State Events
18th Annual Concerto Competition for Piano and Strings
June 7, 2008, 10 am, Shawn's Pianos, 221 Newfield Ave #1, Hartford
One Category: Grades 7-9
David Westfall, Chair
The first-place winner will perform with the Farmington Valley Symphony, conducted by John Eells. The performance date, usually set during the following academic year, will be arranged between the winner and Maestro Eells.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD APPLICATION (PDF)
Rules and Regulations
- Students must provide their own accompanists.
- Students will be required to perform a first or last movement of a concerto from memory.
- Judges reserve the right not to announce a first-place winner.
- The application fee is $20.00, and is non-refundable.
- The teacher must be a member of CSMTA and have paid dues by November 1, 2007.
- Teacher or student must have legal residency within the state of Connecticut.
- A student must have studied with the current teacher for at least 6 months immediately prior to the competition.
2007 Results
First place - Shiori Yamaguchi (student of Lan-Ya Huang)
Second place - Connie Yuan Zhou (student of Edith Sullivan)
2006 Results
Junior Division
First place - Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld (student of Michelle Zingale)
Second place - Jenny Lu (student of Edith Sullivan)
Senior Division
First place - Mina Um (student of Linda Fiore)
Second place - Joshua Sawicki (student of Watson Morrison)
2006 CSMTA Contemporary Showcase
A Festival of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Piano Music
This year's festival will be held on Sunday, March 19 beginning at 1 pm, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford.
The featured guest speaker is Dr. Scott McBride Smith, President of the Royal America of Conservatory Exams, and President CEO of the International Institute for Young Musicians. He is respected teacher of prize-winning piano students, and resides in Irvine, California. An internationally recognized authority on piano teaching, Dr. Smith is co-author of the widely used college text The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher. Dr. Smith is an Associate Editor Keyboard Companion, a magazine for early-level piano study and the Series Editor of Four Star Sight Reading and Ear Tests published by The Frederick Harris Music Co., Limited. Scott McBride Smith has given workshops for teachers' groups throughout the US, in Asia and South America. He will be a presenter at the 2006 MTNA national conference.
Designation Of Festival As Fundraiser
In recognition of the extraordinary need of our colleagues in Louisiana, the CSMTA Board has designated the 2006 Contemporary Showcase has as a fund raiser for the teachers in Louisiana who were adversely affected by hurricane Katrina. Louisiana remains filled with destruction. Families have been devastated, are still homeless and displaced, and many teachers are without studios, pianos, and students. Many students and their families are now living in FEMA trailers and many parents are unemployed. Music lessons have become an impossibility for many students. However, people are starting to return home, cleaning and rebuilding, beginning and adjusting to a very different way of life.
So far, $27,500 has been raised from MTNA for the MTNA Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund. This money is being dispersed to Louisiana Music Teachers Association and given to teachers in need. LMTA is still in need of monetary donations so that they can continue to subsidize tuition for students, subsidize piano rentals, and help rebuild teaching studios.
We are so fortunate in Connecticut not to have had such a natural disaster which has wreaked havoc on so many lives. The CSMTA Board would like to use this event as a way to help bring a musical community back together to good health and fortune. As you may know, the Showcase is entirely underwritten by CSMTA; this year, we will donate half of all of the registration fees received for the Showcase to the MTNA Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund. In addition, because the registration fee is a very reasonable level of $10, the CSMTA Board is strongly encouraging students, parents, and teachers to take this opportunity to make an additional donation to the relief fund. Students/parents may check an additional box on the registration form.
Teachers who would like to make a donation to their Louisiana colleagues may send checks directly to me, payable to CSMTA, writing "MTNA Katrina Fund" on the memo line of the check. To my teacher colleagues, I would like to express my personal hope that a spirit of giving will strengthen ties within our own CSMTA community.
RULES and REGULATIONS
The purpose of the Showcase is to generate a continuing interest in contemporary music by sharing and performing new, exciting repertory. It is strongly urged that teachers choose compositions that are written in a contemporary idiom; therefore, we discourage pieces by composers who write in typically 19th century (i.e. tonal) style. Instead, we suggest that students play music from composers who lived after 1950. There are exceptions, or course: Bartok comes to mind. Impressionists such as Charles Griffes, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel should be excluded. Further, while the intermediate music of Kabalevsky is a valuable teaching resource and immensely popular and tonal - and also known to everyone - it would be more beneficial for teachers to seek out newer, less familiar repertoire. I would be pleased to talk with any teacher who would like to talk about the appropriateness of any specific composition; please call David Westfall at 860-347-4189.
1. There is no minimum age requirement, even though the level of playing should, at a minimum, be at the level of an op. 36 Clementi sonatina. The maximum age limit is 18.
2. The registration fee is $10 per student and is non-refundable.
3. It is urged that all selections be performed from memory, unless a work is extremely atonal.
Moshe Paranov Award
Winner: Rosaleen Rhee (piano/Margarita Nuller)
Musicianship Achievement Program (MAP)
The MAP program is a guide to the study of music for the independent teacher to use for private students in the pre-college years. The materials included at every level divide into the general areas of theory and performance. This well-integrated program is designed to be flexible enough to serve the needs of all students without compromising high standards and offers a complete pre-college theory course together with a performance opportunity.
