New Music Reading Sessions
2025 VSTS
New Music Reading Session Clinicians
K-12 String Orchestra
K-12: Grade 1-2
Kelton Burnside
Eastman School of Music
K-12 Grade 3-4
Del Whitman
Lincoln Public Schools
K-12: Grade 5-6
Aline Moore
Frisco ISD
K-12: Eclectic Styles
George Nicholson
Teachers College Columbia University
K-12: Historically Excluded Composers
Tanatchaya Chanphanitpornkit
New York Youth Symphony and Manhattan School of Music Precollege
K-12: Women Composers
Liz Dinwiddie
Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School
Studio & Chamber Music
Studio: Historically Excluded Composers
Laurel Yu
Valdosta State University
Studio: Historically Excluded Composers
Daniel Ketter
Missouri State University
Studio: Women Composers
Lydia Choorapuzha
self
Studio: Women Composers
Meryl Geib
Geib Musik
2025 VSTS
New Music Reading Sessions Schedule
Monday, July 14
1:00-1:45 PM - K-12: Women Composers
Liz Dinwiddie is the Director of Strings at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in the North Georgia mountains, where she leads a dynamic program spanning PreK through high school. She performs regularly throughout Western North Carolina and North Georgia as a professional violinist and violist. With teaching experience in South Carolina, Colorado, and Indiana, Liz has worked with string students from preschool to college. Her work blends artistic excellence with a passion for nurturing young musicians in diverse educational settings.
2:00-2:45 PM - K-12: Grade 1-2
Kelton Burnside is pursuing a PhD in music education from the Eastman School of Music, where he is a graduate assistant in the Department of Music Teaching and Learning and the George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion in Music. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Nazareth University. Burnside holds degrees in music education from Southern Methodist University and Ithaca College. He previously taught middle and high school orchestra in Plano, Texas.
3:00-3:45 PM - Studio: Historically Excluded Composers
Dr. Laurel Yu, Associate Professor of Viola and Department Head at Valdosta State University, serves as Artistic Administrator for Sinfonia Gulf Coast in Destin, Florida. He is currently Principal Viola of Sinfonia Gulf Coast, the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and former Principal Viola of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. He is regularly invited to present lectures across the Southeast, including multiple presentations at American String Teachers Association conferences and the American Viola Society Festival.
Daniel Ketter is a cellist dedicated to chamber and contemporary music. He co-directs American Wild Ensemble, which has commissioned and premiered over 40 new works. He plays with the Opus 76 Quartet, Artists-in-Residence at the Midwest Trust Center. Daniel also leads the Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium, commissioning new student works in diverse styles. He teaches cello, chamber music, and theory at Missouri State University, where he has been on faculty since 2018.
4:00-4:45 PM - K-12: Grade 3-4
Del Whitman is in his thirty-something year as a music educator in Lincoln Public Schools, teaching orchestras at Lincoln East HS and at Lux MS, as well as conducting the LPS Junior Youth Orchestra. Both the East and Lux Orchestras have performed multiple times at the the NMEA Conference and a couple of national festivals. He loves pineapple, basketball, can moonwalk, and once almost poked his eye out with the baton.
Tuesday, July 15
1:00-1:45 PM - K-12: Eclectic Styles
George Nicholson (he/him) has held positions at Teachers College Columbia University (TC), Case Western Reserve University, and the University of New Mexico. He holds a doctorate degree from TC, while other degrees are from the University of Georgia and the University of Miami. His research interests focus on the connection of multi-styles string pedagogy, music education philosophy, and creativity.
2:00-2:45 PM - K-12: Historically Excluded Composers
Tanatchaya “Tanya” Chanphanitpornkit, known for her joy, is a double bassist and conductor from Thailand. Chanphanitpornkit currently teaches at Nyack Public Schools. She is the Music Director of New York Youth Symphony’s Crescendo Orchestra, and conductor of Manhattan School of Music Precollege Symphony Orchestra. Her higher education positions include Teachers College, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, William Paterson University, and The College of New Jersey. She is a co-founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Conduct.
2:00-2:45 PM - Studio: Women Composers
Lydia Miller Choorapuzha is a versatile violinist with a vibrant performance career, having appeared with esteemed ensembles such as the Pittsburgh Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra, as well as artists including Michael Bublé and Bruce Springsteen. A highly regarded chamber musician, she is a member of Trio Sine Nomine, as string trio based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Meryl Geib performs with Trio Antiqua, Brisch Center for Historical Performance, Geib Musik Duo, Dyberry Creek Music Festival and Painted Sky Opera. As an educator, Mrs. Geib is an active member of the ASTA Oklahoma Chapter and currently maintains a large private studio. Her students have participated in the NCHO, All-OMEA, OKYO and the OKCPhil Society of Strings. Mrs. Geib was awarded 2019 ASTA-OK Teacher of the Year for her contribution to Oklahoma string education.
3:00-3:45 PM - K-12 Grade 5-6
Aline Moore, Orchestra Director at Lebanon Trail HS in Frisco, TX, earned a degree in Violin Performance from Federal University of Minas Gerais, and a Master of Music from Campbellsville University. A frequent clinician in TX and nationally, she is passionate about culturally responsive pedagogy in music ed. She is an active member of TMEA, TODA (IDEA Committee), ASTA, TMAA, & a FASE Fellow.
2025 VSTS Call for New Music Reading Session Music
ASTA members are always looking for new music to add to their repertoire. Don't miss this chance to have your works featured during July 2025 Virtual String Teachers Summit and through our eLearning webinars. In addition, your work may also be featured in the Music Reviews published quarterly in American String Teacher (AST).
