MTNA Competitions Nationals results

Congratulations to our NJ state representatives who placed at the national level of MTNA performance competitions!!

JUNIOR

PIANO: Hudson Dong, 2nd place and Ebony Award (student of Stella Xu)

WOODWIND: Jianing Liu, flute, 3rd place, (student of Amy Tu)

These students competed at the national level competitions at the recent MTNA National Conference in Minneapolis.

MTNA Eastern Division Competitions Results

Congratulations to the following NJ students and their teachers!

Eastern Junior Composition
Winner: Benjamin Breaux                     Teacher: Yihan Chen

Eastern Junior Performance - Piano
Winner: Hudson Dong                           Teacher: Stella Xu

Eastern Senior Performance - Piano Duet
Winners: Audrey Ren & Chloe Ren        Teacher: Veda Zuponcic

Eastern Young Artist Performance - Piano
Winner: Vitalii Khairutdinov                 Teacher: Veda Zuponcic

Eastern Junior Performance – Woodwind
Winner: Jianing Liu (Flute)                    Teacher: Amy Tu

Eastern Senior Performance – Woodwind
Winner: Lina Lin (Flute)                        Teacher: Amy Tu

Eastern Senior Performance - String
Winner: Jinan Woo (Violin)                   Teacher: Soyeon Ahn

Eastern Young Artist Performance – String
Winner: Bethany Bobbs (Cello)             Teacher: Catherine Bobbs

2024 Service Award goes to Wennie Naiyueh Niu!

First presented in 2008, the NJMTA Service Award is bestowed upon that board member whose invaluable contributions, over many years of service, have impacted the NJMTA as an organization. This award is presented during the annual state conference.

• Wennie has been an active member of NJMTA since 2009. 

• She has been serving as the Voice Chairperson of the NJMTA Spring Recital Audition and Young Musicians Competition for 12 years (since 2013).

2024 Teacher of the Year

Congratulations! to Amy I-Yun Tu, the recipient of the 2024 Teacher of the Year award!

The Award was presented during the Conference Banquet on November 16, 2024.

Amy’s contributions to NJMTA:

  • Amy joined the NJMTA as an active member since 2014.

  • She has previously held positions such as NJ MTNA Young Artist and Junior Competitions Coordinator (2014–2023) and • MTNA Eastern Division Young Artist Performance Competitions Coordinator (2017–2018). 

  • Now she serves as the New Jersey MTNA Competitions Chair (2024–present). 

  • Served in the NJMTA State Conference Planning Committee, 2019, 2023, and 2024. 

2024 Intermediate Master Class Selected Performers List

Intermediate Master Class

Presented by Dr. Kevin Chance at the State Conference on Sat. Nov. 16, 2024, 9:15-11am

Song of the Lark, Op.39 No.22                                                                      Tchaikovsky

Brinley Liu, age 8
Student of Bing Bing Chang

Sonatina in C, Op. 55 No. 1, 1st mvmt                                                                     Kuhlau

Phoebe Qi, age 9
Student of Yining Wang

Sonatina Op. 13 No.1 in C, 3rd mvmt                                                          Kabalevsky

Owen Chen, age 9
Student of Hwei-Lan Luo

Sonata in F Hob.XVI:23, 1st mvmt                                                                           Haydn

Benny Breaux, age 11
Student of Ingrid Clarfield

Nocturne in E flat major Op. 9, No. 2                                                                    Chopin

Rosie Pei, age 11
Student of Chang Liu

 Arabesque No.1 in E Major                                                                                  Debussy

Elaine Long, age 12
Student of Yujia Shen

2024 Advanced Master Class Selected Performers List

Selected Student name Teacher

Selected Amy Chu, age 13 Chiu-Tze Lin
Desperate Measures Op. 48 by R. Muczynski

Selected Vitalii Khairutdinov, age 24 Veda Zuponcic
Maja y el Ruisinior by Granados

Selected Katharine Luo, age 16 Gloria Chu
Sonata No. 5, Op.38 - Allegro tranquillo by S. Prokofiev

Selected Henry Tsai, age 16 Rita Shklar
Five Bagatelles by C. Vine

Alternate 1 Tony Bello, age 16 Ingrid Clarfield

Alternate 2 Hannah Zou, age 15 Ingrid Clarfield