The student is made to feel proud of his/her accomplishments. The teacher has another organizational and motivating tool to use. The parents are able to follow their child's progress at first hand and in close detail. All teachers are urged to consider MAP as a part of every student's course of study.
The student participates in yearly auditions. MAP is a non-competitive event to recognize the individual achievement of a student in the areas of theory (written and aural awareness) and performance (keyboard skills and playing of several memorized pieces). A written and aural theory exam covering all aspects of musical study is graded and certificates are awarded in three categories:
- Pass
- Honors
- High Honors
In addition, students who have participated successfully for five years are awarded a plaque. (See Guidelines and Rules for more information.) The student is also given the opportunity to demonstrate keyboard skills and performance ability (including knowledge of the score and the composer) for a qualified judge. Although this is not graded, the student does receive the written comments of the judge and a pin in recognition of participation. Students may choose to take only the theory exam or to participate in the full program. There are no rules governing age and levels.
Full MAP (Performance Audition and Theory Exam)
A student should plan to spend at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours doing the full MAP. This includes arriving 15 minutes early to register, 15-20 minutes for the performance audition (depending on the level), and about 45 minutes for the theory test. The time allotted for the performance audition includes keyboard skills, sight reading and transposition, and rhythm as well as repertoire.
- Levels 1 and 2 - 15 minutes
- Levels 3 and 4 - 18 minutes
- Levels 5 - 10 - 20 minutes
The non-repertoire portion of the audition takes 5 - 10 minutes, depending mostly on the proficiency of the student. Please consider the time available when selecting repertoire. All music must be in the original for the piano; no arrangements or simplifications are permitted.
In keyboard skills, although the student must prepare all the required keys, he or she will be tested in only one or two keys.
In playing of repertoire:
- Eliminate repeats when possible.
- Judge may need to halt the performance of a piece to stay within the allotted audition time.
- Students must provide a copy of the music for the judge. No Xeroxes allowed unless accompanied by a letter from the publisher.
- Please number the measures at the beginning of each line.
Theory Exam only
Theory exams are not scheduled for a specific time. The local chair will designate hours on MAP day during which exams may be taken and notify teachers.
MAP Materials
Use the Materials Order Form (PDF) to order the syllabus (theory and performance). Practice theory tests can also be ordered. Teachers can use these tests to prepare their students.
MAP Registration
Teachers may register students at any of the MAP sites; use a separate registration form for each place and send it to the local chair. (You may make multiple copies of the form.) Be sure to note the deadlines for submission.
Teachers entering students in the audition are expected to assist on audition day. Please indicate your preferred time on the registration form. (A teacher registering students in two places need only volunteer in one of them.)
Once the audition schedule has been set (shortly after the registration deadline), no changes in audition times can be made by the chairs. If you need to change an audition time for a student, arrange to switch times with another of your own students, preferably a student of a similar level (so the lengths of the auditions are the same). Then notify the chair, at least a week in advance, so the schedule can be corrected and the adjudicator can be given the appropriate materials.
On the registration form, indicate which students are eligible for the 5-year plaque. Any student who has completed 5 years of MAP successfully is eligible for a plaque. The 5 years need not be consecutive. Students may have done the full MAP or theory only. After the exams are corrected, and after the state chair has verified 5 years of successful participation, the teacher will be sent the plaque to present to the student.
Download 2008 Registration Form (PDF)
Mail this form to the local MAP chair:
For March 17 MAP (postmarked deadline 2/5) Christine Brodzik, 2 Dew Road, Barkhamsted 06063
For March 24 MAP (postmarked deadline 2/12) Joyce Baxter, 53 Stanton Road, Clinton 06413
For March 31 MAP (postmarked deadline 2/20) Felicia Feng Zhang, 66 Glen Lane, Southbury 06488
MAP 2008 Dates and Places
| Date | Registration Deadline | Place | Chapter | Local Chair |
| April 5 | Feb. 19 | Congregational Church, Clinton | Middlesex/NL | Joyce Baxter |
| April 12 | Feb. 25 | Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Hartford | Hartford | Christine Brodzik |
| May 31 | April 14 | St. James' Church, Southbury | Western | Felicia Feng Zhang |
Annual MAP auditions are administered by local Chapters. For further information, check your Chapter Newsletter. Please remember that teachers may enroll students in the auditions at any site location, space permitting.
Young Artist Piano Competition
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Applications must be postmarked by February 28, 2008
Location: Shawn's Piano, 221 Newfield Avenue, West Hartford
Awards:
Gold Medal $1500, sponsored by Evelyn Bonar Storrs, Musical Club of Hartford
Silver Medal $800, sponsored by South Windsor Cultural Arts
Bronze Medal $600, sponsored by Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund
For high school graduates under the age of 30 by the date of the competition and who are studying with a CSMTA member.
MORE INFORMATION AND APPLICATION (PDF)
(Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)