ASTA is collecting submissions of works including pieces categorized by grade level, eclectic styles pieces, and works by historically excluded and women composers for both K-12 string orchestra and applied studio. Submissions will be reviewed by committee and selected to be included in the 2025 Virtual String Teachers Summit or in virtual new music reading sessions.
ASTA is opening this call to invite additional submissions to support our July 2025 Virtual String Teachers Summit. Submissions are invited for specific categories only; other categories are already full with music submitted and approved during our Fall 2024 submission cycle. Please do not resubmit pieces that were previously accepted or submitted during the Fall 2024 Call.
ASTA has partnered with the Institute for Composer Diversity to manage outreach and logistics to make certain historically excluded composers and publishers are invited to participate.
Timeline
- April 23, 2025: Call for Reading Session Music Opens
- May 9, 2025: Call for Reading Session Music Closes
- May 30, 2025: Committee Reviews of Submissions complete
- Early June 2025: Notifications Sent (we will use the score PDF and audio file submitted)
Criteria for Music Submissions
The criteria for repertoire in each reading session is included below. To avoid an overlap in multiple reading sessions, a composition may only be submitted for a single reading session. In the instance when a composition may qualify for multiple reading sessions, the publisher must choose a single reading session in which to submit the composition. Submissions should be new works, arrangements, or editions available. Pieces should not have been submitted for an ASTA Music Reading Session within the last 10 years.
*No Full or Symphonic Orchestra music including instruments outside the string family should be submitted, including chamber music.
K-12 String Orchestra: Repertoire in Grades 5-6
- Submissions must have a copyright date of 2024 or 2025
- Submissions should only include grade 5-6 repertoire (along with levels up to 6+)
- Submissions can also include repertoire by women and historically excluded composers
K-12 String Orchestra: Repertoire by Women Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works
- Submissions can be any grade level; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category.
- Submissions should be by women composers only
K-12 String Orchestra: Repertoire by Historically Excluded Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works
- Submissions can be any grade level; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category.
- Submissions should be by historically excluded composers only
K-12 String Orchestra: Repertoire in Eclectic Styles
- Submissions must have a copyright date of 2024 or 2025
- Submissions can be any grade level; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category.
- Submissions can also include repertoire by women and historically excluded composers
Applied Studio: Solo and Chamber Music for Violin and Viola by Women Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works.
- Submissions should be by women composers only
- Submissions can be for any level, based on the ASTA String Syllabus; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category, but any grade level may be submitted
Applied Studio: Solo and Chamber Music for Cello, Double Bass, Harp, and Guitar by Women Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works.
- Submissions should be by women composers only
- Submissions can be for any level, based on the ASTA String Syllabus; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category, but any grade level may be submitted
Applied Studio: Solo and Chamber Music for Violin and Viola by Historically Excluded Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works.
- Submissions should be by historically excluded composers only
- Submissions can be for any level, based on the ASTA String Syllabus; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category, but any grade level may be submitted
Applied Studio: Solo and Chamber Music for Cello, Double Bass, Harp, and Guitar by Historically Excluded Composers
- Submissions can have any copyright date, preference given to more recent works.
- Submissions should be by historically excluded composers only
- Submissions can be for any level, based on the ASTA String Syllabus; please note that ASTA members have requested repertoire at the lower grade levels in this submission category, but any grade level may be submitted
ASTA reserves the right to place submissions into sessions based on the volume and instrumentation needs of pieces received to ensure the opportunity for every piece to be read and heard in a session, whether live or virtual. In the submission process, you will be asked for your preference of session placement, which will be taken into consideration.
For chamber music with instrumentation that spans the Applied Studio sessions listed above, the composer/publisher may select which session to submit the piece to, keeping in mind that ASTA may move the submission based on the number of submissions received and overall instrumentation needs of the reading sessions.
ASTA will provide a list of accepted music submissions to all who attend the conference reading sessions, as well as post the list on the ASTA website as a member resource.
How to Submit Music
All music publishers and self-publishers are encouraged and welcome to submit music for consideration. Additionally, Music Industry Showcase Sessions are available for purchase – you can contact Ellie Dunn for more information and to purchase: ellie@carldunn.com.
Publishers and self-publishers may send up to 8 selections with no more than 1 piece of music per category. If you publish multiple labels, you may submit up to 8 selections from each label.
For the 2025 Virtual String Teachers Summit, we will use the score pdf and audio file that you originally submitted in the call. Please acknowledge by checking the box below that,
- ASTA has your permission to use and display these files (score PDF and audio file) in the summit presentation, and
- ASTA has your permission to display the summit presentation video recording on our virtual platform. Attendees must register for the event and will have access to the recordings of the sessions through the end of December 2025.
Include the following information for each piece on the submission form:
- session selection
- title
- composer/arranger
- publisher's suggested grade level
- publisher
- publication date
- price
- duration of piece
- score pdf and mp3 for review and clinician preparation
- link to piece listing online
- check the permissions checkbox (see above)
The deadline for music submissions is May 9, 2025.
- Complete the 2025 ASTA Virtual String Teachers Summit New Music Reading Session Submission Form
- Once you submit your form(s), you will receive an email from ASTA confirming receipt.
- After the review process is complete, you will receive additional communications from ASTA.
Questions? meetings@astastrings.org
Submissions are now closed
2025 VSTS New Music Reading Session Form