Winners

Community Service Awards Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the FSMTA Community Service Awards for 9th and 12th Graders!
These awards are given in recognition of student's leadership, achievements, and service to the community in the field of music. The FSMTA would like to thank all participants and their instructors, as well as the panel of judges for their efforts and support!

Anastasiya Naplekova
VP for FSMTA Competitive Events

Winner of the Local and District Presidents Community Service Award for Ninth Graders is McKayla Ro (Gainesville, FL)

McKayla Ro is a ninth grader at Buchholz High School. She has had a passion for music since she was eight years old, when she performed piano at Carnegie Hall as a silver- medalist winner of the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented Competition. She later went on to perform at Carnegie Hall again and won various piano competitions, such as the FSMTA state solo and concerto competitions. McKayla is active in community service, including tutoring math at her school, volunteering at the Florida Natural History Museum, and taking part in various music activities, such as playing flute in church band and at nursing homes. Through exposure to varieties of music, including classical, pop, and hip-hop, she developed an deeper appreciation for music, which was was able to connect her with her grandfather who resided in a nursing home thousands of miles away. McKayla is an active member of the Buchholz Math Team and various clubs, including debate and creative writing. Most of all, she enjoys curling up with a nice book while listening to classical music playing softly in the background.

Winner of the FSMTA COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD FOR TWELFTH GRADERS is Tri Nguyen (Sarasota, FL)

From dragon dancing to martial arts to modern dance to music, I love to volunteer and share everything to the community with a passion. At my local temples, I enjoy performing dancing and martial arts--complete with the rhythmic drum, gong, and other instruments performances--with my team every year for Chinese New Year. Last year, I hosted the Arts Festival at Pine View in order to spread the entertaining culture of music. It was a great success with lots of performers and audience members. In music, I have played both Piano and Alto Saxophone in classical and jazz settings. For piano, I am the Vice President of the Concert Crew at my school, where we practice chamber music to play at nursing home recitals. I was also the founder of the Musical Performance Circle, a club that has recitals at lunch for students at our school to enjoy. For alto saxophone, I played in the wind ensemble for my first two years of high school and now am in jazz band for the last two. This year, I am playing both piano and alto saxophone in jazz band. Amongst all this, I love to audition for different events like the Variety Show and the Boys State Talent Show and to play in Solo & Ensemble and Festival.

Announcing FL MTNA 2020 National Competitors

Dear FSMTA Members,

Congratulations to all of Florida's MTNA national competition finalists! We are very proud of our state's outstanding students, and we wish the following Florida representatives the very best at the MTNA national competitions in Chicago in March!

National Finalists from Florida:

Senior Composition--Emily Singleton, student of Stephen Fine
Senior Voice--Wooldjina Present, student of Jennifer Tipton
Young Artist String Ensemble--Trio Nobile (Florida State University), students of Read Gainsford
- Ensemble Members: Christina Lai, Pedro Maia, and Cheuk Yan Leung

The chamber music finals will take place at the 2020 MTNA National Conference in Chicago on Saturday, March 21, and the senior performance finals will take place on Sunday, March 22. Best wishes to Emily, Wooldjina, and Trio Nobile!

Best,
Adam Booher
FSMTA Vice President of MTNA Competitions

2019 FSMTA Competitive Events Winners

The competitions were held on Saturday, May 18 at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City Campus. Congratulations to all of this year’s competitors and their teachers and families! Countless hours of work, guidance, and support went into the many fine performances at our competitive events.

Erin Bennett, VP for FSMTA Competitive Events

Gray Perry Collegiate Young Artist

Winner: Robiyakhon Akromova; Teacher: Roberta Rust, District 6
Second: Derek Alexander; Teacher: Yun-Ling Hsu, District 5

Byrd Pre-College Piano Ensemble

Winners: Shayna Singer & Quin Nardone; Teacher: Maria Gomez, District 6

Senior Piano Concerto

Winner: Madison Yan; Teacher: Irena Kofman, District 6
Second (tie): Kathy Liu; Teacher: Vladimir Khokhlov, District 9
Second (tie): Meryl Liu; Teacher: Oleg Barsov, District 5

Intermediate Piano Concerto

Winner: Gabriel Sun; Teacher: Maria Gomez, District 6
Second: Janet Liu; Teacher: Stella Gaukhshteyn, District 9
Honorable Mention: Katie Carlson; Teacher: Mary Lou Wesley Krosnick, District 4

Junior Piano Concerto

Winner: Vincent Pham; Teacher: Vladimir Khokhlov, District 9
Second: Siyang Ding; Teacher: Roxanne Stevenson, District 6
Honorable Mention: Emmanuel Zheng; Teacher: Hee Jung Kang, District 3

Senior Voice

Winner: Shayna Singer; Teacher: Maria Gomez, District 6

Senior String Concerto

Winner: Sophia Molina; Teacher: Huifang Chen, District 6
Second: Karishma Chapalamadugu; Teacher: Yan Lu, District 9

Intermediate String Concerto

Winner: Elena Lim; Teacher: Huifang Chen, District 6
Second: Leo Lam; Teacher: Howard Yu, District 9

Junior String Concerto

Winner: Sophie De; Teacher: Stephen Fine, District 3
Second: Fiona Lin Blackburn; Teacher: Yan Lu, District 9
Honorable Mention: Catherine Zhao; Teacher: Huifang Chen, District 6