Each year in early September, composition students from Elementary to Young Artist prepare their compositions to enter the MTNA Composition Competition. Each state holds their own competition to select winners to advance to the Division Competition and, ultimately, the National Competition. Massachusetts had the most entries of any state for the MTNA Composition Competition this year. Our state has been well represented in the Eastern Division and the National Competition over the years. We are very proud of our talented young composers and their dedicated teachers.
The purpose of the MTNA Composition Competition is to encourage creativity and self-expression in student musicians through the art of composing and to recognize their achievements, as well as the significant work of their teachers. Upon entering their work into the competition, students receive written comments from three judges. This year, the state judges were Emily Hall, M. Shawn Hundley, and Philip Schuessler, and the Eastern Division judges were Jennifer Bellor, Stephen Gorbos, and Jeffrey Parola.
2018 Massachusetts MTNA Composition Competition Winners
Elementary:
Winner: Evan Lam, Student of David Ibbett
Honorable mention: Ian Lin, Student of Alla Cohen
Junior:
Winner: Jonathan Garrity, Student of David Ibbett
Honorable mention: Charles Molten, Student of Olga Berkovich
Honorable mention: Justin Yamaguchi, Student of Matthew Hagle
Honorable mention: Athena Zhang, Student of Alla Cohen
Senior:
Winner: Longfei Sun, Student of Whitman Brown
Honorable mention: Caroline Bragg, Student of Alla Cohen
Honorable mention: Lily Hoyt, Student of David Ibbett
Honorable mention: Jiayu Huang, Student of Alla Cohen
Honorable mention: Jiaruo Shi, Student of Whitman Brown
Honorable mention: Kathy Xue, Student of Alla Cohen
Honorable mention: Iris Yang, Student of Alla Cohen
Honorable mention: Alex Zhang, Student of David Ibbett
Young Artist: Winner: Ehood Gershuni, Student of Alla Cohen Honorable mention: Madison Miller, Student of Alla Cohen Honorable mention: Wai Leung William So, Student of Alla Cohen
Massachusetts state competition winners pictured above [left to right]: Evan Lam (Elementary), Jonathan Garrity (Junior), Longfei Sun (Senior), Ehood Gershuni (Young Artist)
2018 Eastern Division MTNA Composition Competition Winners
Elementary:
Winner: Evan Lam, Student of David Ibbett, MA
Honorable mention: Michael Middlezong, Student of Kaori Tanioka, NJ
Junior:
Winner: Jonathan Hartanto, Student of Kaori Tanioka, NJ
Honorable mention: Alexander Lee, Student of Valerica Maican, DC
Senior:
Winner: Longfei Sun, Student of Whitman Brown, MA
Honorable mention: Curtis Chen, Student of Jen-Chiao Fang, NJ
Young Artist: Winner: Ehood Gershuni, Student of Alla Cohen, MA
The winning division compositions automatically advance to the national competition as national finalists. The results of the national competition will be announced by the end of January. Congratulations to all the participating students for their hard work!