McDonald Music Studio’s students again showed why they are the strongest music students around! First prizes went to:
Catherine Choi (viola)
Evelyn Cheng (Haydn concerto in D, mvt. 3)
Lucas Pei (Mozart a minor, mvt. 1)
Jenna Tran (Mendelssohn concerto in g minor, mvt. 1)
Julia Xiang (Haydn Sonata in C, HOB XVI:35 mvt. 1)
Blythe Chen (Haydn Sonata in F, HOB XVI:23, mvt. 1)
Mason Lee (Mozart sonata in G major, mvt. 1)
This means that our piano students won one third of the total divisions for the entire competition (there were 18 total divisions). Congratulations to all!
Shawn and Melody Guo take 2nd prize at MTNA Nationals
Siblings Shawn and Melody Guo took home 2nd prize at the MTNA National level competition for duet piano (four hands). They played a spectacular program of Carl Vine, Greg Anderson’s arrangement of Bach Brandenburg G major, and Alex McDonald’s arrangement of Horowitz’s transcription of Dance Macabre by Saint-Saens. You played fantastically!
Shawn and Melody also took home 2nd prize at the Ohio International 4 hands/Duo Competition, as well as first prize at the Northwest Competition in Canada. Congratulations to you!
Kaitlyn Ouyang takes grand prize at the TASO Juanita Miller competition!
Kaitlyn Ouyang wowed the judges with her spectacular performance of Prokofiev’s concerto no. 3, mvt. 3. She was not only the first prize winner for piano but also won the grand prize for all divisions. Congratulations Kaitlyn!
Alex and Marcy McDonald give keynote masterclass for MTNA national conference in Atlanta
Marcy and Alex McDonald were invited as a featured masterclass for intermediate level students for the national convention for Music Teachers National Association in Atlanta. Thank you Peter Mack for the kind invitation!
Symphonic Festival senior concerto division - a clean sweep
Results like this don’t happen often, so when they do, we celebrate them.
In the competitive Dallas Symphonic Festival senior concerto division:
1st place - Jack Rouche (Tchaikovsky, mvt. 1)
2nd place - Melody Guo (Rachmaninoff 1, mvt. 3)
3rd place - Judy Yan (Saint-Saens 2, mvt. 1)
4th place - Emma Oba (Rachmaninoff 2, mvt. 3)
5th place - Tae Han (Schumann, mvt. 1)
Incredible work - we are so proud of you.
Emma Oba takes first prize at TASO Juanita Miller Competition
For the second year in a row, McDonald Music Studios students have taken the top prize in the piano division of the Juanita Miller Competition. Emma Oba gave a brilliant and expressive performance of Rachmaninoff’s concerto no. 2, mvt. 3. She also receives a nice cash prize. Bravo, Emma!
Jenna Tran - just 11 years old - to solo with Plano Symphony!
A wonderful accomplishment by Jenna Tran, the sole piano grand prize winner of the Collin County Young Artist Competition. She will perform the opening movement of Mozart’s concerto in A major, K 414. She gave a truly poetic and expressive performance in the competition finals, beating older pianists who have played for as long as she has been alive! Way to go Jenna!
McDonald Studios Students shine at Basically Beethoven Festival 2023
Ella Tran of the Yolutra Trio performed brilliantly with violinist Steven Lu and cellist Danielle Yoon, performing Brahms trio no. 1 (mvt 1) and the scherzo movement of Babajanian’s riveting trio. You received a stellar review from the Dallas Morning News. AND - your performance was just broadcast on WRR. Incredible work!
From Dallas News.com: “They began with as deeply felt and warmly shaped a first movement of the Brahms B major (Op. 8) as you’ll hear anywhere.... The third movement (Allegro vivace) of the 20th-century Armenian composer Arno Babadjanian’s F-sharp minor Piano Trio couldn’t have been more different. Its rugged, rowdy music was brilliantly dispatched, without slighting lyric episodes.” Bravo! Here is the full review: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/performing-arts/2023/07/10/review-impressive-new-chamber-orchestra-piano-trio-open-basically-beethoven-festival/
Ella is now a freshman studying piano at TCU on a full scholarship.
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The following performance featured a brilliant performance of Mozart’s Kegelstatt trio, featuring our very own Melody Guo. Melody was also the first prize winner of the 2023 Collin County Young Artist Competition - and gave a brilliant performance of the first movement of Rachmnaninoff’s concerto no. 1 with the excellent. Plano Symphony. Her trio was likewise praised by the Dallas News critic, Scott Cantrell:
“In the pre-concert “Rising Stars” performance it was almost incredible that the three musicians playing Mozart’s Kegelstatt Trio (K. 498) were “mere” high schoolers. But Nicole Johnson spun out the clarinet’s lines with warm tone and suave phrasing and Maanas Varma delivered the technically challenging viola part with impressive assurance. Pianist Melody Guo’s collaboration was as sensitive as it was sure fingered.”
Here is a link to the full review: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/performing-arts/2023/07/17/review-basically-beethoven-presents-a-lively-program-for-winds-and-piano/
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A final solo performance by our very own Tony Lu was also highly praised for his excellent Beethoven op. 31 no. 3 and his Dutillieux sonata. Tony was recognized at the festival for ranking second at the national round of the MTNA competition just a few years before. His excellent review can be found here: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/performing-arts/2023/07/31/review-a-fine-finale-for-this-years-basically-beethoven-festival/
Congratulations to all!
McDonald Studios student solos with Dallas Symphony for second year in a row
BIG congratulations to Jack Rouche:
In addition to winning the Baylor/Waco concerto competition, you were also the sole grand prize winner of the Dallas Symphony’s Lynn Harrell competition. Your performance with the Dallas Symphony of the complete Tchaikovsky concerto brought smiles to many even in the orchestra. What an accomplishment - congratulations!
Also, you won first at TMTA’s 9-10 concerto division.
Speaking of TMTA, congratulations also to Emma Oba, who won first place in 10 solo!
Alex McDonald inducted into Steinway Teacher Hall of Fame in NYC
Dr. McDonald was inducted into the Steinway and Sons Hall of Fame for teachers. He joins the likes of Wha Kyung Byun (New England Conservatory), Robert McDonald (Juilliard, Curtis), and others. Thank you Steinway for this honor!