CALASTA SPRING 2023 ISSUE

Spring 2023

OUR SINCERE THANKS TO OUR ADVERTISERS When you patronize these businesses, please mention that you appreciate their ads in THE SOUNDPOST + Indicates member of the String Industry Council (SIC)

ADVERTISERS INDEX 9

CSU Northridge csun.edu/music

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Benning Violins benningviolins.com

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SHAR Music sharmusic.com

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Robert Cauer cauer.com

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Cover Art: Lake Tahoe

SPRING 2023 | 2

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CalASTALeadership List

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ASTA Membership Application

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President’s Message

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CalASTAAccounting Report

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Fresno Section Report

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Los Angeles Section Report

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SacramentoSection Report

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San Diego Section Report

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San Francisco Section Report

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Stockton Section Report

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Stockton Section Report

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2022 State Solo Competition Winner

CalASTALeadership PRESIDENT-ELECT Stephanie Holmes

PAST PRESIDENT Quyen Nguyen

SECRETARY Wendy Velasco

TREASURER Michael Feeney (916) 928-9996

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION stephanieeleanorholmes@gmail.com

SECTION PRESIDENTS BAKERSFIELD SECTION Amy McGuire gypsyvln@gmail.com (661) 858-9332

SAN DIEGO SECTION violas@gmail.com

Dr. Thomas Loewenheim FRESNO SECTION (559) 278-7547 tloewenheim@csufresno.edu

LOS ANGELES SECTION cellovelasco@gmail.com

SACRAMENTO SECTION mffeeney@earthlink.net

Wendy Velasco

Kimberly Cole Feeney (916) 928-9996

Kathleen Balfe SOUNDPOST EDITOR Lawrence Huang (925) 979-5539

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR Stephanie Holmes

CODA LIAISON Lawrence Huang (925) 979-5539

LOS ANGELES SECTION cellovelasco@gmail.com

SACRAMENTO SECTION kcolefeeney@gmail.com

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION kathleen.balfe@gmail.com

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION matrixbach77@gmail.com

Griena Choi-Trask

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION stephanieeleanorholmes@gmail.com

ASTACAP NORTH COORDINATOR TBA

SAN FRANCISCO SECTION matrixbach77@gmail.com

STOCKTON SECTION goodyviolin@yahoo.com

ASTACAP SOUTH COORDINATOR Kay Pech LOS ANGELES SECTION astacap.la@gmail.com

WEBMASTER Kimberly Cole Feeney (916) 928-9996

SACRAMENTO SECTION kcolefeeney@gmail.com

HISTORIAN/INSURANCE REPRESENTATIVE TBA

SPRING 2023 |3

Individual Membership Application Please complete all applicable fields on the registration form.

If you have any questions, please contact Member Services. We look forward to welcoming you to the ASTA community.

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4155 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 • Phone 703-279-2113 • Fax 703-279-2114 • membership@astastrings.org • www.astastrings.org 02_2018

Unfortunately, Quyen Nguyen is experiencing some health issues that will require me to take over as president immediately. I want to thank Quyen for her dedication to CalASTA. She has done an incredible amount of work on renewing our strategic plan. I intend to finish this work. She also implemented use of technology to optimize our current systems: Asana, Doodle, GoogleDrive. I will try my best to fulfill the plan that Quyen set up in the fall executive board meeting including: create, approve & pass a Policy Manual. expand board roster & cultivate leadership: increase board size & increase number of special projects commi ees.

Standardize Section & State Competitions.

Create documentation and processes for common member events.

Increase member engagement: Zoom masterclasses, Social Media Manager.

I suppose I should introduce myself! I am currently in my 32nd year of teaching orchestral music in a public school. Since 2011 I have been the Director of Orchestras at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland, California. In 2012 the Metropolitan Opera named me lead educator for their Live in HD program. Prior to moving to San Francisco, I was Orchestra Director at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Virginia. The Lake Braddock program was comprised of 350 members and 7 orchestras including a full symphony orchestra. I have served as guest conductor to many regional orchestras across Virginia, South Carolina as well as California. I have served as an orchestral adjudicator across Virginia and in California. I was president of the Virginia ASTA Chapter from 2000-02. I look forward to working with all of you.

