Yearly Archives: 2015

President Message – March 2015

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Dear Members,                                                                                                                          March 1, 2015

It was great to see many of you at our last branch meeting. It was a wonderful master class given by Dr. Jonathan Mann, who just joined our branch this year. We heard performances from two talented students: Lyn Huang from Willie Chen’s studio and Halaine Zhao from Sally Liu’s studio. Jonathan gave the performers valuable and helpful tips, which also benefit the listeners. I also received many positive feedbacks from other members. Thank you, Jonathan, for providing us an insightful master class!

 

We had a successful Sound of Baroque and SCJBFestival this past Saturday, February 28th. All three judges were very impressed by our students’ high performance level. Congratulations to all winners and the participating studios. The results are posted on our branch website.  My sincere gratitude to Chi Asada for organizing both events, and Dr. Andreas Eckstein for making the unique programs and setting up the venue. One beautiful addition to our program was the new logo of our branch, created by Dr. Andreas Eckstein. It was simply elegant!  I also want to thank the teachers who helped out with the check-in and announced the programs: Chi Asada, Marifel Bolanos, Debbie Brener, Andreas Eckstein, Wendy Huang, Dr. Emily Hung and Jennifer Puhl.

 

The winners of our branch’s VOCE competition are as follows:

  • Intermediate Instrumental Ensemble:
    Thompson Wang/Sedong Hwang/Ethan Yoshioka – 1st place
    Teacher: Felix Chang
  • Intermediate Solo Winds:
    Jieun Yae – 1st place
    Alison Huh – 1st place alternate
    Teacher: So Jung Anna Choi
  • Senior Solo Winds:
    Jasmine Lee – 1st place
    Teacher: So Jung Anna Choi

 

Congratulations to these students and their teachers!  And a Big thank you to Junko Nojima for organizing this event!

 

March is also our CM month. Our CM committee is working hard to prepare and to get ready for this big event. Both check -in forms for theory and evaluation weekends can be obtained from our branch website. Please note that there are two different locations for the Keyboard evaluation. I will be seeing a lot of you during the CM weekends, and I want to thank everyone in advance. With your help and support, we will for sure provide a great CM experience for all students.

 

Our branch also offers an evaluation opportunity on April 18th for piano students, Prep level to Advance level. The registration deadline is March 31st. Please contact Vivian Field for any questions and requirement.

 

Lastly, I would like to share with you Chopin’s Wiosna from You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQAENejVCE0 .  Happy Spring to you all!

 

Musically Yours,

Melody Lu  

President Message – February 2015

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Dear Members,

 

Our first branch meeting of the year is coming up on Wednesday, February 18th, at Field’s Piano. We are having a masterclass with Jonathan Mann. He is a Steinway artist, and he has recently joined our branch.  If you are interested in having your students participate, please contact Chi Asada immediately. All instruments are welcome! Also, our branch event chairs will be at the meeting. It is the best time to meet them and to have your questions answered.

 

Please fill out the survey for the festival line-up. It will help our festival committee to organize the festivals efficiently. Your comments and opinions are valuable. Make sure to send in your survey by February 28th. Please refer to the following link for the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1upx7diIo_9DCpoyj8oTu8S1tYok1cV_38bpY6WLt4GA/viewform

 

Our monthly MSSL recital provides great performing opportunities for the students. According to our MSSL advisor, Victoria Park, many advanced players gave wonderful and varied performances in the January recital. The next recital will be held on February 22nd. The application is attached below:

 

There are three events happening in this month:

  • VOCE, February 14th, at Saddleback College
  • Sound of Baroque, February 28th, at Field’s Piano
  • Bach Festival, February 28th, at Field’s Piano

 

I want to thank these wonderful ladies who are chairing for these events: Chi Asada and Junko Nojima. All participating studios will be requested to help out on the event day.

 

Lastly, I would like to share one of my favorite songs from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOXS_Giojgc

 

Hope you all have a sweet February and Happy Lunar New Year!

 

Musically,

Melody

President Message – January 2015

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Dear Members,

 

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a relaxing and joyous holiday season.

 

We have several important deadlines approaching in this month:

 

  • January 14th — VOCE competition application due
  • January 15th — CM Panel students to enter repertoire online
  • January 31th — CM students’ online evaluation/repertoire information due
  • January 31th — Sound of Baroque/ Bach Festival online application deadline

 
Orange Coast Cities and Long Beach branches will be joining the VOCE recital on February 14th, 2015. To access the online application, login to www.mtac.org  and find the VOCE tab. Please contact Junko Nojima , our VOCE chair, for any questions.

 

CM online base is now opened for repertoire entry, Branch Honors (for level 5 and up), and Convention Recital Applications. This year, we have two different locations for Keyboard evaluation on March 22nd. Please be very careful when you request “Carpool” for siblings and ensembles. Also, please follow the guidelines for repertoire entry. Visit MTAC website for helpful tips: https://www.mtac.org/cgi-bin/mtac/mtac_documents.php?mtac_documents=1

 

Sound of Baroque and Bach Festival will be held on February 28th, 2015. You may enroll students on our branch website mtacsouthcoast.org, under festival.  An email announcement will be sent out soon once the online registration is open. For any questions, please contact Chi Asada.

 

You will soon be receiving a survey from our Festival committee. In order to increase and to balance the enrollment for our four festivals, we would like to hear your opinions about the order of festivals. Your comments and suggestions are valuable and important to us!

 

Our next branch meeting is coming up on February 18th. We are pleased to have one of our new members, Dr. Jonathan E. Mann, for conducting a masterclass. All instruments are welcome! Please contact Chi Asada if you or your students are interested. You can find more about Jonathan on http://mannhands.blogspot.com/

 

We cannot get away from computers in our daily lives. Please enjoy this short video from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGKwx-BFO0E

 

Let us waltz into a successful 2015!

 

Musically,

Melody Lu