Category Archives: Branch News

President’s Message – 3/18/19

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Dear MTACSD Members,

Congratulations to each and everyone for a successful production of the Certificate of Merit. Teachers, students, parents and volunteers alike braved the rains and the new venues and the demanding schedule. Thank you for your hard work, flexibility and patience.

I especially would like to ask everyone to extend their appreciation to the super hard-working CM crew headed by our incredible CM Branch Chair, Eleanor Hum:

Jamie Lin: Co-chair and Piano Scheduling Coordinator
Michelle Rumley: Winds and String Coordinator; Site Coordinator-MBMA; State CM Chair
Hanan Jammal-Ouchi: Teachers’ Work Scheduler and Tammy Lee, her Assistant
Lee Galloway: Evaluator Coordinator; Site Coordinator-Cuyamaca College
Jaclyn Summers and Brian Goral: Hospitality Coordinators
Mitzi Kolar: Data Entry Room Head
Dawn Yocom, Sachiko Reiners and Philip “Jay Jay” Lim: Grading Room Heads
Kathy Shoemaker and Dragana Matic: Theory Testing Heads
Chutaphin Yeager and Yuko Maruyama: Site Logistics

In addition, we couldn’t have done it without all the volunteer runners who escorted our students safely to and from their evaluations. Also, I know there are other hard-working teachers not mentioned here but I will leave those names for Eleanor to acknowledge in person.

This year, Cuyamaca College and the Mission Bay Montessori Academy both welcomed us to their locations for our CM evaluations. The performance evaluations and theory testing, spread over 8 days, were a challenge to our team from the organizational standpoint. However, we are very appreciative of both schools’ support for our program, and we are assessing how to improve next year’s CM plans. We hope to make productive changes for the better.

I suggest that everyone take a short “time out” and congratulate yourself for a job well done before you embark on the next events: Bach, Chopin and Goodlin.

Thank you again for your cooperation, patience and understanding.

Sincerely,
Miriam Cole
President
MTAC San Diego

2019 Piano Duo Festival Acknowledgement & Results

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Thank you for participating in the 2019 Piano Duo Festival! The event was held on Saturday, February 23 at Greene Music. Students, teachers and families enjoyed the beautiful piano duet music performed by 14 teams in 6 different age-division categories. The Duo Festival chair Dan Yu made all pre-event arrangements and organized the schedule, and on the event day, my MTAC colleague Carol Ong-Chen was an indispensable help to run the two recitals back to back. Thank you to students, parents, and all participating teachers for making it a successful event. The following studios were represented: Eunice Ahn, Eunji Bae, Lee Galloway, Yu Carole Liu, Victor Labenske, Carol Ong-Chen, Galina Talis, and Anna Vasilyeva. Special thanks to our adjudicators Steve Baker and Sanaz Rezai.

Here are the results and photos from the event. Congratulations to all participants. We hope you join us again next year.

2019 Piano Duo Festival Results
Category I: Ages 5 - 9First PlaceGrace Xu & Sarah Deng
Second PlaceAllison Doung & Katelyn Doung
Third PlaceMia Davis & Jace Phillips
Category II: Ages 10 - 12First PlaceWei-Shi Lai & Peiran Liang
Second PlaceAnya Davis & Kailey Philips
Third PlaceIris Cheng & Leah Nacher
Category III: Ages 13 - 15First PlaceRuei-Chi Lai & Davina Zhu
Second PlaceStephen Zhu & Hsiang-Kuang Zhuang
Third PlacePaul Suarez & John Suarez
Category IV: Ages 16 - High SchoolFirst PlaceJessica Mar & Jenny Mar
Category V: CollegeFirst PlaceAurora Grzybek & Evan Lin

2019 Concerto Acknowledgement & Results

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Congratulations to all the participants in this year’s Concerto Competition! 

I want to give a special thank you to Sarah Victor, who was my assistant both days, Dana Burnett for preparing the warm-up schedules both days, Lori Vickers, Sun Yung Cho, Alexander Mirolyan, Stacey Liao and Michael Tseitlin for providing pastries and fruit for judges.  I also want to thank USD’s Department of Music for generously sponsoring this event! 

I would also like to express my gratitude to our panel of judges this year:

PIANO: Wan-Chin Chang, Gema Garcia, Mark Gutierrez
WINDS: Beth Ross Buckley, Pamela Vliek Martchev, James Romeo
STRINGS: Elizabeth Brown, Paivikki Nykter, Philip Tyler

Here are the results and photos. Winners performances with orchestra will be announced very soon.

