Koga awarded AMT article of the year - Association News - Midori Koga - American Music Teacher - Brief Article

American Music Teacher, June-July, 2002

"Music Making and Wellness Project," by Midori Koga, assistant professor of piano and piano pedagogy at Michigan State University (MSU), was selected as the 2001 American Music Teacher Article of the Year.

The "Music Making and Wellness Project" article reported the results of research examining the effects of music making on healthy older Americans. It appeared in the 2001 October/November issue of AMT.

"I am delighted that MTNA and AMT can give this award to Midori. `Music Making and Wellness Project' is an encouraging article emphasizing the importance of music in our everyday lives," says Executive Director and AMT Publisher Dr. Gary L. Ingle.

Midori has been at MSU since 1995. She holds master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees from the University of Michigan and a performance diploma from the Mozareum Hochshule fur Musik in Salzburg, Austria. During her tenure as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, she was awarded the university-wide Outstanding Teaching Award and the Rackham Dissertation Grant and was winner of the prestigious Concerto Competition.

Midori has taken prizes in national and international competitions including the Concours de Musique du Canada and the National Graduate Artist Competition at St. Mary's College-Notre Dame. She also has been featured in music festivals throughout the world.

An advocate of twentieth-century music, she commissions, performs and records with the new music ensemble, Quorum. Active as a clinician and adjudicator, Koga has presented at the MTNA National Conference and the World Piano Pedagogy Conference. She recently was appointed consultant to Frederick Harris Music Company and senior examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada.

The award was selected by members of the AMT Editorial Committee, who voted on all feature articles written expressly for AMT and published between February and December 2001. Koga received a $500 cash award and a plaque.