2019 Concerto Acknowledgement & Results

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

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

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

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

2018 Chopin Festival Results

On April 14-15, we celebrated Chopin’s music triumphantly together during the inauguration of the first MTACSD Chopin Festival at the First Presbyterian Church of San Diego. Our three accomplished judges from Los Angeles, Dr. Andrew Park, Dr. Wojciech Kocyan, and Dr. Sarkis Baltaian, commented that they were “very inspired with the level of performance and very impressed with the teaching in our branch.” We had 36 contestants represented by 18 studios. There were definitely magical moments and artistic excellence present throughout the Festival. Congratulations to all the performers for their outstanding demonstration of musicianship! Thank you to all the teachers for your exemplary guidance, and please continue to inspire your students to make beautiful music.

My goal for Chopin Festival is to showcase not only some of the strongest music ever written for pianists, but also to feature the many talented musicians we have in our community. This festival encourages young musicians to express themselves with piano, connect with one another through their music-making, and uplift spirits through Chopin’s music. The highlight of the festival was, of course, the Winners’ Recital on Sunday evening, where the attendees benefited from a wonderful showcase of the magnificent artistry of the top two winners and the engaging fellowship at the reception time. I appreciate tremendously for the much enthusiastic support from many of you leading up to and during the two-day weekend. A special shout-out to incredible individuals: Dr. Ed Basilio, Jane Klofkorn, Nimpa Akana, Quynh Nguyen, Sarah Lincoln, Marilyn Carnes, Yuko Maruyama, Miriam Cole, Brian Goral, Lee Galloway, and Jaclyn Summers. I’m most grateful to the First Presbyterian Church of San Diego for hosting us with a fine Steinway concert grand and many cheerful volunteers. Partnering with them has been a real blessing for us all.

Below, please find the winners’ list that the judges have deliberated. Congratulations!


CATEGORY 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
Waltz/Mazurka Malvyn Lai Stephanie Ling Amaia Schmitigal
Etude Claire Lewis Priscilla Ling Risa Schapiro
Scherzo Joelle Jeon Ian Llacer Justin Lee
Nocturne Sarah Deng Jason Li Alexis Wu
Ballade Andrew Vu Luke Kim Cameron Lincoln 


2018 CM Results Now Posted

The 2018 San Diego Branch Certificate of Merit was held on March 24-25 and March 31 at the San Diego State University. This annual event is sponsored by the state MTAC, and organized by the MTAC San Diego Branch. This year, our branch received over 1,200 student applications from 139 teachers. The results are now available on both the teacher and the parent portals of the state MTAC website. (Link is below.)

Running the three days of CM was a concerted effort by all of our CM volunteers, some of whom worked very long hours. The outstanding CM team of our branch planned the entire three-day operation in great details months in advance; our CM teachers fulfilled various tasks of testing, grading and recording on the CM days; and our student runners escorted the CM students safely to and from the evaluation rooms on strict schedule.

Our CM students were evaluated on their level-appropriate repertoire performance, technique, sight-reading, theory and ear training skills. Students who scored high in all areas receive branch honors and are offered additional performance opportunities at the state MTAC Convention in June.

Here are some photos from our CM days. A million “Bravos” to the CM team members, teachers, runners, and our CM students!

2018 Bach Festival Results

Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Bach Festival!

Winners of the Complete Works Bach Festival 2018

You chae Bae Celine Lau Hahnlin Noonan
Soo Hyun Bahn Jonathan Lee Luke Qiao
Anna Cao Richard Lee Emily Shi
Emma Cao David Lee Ethan Song
Michael Chen Claire Lewis Edmund Sumpena
Walter Chen Archimedes Li Andrew Sun
Frederick Chien Eric Li Katie Tang
Aaron Chizhik Chloe Li Aidan Wahlmann
Benjamin Fitzpatrick Jason Li Sunny Xiao
Colin Huang Priscilla Ling Jonathan Xue
Allen Huang Stephanie Ling Laura Yu
Edward J Kim Annie Lu Dorien Zhang
Skylar Larsen Ally Negulescu Ryan Zhou

2018 Anna Magdalena Bach Winners

1st Place Ella Xing
2nd Place Haowen Sun
3rd Place Rien Chen