DIVISION I: piano through 11 yrs. 
1st placeYouchae B. – Haydn: Concerto in D Major, 1st mvt.
2nd place (alternate)Tyler C.
3rd placeSaejoon H.
DIVISION II: piano 12-14 yrs.
1st placeAlly N. – Saint-Saens: Concerto No. 2 in G minor, 1st mvt.
2nd place (alternate)Stephanie L.
3rd placeJustin L.
Honorable Mentions:Margaret F. and Christine Z.
DIVISION III:  15-18 yrs.
1st placeAlexis W. – Mozart: Concerto No. 27 in Bb Major, K. 595, 3rd mvt.
2nd place (alternate)Zachary L.
3rd placeSaeji H.
DIVISION IV: Winds
1st placeIsabelle J. – Griffes: Poem
2nd place (alternate)Helen Z.
3rd placeJennie C.
Honorable Mentions:Athena T.
DIVISION V: Strings through 13 yrs.
1st placeDasha Z. – Vivaldi: Concerto in G Minor, RV 317
2nd place (alternate)Caden J.
3rd place (tie)Ellie L. and Lucas L.
Honorable Mentions:Isabel K.
DIVISION VI: Strings 14-18 yrs.
1st placeNathan S. – Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, 1st mvt.
2nd place (alternate)Pearl d.
3rd placeSusan L.
Honorable Mentions:Jacey L., Lucy G., Josiah d., Andrew Y., Evan Z.

Members may login to view the results with full names below:

2019 VOCE Acknowledgement & Results

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There were 41 entries in the 2019 Branch VOCE Competition held at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church on January 5. So numerous were the entries, that the competition was split into two concurrent events: strings and ensembles in the sanctuary, with winds and voice in the chapel.

Congratulations to all participating students for such wonderful performances! You are to be truly commended for your training, preparation, and fortitude.

Thank you to all students, parents, church personnel, co-chairs, volunteers, teachers, accompanists, and judges for your invaluable contributions toward a successful VOCE!

Co-Chairs:
Hernan Constantino, Danette White, and Yuko Maruyama
Volunteers:
Ruslan Biryukov, Miriam Cole, Peter Dayeh, Brian Goral, Sunah Park Jong, Pasha Tseitlin, and Dan Yu
Studios Represented:
Ruslan Biryukov, Glen Campbell, Hernan Constantino, Peter Dayeh, Wei Feng, Sunah Park Jong, Alexander Palamidis, Pasha Tseitlin, Danette White, and Elena Yarritu
Accompanists:
Yulia Atoyan, Dana Burnett, Miriam Cole, Katherine Dvoskin, Yoonhee Huh, Bradley Pettit, Danette White, and Dan Yu
Judges:
Strings & Ensembles: Missy Lukin and Chia-Ling Chien
Winds & Voice: James Romeo and Leyla Zamora
Voice: Dan Ratelle

1st Place Branch Winners are eligible to compete at the State VOCE in Orange County on April 7, and we wish you well! 1st Place Alternates may compete at the State VOCE when Branch Winners cannot.

RESULTS
Junior Strings:
1st Place – Elijah D, cello
2nd Place – Jessie S, violin
3rd Place – Benjamin L, violin
Honorable Mention – Caitlin W, violin

Intermediate Strings:
1st Place – Pearl Anne D, viola
2nd Place – Eric Z, violin
3rd Place – Ethan Z, cello
Honorable Mention – Stacy W, violin

Senior Strings:
1st Place – Nathan S, violin
1st Place Alternate – Luzy G, violin
2nd Place – Evan Z, violin
3rd Place Tie – Darren J, cello
3rd Place Tie – Jacey Y, violin

Intermediate Winds:
1st Place – Nithin C, flute & piccolo
1st Place Alternate – Anna L, flute
2nd Place – Gary L, clarinet
3rd Place – Ramona T, flute
Honorable Mention – Richard L, flute

Senior Winds:
1st Place – Zackery E, bassoon
1st Place Alternate – Dillon H, flute

Intermediate Voice:
1st Place – Flora Y, soprano

Intermediate Ensemble:
1st Place – The String Beans
Evan Z, violin; Wei-Shan H, violin; James R, viola; Dylan R, cello

2nd Place – The LHF Trio
Kevin H, violin; Sunny F, cello; Leo L, piano

3rd Place – San Diego Youth Cello Quartet
Darren J, cello; Andrew Y, cello; Ethan Z, cello; Daniel C, cello

Honorable Mention – De la Motte String Quartet
Josiah D, violin; Naomi D, violin; Pearl D, viola; Elijah D, cello

Please login to view the results with full names below.

2018 Sonata Acknowledgement & Results

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There were 265 participants in the 2018 Sonata Contest and I am so grateful for all of those who helped to make this a successful day. First, a very big thank you to MTAC members: Mitzi Kolar, Chutaphin Yeager, Miriam Cole, Jacki Summers, Brian Goral, Lynn Sundfor-McPherson, Magdi Bornemisza, Stuart Thurston, Dan Yu, Sarah Victor, Angelina Hardy, Yuko Maruyama and Hua Wang for their help on the day of the contest and in the preparations for the event.

Thank you to the following volunteers whose help was invaluable: Abby Vickers, David Rudolph, Priscilla Ling, Chelsea Clements, Kevin Korevaar Patty Rudolph, Nancy McClintock, Evan and Austin Killeen, Aurora Gryzbek Renee Chang, Paul Otterson, Han-Min Kim, Jonathan Backues and Leslie Lucas.

Another big thank you to Eric Vickers for his computer technical expertise, and for his encouragement and support with running this event!

