Category Archives: Branch News

2018 Concerto Acknowledgement & Results

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Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s Concerto Competition! It is a fact that in competitions some auditioners must go home without a ribbon or plaque award. However, both days were filled with beautiful music from the morning until the end of the day.

I want to give a special thank you to Yuko Maruyama and Dana Burnett who were tremendously helpful to me. Additionally, I want to thank the teachers and helpers who furnished food for the judges and worked at the check-in table: Jane Bastien, Sun Yung Cho, Susanna Han, George Katz, Inessa Litvin, Alex Mirolyan, Anna Savvas, Risa Schapiro, Carol Seefeldt, Seiran Sohn and Danette White.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the distinguished panel of judges this year:
PIANO: Dr. Doug Ashcraft (Idyllwild), Dr. Jan Meyer Thompson (ASU), Dr. Beverly Simms (ISU)
WINDS: Beth Ross Buckley (flute), Pamela Vliek Martchev (flute), Frank Renk (clarinet)
STRINGS: Isaac Allen (violin), Alex Greenbaum (cello), Angela Choong (viola)

We are in the process of finalizing the orchestra performance for the first-place winners. I hope to have that information for all within the next few days. We will publish the concert information on the website in hopes that many of you will attend!

2018 MTAC SAN DIEGO CONCERTO COMPETITION RESULTS

DIVISION I Piano (through 11 years old)
First Place Adora Xiao – Haydn Concerto in D Major, Mvt III
Second Place Leo Zhang
Third Place Gene Chang

DIVISION II Piano (12-14 years old)
First Place Sunny Xiao – Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in G Minor, Mvt III
Second Place Alexis Wu
Third Place Jeremiah Cho
HM Saeji Hong
HM Soo Hyun Bahn

DIVISION III Piano (15-18 years old)
First Place Kevin Lu – Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Mvt I
Second Place Zisheng Shang
Third Place Athena Tsu
HM Sofia Chamberlain
HM Andrew Zhao

DIVISION IV Winds
First Place Zackery Edwards – Weber Andante and Rondo Ongerese, Op. 35 for bassoon
Second Place Helen Zhu
Third Place Michelle Liu
HM Isabelle Jamois
HM Jennie Cao

DIVISION V Strings (through age 13)
First Place Stacy Widyono – Bruch Violin Concerto in G Minor, Mvt I
Second Place Isabel Kim
Third Place Lucas Lee
HM Saejoon Hong
HM Caden Jiang

DIVISION VI Strings (14-18 years)
First Place Phoebe Olzewski – Lalo Symphonie Espagnole
Second Place (TIE) Katherine Zhu and Jacey Yang
Third Place Pearl de la Motte
HM Evan Zhou
HM Nathan Sariowan

2018 Duo Acknowledgement & Results

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The 2018 Piano Duo Festival was held on Saturday, January 20th at Greene Music. I am sincerely thankful to the judges, all the volunteers, teachers and students who came and did an excellent job at the festival. 12 teams participated and 10 teams competed. All the teams were well-prepared and performed wonderfully. The judges’ final results are below:

Piano Duo Festival Final Results
Category I: Ages 5 – 9 
1st place 
Anya Davis & Kailey Phillips
2nd place
Katelyn Duong & Allison Duong
Category II: Ages 10 – 12
1st place (tie)
Ashley Arner & Sophia Guan 
1st place (tie)
Ruei-Chi Lai & Davina Zhu
3rd place 
Wei-Shi Lai & Peiran Liang
Category III: Ages 13 – 15
1st place
Emily Suh & Lauren Suh
2nd place
Stephen Zhu & Hsiang-Kuang Zhuang
Category IV: Ages 16 – high school
1st place 
Tori Tinsley & Sophia Lam

Category V: College 

1st place

Isabelle Chen & Daniel Chen 

Playing piano duets is an effective way to improve the student’s musicianship, as the students learn to work with other musicians on various aspects of ensemble performance. This would be beneficial for their solo playing as well. Thank you again to the studios of Eunice Ahn, Carol Ong-Chen, Yulia Atoyan, Anna Vasilyeva, Irina Bessonova, Yun-Yin Wu, Tracy Lovley and Dan Yu. Thank you to judges Dr. Marina Sakach and Mr. Steve Baker. Thanks for the wonderful help from Yuko Maruyama.

