In 1942, Mary Covert, piano teacher, musical critic and Musical Courier correspondent, called a meeting of prominent music teachers in Montreal to start the movement that culminated in the founding of the Quebec Music Teachers' Association (QMTA). These founding members included Félix Bertrand, Rose Goldblatt, Frances Goltman, Edna Marie Hawkin, Marie-Thérèse Paquin et Anthony Zaplaski. Subsequent meetings set the groundwork for the Association's bilingual constitution. The QMTA established a policy of regular meetings that attracted outstanding musicians as lecturers and performers. Much attention has been paid to Canadian composers, and their music has been highlighted in regular public concerts, now annually incorporated in "Canada Music Week" every November. The first of these Canadian concerts took place in 1944, with the cooperation of the Oxford University Press. It was probably the first of its kind to be given in Montreal.
While reviewing the archives of the QMTA, we come across a newspaper clipping from the Montreal Gazette dated June 8, 1945, with the heading "Music Teachers Hold Annual Meeting". Rose Goldblatt and Violet Archer's names were listed as attendees at the meeting (See picture gallery).
In 1945, the QMTA joined the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (CFMTA), Formal incorporation of the QMTA took place in 1944, and in 1960, a new constitution was drafted and adopted. An Eastern Townships branch was established in 1980, which activated the Provincial Council as the overall supervisory body. Daphne Sandercock was its first president, succeeded by Susan Giday, Laure Fink, Rose Goldblatt, and Margarete Palos.
List of QMTA presidents
1942 – 1945 Edna Marie Hawkin
1945 – 1947 Marie-Thérèse Paquin
1947 – 1949 Ruth Blanchard
1949 – 1951 Roger Filiatrault
1951 – 1953 Frances Goltman
1953 – 1955 Felix Bertrand
1955 – 1957 Leon Kaufman
1957 – 1959 Françoise D’Amour
1959 – 1961 Anthony Zaplaski
1961 – 1965 Madeleine Provost
1965 – 1967 Daphne Sandercock
1967 – 1969 Maurice Valentyne
1969 – 1971 Muriel Shoobridge
1971 – 1974 Juliette McLaren
1974 – 1977 Viola Benson
1977 – 1979 Georges Lindsay
1979 – 1981 Susan Giday
1981 – 1983 Laure Fink
1983 – 1985 Rose Goldblatt
1985 – 1987 Yolande Gaudreau
1987 – 1989 Margarete Palos
1989 – 1991 Christiane Claude
1991 – 1993 Rita Barg
1993 – 1995 Yolande Gaudreau
1995 – 1998 Carl Urquhart
1998 – 1999 Rita Barg
1999 – 2001 Hélène Lord
2001 – 2002 Viktorya Kasuto
2003 – 2005 Christiane Claude
2005 – 2007 David Côté
2007 – 2010 Lynne Gagné
2010 – 2012 Yolande Gaudreau
2012 – 2015 Lynne Gagné
2015 – David Côté
Other Highlights
1963
Montreal was the host of the 14th CFMTA biennal convention, at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, under the direction of Madeleine Provost.
1997
Montreal hosts the CFMTA convention one more time.
A double CD titled "Canadian Music for Young Pianists" is recorded under the direction of Christiane Claude, in collaboration with the Canadian Music Center and Guy Soucie from the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur.
1983
Henry Finkel, Rose Goldblatt's husband, designs our logo.
1995
Creation of the Quebec Music Education Foundation by Rita Barg, past QMTA president.
2000
Gayle Colebrook transforms our newsletter into a print and online journal called MusiFax, which edition was taken over by Danielle Langevin from 2003 to 2015. In 2013, MusiFax is replaced with a webzine called MusiWeb. Since 2015, Melissa Faustin is the editor of MusiWeb.
Our website, apmqmta.org is created.
The NDG Arts and Letters Festival gives way to the Montreal Classical Music Festival. The QMTA takes over and turns it into a prestigious event to replace its traditional Spring Festival.
