student news
Kudos to the CSMA Early Music Minstrels, coached by Sally Terris, on placing 2nd out of 13 ensembles at the 2012 Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Youth Chamber Music Competition. This Merit Scholar Ensemble consists of students Kyle Liu, bassoon student of Mihail Iliev; Jerry Liu, harpshichord student of Nina Shekhtman; Ruri Wen-Matsui, recorder student of Sally Terri; and Shannon Shih, violin student of Tony Doheny.
You can enjoy their award-winning performances by viewing the videos (sidebar):
- Sett of Hornpipes from Apollo’s Banquet; the harpsichord part was composed by the 11-year-old harpsichord player, Jerry Liu.
- Antonio Corelli, La Follia (shortened and arranged for recorder, violin, bassoon and harpsichord by the CSMA Early Music Minstrels).
Congratulations to CSMA Merit Scholar Nathan Ho, age 14, who studies jazz piano with Rich Kuhns. Nathan is also a viola player with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO), and he and the other members of his PACO string quartet were awarded 1st place at the Sacramento State University “String Day” competition on Saturday, October 22. The quartet played the first movement of Shostakovich's String Quartet No 5 and won the first prize award of $1,000! Well done, Nathan!
Congratulations to Merit Scholars Ruri Wen Matsui and Alex Hwang on being selected to perform with CSMA faculty members in our October Faculty Concerts series in Tateuchi Hall!
Alex will play viola in the "Mozart & His Friends" concert on Saturday, October 29 at 5 pm, along with faculty members Carrie Campbell, Anthony Doheny, and Amy Hsieh with guest (and former CSMA faculty member) Jessica Poll.
On Sunday, October 30, also at 5 pm, Ruri will play recorder with Gryphons Wild, featuring faculty members Sally Terris and Anita Baldwin with Ellen St. Thomas, Dale Tsan-Hall and Greta Haug-Hryciw performing music from the 13th-17th centuries.
CSMA's World Harmony Chorus will be performing at the 3rd Annual Palo Alto World Music Day on Sunday, June 19. You can hear the chorus perform Zimbabwean songs with Singing Wood Marimba ensemble from 4:15-4:30 pm, then listen to the rest of the chorus' repertoire from 4:30 to 5:15. They will be performing at at 525 University Avenue. For information about the event, including a detailed schedule and map, visit www.pamusicday.org.
Congratulations to CSMA private lesson student Ian Milos and his St. Francis High School classmates Abhishek Sriraman & Michael Whitney! Their documentary film about CSMA, "Arts for All" (see sidebar), has been chosen as a semi-final entry at SI DocFest 2011. The winning film will be chosen on Saturday, April 30. Best of luck to these talented students!
CSMA's Early Music Minstrels won the Grand Prize at the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Youth Chamber Music Competition on Saturday, March 5! The 
ensemble consists of Lauren Biglow (student of Kaye DeVries), voice and cello; Kyle Liu (student of Mihail Iliev), bassoon; Ruri Wen-Matsui (student of Sally Terris), recorder; and Clark Wu (student of Nicholas Isaacs), harpsichord. The students performed Cantiga de Santa Maria No. 100 (from the Court of Alfonso X, 13th c.) (arranged by the students,) (see video in sidebar) and Antonio Vivaldi, Sonata in A Minor for Recorder, Bassoon and Continuo (RV 86) (first and second movements.)
The award will be presented this Saturday (March 12) at 7:30 at the second concert in the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival (titled Rare Strings, featuring John Schneiderman). The students will perform their competition pieces at the beginning of the concert.
Congratulations to Lauren, Kyle, Ruri, Clark and their wonderful CSMA teachers!
Congratulations to Sonia I., voice student of Kaye DeVries for the past 7 years, on her acceptance and scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in LA! Sonia recently represented CSMA at a gathering of the Mtn. View Rotary Club where she sang and talked about her music education at CSMA. Bravo and many thanks, Sonia!
Congratulations to Aishee M., former flute student of CSMA instructor Kathe Kuehl. Aishee, age 12, and her family relocated to Southern CA last year, but she hasn't missed a beat in her music studies. She was selected to be a member of the prestigious All-Southern California Middle School Honor Band (grades 6-9). Hundreds of students audition every year for this honor band and Aishee was one of only 8 students (across all instruments!) selected. Wow! Hear Aishee and the band perform.
Three of our Merit Scholars had the opportunity to participate in a masterclass with renowned pianist Lang Lang on Sunday, January 23 at Villa Montalvo.
Michelle Li performed Barcarolle Op.60 by Frederic Chopin. She is in 8th grade at Moreland Middle School. She has been studying piano with Ludmilla Kurtova since 2009. This is her 1st year as a Merit Scholar. In addition to playing piano, she also enjoys badminton, reading and crafts and learning new things.
Oskar Lu performed Abegg Variations Op.2 by Robert Schumann. Osker is in 10th grade at Cupertino High School. He has been studying piano with Ludmilla Kurtova since 2004. This is his 7th year as a Merit Scholar. He is a member of his School Council, volunteers at Cedar Crest Nursing Rehab Center and swims competitively.
Eddie Zhou performed Jardins sous la pluie by Claude Debussy. He is in 11th grade at Gunn High School and has been studying piano with Nicholas Isaacs since 2005. This is his 7th year as a Merit Scholar. He has finished all eight levels of the ABRSM exams and took the first level diploma exam (DipRSM) last year. In addition to playing piano, he also plays basketball and belongs to the Youth Community Service Club. In his spare time, he enjoys working out and longboarding.
Photos courtesy of Katie Cooney.