Congratulations to the winners of the 38th Annual Deborah Kahan Competition!
Piano Division
Judges Special Award Winner : Mirah Chang
Winners : Abigail Chang, Keshav Gopel, Eric Jansa, Vivian Svoronos
Honorable Mention : Miya Bu, Ahan Ghosh Rao, Alexander Svoronos
String Division
First Place and Judges' Special Award Winner : Celeb Sharp (cello)
Second Place Winner :Joonha Hong (violin)
Winners :Yveson Hsiao (violin), Aaron Wang (cello)
Teachers of Winners
Teri Einfeldt, Clara Kim, Kumiko Imamura, Shari Weisz, Sara Bennett Wolfe
We are pleased to announce the 1st place winners of our Festival Audition!
Strings:
Diana Sakura Manolov
Melanie Liang
Bobby Mays
Piano:
Daphne Altin-Fahey
Rohan Tipnis
Avigail Kohl
Giora Nadav
Itamar Nadav
Matthew Whee
William Law
Evangeline Kingsley
Jackson Jansa
Danielle Tom
Olivia Whee
Ryan Ismael Bakkali
Jonathan Whee
Ivy Yan
Conor Cook
Teachers of 1st place winners:
Seray Goktekin
Kumiko Imamura
Kai Pagune Kim
Marina Kitaychik
Andrea Mills
Dan Nadav
Tatyana Pikayzen
Congratulations to all participants and teachers!
2022-2023 Season
New Members Luncheon
Date: October 2022
A welcome luncheon for new members.
November Recital: Pequot Library
Recital Date: Saturday, November 12th at 12:30
Submission deadline: Friday, October 28th
Repertoire: Classical repertoire and music by pedagogical composers. Pieces must be memorized.
Chair: Olga Stelman
Eleventh Annual Festival Audition
The goal of this festival is to provide recognition to talented and motivated students who can prepare for an evaluated audition, and who are confident enough to perform in public. It is open to students of voice, piano and all other instruments.
Students who intend to participate in CSMTA's Deborah Kahan Competition are NOT eligible to perform in this event.
Festival Date: Sunday, December 11th
Registration deadline: Friday, November 18th
Westport Suzuki School
246 Post Rd East
Westport CT 06880
Registration Fee:
$45 per student (for teachers who are CSMTA members)
$55 per student + $50 one-off participation fee (for teachers who are CSMTA non-members)
What do I need to do as a teacher?
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Select and invite students who would benefit from participating in the Festival Audition.
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Email the registration form (attached to this email) and check to the Chair Seray Goktekin to stringsCT@yahoo.com. Address for check to be sent to will be provided once registration form is received.
There is no limit to the number of applicants per teacher.
Chair: Seray Goktekin (stringsCT@yahoo.com.)
38th Annual Deborah Kahan Competition
This competition is open Piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar; soloists, duos, or any combination of piano and strings. Students must be between the age of 6 and 18. Students prepare two contrasting pieces in period and style from the standard Classical repertoire.
Competition Date: Sunday, February 5th
Winner's recital: Online, February 12th
Submission Deadline: Saturday, January 14th (arrived, not postmarked)
Co-chairs: Hiroko Dutton and Kumiko Imamura
Community recital
April: TBA
Community Recitals are Student Recitals that take place in local senior homes. Residents are very happy to see young people performing for them and we always hear lots of positive comments.
Submission Deadline:
Chair: Benjamin Steinhardt
Spring Showcase Recital
Recital Date: Sunday, May 21st, 2023 (1-3pm)
Submission deadline: Friday, May 5th, 2023
(midnight by Email + Zelle payment, or snail mail + teacher’s check arriving by the same date.)
Limit : Maximum 20 minutes of Total Performing time per Teacher.
Repertoire : Classical repertoire and music by pedagogical composers.
Solo Pieces must be memorized.
Student/Student duet is allowed with music. (No Student/Teacher is allowed)
Chair: Hiroko Dutton
M.A.P. (Music Achievement Program)
Date: June 11th
The MAP (Musicianship Achievement Program) is directed at students of CSMTA teachers and offers both a Performance and Theory section. Held annually, students can choose to participate in the Full MAP (both performance and theory) or just the Theory exam. With a total of 10 levels, students have the opportunity to perform memorized pieces, display keyboard skills and demonstrate written/aural awareness in accordance with the prescribed MAP syllabus.
For more information:
https://csmta.org/students/music-achievement-program-map/
Chair: Seray Goktekin
We look forward to seeing you and your students soon!
Masterclass with Dr. Paul Wirth
On Sunday, April 19th @ 11 am a masterclass was held on Zoom led by Dr. Paul Wirth (Northwestern University - Minnesota).
The participants were:
Lina Elwood
Beethoven: Sonata in f, Op. 2-1, IV. Prestissimo
Leon Wang
Liszt : Notturno No.3, “Liebestraum"
Shalev Weber
Mozart: Sonata in C, K.279, I. Allegro
Thank you to our performers and their teachers for their exceptional preparation. Dr. Wirth was an exemplar of great piano teaching: encouraging and kind to each student, illuminating each score with his knowledge and expertise.
You can read more about Dr. Paul Wirth here.
