The 2020 Chopin Festival Registration is now open. Follow the link to the Chopin Festival page for the registration form and the event guidelines. There is an entry limit of 18 students per category, so teachers are encouraged to register their students early.

https://mtacsd.org/chopin-festival/

Student registration for the 2020 Piano Duo Festival is now open. Please visit the event page https://mtacsd.org/piano-duo-festival/ for the registration form and for more information.

Student registration for the 2020 Concerto Competition is now open. Please visit the Concerto Competition page for the registration form and for more information.

The Popular Music Festival, chaired by Kathy Kim, was held Saturday, October 12, 2019 at Grossmont College Recital Hall. 43 students were heard in three recitals playing pop, rock, blues, boogie, movie themes, folk, rags, and jazz. This event is a celebration of popular music as well as student creativity. Students played their favorites from many available books. Some played their arrangements from a chord chart, some learned their songs by ear, and we also heard a cello duo team perform a cover of a song originally recorded by the popular rock band AC/DC.

The three recitals were “emceed” by MTACSD teachers Tracy Lovley, Claudia Smetona and Jim Guerin, who introduced each performer and entertained us by their clever commentary between the performances. At the end of each recital, medals were presented to each student.

The event was enriched with a presentation at 3 PM by Yuko Maruyama, “Learn to Play from Chord Charts.” This lecture-presentation covered the basic rules of chord chart notation and how to apply them in songs. Examples were explained and demonstrated using many theory concepts from CM and were relevant to teachers and students familiar with CM theory.

The Popular Music Festival was a joyful day of music filling me with memories. As I have watched it expand and grow in the 25+ years of the event, teachers and students have added freedom of creativity, escalating their personal growth and accomplishments, so important to music education. I invite more teachers and students to join in the fun next year.

2019 POPULAR MUSIC FESTIVAL

Studios Represented: Eunji Bae, Irina Bessonova, Paul Burd, Melissa Creider, James Guerin, Sarah Harris, Kathy Kim, Amy Lee, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Claudia Smetona, Anna Stal, Sophie Webber, Irina Williams and Mei Yin
Judges: Yuko Maruyama and Taylor Smith

Thank you to the 2019 Popular Music Festival Volunteers:
Eunji Bae, Irina Bessonova, James Guerin, Sarah Harris, Kathy Kim, Tracy Lovley, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Savvas, Risa Schapiro, Claudia Smetona, and Irina Williams

Thank you to all participants, teachers, volunteers, friends and families for making the 2019 H. B. Goodlin Competition a successful event celebrating the excellence in music education in San Diego County. We had 104 students from 48 teaching studios participating in five divisions. The auditions were adjudicated by 14 distinguished judges from all over Southern California.

The auditions took place on Saturday, May 18 at Cuyamaca College. In the afternoon, the piano master class was given by Dr. Sanaz Rezai, who judged Division III Keyboard. The Division III students Eric Thomas and Ursula Hardianto participated in the master class. The Winners Concert on Sunday, May 19 featured outstanding performances by the 1st and 2nd place winners in each division. A special new award, the Aryana Pizarro Inspirational Award, was presented to Youchae Bae, Division I Keyboard, at the conclusion of the concert.

Thank you to the San Diego Foundation, the William E. Schmidt Foundation and Friends of the Pizarros for their generous support of this event. Thank you to Cuyamaca College for hosting the Saturday competition, and the Foothills UMC for allowing us to use their sanctuary for the Winners Concert on Sunday.

This event could not have been possible without all the work done by the volunteers, which included many music teachers and their students, friends and families. In particular, I would like to thank the current and the past members of the MTAC San Diego Executive Board, and the members of the H. B. Goodlin Foundation Board. Special thanks to Lea Schmidt-Rogers for always “being there” for us.

The 2019 Goodlin Competition Volunteers were: Brian Alba, Connie Almond, Yousol Bae, Soo Hyun Bahn, Magdolna Bornemisza, Jessie Chang, Sun Yung Cho, Miriam Cole, Matthew Dharmawan, Holly Franz, Lee Galloway, Brian Goral, Jim Guerin, Eleanor Hum, Hanan Jamal-Ouchi, Chuck King, Mitzi Kolar, Kathleen Kranz, Ed Litvin, Rinna Livshin, Yuko Maruyama, Leslie Olson, Marj Osgood, Michele Resnick, Larry Rogers, Josh Sasaki, Risa Schapiro, Lea Schmidt-Rogers, Claudia Smetona, Jaclyn Summers, Chutaphin Yeager, Dan Yu, Melonna Zawacki, TingTing Zhang

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We were privileged to have the following 2019 Goodlin Competition Adjudicators:

Division I Keyboard: Jared Jacobsen maintains a four-pronged career as organist, pianist, choral conductor, and teacher. He is Director of Music for First Lutheran Church in San Diego and is a member of the faculty of The Bishop’s School in La Jolla. In summers, he is Organist and Coordinator of Worship and Sacred Music at the historic Chautauqua Institution, a center for education, religion and the arts in western New York State.

Division I Keyboard: Pianist Pamela Monroe (MM, Cleveland Institute of Music) performs solo and chamber concerts throughout Southern California with ensembles such as the San Diego Chamber Music Society and the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra. She is currently Director of Music and organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church in San Diego. Her teachers include Julian Bern, Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin.