I am still membership chair as well. We currently have 665 members. In March we had 616 The Cal ASTA membership is divided in 7 sections; Bakersfield (13 members), Fresno (22 members), Los Angles (319 members), Sacramento (35 members), San Diego (33 members), San Francis-co (224 members) and Stockton(19 members). The easiest way to continue your membership is to go to the ASTA website: h ps:// www.astastrings.org/ I wish to send my sincere condolences to the family of Stockton Section board member Rita Wilcox. She was a valuable member of our community, and she shall be missed.

Finally, I wish to thank Lawrence Huang for being my “plus one” at the ASTA Leadership Conference in Orlando last month. The sessions were full of valuable information, and I am glad I was able to a end. If you have never a ended a national conference, I would encourage you to go. Next year it will be March 20-23 in Louisville Kentucky. It is an extraordinary opportunity to connect with string educations across the county. It is the only professional conference I have ever been to where you must choose between sessions. That is how many opportunities there are! I wish all of you a joyful spring and summer.

Musically, Stephanie Holmes

CalASTA President

ASTA Calendar Year Accounting Report

CalASTA State Solo Competition 2022

California Chapter Calendar Year 2022

Expenses

Prepared by Michael Feeney, State Treasurer January 1, 2022 Bank Balance 4,076.94 INCOME Rebates from National 10,207.55 State Competition Entry Fees 2,850.00 Soundpost Corporate Sponsorships 2.000.00 Miscellaneous Income 91.97 Total Income: 15,149.52 EXPENSES Rebates to Sections 3,571.81 State Solo Competition 5,269.27 Soundpost Production 100.00 Website Support 556.04 Election Expenses 159.90 Miscellaneous Office Expenses 24.00 Bank Fees 48.00 California Government Registration 55.00 Total Expenses: 9,784.02 January 1, 2022 Bank Balance 4,076.94 Plus Income (+) 15,149.52 Minus Expenses (-) 9,784.02 December 31, 2022 Bank Balance 9,442.44

Venue 465.00 Competition Judges 1,600.00 Accompanists 700.00 Travel Costs 366.86 Operating Expenses 537.41 Total Competition Expenses 3,669.27 Competition Awards Novice Cello 150.00 Novice Viola 150.00 Novice Harp 150.00 Novice Violin 150.00 Junior Cello 200.00 Junior Guitar 200.00 Junior Harp 200.00 Junior Viola 200.00 Junior Violin 200.00 Total Competition Awards 1,600.00 Revenue Competitor Entry Fees 2,100.00 Accompanist Fees 750.00 Total Revenue 2,850.00

Total Competition Expenses (-) 3,669.2 Total Competition Awards (-) 1,600.00 Total Revenue (+) 2,850.00 Net Competition Cost (2,419.27)

Last year the FresnoASTA board has been hard at work to bringing back our annual events which included our chamber music workshop, the student recital, and the solo competition.

This year are enjoying the benefits of our work last year and had a record number of sixty-five students ranging in age from 8-17 who participated in the Annual Chamber Music Workshop, which was help on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the Alta Sierra Middle School in Fresno. Represented teachers from our chapter were Kelvin Diaz-Inoa, Adam Elmore, Lianna Elmore, Yuliya Hess, Emma Hill, Leo Kim, Thomas Loewenheim, Isaac Lopez, Jose Quiñones, Willard Roberson, Kamilah Simba-Torres, Maxine Spencer, Derek Stewart, Cynthia Stuart, and Limor TorenImmerman.

