Newsletter
Volume 21, Issue 9 | June 2020
Kristen Normann,  President
Olya Katsman , Vice President
Michelle Chi, Second Vice President
Millie Chiem , Treasurer & Parliamentarian
Fonny Chandra , Corresponding Secretary
Ruth Zhou , Recording Secretary
Jung-Hee Park , Membership Secretary & Referrals Chair
Grace Cheng,  Director
Gloria Ho,  Director
Maria Ehlert,  Director
Katherine Valdez , Director
David Ross,  Director & Student Recitals
Lu Huang,  Director & Website Administrator

Sandy Fong & Maria Ehlert, Hospitality
Sr. Andre Marie Fujier & Ruth Zhou,  Historian
Carmencita Aspiras,  Sunshine
Lu Huang , Composer Today
Olya Katsman , MSSL Community Outreach
Dr. Jiang Wu,  VOCE

Gloria Ho,  CM Chair and North Region Chair, (Piano, Strings, Woodwinds and Voice)
Grace Cheng,  CM South Region Chair
Millie Chiem,  North Region Honors Recitals
Karen Wolff , South Region Honor Recital
Katherine Lee & Ruby Cheung,  Theory Site Coordinators
Important Dates
June 12 (Fri)
  • Deadline to apply for Student Recital. Check the flyer below for more information
  • Send all the information to David Ross at [email protected]

June 19 (Fri)
  • Deadline to submit a video for Student Zoom Recital
  • Send the video to David Ross at [email protected]

June 28 (Sun)
  • Student Zoom Recital at 2:00 pm

July 10-14 (Fri - Tue)
  • Convention Online

July 31 (Fri)
  • Deadline to renew your membership!
  • Go to https://new.mtac.org today to renew! Don't wait until last minute.
Important Reminder
Renew your membership TODAY!
Go to:
Deadline: July 31, 2020


For more information about our branch events, go to:
password: mta1
Student Zoom Recital
CM Chair's Note
June 1 to June 30
  • On-line theory exam for all CM students of Southern Alameda County

June 15
  • Expect to have results input into your portal for the May 21 to May 31 performance testing. This applies to the North Region Piano, Strings, Woodwinds, and Voice Students.

July 10 to July 14
  • On-line Convention (it will be free to all teachers). Please look for e-mails from the state office regarding this one of a kind experience!

July (tba)
  • Pick up your CM materials is to be announced

Makeup exams will be held, but you must wait for the State office or CM council to inform when that will happen. Please look out for MTAC e-mails. Currently, they are figuring out who is to get makeups. The parents and students will be informed. I am not sure if the teacher will get informed.

Please remember to pay for your membership dues. The deadline is July 31, 2020. Failure to pay on time will make you unable to participate in CM for 2020-2021.

Please look for the MTAC State Office e-mails. They are the only things that provides information regarding the CM theory exam. Currently, the latest e-mail from them informs us that our CM theory exam will open June 1 to June 30. All students must take the exam within this time frame. The system will shut down June 30 at 11:59 pm.

Prepare your students for the exam. There will be an ear training portion. A suggestion is having zoom meetings with your students to drill them on music theory material.

If you have any problems or questions regarding difficulties with the on-line theory testing, please inform the parents to use the [email protected] e-mail address.

The students and parents will get e-mails from MTAC State Office to apply for theory exam. I am not sure if teachers will receive e-mails for it.

Because of the extended period for testing, Grace and I are unable to give back your materials (ERFs, State Seals, BH ribbons, Senior Plaques, Certificates) until sometimes in July, after June 30 when the theory exam results should come in. It will take time to order the senior plaques and state seals, get the envelopes for each teacher ready for pick up.
Please wait until July when I will contact you again regarding pick up of your materials.

Thank you for your patience.
Be safe and take care,

Gloria Ho
CM Chair
Helpful information for online class on Zoom
First of all, Zoom and most laptop/tablet microphones have built-in audio enhancements that are great for picking up speech, but are not great for music. You will need to turn off these audio enhancements to make sure the audience and judges hear a good-quality version of your performance. Here are the instructions:

How to disable "Audio Enhancements" on a MAC in Mojave:

System Preferences - Sound - Uncheck box “Use ambient noise reduction”

How to disable the "Audio Enhancements" on a PC in Windows 10: 

Right-Click the Speaker Icon in the Taskbar, Select Sound - Recording 
Double Click Microphone
Select Enhancements - Check "Disable all sound effects"
Select Communications - Check "Do Nothing” 


Register and install the ZOOM App ( www.zoom.us )


Disable the "Audio Enhancements in Zoom:

Click on the ^ next to microphone icon bottom left corner
Audio Settings - Audio - Uncheck Box “Automatically adjust microphone level” and set slide to middle
Click ADVANCED 
Check Box “Show in meeting option “To Enable Original Sound” from microphone
"Suppress Persistent Background Noise” - select “Disable"
Echo Cancellation - select “Auto”

Quit out of any unnecessary applications running in the background

Don’t have other devices in your home use Wifi during this time

It's best to use an ethernet connection

Accepting New Students
Joy Fisher
Piano
Phone: 510-862-6485
Location: Castro Valley, CA 94546

David Ross
Piano
Phone: 510-586-9163

Kris Palmer
Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute, and Bass Flute
Phone: 650-868-3150

Alice Huang
Piano
Phone: 510-709-8293
Location: Castro Valley, CA 94546

Julie Chang
Piano
Phone: 510-366-2193
Address:716 Solstice Court, Fremont, CA 94539