American String Teachers Association

The American String Teacher's Association (ASTA) is a professional organization based in the United States for music teachers. It is the largest such national organization in the US for string teachers. It promotes learning to play string instruments in the next generation of American students, and also aims to place those students into orchestras as they grow more proficient. Originally two separate groups, ASTA and NSOA (National School Orchestra Association), the whole organization is now referred to as merely "ASTA". The organization is currently led by Kirk Moss. The immediate past president is cellist Jeffrey Solow.

In addition to publishing a journal four times a year, they offer books, publicity leaflets & posters, and conferences to help train and encourage string teachers, and help them promote their programs in schools and in their communities at large.

Since 1948, there had been a movement to run programs for string instrument instruction for young children in universities called the String Projects. The first project was started from a program at the University of Texas, and former ASTA President Robert Jesselson led the drive to expand to other universities, based on the model at the University of South Carolina, which included undergraduate students. These projects continued for decades and gained national attention. The National String Project Consortium (NSPC) was formed in 1998 to address the shortage in the stringed-instrument teachers for public schools in the United States. NSPC grew and expanded to 24 sites to the point that it would need to be an independent organization from ASTA. In 2007 NSPC finally became independent. The organization currently has grown to include 35 string projects at universities around the United States.

In 2011, ASTA published its first national model curriculum intended to be used as one of the standards and benchmarks for K–12 strings and orchestra programs. The curriculum is a road map to which teachers can be used as a reference and can be presented to administrators and parents. Although the curriculum is not a method book, but it also includes the teachings of Shinichi Suzuki, Paul Rolland, Kató Havas, and others. The curriculum was released at the 2011 ASTA National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.

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