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About Bonnie Blanchard, NCTM

Bonnie Blanchard, NCTM (nationally certified teacher of music) has long been respected in the Seattle area as a versatile freelance musician and a dynamic instructor of award-winning students.

She holds music and teaching degrees from the University of Washington.

She began playing flute when she was 19, and later engaged in a series of private lessons on piano, violin, viola, voice, and flute.

A flute instructor for 30 years, Bonnie has had the opportunity to work with many of the world’s greatest flutists and teachers. Her creative ideas and unbridled enthusiasm for teaching have consistently produced students who win top awards in local and national contests and earn college and conservatory scholarships. Her students excel at their instrument and love what they are doing.

The rapport Bonnie cultivates with her students and her unique teaching techniques create musicians who develop the skill and a lifelong love of music that helps them achieve in other areas of their lives.

Ms. Blanchard’s former students are currently enrolled or have graduated as music majors from the Manhattan School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Central Washington University, University of Washington, Rice University, Vanderbilt, New York University. Among her former students is the flute professor at the University of Washington, the 2nd flute in the Houston Grand Opera, and a member of the Army Field Band.

With her sister, Cynthia Acree, Bonnie is the author of the Music for Life series, Making Music and Enriching Lives: A Guide For All Music Teachers and Making Music and Having A Blast! A Guide For All Music Students, published by Indiana University Press. These books are now being used across the world in private studios and college classrooms.

Bonnie is increasingly becoming sought after as a pedagogue and speaker. She has twice addressed the National Flute Association, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Washington State Music Teachers Association, and has been a speaker at the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, The Music Teachers Association of California, the National Harp Association, the College Music Society, the Seattle Flute Society, as well as many state organizations.

Bonnie lives with her husband Don on a pretty lake in Seattle, Washington.

 

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What is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music?

A NCTM is a member of the Music Teachers National Association. The following is from the MTNA Web site:

The mission of Music Teachers National Association is to advance the value of music study and music making to society and to support the professionalism of music teachers. The Professional Certification Program exists to improve the level of professionalism within the field of applied music teaching and helps the public readily identify competent music teachers in their communities. It signifies commitment to continued excellence in professional practice. In addition, it increases visibility, builds credibility, provides a goal for personal professional achievement and validates expertise for the individual and to those outside the field.

The program is based upon a set of five standards defining what a competent music teacher should know and be able to do:

Standard I:
Professional Preparation

Standard II:
Professional Teaching Practices

Standard III:
Professional Business Management

Standard IV:
Professionalism and Partnerships

Standard V: Professional and Personal Renewal

To me, being a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music means that I have a commitment to teaching and learning and strive to help other music teachers attain high standards for themselves and their students and the respect our profession deserves.