Explore photos and read a short round-up of The Strad’s visit to Atlanta for the 2025 ASTA conference
Three members of The Strad’’s Team attended this years American String Teacher Association (ASTA) conference from 19-22 March: publisher Paul Carey, advertising manager Mariette King and staff writer Rita Fernandes. We had a fantastic time, filled with incredible performances, meeting The Strad readers, attending fascinating talks, and visiting Atlanta’s sights.
On the editorial side, Rita attended over ten talks about a variety of subjects. Themes such as Artificial Intelligence in teaching and musculoskeletal health in playing particularly stood out as relevant and interesting topics. She also saw a live podcast taping of bassist Joseph Conyers and cellist Yumi Kim’s podcast ’Tacet No More’, in which the two Philadelphia Orchestra musicians talk about ‘the questions that need to be asked’. It was great to gather many ideas for upcoming magazine issues.
At our booth in the exhibit hall, we loved meeting many Strad readers. We handed out complimentary March 2025 issues, Degrees supplements, String Courses 2025 and tote bags, and sold several books from The Strad Shop. Many musicians who had been featured in the magazine also came to speak to us.
The team attended the celebration on the Friday evening, organised by D’Addario and led by Christian Howes. This incredible R&B, jazz, multi-style performance featuring the world’s leading string improvisers was a particular performance highlight.
We also visited the historical city of Atlanta. This included the Martin Luther King, Jr. centre and park, a basketball game at the State Farm arena, Olympic Centennial Park, State Capitol and Atlanta’s beautiful murals across the city.
You can check out our Instagram reels from the conference below.
We can’t wait for next year!
Read: Come and meet Team Strad at the 2025 ASTA national conference!
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