Home › Notes & News › News

2018 Keystone Composition Competition Contest

by

It’s not too soon to have your students begin working on their compositions for the 2018 Keystone Composition Competition. You can find the details for registering your students and submitting compositions on our website.  The deadline for next year’s competition is March 31, 2018. All information will be forwarded to the judges on April 1, so try to have everything completed and sent to Michele Millington on time at CompositionCompetitionsChair@pamusicteachers.org.
All ages and levels of students may enter:
Elementary – Age 5-10
Junior – Age 11-14
Senior – Age 15-18
Young Artist – Age 19-25
All students who place, as well as Honorable Mentions, are eligible to perform their compositions, or have them performed by others, at the 2018 DSPF Showcase Recitals, which will be held in November 2018. Cash awards and additional prizes are also awarded each year, and students (and teachers!) benefit from comments provided by the judges who review all the compositions.
If you are new to this event and would like more information, contact Michele Millington, Competition Chair, at eltonfan88@gmail.com.  She is happy to provide sample compositions from past winners in each category to teachers who are new to the event.

2017 Keystone Composition Competition Winners

Elementary
Student Title Teacher
1st place An Tran Little March Millie Eben $75.00
2nd place Sindura Sridhar Sneaky Sleepwalkers Millie Eben $50.00
3rd place Aditya Nayak Letter of Love Millie Eben $40.00
HM An Tran Shooting Stars Millie Eben

 

Junior
Student Title Teacher
1st place Jackson Hunt Two Preludes Op 2 Yeeha Chiu $75.00
2nd place Rishi Raman String Quartet in B minor Marjorie Majka $50.00
3rd place Rishi Raman Ballade in D minor Marjorie Majka $40.00
HM Patrick Tran Japanese Garden Deborah Rodgers
HM Jennalyn Stuart Limitless Michele Millington
HM Krishna Nayak The Procrastinating Student Millie Eben

 

Senior Student
Student Title Teacher
1st place Jason Shu Two Pieces for String Quartet Vera Shissel $100.00
2nd place Sarah Shingle Dance of the Magyars Deborah Rodgers $75.00
3rd place Fernanda Morales Be Spontaneous Deborah Rodgers $50.00

 

Young Artist
Title Teacher
1st place Kory Hilpmann Unsettling Seas Justin Badgerow $100.00
2nd place Kory Hilpmann Dream Within A Dream Justin Badgerow $75.00
Judges were:
1. David Carpenter, Temple University
2. JP Meyer, Musical Director, Dutch Apple Theatre
3. Michael Rickelton, Peabody Conservatory

Keystone Chamber Music Competition application deadline extended!

by

The deadline for the Chamber Music Competition has been extended to February 12th.

PMTA would like to welcome a few more entrants in the junior category (ages 11 through 15 as of March 3rd).  As long as you contact Chair Gloriana Sewell by email or phone in the next week with the information she needs to start the program and schedules, she will accept your application postmarked by February 12th.

The students who enter this competition have a wonderful experience, and they are highly motivated to practice and apply all their skills to meet the demands of collaborative playing. While the ensembles can be challenging to form and maintain, it is well worth it. Some of Gloriana’s students say it is their favorite musical undertaking, and they always grow in listening, technical and musical skills as they apply 100% effort to support the other students in the ensemble.

Gloriana encourages anyone who has a chamber group formed, and the necessary repertoire, to consider joining this year.

If you do not have a group ready this year, please consider taking part with your students next year.  The coach or teachers of the individual students in each ensemble do not have to be PMTA members, and the competition does accept some out of state students, as long as the majority of students in any particular ensemble live in PA. Please tell your colleagues about this competition.  PMTA provides this chamber music opportunity to support our members and the general community of music educators.

If anyone has questions, please email or call Gloriana Sewell at 215-536-8142 or gloriana.s@comcast.net.

