String Concerto Compe- tition Results, Presi- dent’s Message 2 News Briefs, Announce- ments 3 Lions Club Scholar- ships, Donor thanks 4 Young Artist Musicale performers 5 Inside this issue: January 2009 NVMTA Slate of Officers for 2009-11 NVMTA’s Nominating Committee consists of Libby McConnell, Chair; Denise Atkins, Virginia Moore & Martha Smith. Here is the slate they were to present at the January meeting, which was canceled due to snow. President: James Litzelman, having served for two years as President-Elect, automatically advances to President. The following candidates have been nominated by the committee and have agreed to serve if elected in April: President-Elect: Kenneth Lee Vice President (Membership): Amy Rothstein Recording Secretary: Betty (Elizabeth) McGonagle Treasurer: Julie Slingerland Corresponding Secretary (Newsletter): Laura Marchisotto Bogart Historian: Juliana Kuo Members-at-large through 2010: Carol Fink Member-at-large through 2011: Virginia Moore Member-at-large through 2012, Of these three candidates, one will be elected: John Giunta, Ruthanne Lodato, Victoria Wyatt According to the NVMTA By Laws, when the Slate of Officers is announced in January, nominations may be made from the floor. Because the January Meeting was canceled, we will allow additional nominations for any office to be made via e-mail or US mail, to be in the hands of the chairperson by February 15th. After this date the nominations are closed. Written consent of the person nominated is required. Nominating Committee Chair Libby McConnell’s contact informa- tion may be found in the NVMTA Directory. The election will be held in April. Meetings resume February 25 9:15 Forum, 9:45 Business 10:30 Program 2009 Concerto Competition Award Recipients Perform From its origins in the seventeenth century, the concerto has been a musical composition of distinction. A composer casts concerto soloists in definitive roles exhibiting technical prowess and expressing an independent musical voice. At our February 25 meeting we have the pleasure of hearing performances by distinguished students who, through dedication and diligence, are the 2009 Con- certo Competition award recipients. The program is an opportunity to see, hear and acknowledge the achievements of these outstanding performers and their teachers. It also provides the unique experience of listening to how com- posers spanning several centuries have individually created the form of the con- certo in style and substance. The February General Meeting will feature the last music sale of the school year. Donations of additional music are welcome. Find discounted classics, rare gems, lots of elementary and intermediate sight reading material, and a rather large selection of pop song books. Proceeds will go to NVMTA scholarship funds. Questions? Call Andrew Horowitz 703 229 3109.
NVMTA’s Nominating Committee consists of Libby McConnell, Chair; Denise Atkins, Virginia Moore & Martha Smith. Here is the slate they were to present at the January meeting, which was canceled due to snow. President: James Litzelman, having served for two years as President-Elect, automatically advances to President. The following candidates have been nominated by the committee and have agreed to serve if elected in April:
President-Elect: Kenneth Lee Vice President (Membership): Amy Rothstein Recording Secretary: Betty (Elizabeth) McGonagle Treasurer: Julie Slingerland Corresponding Secretary (Newsletter): Laura Marchisotto Bogart Historian: Juliana Kuo Members-at-large through 2010: Carol Fink Member-at-large through 2011: Virginia Moore Member-at-large through 2012, Of these three candidates, one will be elected: John Giunta, Ruthanne Lodato, Victoria Wyatt
According to the NVMTA By Laws, when the Slate of Officers is announced in January, nominations may be made from the floor. Because the January Meeting was canceled, we will allow additional nominations for any office to be made via e-mail or US mail, to be in the hands of the chairperson by February 15th. After this date the nominations are closed. Written consent of the person nominated is required. Nominating Committee Chair Libby McConnell’s contact informa-tion may be found in the NVMTA Directory. The election will be held in April.
Meetings resume February 25 9:15 Forum, 9:45 Business 10:30 Program
2009 Concerto Competition Award Recipients Perform
From its origins in the seventeenth century, the concerto has been a musical composition of distinction. A composer casts concerto soloists in definitive roles exhibiting technical prowess and expressing an independent musical voice. At our February 25 meeting we have the pleasure of hearing performances by distinguished students who, through dedication and diligence, are the 2009 Con-certo Competition award recipients. The program is an opportunity to see, hear and acknowledge the achievements of these outstanding performers and their teachers. It also provides the unique experience of listening to how com-posers spanning several centuries have individually created the form of the con-certo in style and substance.
The February General Meeting will feature the last music sale of the school year. Donations of additional music are welcome. Find discounted classics, rare
gems, lots of elementary and intermediate sight reading material, and a rather large selection of pop song books. Proceeds will go to NVMTA scholarship
funds. Questions? Call Andrew Horowitz 703 229 3109.
