Intense Fall Yields Fruitful Results at CHS!

Jo Anne, myself, and our magnificent students have come off one of our busiest and most intense falls in years.  We attribute this to the expressive power and preparation of our Roster across the board.

Austin Frohmader has continued his torrential flood of accomplishments.  As most of you know, Austin is a very gifted composer as well as pianist.  He is intensely pursuing his dream of entering music school in the fall as a Composition Major, with a heavy concentration in piano as his chosen instrument (of course!).  Two startling events have occurred in support of his composition.

 

First of all, Austin was selected – through the submission of scores – to The Schubert Club Composer Mentorship Program. He is one of just four young composers in the upper mid-west selected for this prestigious program.  He will be mentoring with Composer-in-Residence, Edie Hill.  This program will include studies in Theory, Instrumentation, Orchestration, and Roundtables on the artist’s life as a composer in the modern world.  In the spring, at the conclusion of the Mentorship Program, Austin’s work for Brass Quintet will be performed by the Copper Street Brass at Landmark Center.  Secondly, Austin was the First Place winner of the State Division of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Composition Competition, He will represent the State of Minnesota at the West-Central Division Competition in January, University of Colorado, Boulder, in the Senior Division (15-18).  Amazingly, Austin also received Honorable Mention in the same MTNA National Competition in Piano, State Division!  The event was held at St. Olaf College on October 29th.  In addition, he was selected for the Master Class of world-renowned pianist, Christopher O’Riley, October 21^st, at the Burnsville Center for the Performing Arts, (see photo). To round out his amazing fall, he gave a powerfully expressive performance of Prokofiev’s Third Sonata, as guest artist, on Thursday Musical’s Morning Concert Series, November 3rd, Antonello Hall, MacPhail Center for the Arts.

In addition to Austin’s Honorable Mention at the MTNA Young Artist Competition, Lucas Jones was named Alternate to the state winner in the same competition.  He will be called upon to represent the Senior Division in Piano (15-18), in Colorado, should the winner be unable to fulfill his award.  In the Junior Division (11-14), Michael Tang and Noah Chojnacki each received Honorable Mention.  It is very significant that our four young men – Austin, Lucas, Michael, and Noah – were half of the eight players to audition in the MTNA Young Artist Competition.  The numbers are extremely limited because of the huge repertoire demands of this competition.  All four of our boys presented the twenty-five to thirty minute solo programs and, in addition, had prepared a twelve to sixteen minute concerto movement(s) for the St. Paul Piano Teachers (SPPTA) Concerto Competition the following week.  All four young men performed their entire thirty-five to forty-five minute programs on our Fall Festival Recitals, October 23^rd. We are very proud of their impressive work ethic.

Lucas Jones, Michael Tang, Daniel Qu, and Noah Qiu were named finalists in the St. Paul Piano Teachers (SPPTA) Concerto Competition (November 5^th).  They were four of the seven finalists chosen, and our studio contributed nine of the twenty-one contestants in the event.  Our other performers were Noah Chojnacki, Matthew Qu, Nita Qiu, Stephanie Ye, and Ellie Krienke. Jo Anne and I are very gratified to say – and without equivocation – that all nine of our young artists played their very best.

In other news . . . Mandy Chang, Stephanie Li, Niels Wu, Mulan Zhu, and Richard Chang have been elevated to the Young Artist Class.  We expect wonderful contributions from them in the near future to our top class!

Our young artists have a very brief period, before the holidays, to get going on huge amounts of new literature.  January will be another wild month of PCs and competitions – both in and out of town.

 

Yours in Music –

Joe & Jo Anne

CHS Students Bring Home a Truckload of Awards from our Young Artist World Piano Festival!

Jo Anne and I have been on oxygen for three full days now, following our greatest Festival yet! We are now off the oxygen and have recovered enough to resume our Summer Term. We only averaged about four hours of sleep a night over the ten-day festival, but were fueled by this electrifying and intoxicating event!! It was an unforgettable experience!

All told, Jo Anne and I (with the incredible help and support of our parents) brought nineteen of our musical souls from our studio, out of a total enrollment of sixty-two festival attendees. This is a record attendance for our studio, and we brought home a record twenty-two awards. All of the awards were won during two full days of auditions at the beginning of the Festival.