Division II Keyboard: Julie Ann Ballard (DMA, USC) is a pianist, composer and researcher. Her research is published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, CAPMT Connect and Clavier Companion. Her music is published by The FJH Music and Hal Leonard. Dr. Ballard oversees various music programs and serves as an executive officer for professional organizations such as MTNA and CAPMT.

Division II Keyboard: Ching-Ming Cheng (DMA, University of Miami) has received numerous honors including a silver medal in the 2013 International Keyboard Odyssiad Piano Competition. She was recently a featured pianist for performances at prestigious venues such as Xian National Concert Hall and Shanghai Oriental Art Center in China. Dr. Cheng is currently Associate Professor of Music at CSU San Marcos.

Division II Keyboard: Pianist Andrea Garreffa (DMA, University of Arizona) graduated from the Buenos Aires National Conservatory. Recipient of many scholarships and prizes, she studied in Europe and United States. She performed with orchestras in the U.S., Europe and South America. Dr. Garreffa is the Piano Academy Coordinator at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in Orange County. She has presented at CAPMT Conferences and published in CAPMT Connect.

Division III Keyboard: Pianist Edith Orloff is a versatile performer, who is praised at home and abroad for interpretive vitality and perceptive musicianship. She is a founding member of the Pacific Trio, with violinist Roger Wilkie and cellist John Walz, which regularly tours the U.S. and Europe. She holds two degrees from CalArts, and her teaching appointments include the Idyllwild Arts Summer Festival. Her solo CD is entitled: “Personal Touch.”

Division III Keyboard: Sanaz Rezai (DMA, UCLA) has taken part in many music festivals, presented solo recitals, and performed as a soloist with orchestras. Her doctoral dissertation topic was Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit within the context of Orientalism during Impressionism. Dr. Rezai is currently a lecturer at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Her areas of interest include piano pedagogy, collaborative piano, and the interdisciplinary studies of art and music history.

Division III Keyboard: Pianist Craig Richey is currently on the faculty at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach. Mr. Richey holds a Master’s degree from the Juilliard School. Hailed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for his ‘No-nonsense pianism!’ he made his New York debut as guest duo-soloist with Pamela Mia Paul and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall. His major teachers include Joseph Kalichstein and Martin Canin.

Junior Instrumental: Violist Travis Maril’s career centers around chamber music and teaching. His chamber music partners have included principals of the Cleveland Orchestra, LA Phil, Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony and members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Travis is coordinator of the string department at SDSU, where he also directs the String Academy for pre-college students.

Junior Instrumental: James Romeo received his BM in flute under Thomas Robertello at Indiana University, and MM under Joshua Smith at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has won numerous competitions, including the Musical Merit Foundation, and the Goodlin Scholarship in 2006. He has served as guest principal flute with the Tucson and Modesto Symphony Orchestras and performs regularly with the San Diego Symphony.

Junior Instrumental: Violinist Angela Xing (DMA, Eastman School of Music) has performed all around the globe. She was a prize winner of the Oleh Krysa International Violin Competition. Ms. Xing has worked as a professional violinist in the Rochester Philharmonic, Symphoria, Ann Arbor Symphony, and OKC Philharmonic. After relocating to San Diego in 2017, she has performed with the San Diego Symphony and worked at CSU San Marcos among others.

Senior Instrumental: Cellist Alex Greenbaum is in residence as a member of the Hausmann Quartet at SDSU, where he teaches cello and chamber music. A long-time member of The Knights, he has performed and recorded with the group throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the festivals of Caramoor, Dresden, Ojai, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Salzburg and this season returned to Hamburg’s Elbphilarmonie and Vienna’s Musikverein.

Senior Instrumental: Shannon Kitelinger holds DMA and MM in conducting from the University of North Texas, having taught at multiple age levels, as well as serving as the assistant conductor for the Lone Star Wind Orchestra. He has worked as a guest conductor and clinician across the nation as well as receiving invitations to Europe and Japan. Dr. Kitelinger is currently Associate Professor and Director of Bands at SDSU.

Senior Instrumental: Violinist Ernest Salem is currently Professor of Music at CSU Fullerton. He has performed in concerts and recitals across the U. S. and presented master classes at various universities, colleges and arts schools. Dr. Salem holds degrees from Michigan State University, the University of Houston and the University of Minnesota. His teachers include Yfrah Neaman, Fredell Lack and members of the Juilliard Quartet.

2019 Goodlin Competition Participating Studios: Irina Bendetsky, Ruslan Biryukov, Magdolna Bornemisza, Jessie Chang, Chi-Yuan Chen, Sun Yung Cho, Hernan Constantino, Barry Dubis, Holly Franz, Rodney Girvin, Eleanor Hum, Toni James, Fabiola Kim, Bonshin Ko, Hoisu Ko, Kathleen Kranz, Inessa Litvin, Carole Liu, Rinna Livshin, Pamela Martchev, George Maxman, Lesi Mei, Laszlo Mezo, Alexander Mirolyan, Jared Nepute, Quyen Nguyen, Leslie Olson, Alexander Palamidis, Cho-Hyun Park, Wesley Precourt, John Ramirez, Young Robbins, Anna Savvas, Sarah Schwartz, Claudia Smetona, Shirley Stafford, Anna Stal, Michael Tseitlin, Pasha Tseitlin, Ruth Weber, Helena Wei, Danette White, Ariel Yang, Elena Yarritu, Mei Yin, Dan Yu, TingTing Zhang, Yao Zhao