The workshop took place from 9:00 AM till 2:00 PM and placed the students in fourteen different groups coached by Erin Adams, Julia Copeland, Adam Elmore, Lianna Elmore, Emma Hill, Leo Kim, John Morrice, Jose Quiñones, Willard Roberson, Judy Robinson, Christian Segura, Claudia Shiuh, K.C. Simba-Torres, Ma hew Smoke, and Cynthia Stuart. Assistants for the Pre-A group (beginners) were Darian Marquez and Rob Stuart. At the end of the day the students presented a culmination recital with family members in a endance. It was really wonderful to return to this ideal venue and have our first full-scale chamber music workshop for students since February 2020!

Our second event this season will be the FresnoASTA Student Recital which will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church. Traditionally we have a few students from the various studios in town presenting a recital that demonstrated the various age groups on young string players in Fresno.

Our annual student solo competition will take place on Saturday, June 3, 2023. The competition is open to string players (Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Classical Guitar and Harp) who are students of active FresnoASTA members. We modelled our competition to align with the State competition and have three age divisions: the Novice division, age 12 and under, the Junior division, age 13-18, and the Senior division, age 19-25.

Dr. Thomas Loewenheim President, CalASTA Fresno Section

Chamber Music Festival : Our annual Chamber Music Festival was re-established after 2 years of social distancing. Co-hosted by Kay Pech & Louise Brown, it was held at the Local 7 Foster Recital Hall to an enthusiastic audience. Participating members who sponsored a group were Louise Brown, Amy Crippen, Marcia Dickstein, and Kay Pech. CalASTA-LA Board Members, Sam Fischer, Leslie Ho, Wendy Velasco, andConstance Deeter, performed the new work

by Nokuthula Ngwenyama “Cars Talk.”

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE ₂₀₂₂ STATE WINNERS FROM CALASTA-LA Junior Violin: Ruby Lee (Violin Studio of Mori and Park) Junior Harp: Calene Lee (Mindy Ball) Novice Violin: Natalie Xu (Violin Studio of Mori & Park) Novice Viola: Leonora Vukovi (Deborah Vukovi )

2022 Noumi Fischer Award winner, Ethan Yang (student of Linda Rose) perfomed the Mozart A Major Violin Concerto III. Rondeau with the Olympia Youth Orchestra on Sun. January 8, 2023.

2023 Solo competitions Solo Competition applications are being accepted for Bowed Strings, Guitar, and Harp.

The dates are: Bowed Strings Video Application for the first round is due. April 1. The Final Round will be held on Sat. May 27 for the invited finalists at CSUFullerton, Clayes Performing Arts Center (CPAC). It is free and open to the public.

The Guitar Competition will be held Sun., April 2, MacDonald Recital Hall USC The Harp Competition will be held Sun., April 2, location TBA. Many thanks to board member, Fung Ho, for his help again this year in securing a generous grant of $5,000 from the Hennings-Fischer Foundation which helps our finalists in the bowed strings with the additional costs of working with a pianist in the two round process.

Grant Program: So far this year, we have awarded 3 grants.

Funds were awarded to the So Cal Viola Society for their Viola Fest held March 5 Elemental Strings was awarded money to commission a work for their Prelude Strings Ensemble so that elementary orchestras could perform works wri en by more racially diverse composers. The piece will be premiered at their May 2023 concert.

It will then be made available to other beginning string ensembles.

Funds were again awarded to Education Through Music LA for a teacher training session in August. The session will be open to ALL string teachers. Stay tuned for information about the presenter and a specific date.

ASTACAP: Our in person ASTACAP program held quarterly (March/June/September/December) continues to expand under the leadership of co-chairs, Kay Pech and Nick Alvarez. We now have 109 students enrolled for March 2023 evaluations.

