CSMA music students and faculty have much to be proud of this year! They have won awards for teaching and performance, participated in events, excelled in prestigious music exams and placed in numerous competitions. We congratulate our talented students and teachers on their accomplishments.
Student News
Student of Marian Concus
Kate Nam performed with the San Jose State University High School Honor Band. She auditioned successfully for the Gunn High School Symphony Orchestra and will play with that ensemble during the 2022-2023 school year.
Students of Alla Dobrish
Emily Dong participated and placed in several competitions this semester:
USOMC Showcase Piano Solo Junior Group – Third place; MTAC California Certificate of Merit exam, Piano level 6, Excellent score; State Honor Award
Global Online Great Composer’s Competition – The Music of the 18th century – First place and The Music of the 19th century – Second place.
Emory Rogers
MTAC California Certificate of Merit, level 4, Excellent Rating and State Honor Award. Passed all 5 parts with the highest Excellent score. Received State Honor Award.
Student of Ihang Lin
Christopher Harjadi passed his ABRSM Grade 8 exam.
Student of Menghua Lin
Jane Liou passed ABRSM Level 8 with distinction, won the Canadian International Music Competition with a gold medal, and Bay Area Piano Competition with Merit Award.
Students of Muza Mdzinarishvili
ABRSM
Sophia He Piano Grade 7, Passed with Distinction
Madison Giles Piano Grade 5, Passed with Merit
Glory Int’l Music Competition
Piano Competition
Aria Agarwal age group I, Second Prize
Anastasia Grunina age group II, First Prize
Amanda Kim age group III, Second Prize
Shinmu Jiang age group III, Third Prize
25 under 25 Competition
Aria Agarwal piano rank #10
Anastasia Grunina piano rank #7
Amanda Kim piano rank #6
Shinmu Jiang piano rank #9
Classical Music Competition
Amanda Kim age group III, Second Prize
Romantic Music Competition
Amanda Kim age group III, Second Prize
2022 US New Star Music Competition
Piano Competition by Composer- Free Choice Group
Anastasia Grunina age group II, Third Place Winner
Amanda Kim age group III, Third Place Winner
Piano Competition by Russian Composer Group
Anastasia Grunina age group II, Second Place Winner
International Great Composers Competition
Aria Agarwal (age group II) First Prize in category: The Music of the 20th Century, Second Prize in the category: The Music of Eastern Europe
Anastasia Grunina (age group III) First Prize in category: The Music of the 19th Century, Second Prize in category: Best Chopin Performance, Second Prize in category: Best Tchaikovsky Performance, Second Prize in category: The Music of America
Amanda Kim (age group IV) First Prize in category: The Music of America, Second Prize in category: The Music of Germany/Austria
Shinmu Jiang (age group IV) Second Prize in category : The Music of the 19th Century, Second Place in category: Best Bartok Performance.
Students of Ai Noguchi
Several students participated in RCM Certificate Program Exams.
Jiadi Yang, Piano, RCM Level 10, First Class Honors (Corporate Arts student)
Niccolo Fadda, Piano, RCM Level 9, First Class Honors
Mitesh Jain, Piano, RCM Level 4, First Class Honors with Distinction
Jasper Zhang, Piano, RCM Level 4, First Class Honors with Distinction
Anders Lo, Piano, RCM Level 3, First Class Honors
Students of Axel Schmitt
Several students participated in the US International Music Open Competition with excellent results.
Elementary Piano, Second Place: Richard Jiang, Larry Pham
Junior Piano, Second Place: Leah Pham
Junior Piano, First Place: Clement Lee
Advanced Piano, Second Place: Arjun Pai
Advanced Piano, First Place: Naomi Wong, Rachelle Wong
Students of Temirzhan Yerzhanov
Nicholas Chong passed ABRSM Grade 8 exam with Honored Distinction.
Eugene Lee performed as a soloist and chamber musician at Fortnightly Music Club, Palo Alto; Valley Presbyterian Church, Portola Valley; Tateuchi Hall, Finn Center, Mountain View and participated in the Van Cliburn Amateur Festival in Fort Worth, TX.
Faculty News
CSMA piano and harp teacher, Jessica Callen has released her debut EP, Siren Song, with band Dear Midnight. Dear Midnight is an electronic music duo fronted by Callen, a conservatory trained songwriter and harpist. She has worked on productions such as Mozart in the Jungle, Bel Canto, and Confessions of a Shopaholic and previously was a Cordless Recordings (Warner) artist with her group The Callen Sisters. Dear Midnight blends wordsmithing with jazz harmony and electronic grooves to create songs that speak to the heart and soul of issues like the un-reality of social media, temptation, and unconditional love. Their EP, Siren Song, was written and recorded in their home studio, and combines 90’s trip-hop with electro-pop sensibilities, filtered through the lens of a singer-songwriter. Stream Siren Song here: https://dearmidnight.com
Marian Concus, CSMA flute faculty, performed with the Espressivo Orchestra and the Millennium Chamber Orchestra. She played with the Santa Cruz Symphony in the world premiere of Josef Sekon’s Aptos Sound Project.
Muza Mdzinarishvili received recognition for her excellence in teaching from the AFAF American Fine Arts Festival and the GCC International Great Composers Competition. She was also invited to serve on the jury board of the Glory Int’l Music Competition.
