The Howard County Music Teachers Association, Inc. (HCMTA) had its beginning in the fall of 1978 and affiliated with the Maryland State Music Teachers Association (MSMTA) that same year. HCMTA has sponsored student recitals from its inception, with the subsequent addition of the popular Theme Festival. Begun in 1981, the annual Miriam Thomann Piano Solo Festival has grown to be one of the largest local level events of its kind in the state, with more than one hundred fifty students from the studios of twenty teachers participating in recent years. In 2004, the critiqued, non-competitive portion of the Festival became the Spring Piano Festival. HCMTA initiated the Piano Ensemble Competition and the Three-Piece Piano Solo Competition in 1994, giving the students even more competitive opportunities. A special feature of all HCMTA adjudicated events is the policy of students receiving critiques from two MTNA teacher members who are drawn from the many fine judges found throughout the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. Competitive decisions are never made by a single judge working alone.

   HCMTA has a membership of nearly fifty piano and instrumental teachers, who meet bi-monthly at 9:45 on Friday mornings at Howard Community College. All HCMTA competitions, student recitals and festivals, as well as the local MSMTA events, take place at Howard Community College. HCMTA is an affiliate member of the Howard County Arts Council and houses its piano at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City.

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