Kenny Broberg celebrated his final Festival having attended seven consecutive years. And celebrate he did! Kenny was chosen for the Senior Honors Recital, once again, performing Samuel Barber’s Piano Sonata. It is considered by most musicians to be the greatest sonata of the twentieth century by an American composer. One of the most difficult and complex works in the piano literature, Kenny learned this nineteen minute, four movement work, from scratch, in just six weeks! Yes, an amazing feat, but it was the astounding performance of the work that was most mind-blowing. It was the unanimous opinion of our artist-faculty that this was the greatest performance of this work any of us had ever heard – live or recorded – by any artist known to us. Kenny was also selected for the Alessio Bax Master Class, as well as a private special lesson with Pavlina Dokovska. Kenny will be leaving us in the fall as this is the end of his formal study with me. He will be attending the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, having received a “full ride” of a full tuition scholarship, room and board. He will be studying with the internationally respected teacher, Nancy Weems. A personal friend of Jo Anne’s and mine, I have every confidence that she is the one to guide Kenny at this stage of his development. Kenny will be joining another virtuosic student of mine, Josh Tan, also a full scholarship student at UH, who will be in his third year in the fall. Although Kenny is leaving our studio, he and I will always be joined at the heart, mind, and soul. He is my musical heir. He carries my musical DNA. Kenny came to me as a young gifted boy of the age of ten, and is leaving as a fully formed artist of the first rank. Over these past eight years, we have shared a magical journey together. We have shed much blood, sweat, and tears, in the service of our art. We have also experienced exaltation, and the deepest joy and satisfaction one can imagine. One cannot know joy without pain. A relationship such as we have is incredibly rare and one of the greatest one can have on this planet.

Austin Frohmader and Lucas Jones also had an extraordinary Festival. Both young men (along with Kenny) were chosen for the Senior Honors Recital. Kenny, Austin, and Lucas were three of the seven students selected for this prestigious event. Austin and Lucas were also selected (along with Kenny) to perform in the Master Class of our world-renowned Guest Artist, Italian pianist, Alessio Bax. Our three young men constituted the entire Master Class. They were the only students out of the entire Festival selected for this world-class event. Our entire artist-faculty was unanimous in assessing that this was one of the greatest Master Classes any of us had ever witnessed, and was the main reason Bax was asked to return next year. This return engagement is a first for our Festival in its twenty-one year history. Austin also won the right to perform in our other International Guest Artist Master Class with Pavlina Dokovska of the Mannes School in New York City. Austin was also chosen for a Dokovska private lesson, and was a finalist in the Senior Concerto Competition. Lucas was Chosen for the Paul Wirth Master Class as well as a special private lesson with Dokovska.

Nita Qiu, Noah Qiu, Daniel Qu, Matthew Qu, and Michael Tang were all selected for the Junior Honors Recital, and were five of the eight performers presented. Nita was also chosen for the Paul Wirth Master Class. Michael was also selected for a Dokovska special lesson as well as being named a finalist in the Junior Concerto Competition.

Stephanie Ye was honored with a performance in the Wirth Master Class. Along with Nita and Lucas, these three young stars of ours made up the full roster of the Master Class.

Christina Waldron was selected for the Herbert Johnson Master Class. Richard Chang, Lawrence Chen, Niels Wu, Mulan Zhu, Mandy Chang, Noah Chojnacki Stephanie Li, Karena Lin, and Anna Waldron all had a wonderful Festival and played gorgeously in the Final Recitals.

Last, but not least, our beloved Lillie Gardner, gave a sumptuous and scintillating performance of Chopin’s magnificent Barcarolle in the Festival’s Alumni Recital. Lillie will begin her fourth year at New York University’s Steinhardt School for the Performing Arts Professions in Manhattan. Having taught Lillie since the tender age of nine, she still coaches with me in the summers and whenever she is home on break. She has been a valued assistant to me with a number of my young students. As you can see from this report, we had unprecedented success at our incredible Festival. Jo Anne and I look forward with great anticipation to the new season. Our studio is the strongest – across the board – it has ever been!!

Yours in Music – Joe & Jo Anne

CHS Students selected for the e-Junior Festival Master Classes and Evening Performances

Kenny Broberg, Austin Frohmader, Lucas Jones, and Michael Tang have been selected, by audition, to perform in the Master Classes and Evening Recital at the e-Piano Junior Festival.  This event is an intense one-day experience for 12 of the finest pianists in the region. The e-Piano Junior Festival will be held on Thursday, July 7, at Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University.  It is part of the International e-Piano Junior Competition held the week of July 4.  The four international judges for the competition will be the presenters of the Master Classes.  The four Master Classes are each two hours in length and go throughout the day.

Michael will be first to perform in the Master Class of German pianist, Sontraud Speidel, at 10:00-noon. He will be performing Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C minor, Wo Opus 80.  Kenny and Austin will both be performing for the Israeli pianist, Arie Vardi, in the 12:00-2:00 pm Master Class.  Kenny will be performing the first movement of  Samuel Barber’s Sonata in E-flat minor, Opus 26, and Austin with be performing the Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Opus 28 of Prokofiev.  Lucas will be performing in the final Master Class of the day, from 4:00-6:00 pm, for Jerome Rose. Lucas will be performing Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11.

It is our hope that a number of our students and parents will be able to attend one of the Master Classes to support and enjoy our young men’s performances.  But we hope many of you will be able to attend the Evening Performance at 8:00 PM.  Kenny, Austin, Lucas, and Michael will be performing their works in their entirety in a regular concert setting.  They will constitute 4 of the 12 players selected for this prestigious event.

 

Yours in Music,

Joe & Jo Anne