Studio News! MSS students shine at Collin County, Lewisville Lake Vernell Gregg, Symphonic Festival, and MTNA State/Regionals!

January has been very eventful for our students!

  1. Ella Tran! The Grand Prize winner for piano of the Collin County Young Artist Competition, she will play Rachmaninoff Concerto no. 3, mvt. 3 with the Plano Symphony on March 19 at 8:00 at the Eisemann Center. Something that I find extra special about this is how for at least 6 years, she has given excellent performances at this competition each year but hasn’t received the grand prize til now. For tickets, see https://secure.planosymphony.org/TheatreManager/1/online?performance=2181

    Ella also won the top prize for Symphonic Festival, senior concerto division, taking home a nice cash prize. :)

  2. Victoria Han! The sole Grand Prize winner of the Lewisville Lake Vernell Gregg Competition, she will perform the complete Schumann concerto with the Lewisville Lake Symphony on February 11. For tickets, see https://www.lewisvillesymphony.org/copy-of-tickets

  3. Tony Lu! He won both the Texas and South-Central divisions of MTNA, junior division (ages 11-14). He is one of 7 national finalists! Looking forward to nationals!

  4. We would also like to congratulate: Kiana Sharp, Kenny Hu, Emma Oba, Dabin Lee, and Ella Tran for winning first place in their respective divisions at Symphonic Festival. Incredible work guys!

Congrats to our class of 2021!

Congrats to the following graduates for their many excellent accomplishments!

Shiv Yajnik: accepted to Juilliard for piano study; will attend Columbia University with continued lessons with Juilliard Faculty Matti Raekallio. His past accomplishments included soloing with the Plano and Baylor Symphony Orchestras, and twice was an MTNA national finalist.

Regina Lin: will attend Harvard University. Regina was twice a Rising Star for the Basically Beethoven Festival in Dallas, and was the frequent top winner in state competitions including the TMTA state-level competition.

Pranay Varada: will attend Harvard University. In addition to winning the National Geographic geography bee, Pranay twice won the TMTA state-level competition.

Sydney Levey: will attend Texas Christian University on a full scholarship; Sydney won first prize at the TMTA state competition as well at the Texas State International Piano Festival concerto competition.

Sunny Hua: will attend college at Florida State, and was the winner for both Dallas Piano Solo and Dallas Symphonic Festival.

We are privileged to have been a part of your journey! We wish you all a happy and healthy future, full of good music!

More Studio News from the 2020-2021 School Year...

It has been quite a year! No one imagined that things could turn out as they have. Nonetheless, we are immensely grateful that many arts organizations have pressed on in spite of the pandemic, offering a variety of virtual events. We are so proud of our students who have also pressed ahead in spite of these difficult circumstances! You continually show yourselves to be among the very best, and we are so thankful for you!

Here are some recents competitions events and performances:

Firstly, Ella Tran gave a wonderful performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto along side Lindsey Kim (violin) and Marlon Florez (cello), with the Arlington, Garland and Las Colinas Symphony Orchestras.

We also congratulation Regina Lin and Ashley Tauhert who gave Rising Star recitals as a part of the 2020 Basically Beethoven Festival-in-Place. Also featured was studio alumnus Kyle Orth. Soon to be Dr. Orth (he is ABD for his DMA at New England Conservatory) will also be competing in the Honens International Competition in Canada and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium.

David D Dubois Competition at Bowling Green State University

Shiv Yajnik received first prize winner of this highly competitive competition.

MTNA 2020 - 2021

Shiv Yajnik was the sole winner of Senior Piano for Texas and also the South Central division, and will represent us all at Nationals!

David Choi was the sole winner of Junior Piano for Texas and also the South Central division, and will likewise represent us at National!

We also congratulation Regina Lin, who was the alternate for Senior Piano. Well done, everyone!

In addition, one of our teachers, Alex McDonald, will give an hour long presentation at the national virtual conference on the topic of transfer students; other presenters for this topic include Veda Kaplinsky (Juilliard) and Marina Lomazov (Eastman).

Lewisville Lake Symphony Competition

David Choi was the first prize winner of the junior division (all instruments) for his beautiful performance of Mozart’s concerto in A, K 488.

2020 Memphis International Piano Festival and Competition

David Choi was the first prize winner for the Young Stars Division; second prize went to Mana Asaka, and Honorable Mention went to Emma Oba.

2020 Piano Star International Competition

Regina Lin was the 3rd prize winner in Professional Group III.

Radda Rise International Piano Competition

Benjamin LeSuer was the 2nd prize winner of the Category 1 division.

Dallas Piano Solo Competition

Many students did quite well in this competitive local event; out of 18 divisions, our students took home 9 first place trophies, winning half of the available divisions!

Division IA - Irene Lee (2nd prize)

Division IB - Ethan Guo (Honorable Mention)

Division II - Jenna Tran (first prize)

Division IIIA - Kaz Oba (finalist)

Division IIIB - Kiana Sharp (1st prize)

Division IIIB - Dylan Bao (honorable mention)

Division VA - Mana Asaka (1st prize)

Division VB - Lucas Pei (first prize)

Division VB - Oliver Chen (2nd prize)

Division VIA - Christine Choi (2nd prize)

Division VIA - Tae Han (honorable mention)

Division VIB - Joanna Jia (1st prize)

Division VIB - Emma Oba (3rd prize)

Division VIIA - Jennifer Lee (honorable mention)

Division VIIB - Michelle Cheng (1st prize)

Division VIIIA - Julia Wang (1stprize)

Division VIIIB - Jason Lu (1st prize)