Page 2
LOWER STRINGS There were 19 entrants presented by teachers Dorothy Amarandos, Jina Chung, Helen Fall, John Kaboff, Loran Stephenson, Miron Yampolsky, and Igor Zubkovsky. The winners in each division:
Elementary Division 1st Place Zubin Kane, cello (Loran Stephenson) 2nd Place Allison Park, cello (Igor Zubkovsky) 3rd Place Maya Valcourt, cello (John Kaboff) H.M. Sophia Cummings, cello (John Kaboff) H.M. Ji Su Kim (John Kaboff)
Intermediate Division 1st Place Patrick Miller, viola (Helen Fall) 2nd Place Lydia Sohn, cello (Jina Chung) H.M. Chris Seok, cello (John Kaboff) H.M. Byung Kim, cello (John Kaboff)
Senior Division 1st Place Matthew Armbruster, cello (John Kaboff) 2nd Place Eric Adamshick, cello (Loran Stephenson) 3rd Place Jacob Sanders, cello (Miron Yampolsky) H.M. Hunter Brooks, cello (Igor Zubkovsky) H.M. Jessica Ahn, cello (MironYampolsky)
VIOLINS There were 24 entrants pre-sented by teachers Jenny Oaks Baker, Ronda Cole, Ricardo Cyncynates, Lynne Denig, Helen Fall, Olivia Hajioff, David Strom, Natalia Yampolsky, Olga Yanovich, and Inessa Zaikseva. The winners in each division:
Elementary Division 1st Place Evelyn Mo (Natalia Yampolsky) 2nd Place Shankar Balasubramanian (Natalia Yampolsky) 3rd Place Sarah Slate (David Strom) H.M. Laura June Baker (Jenny Oaks Baker) H.M. Michelle Xu (Helen Fall) H.M. Peter Suzuki (David Strom)
Intermediate Division 1st Place Daniel Suzuki (David Strom) 2nd Place John Kirchenbauer (Ronda Cole) 3rd Place Harry Risoleo (Ronda Cole) H.M. Jackie Lin (Ricardo Cyncynates)
Report of the NVMTA Concerto Competition for Strings 2009 Elizabeth Blakeslee, Chair
The Strings Concerto Competition took place on Saturday, January 10, 2008. The judges were Carolyn Dressler, Deborah Milan Brudvig, and Paula Akbar.
President’s Message
As we step into the second month of the new year, NVMTA hums with activity. Between now and mid March, NVMTA will have approximately 1400 student enrolled in events. When we add 2,230 students entered in Spring Festival, our largest event, about 3,630 students will be participating in all kinds of music activities. Many towns and villages across the nation have smaller populations! It takes a lot of dedicated and hard working NVMTA teachers not only to guide these students musically, but to give hours of volunteer time in setting up and running all the events. Every job, no matter big or small, contributes to the overall success of our programs. Thank you one and all for keeping the engines running. Sharon Walker has stepped down as Co-Chairman of Spring Festival. We are grateful to Sharon for her many years of service in this position. We welcome Julie Hixon as the new Spring Festival Co-Chairman.
Julie Slingerland
PIANO TUNING AND REPAIR
Frank Cahill
(703) 239-2754
Evening Appointments Available
Distinguished Piano Teaching
Vasilios Boobas Noted Concert Pianist & Teacher
Piano - All Levels/Ages Advanced Coaching & Competition Preparation
Student of Mieczyslaw Munz, Peabody Conservatory;
Robert Goldsand, Manhattan School of Music; & Erno Balogh
703/256-0666 in Annandale, Virginia
Page 3 February 2009
In Memoriam
Hilda Greene, Springfield piano teacher and long-time
member of NVMTA, died Jan. 19, 2009.
News Briefs
• At the January Board meeting it was approved that Professional Development Grants are available in advance of the April 30th deadline, in order to offer assistance to those desiring to at-tend the MTNA Conference in March or to register for spring workshops. Please make applications in writing, as described on page 17 of the NVMTA Directory.
• The NVMTA Yahoo Group is reverting to its for-mer administrative guidelines. These guidelines can be found on page 17 of the current printed Directory or in the “Files” section of the NVMTA Yahoo group.
Position Open: King of Kings Lutheran Church in Fairfax is seeking a paid accompanist to accompany their adult sanctu-ary choir from September through May, attend Wednesday eve-ning rehearsals, and participate in Sunday worship and special services. Proficiency in playing keyboard and sight reading is required. Interested individuals should contact Director of Music Beth Gustafson at (703) 927-9406.