Thank you again! Hope to see you all at next year’s Piano Duo Festival!

2018 VOCE Acknowledgement & Results

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Thank you for participating in the 2018 MTAC VOCE Competition. We also would like to thank Grossmont College for the use of their facilities. Thank you to our 3 judges, Rose Lombardo, Catie Longhi and Wesley Precourt. Thank you to Yuko Marumaya and Risa Schapiro for their tremendous help, as well as Danette White.

1st-Place Winners in their categories in the MTAC VOCE Branch Auditions Competition are eligible to compete in the VOCE State Finals Audition on April 22, 2018 at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

The official results are below:

MUSIC TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA
San Diego Branch VOCE Competition on January 7, 2018

Instrumental Ensemble: Intermediate, Competitive
String Quintet – First Place

Instrumental Ensemble: Senior, Competitive
Equinox String Quartet – First Place
4 Cellos – Honorable Mention

Junior Strings, Competitive
Andrew Maxwell – First Place

Senior Strings, Competitive
Katherine Zhu – First Place
Luzy Guanuna – First Place Alternate
Ryan Zhou – Second Place
Amy Lee – Third Place

Intermediate Strings, Competitive
Nathan Sariowan – First Place
Evan Zhou – First Place Alternate
Susan Lee – Second Place
Stacy Widyono – Second Place
Darren Jiang – Third Place
Phoebe Olszewski – Honorable Mention
Jacey Yang – Honorable Mention

Senior Winds, Competitive
Gabriela Beltran – First Place
Zackery Edwards – Second Place
Michelle Liu – Honorable Mention

Intermediate Winds, Competitive
Elisha Tan – First Place
Nithin Chilakapati – Second Place
Anna Lee – Third Place
Praveena Ratnavel – Honorable Mention

Thank you,

Hernan Constantino
Miriam Cole
Co-Chairs, 2018 VOCE Competition

President’s Message – 1/1/18

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let’s ring in the year 2018 with positive thoughts. One positive thought I have is the encouragement you gave me when you volunteered to help in the events you signed up for.  This is what an association strives for: cooperation and mutual respect.  Thank you!

Let’s ring in the year 2018 with positive goals.  We teachers have the power to either inspire or discourage students.  Let us be aware of our students’ strengths and nurture them.  Let us consider their weaknesses as challenges to us to become more creative in our approach to help our students become the best that they can be.

And, being armed with positive thoughts and positive goals, let us say, “2018, BRING IT ON!”

Positively yours,
Miriam Cole
President
MTACSD

2017 Sonata Contest Acknowledgement & Results

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There were 280 participants in the 2017 Sonata Contest and we are so grateful for all of those who helped us to make this a successful day. First, a very big thank you to MTAC members:  Mitzi Kolar, Chutaphin Yeager, Jacki Summers, Ping Hu, Stuart Thurston, Lynn Sundfor-McPherson and Miriam Cole, for their help on the day of the contest and in the preparations for the event.

We were pleased that many former participants returned and helped as well. They included:  Abby Vickers, Karlin Labenske, David Rudolph, Matilda Rudolph, Ashley Luk, Sarah Victor and Emma Chan. Parents of former participants, Patty Rudolph and Nancy McClintock also helped out.  Thank you to Victor Labenske and Brenda Martin who sent their college students from Point Loma Nazarene to help. Thank you to Chutaphin Yeager for bringing her nephew and other student volunteers who helped out all day long. Thank you to Leslie Lucas, an active volunteer in many community events, for helping us again for the sixth year in a row.

Another big thank you to Eric Vickers for his computer technical expertise, which streamlines the administrative work and allows me to sleep at night!

Thanks, finally, to San Diego State University for their generous hospitality and allowing us to use their facility.

The judges for this year were:  Sharon Townsend-Roth (Glendale), Rob and Teri Watson (Fullerton), Linda Rohmund (Carlsbad), Sanaz Rezai (Los Angeles), Mark Mendez (Montebello), Brenda Martin (San Diego), Pamela Mullins (North Carolina), Joseph Matthews (Orange County) and Erika Ramos (Redlands).