Finally, none of this would be possible without the constant help of Dr. Mitzi Kolar and Chutaphin Yeager who worked tirelessly on this and previous years’ contests. Thanks also to San Diego State University for their generous hospitality allowing us to use their facility.

The judges for this year were: Sharon Townsend-Roth (Glendale), Rob and Teri Watson (Fullerton), Matilda Rudolph (Vista), Sanaz Rezai (Los Angeles), Mark Mendez (Montebello), Laurie Meinhold (Aliso Viejo), Jo Ellen Vandruff (Orange) and Erika Ramos (Redlands).

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

Please login to view the 2018 Sonata Results below:

2018 Popular Music Festival Acknowledgement

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Thank you for participating in the 2018 Popular Music Festival! We had 15 teachers enter 51 students who performed in recitals on November 3, 2018 at Grossmont College. The four recitals were filled with delightful music ranging from pop and rock to jazz, blues and ragtime.

The 3pm Jazz Improvisation Workshop was led by Yuko Maruyama, and the accompanists were Doug Walker on bass and Matthew Taylor on drums. Students Andrew D., Skylar L., Risa S., Eric T., Michael W., and teacher Claudia Smetona explored improvisation on blues and funk, Latin rhythms, and some jazz standards.

Studios Represented: Irina Bessonova, Miriam Cole, Kathy Kim, Amy Lee, Philip Lim, Brenda Martin, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Claudia Smetona, Anna Stal, Galina Talis, Irina Williams, and Dan Yu

A big thank-you to all the teachers, students and friends who came out and volunteered their time to make this event possible:

Irina Bessonova, Miriam Cole, Kathy Kim, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Risa Schapiro, Claudia Smetona, Irina Williams, Chutaphin Yeager and Dan Yu

President’s Message – 10/5/18

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Dear MTAC San Diego Members,

It was wonderful seeing all of you at the Fall Breakfast Meeting. For those who missed it, please try to come next year. It was a time of connecting and reconnecting with other members, and a time of gathering loads of information for the upcoming year, not to mention the partaking of a delicious breakfast.

By now, order has come to your studios, the dust caused by the activities of the new school year has settled. So we look forward to another year of events to “whip” your students into shape. Our first event, Popular Music Festival, is on November 3 (deadline: October 13). We hope to see your students participate in the light and fun-filled music recitals. After the last recital, our very own 1st Vice President Yuko Maruyama will do a workshop on Jazz Improvisation. Make use of this great opportunity for your students.

I need to mention the change of venue and dates for the 2019 Certificate of Merit. You will note that there are six different dates, (three weekends in March,) for the piano performance evaluations. The CM Committee will try hard to accommodate your schedule needs BUT they would also need your cooperation and understanding. There are about 1,200 students to schedule, so that is a daunting task as it is. As for the CM piano venue, Cuyamaca College is a newer institution. The buildings are clean and new, and most important of all, the rooms are spacious and the College’s grand and upright Steinway pianos are in great condition. So driving more miles for a better CM experience is worth it. Please read carefully the schedule and venue changes and inform the parents as soon as you can.

One of the “perks” of our MTAC membership is a subscription to the state MTAC magazine, California Music Teacher. Our very own member Eileen Wingard wrote an article entitled, “Karl Moldrem: Violin Teacher of Toddlers,” (p.32-33, Fall 2018 edition.) It is an account of Mr. Moldrem’s teaching practices and influence on certain musical giants. Congratulations, Eileen, for your article!

Hats off to all of you for this new school year!

Sincerely,
Miriam Cole
President
MTAC San Diego

2018 Fall Breakfast Meeting Report

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Fall season in our MTAC San Diego Branch got off to a glorious start. The atmosphere was joyful – we all enjoy reconnecting with our friends and making new acquaintances and I really want to say “Thank you” to the MTACSD Board of Directors for their excellent preparation for all of us.

Brian Goral, 2ndV.P. made the room very inviting with the beautiful bouquets which some lucky teachers got to take home! Yuko Maruyama put together a very helpful and well-written brochure, as well as a handy bookmark, both of which we can use as we organize our annual teaching calendars.

The chairs who spoke about their events gave precise details and updates and there wasn’t a wasted minute as Eleanor Hum took us through the entire CM guideline booklet which she had put together.

President Miriam Cole brought more excitement to the proceedings as she honored volunteers for their service, withholding the first “Harmony Award” until the very last announcement. The first recipient of that new award is Sun Yung Cho who was an ever-present figure at our events, always willing to give time and energy to help make events run smoothly. Of special interest in the honoring of volunteers was the award that went to Risa S. who is a music student and who was present and volunteering at almost every event in our 2017-2018 year.

Another special thank you goes to each teacher who brought books for the Music Exchange Table and to those who took some books and left a donation. The amount collected this year was $299. That amount will be added to the KIM fund, allowing a low-income, gifted child to have music lessons.

We are truly a blessed branch. The thoughtful plans that our Board of Directors put into action are meant to provide paths to professionalism. The wonderful aspect of their planning is that our Board makes the whole proceedings enjoyable!

Submitted by:
Jaclyn Summers
H. B. Goodlin Foundation Chair