, Solomon is also the owner of MD Music LLC, a company dedicated to cultivating gospel musicians within
the State of Colorado.

March 10, 2021 – Tenia Nelson – Exploring the Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams

Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and
arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records.
Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher
to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Bio: Tenia Nelson is a pianist, percussionist, composer, arranger, and educator. She currently teaches music at
Denver Language School, Neighborhood Music at Stanley Marketplace, and privately in her music studio.
She holds a Bachelor Degree in Music Education Degree from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a Masters
of Music Degree (Jazz Studies) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
In addition to teaching she performs regularly at jazz venues in the Denver. She leads a group called Tenia Nelson
Trio (Tenia Nelson, keys; Brendan O’ Donoghue, bass; Alex Tripp, drums).

April 14, 2021 – Ben Raznick & Deborah De La Torre – Action Steps Toward Becoming Anti-Racist in the Private Music Studio

We are witnessing protests across the world fighting for systemic changes and accountability for the way people of
color are disenfranchised in our communities. We see this too in our music communities, whether we take a look at
the amount of students of color each teacher has, the diversity we have within the membership and leadership of our
organization, or the amount of composers of color we include in our curriculum. We don’t realize how our private
music teaching contributes to systemic racism. Repertoire lists without pieces by composers of color means students
will lack awareness of them. This is how “cultural erasure” works. Composers and their works that are continuously
absent from catalogues and competitions lead to the assumption that such music simply does not exist. We believe
this important work can be addressed through intentional action steps.
Bio: Deborah De La Torre has an award-winning music career as a pianist, composer/arranger, educator, Latina/o
art festival founder, documentary film producer and recording artist/producer. She received her Bachelor’s degree in
Music from the University of Miami, Florida, and her MBA in Business Administration from Regis University in
Denver. She is passionate about Caribbean, Latin American and Spanish/Iberian musicology, performing as “La
Cocodrila” (the lady crocodile) on account of her fierce playing style.
Bio: Ben Raznick is a pianist, composer, recording artist and teacher from Colorado. He has trained with piano
professors in the US, Argentina, Brazil and Spain. Raznick was selected as a 2x semi-finalist of The American Prize in
2019. He is a recipient of Steinway & Sons prestigious Top Music Teacher Award in 2017, 2018 & 2019, and affiliate
faculty at MSU. Raznick’s solo piano classical album, Birds of a Feather, features a professionally edited video
performance of each work.

May 12, 2021 – DAMTA Teacher’s Musicale

Join DAMTA teachers as they showcase their talents in this awesome Musicale.