Happy Holidays to all of you and we hope to see you next year!

 Sonata Contest Winners List 2017

2017 Popular Music Festival Acknowledgement

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Thank you to all the teachers, students and families for participating in the 2017 Popular Music Festival! We had 17 teachers enter 53 students who performed in three recitals on November 18, 2017 at Grossmont College.

Studios Represented: Eunice Ahn, Irina Bessonova, Renee Calvo, Jim Guerin, Valery King, Mitzi Kolar, Amy Lee, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Lois Pachucki Smetona, Anna Robitaille, Anna Stal, Irina Williams, Mei Yin, and Dan Yu

Jazz Improvisation Workshop led by Yuko Maruyama
Accompanists: Doug Walker – bass, Matthew Taylor – drums

A big thank-you to all the teachers, students and friends who volunteered their time to make this event possible:
Irina Bessonova, Renee Calvo, Emi Clements, Miriam Cole, Jim Guerin, Kathy Kim, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Robitaille, Risa Schapiro, Lois Smetona, Irina Williams, Chutaphin Yeager, and Dan Yu

President’s Message 11-13-17

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By this time, we hope you have primed your students to the new and/or old challenges that you have prepared for them. The annual holidays are coming up and I hope you and your students are contributing to the sounds of Christmas, Hannukah and New year.

Starting with the Popular Music Festival, our first Branch Event, we will keep record of all teachers who have students participating as well as teachers who contribute and/or help out with each event. At the end of the school year and at the Fall Breakfast next year, we will acknowledge teachers who have helped out the most. We hope this would promote professional camaraderie and cooperation. This also alleviates the responsibilities of the Event Chairperson.

Have a festive and meaningful season with your family and friends.

Sincerely,
Miriam Cole
President
MTAC San Diego

2017 Fall Breakfast

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The Fall Breakfast on Monday, September 18, was a visual and inspirational delight.

Teachers were treated to the lovely setting of table linens, bouquets at each table, and “swag bags” for each attendee with their tissue frills adorning each place setting. Thanks to our new Second Vice President, Brian Goral, for making us all feel so special. Tim Broadway, our outgoing Second V.P. brought the coordination of the venue together and brought the new caterer into our lives. Good find, Tim, and thank you for your excellent work for so many years.

Our new Corresponding Secretary, Alla Kesser-Gross, did a terrific job with the notifications/invitations to the Fall Breakfast, and we thank also the behind-the-scenes work of our new Recording Secretary, Angelina Hardy, and directors Lee Galloway, Dan Yu, and Mitzi Koler.

Hearing our new President’s opening greeting in all languages represented by our membership highlighted the international constituency of our San Diego branch. I want to thank Miriam Cole for accepting the position of President of the Board of Directors. Having led us once before in that role, she is well-poised to bring about the dreams that she has for our branch.

I am sure that every teacher was pleasantly surprised to see how committed our new First Vice President is to the integrity and development of our branch. The new website, of which she is the webmaster, is beautifully designed and will serve its many purposes well. We can all thank Yuko Maruyama for the excellent result of her effort. We can thank her entire family also for the outstanding video about Kids Into Music (KIM). Many of us probably realized for the first time, while watching the video, exactly what the program is all about.

Our KIM music exchange/donation table was a success once again, bringing in over $100 in funds for the KIM program. Thanks to Chutaphin Yeager, our new Membership Secretary and Hua Wang, our Treasurer, for hosting that table for the past several years.

And finally, the excellent booklet which stapled together all the information we could possibly need about participation in Certificate of Merit, produced by Eleanor Hum, is just the tip of the iceberg of all the preparation and work load that Eleanor and her CM Committee experience annually on behalf of all our students and us. She and her committee are the lifeline between us and the State MTAC CM program. Thank you, Eleanor, and thank you, Board of Directors, for a delightful and informative morning.

Our Fall Breakfast has become much more than a mandatory meeting. It is a once-a-year touchstone for the integrity and professionalism of our branch, and, just as importantly, it provides a place where long-time members and new members can meet, interact and enjoy each other’s friendship.

Jaclyn Summers
Immediate Past President