MTNA Eastern Division Performance Competitions Winners

by

The MTNA Eastern Division Performance Competitions were held on January 7, 2018 at West Virginia University. Congratulations to all PA competitors who participated. Here are our Eastern Division Winners and Representatives from PA:

Junior Piano Honorable Mention
Alyssa Gabrilovich, student of Igor Resnianski

Junior String Alternate
Michael Fisher, student of James Lyon

Junior Woodwind Honorable Mention
Elizabeth Salgado, student of Wendy Kumer

Senior Brass Winner
Joel Montgomery, student of Drew Fennell

Senior String Honorable Mention
Daniel Cho, student of Yayoi Numazawa

Senior Voice Alternate
Laura Stanell, student of Janice Derstine

Young Artist Brass Winner
Logan Carnes, student of Zach Collins

Young Artist Voice Representative
Michael Bilik, student of See-yin Lo

Good luck to Joel, Logan, and Michael who will represent PA at the national competitions in Florida in March 2018!

2018 PMTA Keystone Chamber Music Competition

by

Visit the official page here.

Date: Saturday, March 3, 2018

New Location: Elizabethtown College, Zug Recital Hall

  • Download the application form: Word | PDF
  • All applications and fees will be sent to the chairperson.

GUIDELINES

  • There are two application categories, as well as two age categories in the Keystone Chamber Music Competition. For ensembles coached by a PMTA member-teacher, the membership dues must be paid by the application deadline; the entry fee is $100 per ensemble. Non MTNA-PMTA member coaches will be charged an additional $50 nonmember teacher fee.
  • The two age categories are: Junior (11-15) and Senior (16-19). Eligibility rules stated below.
  • PMTA Teachers may enter more than one ensemble in each category, Junior and/or Senior. PMTA reserves the right to cancel a competition age category if there is insufficient statewide participation in that category.

Dorothy Sutton Performance Festival 2017 Registrations

by

Begun in 1980 by Dorothy Sutton, the Dorothy Sutton Performance Festival is an opportunity for the talented music student to participate in a State Festival in a Showcase Recital. To assure high standards, the student must first qualify with a Superior rating in Local Preliminary Auditions, and must demonstrate a minimal knowledge of music theory by passing a written theory exam with a grade of 85%. Students performing at the State Festival Showcase Recital will receive a gold medal and a Certificate of Participation.

All entries for the State Festival on November 4 at Indiana University must be entered online by Oct. 16 at 3:00 pm. Encourage your students to participate. Remind them that even though they are assessed, it is not a competition.  Everyone who participates has done hard work and we are proud of all of them! Those who qualify to come to the Showcase Recitals are among the best in the State. Let’s make music!

For full details, visit the DSPF page.

2017 PMTA Keystone Chamber Music Competition

by

This was the third year of PMTA’s Keystone Chamber Music Competition, held March 4 at Penn State. There were 6 entrants in the Senior division, a flute trio, a flute quartet, a string quartet and three piano trios. The coaches were Christopher Guzman, Agatha Wang, Cong Fan, Amy Yang and Amanda Gunderson. The judges were Dr. Steven Smith and Dr. Eleanor Armstrong, both formerly of Penn State University. They were very impressed with the level and quality of the programs presented this year.

The first place winner was the Webb Trio coached by PMTA member Amy Yang. The members of the trio as shown in the photo below are Allister Barnes on piano, Isabella Egawa on violin and Alex Wu on cello playing selections by Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. There were not enough entrants to hold the junior division this year, so the judges decided to award a second place which went to the Amati Piano Trio, coached by Amanda Gunderson, playing selections by Beethoven and Debussy. The members, from left to right in the photo are Rachel Boll on cello, Emilie Tupper on violin and Ellen Boll on piano. Honorable Mention was received by The Williamsport Quartet, William Knauth on violin, Michael Fisher on violin, Juliet Jacques on viola and Rachel Boll on cello.  The quartet is coached by Andrew Rammon.

Next year’s competition will be held at Elizabethtown College in early March. Details will be posted on the PMTA website.

Gloriana Sewell, Chair

FIRST PLACE: Webb Trio

 

 

 

 

SECOND PLACE: Amati Piano Trio