This was a delightful afternoon of music. We had 17 performers, 3 of them violinists, 1 cellist, and 13 pianists. All performers played well. After the recital, most of the performers tried out their piano pieces on the Holtkamp Organ for fun. Participating studios: Ken Ard, Eleanor Hum, Shuang Li, Julia Pautz, Lea Schmidt-Rogers, Carolyn Sechrist and Hua Wang
Finalists for the 2026 Goodlin Scholarship Competition are posted. Please visit the Goodlin page to view the list.
Please visit the Sonata page to view the repertoire list for this year’s Sonata Contest. Teachers must login to view the repertoire list.
Registration for the 2026 Chopin Festival is now open! Please visit the Chopin Festival page for more information. Teachers must be logged in to access the registration form.
Two successful recitals were held for this year’s Piano Duo Festival on April 11th at Greene Music Recital Hall. We had 21 teams represented by nine teaching studios, which competed in four categories. Thank-you to the participating studios: Magdolna Bornemisza, Joohee Lee, Mexican Li, Carol Ong-Chen, Anna Stal, Carol Seefeldt, Gill Tsai, Luba Ugorski, and Yun-Yin Wu. Our judges, Steve Baker and Anna Grigorian, were very impressed with the level of playing by all teams. Many thanks to our volunteers: Yuko Maruyama, Chutaphin Yeager, and Carol Ong-Chen’s whole family for their generous help for the event. Hope to see you next year!
Category II: Ages 10 – 12
1st place: Zenith Huang & Minghan Chen
2nd place: Jimin Lai & Andrew Ong
3rd place: Brady Ma & Benjamin Sun
Honorable mentions: Zoe Tan & Elena Song
Category III: Ages 13 – 15
1st place: Yen-Cheng Wu & Charity Chen
2nd place: Yen-Cheng Wu & Vincent Wu
3rd place (tie): Yong-xun Cai & Yong-shi Cai // Avry Dispo & Mananya Debnath & Avery Peng
Honorable mentions: Danna Kong & Lahee Kong // Peyton Ni & Jacqueline Liu
Category IV: Ages 16 – high school
1st place: Elijah Prada & Ethan Chen
2nd place: Cala Ko & Kristine Park
3rd place (tie): Melody Chen & Geneva Chen // Michael Zhang & Rudy Zhang
The 2026 MTAC State VOCE Competition was held online via video submission on March 15. Students became eligible to participate in State VOCE by being selected as finalists at the Southern or Northern California Regional VOCE.
Congratulations to all our branch students who competed!
Representing six (6) teachers, a special congratulations goes to these San Diego Branch students who received awards in the prestigious 2026 State VOCE Competition!
Junior Solo Strings
Clarie Chen, violin – 3rd Place
Mason Kwon, cello – Honorable Mention
Intermediate Solo Strings
Elisha Kim, violin – 2nd Place Three-Way Tie
Emel Cubukcu, violin – Honorable Mention
Senior Solo Strings
Alvin Wang, viola – 1st Place Alternate
Jasmine Chan, violin – 3rd Place
Intermediate Solo Winds
Pinakin Dhamdhere, bassoon – 1st Place Alternate
Senior Solo Winds
Rashmi Chelliserry, flute – 1st Place Alternate
Maggie Liang, flute – 3rd Place
Intermediate Solo Voice
Katherine Backues, soprano – 2nd Place
There are 11 VOCE divisions. VOCE stands for “Voice, Orchestral Instruments, and Chamber Ensembles.”
The 2026 Piano Duo Festival Programs are now available on the Duo Festival page. Please visit the Piano Duo Festival page to view the programs.
Registration for the 2026 Spring Recital is now open! Please visit the Spring/Fall Recital page for more information. Teachers must be logged in to access the registration form.
Registration for the 2026 Goodlin Scholarship Competition is now open! Please visit the Goodlin Competition page for more information. MTAC San Diego member teachers must be logged in to access the registration form.
First-place winners of each division from the 2026 Concerto Competition will perform with the
MiraCosta College-Oceanside Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Brandon Muresan, conductor
Oceanside Campus of MiraCosta College – Concert Hall (Room OC2406)
Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM
PROGRAM:
Clarie Chen, piano (DIV I) – Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, Third movement
Henry Sun, piano (DIV II) – Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Third movement
Marcus Huang, piano (DIV III) – Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 2 in G minor, First movement
Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM
PROGRAM:
Ryan Choi, clarinet (DIV IV) – Krommer Clarinet Concerto in Eb Major, Op. 36, First movement
Clarie Chen, violin (DIV V) – Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, Third movement
Dylan Ellis, violin (DIV VI) – Sarasate Introduction and Tarantella, Op. 43
Please plan to attend each program. You’ll be inspired by their artistic performances and your support will be much appreciated.
