Canadian String Teachers Association

Canadian String Teachers Association

Canadian String Teachers Association. Organization dedicated to the improvement of string playing and teaching in Canada. It was formed in Regina in 1967 and its initial membership, from across Canada, numbered 120. At first it was affiliated with the CMEA and the American String Teachers Association, but after a hiatus 1974-5 it was reorganized as an autonomous body 2 Apr 1975 at a meeting in Edmonton. The membership, comprising professional performers, university, school, conservatory, and private teachers, and students, reached 160 by 1978. A news sheet, edited 1975-7 by Lawrence Fisher, developed into the periodical Notes (vol 1, no. 1, Winter 1977), issued thrice yearly 1977-83, edited by Patrick Burroughs. CSTA presidents have been Lloyd Blackman 1967-9, Jay Armin 1970-2, Alfred Garson 1973-4, Robert Skelton 1975-83, and Elfreda Gleam 1984-5, succeeded by Ralph Aldrich. As a result of the resignation of Burroughs, Skelton, and membership chairman Helen Poole in 1983, and the rise of other string instrument associations (eg, the Canadian Viola Society) the CSTA had only limited activity after 1983.