Teachers who have participated in CalASTA-LA in person ASTACAP: Kayoko Adachi, Allison Allport, Nick Alvarez, Dorene Blair, Louise Brown, Samvel Chilingarian, Gene Chung, Rachel Coosaia, Brenda Crawford-Friedman, Celine Gie en, Lynne Graham, Stephen Green, Linda-Rose Hembreiker, Kristin Herkstroeter, Leslie Ho, Gary Hung, Seungmi Hur, Chloe Kang, Kay Kim, Bing Li,, Yoshika Masuda, Nicole McKenzie, Marisa McLeod, Mei Oh, Joyce Osborn, David Xiao-Qiang Pan, Mi Park, Diana Ray-Goodman, Cheryl Scheidemantle, Agnes Schwar , Irene Shiao, Paul Stein, Ayako Sugaya, Ann Tenney, Misha Vayman, Wendy Velasco, Peijun June Xu, and Chloe Yoon Respectfully submitted, Wendy Velasco Preside, CalAsta Los Angeles Section

The Sacramento section has three upcoming events scheduled.

The first is our annual Mother’s Day Spring concert which will take place on Sunday, May 14, at the “Melon Ball” located at 1970 Lake Blvd. in Davis, CA. The recital is scheduled to begin at 2:00.

Our annual section solo competition will be held on Sunday, June 4, at the UC Davis Music Department. Registration and guidelines for both events can be found at calasta.org under the Sacramento page.

We will be having our first “Note Exchange” on Monday, June 19 at the home of our Secretary, Reylynn Imai. This will be an informal gathering of local string instructors to exchange ideas on any topic they wish to discuss.

Kimberly Feeney President, CalASTA Sacramento Section

The San Diego Section held an ASTA String Recital for members and their students giving all the opportunity to perform an “in person” recital which was held on Saturday, February 4th, 2023 at the Incarnation Lutheran Church located at 16889 Espola Rd in Poway. The recital titled “Love and Music is in the Air” celebrated not only the love of music but also Valentine’s Day along with many other significant holidays.

The recital was well received and teachers from several studios were represented in this wonderful family Recital.

Upcoming ASTA San Diego Section Events!

Stay tuned as our board members are excited to work together to organize a Chamber Music Concert, to be held in April of 2023. Vice President, Jennifer Albrent, is organizing this event and we are very excited to present another opportunity for our members and their students to participate.

ASTA Chamber Music Concert Saturday April 22, 2023 3:00-4:00 Encinitas Community Center Rm 118 1140 Oakcrest Park Dr. Encinitas, CA 92024

Application forms will be sent out to all members soon!

Additional plans to include chapter competitions and teacher workshops to help invigorate your private or community music studios will be offered in the near future as well. Stay tuned for more updates!

Warmwishes, Ulli Reiner President, CalASTASan Diego

The CalASTA San Francisco Section Board of Directors is working hard to meet three primary goals. These include: connecting our very large section, creating familiarity between our members, and also highlighting the teachers in our area. There are five ways that we will be doing this: .

1. Teacher’s Symposiums In May 2023 we are launching our new series of online Teacher Symposiums. Over the next year there will be a total of four sessions with five different exceptional teachers from our section. Each year we will ensure that different instruments and styles are represented. Symposium leaders will give a discussion about specific parameters of string playing. We encourage members to invite non-members to attend, as we think everyone can benefit, and hope that more string players will become inspired to join our community.

2023 May 7, 1-3 pm: Kaethe Hostetter & Darcy Noonan demonstrating Ethiopian and Irish Fiddle styles August 27, 1-3 pm: Jonathan Koh, cellist. Faculty at UC Berkeley.

November 5, 1-3 pm: Madeline Prager, violist. Faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music

2024 January/February Scott Cmiel, guitarist. Faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Payable to calastasf@gmail.com: Suggested donations

3 symposium pack

2 symposium pack

1 symposium

Members

$56

$44

$25

Non-members

$79

$60

$35

We are investigating the possibility of offering professional development credit for these symposiums.

2. Newsletters We will be offering new sections in our quarterly newsletters (March, June, September,

December) for members to collaborate. There is now a section where articles* written by CalASTA SF members about a range of topics related to string playing will be published, a member announcements section, and a classified section where CalASTA SF members can publish ads relevant to string teaching and string playing at a low price, helping to fund our programs. We hope that these new sections will help share knowledge about string teaching and offer members new opportunities to become visible within our very large and long geographical space from Monterey to the Oregon border. *We welcome all of your contributions although we cannot guarantee that all of the articles we receive will be published. Communications about the newsletter will be sent via email, so please make sure your email on file is correct and/or updated.