Virginia Chamber Orchestra
Sunday, March 1st, at 4:00 P.M. Ernst Community Cultural Center, Northern Virginia Community
College Annandale Campus, 8333 Little River Turnpike
FREE The concert is funded in part by the Music Performance
Fund in cooperation with Local 161-710 of the American Federa-tion of Musicians. Program, Maestro Haza’s favorite works: Bar-
ber’s Adagio for Strings, Puccini’s Crisantemi, Tchaikovsky’s Élégie from the Serenade for Strings, Mozart’s Divertimento in D
Major, K. 136, and Elgar’s Serenade. For more information, contact Barbara Gholz at 703-354-4555
Proposed Changes to Fairfax Schools Schedules by Frances Hollans
Fairfax County is considering changing school schedules to give teen-agers a chance to sleep later. But because of finances and the use of the same buses to handle all levels of students, the result seems to be that all students would be at school much later in the afternoon. I believe that many people's schedules would be affected. While I am for teen-agers sleeping later, this makes every student come home from school so late in the day that all activities as well as time for homework will be affected. I suggest members check this website to see proposed time changes for their neighborhood schools and to ponder the con-sequences: http://www.fcps.edu/news/start.htm.Note, too, the late February sessions for community dialogue concerning this issue.
Marjorie Lee has a student who must sell his 2002 Steinway M Piano, signed by Henry Z. Steinway, the great-grandson of the founder. It is kept in excellent condition. The family would like to sell it for about
$38,000, negotiable. Interested persons should con-tact Tony Nguyen at [email protected]
Page 4
Classical Guitar Instruction
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VIENNA LIONS CLUB MUSIC SCHOLARSHIPS
The Vienna (Host) Lions Club will present its 47th James A. Bland Memorial Music Scholarship competition for musically talented students. Eligibility is open to public, private, parochial and home school students up through grades twelve. The program will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at the Vienna Assembly of God Church, 100 Ayr Hill Ave NE, Vienna. A panel of accredited vocal and instrumental music educators will be serving as judges for this event. Prizes are awarded to first and second place winners in both instrumental and vocal categories. Each first place winner becomes the Vienna (Host) Lions Club representative in run-off contests that lead to a State-wide finale in May for 12 scholarships and awards totaling $12,600. There is no cost to enter this competition. A registration form and con-test rules are available from www.blandfoundation.org. Applications must be received by February 23. Additional infor-mation for entering this contest is available by contacting Lion Jim Tel: 703-255-0976 or Lion Akin Tel: (703 263 9314).
Thanks to Joan Spencer for Donating Piano Concerto Awards For the fifth year a Friend of NVMTA, Joan Spencer, has donated $2000 for awards to winners of NVMTA’s Robert B. Spencer Piano Concerto Competition, named in honor of her late husband. Joan’s daughter Sarah won several NVMTA competitions and is now on the verge of finishing her DMA in piano at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Win-ners of the 2009 competitions for piano, strings, and winds will present the program at our February meeting. We hope that Mrs. Spencer can attend so that we can express our appreciation to her in person.
Page 5 February 2009
Performers at Young Artist Musicales meet Jeffrey Siegel after his “Keyboard Conversa-tions” performance at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts on January 25. The students performed in the foyer before Siegel’s concert. All study with NVMTA teachers.
MTNA Music Teachers National Association
Online Forums on Teaching Issues
Are you looking for a way to connect to your col-leagues in MTNA? Through the Discussion Boards on the MTNA website, you can link instantly to other teachers throughout the United States. Post your ques-tions or information and hear how others have ad-dressed those same issues or questions. These dis-cussion boards will be moderated by the Board Direc-tors and national staff, and are subject to the policies listed at the website entry point. There are currently Discussion Boards for: • Arts Awareness and Advocacy
• College Faculty Forum
• Collegiate Chapters Forum
• Collaborative Arts Forum
• Independent Music Teachers Forum
• Local Association Forum
• Wellness Forum
• National Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy Each Board has a moderator to help facilitate dialogue in each of these areas, so don't be afraid to share your thoughts with them. These discussion boards provide an interface with MTNA members around the nation. To get started, visit www.mtna.org/ and select "Discussion Boards" from the Quick Links. MTNA members look forward to hearing from you.
Contrary to the previously published application there will be ONE deadline for Piano Achievement Awards appli-cations: April 2, 2009. The application now available on
www.nvmta.org is correct.
Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association
Martha K. Smith, Newsletter Editor 3550 N. 36th Road
Arlington, VA 22207
Musical Excellence since 1950
Deadline for the March 2009 News (online edition) is March 1.
