MTNA Competitions
CHAIRPERSON: AMY I-YUN TU (mtnacompetitions@njmta.com)
The MTNA National Student Competitions are the most successful and prestigious student competitions in the country. Each year, thousands of students compete for top prizes and national recognition.
The MTNA Competitions include Composition Competitions, Performance Competitions (which include Brass, Piano, String, Voice, and Woodwind), and Chamber Music Competitions.
State level winners (both Performance Competitions and Composition Competitions) are invited to perform at the NJMTA annual state conference on Saturday, November 22, 2025.
2025 WINNERS - PERFORMANCE
JUNIOR LEVEL
PIANO
Winner: Bowen Liang Teacher: Stella Xu
Alternate: Claire Li Teacher: Michael Thomopolous
Honorable Mention: Lexi Cui Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin
Jaden Lin Teacher: Grace Yang
Bryan Wu Teacher: Veda Zuponcic
STRING
Winner: Claire Lee, violin Teacher: Sheryl Staples
Alternate: Max Lu, cello Teacher: Seojin Yang
Honorable Mention: Catherine Yu, cello Teacher: Hyojin Lee
WOODWIND
Winner: Katherine Lee, flute Teacher: Amy I-Yun Tu
Alternate: Mukund Venkatesan, flute Teacher: Sandy Olson
Honorable Mention: Sophia Kim, flute Teacher: Christine Kang
Katelyn Park, clarinet Teacher: Bryan Rudderow
SENIOR LEVEL
PIANO
Winner : Hudson Dong Teacher: Stella Xu
Alternate: Edward Ojard Teacher: Veda Zuponcic
Honorable Mention: Tony Rosario Bello Teacher: Ingrid Clarfield
Eric Feng Teacher: Gloria Chu
Alice Wan Teacher: Stella Xu
Alexander Wang Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin
PIANO DUET
Winner : Conan Yang & Samuel Cronk Teacher: Veda Zuponcic
Alternate: Amy Chu & Natalie Qian Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin
STRING
Winner: Alice Xinyue Hu, violin Teacher: Brittany Sklar
Alternate: Darren Lee, cello Teacher: Hyojin Lee
Honorable Mention: Elie Kuan, cello Teacher: Hyojin Lee
WOODWIND
Winner: Eric Sigalov, saxophone Teacher: Valentin Kovalev
Alternate: Jayjune Shin, saxophone Teacher: Gi Lee
Honorable Mention: Cherie Tong Xu, clarinet Teacher: Kenneth Ellison
Jonathan Lin, saxophone Teacher: Wonki Lee
YOUNG ARTIST LEVEL
PIANO SOLO
Winner: Vitalii Khairutdinov Teacher: Veda Zuponcic
Alternate: Alexander DeStefano Teacher: Veda Zuponcic
STRING SOLO
State Representative: Bethany Bobbs, cello Teacher: Catherine Bobbs
WOODWIND SOLO:
State Representative: Hong Cheng, clarinet Teacher: Maureen Hurd Hause
2025 WINNERS - COMPOSITION
Elementary:
Winner: Suvi Kuo, Student of Meng Wang
Honorable Mention: Madhav Thirucherai, Student of Samuel Yulsman
Honorable Mention: Emmy Zhang, Student of Nancy Modell
Junior:
Winner: Ella Zhang, Student of Nancy Modell
Honorable Mention: Ellie She, Student of Nancy Modell
Honorable Mention: Sebastian Soloff, Student of Nancy Modell
Senior:
Winner: Jeffrey Li, Student of Jonathan Spitz
Honorable Mention: Olex Donghao Li, Student of Yiming Wu
Honorable Mention: Colton Stotesbury, Student of Kaori Tanioka
Honorable Mention: Enoch Yu, Student of Yiming Wu
PERFORMANCE COMPETITION DATE: Saturday, November 1, 2025
LOCATION: Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, September 10, 2025, 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time.
Please check the following link for information of competition rules for each category:
MTNA active membership dues must be paid before submission of the application. A $200 non-member teacher fee will be assessed if entrant's teacher has not paid active membership dues for the 2025 - 2026 membership year. For information on guidelines, repertoire, and registration, please visit MTNA Competitions
*There is a $25 state fee for all Performance Competitions registrants, charged by NJMTA, which is used to cover the cost of venue rental and other operational expenses. Your registration is considered incomplete until the State Fee is received.
For information on specific categories, please contact the appropriate competition coordinator:
MTNA Senior State Competition Coordinator:
WEI-YUH CHRISTINA XIE 2020nj.mtna@gmail.com
MTNA Junior & Young Artist Competition Coordinator:
AMY TU mtnacompetitions@njmta.com
MTNA Composition Competition Coordinator:
JULIA KOVALEV mtnacomposition@njmta.com
Please visit the MTNA website for up-to-date information on all MTNA competitions:
Performance Competitions Guidelines
Composition Competitions Guidelines
By participating in any NJMTA event, parents give permission to the New Jersey Music Teachers Association (NJMTA) to use photographs or videos of your child taken by NJMTA representative, with appropriate captions, in NJMTA publications, on the NJMTA website, social media and/or in the local newspapers. If you do not wish NJMTA to use your child’s photos/videos in any way, kindly notify the chairperson of the event in which your child is participating.
See the winners from past MTNA Competitions
Please visit the MTNA website for up-to-date information on all MTNA competitions:
https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/engage/competitions/Composition_Guidelines.aspx
https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/engage/competitions/performance_guidelines.aspx