Here are the links to make submissions to our newsletter: Member Announcements Member Announcements Classified Ads related to string teaching Classified Ads Original articles about string teaching Original articles Submit your music and/or books related to string teaching for our review Book and music review

3. Member outreach We are seeking ambassadors that can speak to the needs of their different

geographical areas and lead events there. This will help us better serve everyone. We will be offering funds to facilitate and promote at least one ASTA event being held in each geographical area over the course of the year. At the moment, the seven county groupings are the following: Del Norte/Humboldt/Trinity, Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma/Napa, Marin/ Solano, Contra Costa/Alameda, San Francisco/San Mateo/Santa Clara, Santa Cruz/San Benito/Monterey. If you live in any of these areas and would like to volunteer to run a local event, please write to asta.sanfrancisco@gmail.com

4. Membership Coordinator We are adding the position of Membership Coordinator to our

Board. Communication with our members is of vital importance to be able to publicize and program events. Tristianne Talarco has agreed to fill this position alongside her Secretarial position until we find someone else. The Coordinator will be in contact with key members to let them know how they can get involved. The coordinator will also maintain our mailing and volunteer lists up-to-date. If you would like to contact membership, please write to membership.asta.sanfrancisco@gmail.com.

If you or someone you know might be interested in becoming the Coordinator, please let us know here: nomination form.

5. CalASTA San Francisco Student Group It has been our goal for over a year to

reach out to the student members of our section. Students are our future teachers. We imagine groups of student ASTA members at conservatories or in music programs creating a club with the help of a professional ASTA mentor at those institutions. As a section, we may be able to provide funding for a student event organized by the club. If you are teaching at a conservatory or a university and would like to mentor a club, please get in touch with us at asta.sanfrancisco@gmail.com

Solo Competition

Our CalASTA San Francisco Section Solo Competition will be in October 2023 and chaired by the State Board member Lawrence Huang. We all thank Lawrence Huang for stepping up and making this possible for our members as we dedicate time to expanding other activities. Please contact him at lhuang@dvc.edu with any questions you may have.

Elections

We have begun accepting nominations for new Section Board members. Many board members have retired or are about to retire, and we need to fill their places. The nomination process will close July 1st, and our elections will be held in September via the CalASTA website. Do you know of someone who would be perfect for the board? Or are you yourself interested in making events happen to enrichen and benefit our membership? The nomination form is available here: nomination form

Warm wishes, Kathleen Balfe President, CalASTASan Francisco Section

Griena “Goody”Choi-Trask, ; President, CalASTAStockton Section

CalAsta State Solo Competition 2022 Winners Natalie Xu is 11 years old and she is a student of Yuki Mori and Min Jung Park. (Violin Studio of Mori & Park) She recently won 1st place in her division of the 2022 CalASTA State Solo Competition, Grand Prize at the 2022 Satori Competition, 1st place at the CAPMT OC and JCM Concerto Competition, 1st place at the SYMF Competition in the Open and Baroque categories, and has performed with the Orchestra Collective of Orange County as a soloist. Currently, Natalie is a sixth grader in Irvine at Westpark Elementary School. As well as playing the violin, Natalie enjoys reading, cooking, and visual arts. Additionally, she is a member of the American Mensa.

Starla Breshears, cellist Starla, age 14, began cello lessons at age 3 with Yoshie Muratani. By the age of 6 Starla started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Additionally, Starla is coached by cellist Christine Walevska. Starla has soloed with 12 different orchestras since the age of six including the Nova Vista Symphony, Parnassus Symphony, South Valley Orchestra, Prometheus Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, and the California Youth Symphony. She has won numerous solo competitions, including, 1st Place ASTA State Competition (Novice & Junior divisions), 1st Place California Youth Symphony Young Artist Competition, 1st Place U.S. International Music Competition, 1st Place U.S. Open Music Competition, 1st Place LivermoreAmador Symphony Concerto Competition, 1st Place CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, Grand Prize DVS-HNU Strings Competition, and 1st Place winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society Competition. Starla has participated in masterclasses with Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Amit Peled, Darrett Adkins, and Bonnie Hampton. In 2022 Starla joined the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program.

