June 2021

Newsletter

Volume 22, Issue 10 | June 2021

Kristen Normann, President

Olya Katsman, Vice President

Michelle Chi, Second Vice President

Millie Chiem, Treasurer & Parliamentarian

Fonny Chandra, Corresponding Secretary

Ruth Zhou, Recording Secretary

Katherine Valdez, Membership Secretary & Referrals Chair

Grace Cheng, Director

Gloria Ho, Director

Maria Ehlert, Director

Karen Wolff, 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

Note from the President

It has been my pleasure to serve as branch president for the last three years. The people on the branch board are hard working, creative, selfless and truly want what is best for our Southern Alameda County teachers. They serve with positive attitudes and we have a lot of fun!

I have a new adventure in the coming years that I am excited about! My husband and I are moving to Colorado to build our next home. We searched in many western states for a property that will give us quiet, beautiful space in the forest and we found it last year. My husband is an ultra talented designer/builder and I am enjoying being part of the process.

After 37 years of teaching and participating in this branch, I have closed my piano studio. So many hard goodbyes! I will miss being part of MTAC, but I appreciate the leadership opportunities I have experienced. Most difficult is saying goodbye to many lifelong friends in this branch - a closeness that has come from time spent working on the board and attending events.

Many thanks to our outgoing board members, Michelle Chi (Vice President) and Fonny Chandra (Corresponding Secretary) who have served for many years. Welcome to new board members, Philip Halseth and Jed Galant.

A positive, level-headed and forward-thinking person, Jesse Micek, will be your new president. He has previously served as Vice President and has experience with the branch events. He will be a wonderful leader!

I wish you all the best in your teaching!

Sincerely,

Kristen Normann

Important Dates

July 2 - 5 (Fri - Mon)

Virtual Convention - Unity through Music

July 31

Deadline to pay for MTAC membership fee

MTAC - SACB website

www.mtacsacb.org

password: mta1

Message from the Membership Secretary

Hello SACB teachers,

I hope all of you are doing well.

It is the time to renew your MTAC membership for 2022. The deadline of membership fee is due July 31. When you sign in to your MTAC account, you can just click the "Yes, renew now" button to complete the renewal process. If dues are not received by July 31, membership will not be renewed by that date, which may result in ineligibility to participate in CM 2022.

Please also check if your personal information on your profile (email address, home address, and phone number) is up to date. I will use that information for our branch's membership directory. So, if you have made some changes, please let me know by sending me an email. It will be very helpful so I will not miss anything.

Thank you!

Katherine Valdez

Email: [email protected]

Scholarship Recipients

$1000 Senior Scholarship Recipient:

Justin Wang

student of Jed Gallant

The Regina Mastrantonio Memorial Fund Community Music Service Recognition Award Recipients:

Erin Yang

student of Grace Cheng

Helen Yuan

student of Fonny Chandra

Rebecca Tseng

student of Olya Katsman

Qingping Ye

student of Dorothy Su

Yichen Zeng

student of Dylan Librande

Each student received $250 award

Congratulation to all scholarship recipients!!!

Note from the CM Chair

July 2 to July 5

Virtual Convention 2021 - Unity Through Music

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!

Let's hope the pandemic will end up like the flu regards to severity, and then we can have live in person recitals in 2022! CM has greatly changed, but like I said, nothing lasts forever. The branch board will be thinking of ways to offset the lack of live exam performance with something else. I am sure. I have every confidence.

Since there is no more branch tests, then there is no CM preparation to be done.

My job is left to do the branch honor recitals next year. I will do that all by myself! I used to do it, so I have come full circle!

I am about to send a survey. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE fill it out. I need to hear from you! I want MORE THAN 25 TEACHERS ANSWERING THE SURVEY

Thank you for your attention!

Be safe, be prosperous, be happy, and see you next fall!

Gloria Ho

CM Chair

MSSL News

Hello everyone!

Music Students’ Service League (MSSL) is a student-run group of volunteers with the mission to promote happiness achieved through musical entertainment as well as developing musical appreciation for the underprivileged members of society, especially our elderly citizens. Despite the ongoing pandemic, we still host recitals by pre-recording performances and send them to senior living centers to brighten up our elderly’s day. We are planning to host monthly recitals in this coming year via online or in-person if permitted by health experts.

If you’re interested in joining us, please print, fill out, and follow the directions on the form:

MSSL 2020-2021 Application Form

Students of all skill levels are encouraged to join! Not only is this opportunity a great way to fulfill your service hours requirement, but you also get some well-needed practice for recitals and competitions!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Brooke Zheng ([email protected]), Erin Yu ([email protected]), or Andrew Gao ([email protected]).

Short Exam Pieces ideas

If you have anything to add to help all of us, please contact Gloria Ho at [email protected] with composers and their pieces that helped you get a student to pass their level

Retirement

Sandy Fong is retiring after 32 years of teaching and being involved with MTAC since she was a student herself. We appreciate all her time and effort providing delicious food for our branch’s events.

Thank you Sandy, and we wish you much happiness!