Cara Wang, currently 12, from Fremont, CA, started playing both the cello and piano at the age of 4. Cara is passionate about classical music and is currently studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Pre-College division. She has won numerous awards, including 1st place at the American Protégé International Concerto Competition, Outstanding Gold Medalist at United States Open Music Competition and has performed at the Junior Bach Festival and the Fremont Young Recitalist finalist concert and other community events.

She loves collaborating with others and is currently principal cellist of the SFCM Pre-College String Orchestra, Hopkins Jr. High Advanced Orchestra, and a member of a piano trio and the Harmonious Four quartet. She is grateful to be studying with her cello teachers, Mr. Amos Yang and Mr. Alan Yang. When not

Emily Hwang, 17, is a violist from Palo Alto, California. She studies with Dimitri Murrath at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division.

Emily was a semifinalist at the 2022 Klein Competition, and a 2022 and 2023 YoungArts winner. In 2021, she received first prize at the Worldvision Junior Music Contest, second prize at the Houston International Music Competition.

She has been featured on NPR's "From the Top" Show 407, and Show 421, and performed with the California Youth Symphony as a soloist at the 2021 CYS season opener concert.

Emily has a ended several summer music programs, including the 2022 National Youth Orchestra of the USA, the 2019 Music@Menlo Koret Young Performers Program, and the 2020 and 2021 Morningside Music Bridge Festivals, where she had the opportunity to work with violists Hsin-yun Huang, Kim Kashkashian, Steve Tenenbom, Teng Li, Yu Jin, Atar Arad, and Paul Cole i. She has also performed for violists Nobuko Imai, Yura Lee, and Ayane Kozasa.

In her free time, Emily likes to read, write, and spend time with her friends and family.

Leonora Vukovi (winner of the 2022 CalASTA State Competition viola novice category) is a student of her mother Deborah Vukovi and has been playing the viola since she was four years old. She also plays the violin and enjoys improvising on both instruments. She has won awards at the SYMF festival as both a violist and violinist and first prize in the AVSOMC Bach Competition as a violist. In October, she performed the first movement of Sei ’s “Concerto in C Minor” as a viola soloist with the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. She also plays in the viola section of that orchestra. Leonora is homeschooled through River Oaks Academy Charter where she is currently in sixth grade. Her favorite hobbies include writing, acting and drawing.

Reade Park, age 18, is a student in the Pre-College Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studies classical guitar with Sco Cmiel and composition with Robert Chastain. He won 1st place in the Guitar Foundation of America’s 2022 International Youth Competition, 2nd place in the James Stroud 2022 Classical Guitar Competition, and was an Honorable Mention winner in the 2022 and 2023 National YoungArts Foundation Competition. He also appeared on NPR’s From the Top program in 2021 and has performed in master classes conducted by Manuel Barrueco, Marcin Dylla, Eliot Fisk, Judicaël Perroy, Meng Su, Ben Verdery, and Jason Vieaux. Reade was also first-place winner of SFCM’s 2021 Kris Ge

Composition Competition and was among

the finalists for the 2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Competition. Outside the Conservatory, Reade enjoys math, playing classical piano pieces with swing, and cultivating carnivorous plants.

Calene Lee is a sophomore and has been studying harp with Mindy Ball for the past 6 years. She has played piano since she was 5 and harp since she was 9, and is in her second year serving as the Principal Harpist for the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. Calene has won multiple awards for both instruments at the regional, state and national level. She is currently a ending the Orange County School of the Arts, where she studies in the Creative Writing Conservatory. She particularly enjoys reading fantasy fiction and writing short stories, sci-fi, and poetry.