Division VIIIB - Cameron Chin (3rd prize)

Division IX - Kyle Cornelison (1st prize)

Division IX - Patrick Du (2nd prize)

Division IX - Benjamin Aleman (honorable mention)

Division X - David Choi (3rd prize)

Division X - Connor Chin (4th prize)

Dallas Symphonic Festival

Again, students did a simply outstanding job, winning 7 of the possible 16 division, including sweeping all 5 concerto divisions. Here is the full list of how everyone did:

Elementary I Concerto - Benjamin LeSuer (1st prize)

Elementary II Concerto - Kiana Sharp (1st prize)

Elementary II Concerto - Kaz Oba (3rd prize)

Intermediate Concerto - Tony Lu (1st prize)

Junior Concerto - Julia Want (1st prize)

Senior Concerto - Regina Lin (1st prize)

Senior Concerto - Sydney Levey (2nd prize)

Senior Concerto - Pranay Varada (6th prize)

Elementary IIA Sonata - Dylan Bao (honorable mention)

Elementary IIB Sonata - Lucas Pei (1st prize)

Elementary IIB Sonata - Eugene Wang (3rd prize)

Elementary IIB Sonata - Jenna Tran (6th prize)

Intermediate A Sonata - Oliver Chen (3rd prize)

Intermediate B Sonata - David Choi (1st prize)

Intermediate B Sonata - Christine Choi (2nd prize)

Intermediate C Sonata - Tae Han (3rd prize)

Intermediate C sonata - Joanna Jia (6th prize)

Junior A Sonata - Benjamin Aleman (3rd prize)

Junior A Sonata - Jennifer Lee (4th prize)

Junior A Sonata - Lupe Oloyede (6th prize)

Junior B Sonata - Jason Lu (2nd prize)

Junior B Sonata - Michelle Cheng (6th prize)

Senior Sonata - Patrick Du (honorable mention)

Also, big congratulations to our Viola Students!

Elementary II Concerto - Catherine Choi (2nd prize)

Junior Sonata - Michelle Howang (1st prize)

Baylor/Waco Competition

Division III Solo - Christine Choi (1st prize)

Division III Solo - Tae Han (honorable mention)

Division III Solo - Emma Oba (honorable mention)

Division 1 Solo - Vrinda Varada (honorable mention)

Division I Concerto - Ella Tran (2nd prize)

Division I Concerto - Pranay Varada (honorable mention)

Division I Concerto - Julia Wang (honorable mention)

McDonald Studios' students sweep their respective divisions at the UT Arlignton Competition

Warmest congratulations to the 4 students who competed at the UT Arlington Competition for sweeping each of your respective divisions!

Division III (5-6 solo) - David Choi, First Place (Bolcom, The Serpent’s Kiss)

Division VI (11-12 solo) - Pranay Varada, First Place (Beethoven sonata op. 109, mvt. 3)

Division VII (7-9 concerto) - Ella Tran, First Place (Rachmaninoff Concerto no. 3, mvt. 1)

Division VIII (10-12 concerto) - Vrinda Varada, First Place (Grieg Piano Concerto, mvt. 1)

McDonald Studios Excel at 2019 Dallas Piano Solo competition

McDonald Music Studios students truly excelled at this year’s Dallas Piano Solo competition, including 7 first prize awards.

Lucas - 1st place

Kyle Cornelison - 1st place

Mana Asaka - 1st place

Oliver Chen - 1st place

Christine Choi - 1st place

Joanna Jia - 1st place

Kevin Zhang - 1st place

Tae Han - 2nd place

Emma Oba - 2nd place

Kiana Sharp - 2nd place

Cameron Chin - 2nd place

Kaz Oba - 3rd place

Jason Lu - 3rd place

Connor Chin - 3rd place

Sunny Hua - 3rd place

Erik Ton - 3rd place

Lexi Tong - 4th place

Lupe Oloyede - honorable mention

William Huang - honorable mention

Eugene - honorable mention

McDonald Music Students take Top Prizes at 2019 Texas Music Teacher's Competition in Houston

Warm congratulations to the many students who performed so well at the TMTA convention in Houston this year!

Ashley Tauhert - 1st place (11-12 concerto)

Ella Tran - 2nd place (8 solo)

Pranay Varada - 2nd place (9-10 concerto)

Vrinda Varada - 3rd place (9-10 concerto)

Kyle Cornelison - 3rd place (9 solo)

Arushi Mukherjee - 3rd place (11 - 12 concerto)

Serena Chiu - 3rd place (11 solo)

Abbey Brodnick - 3rd place (12 solo)

Connor Chin - honorable mention (9-10 concerto)

Danielle Yoon - finalist (7 solo)

William Huang - finalist (7 solo)

Cameron Chin - finalist (7 solo)

Sunny Hua - finalist (10 solo)

Shiv Yajnik receives top prizes at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition at the Southeastern International Piano Festival

Warm Congratulations to Shiv Yajnik, who received the Jury’s Discretionary Award and the prize for the best performance of a work written after 1990! The Arthur Fraser Int. Piano Competition attracts top pianists from all over the world.

Studio news - February 2018 to March 2019

Hi! There’s a lot in the news to catch up on!

But first, a word - sometimes we feel that we get a little bit lucky with results, and honestly, there’s always some luck involved. We never know if our style will speak to a judge or not. Sometimes the best performances go unacknowledged, and sometimes a performance that is less than our best receives a top prize. You never know. The goal, as always, is to share the joy of music and keep growing!

March 2018 - Jason Zhu solos with the Plano Symphony, performing Liszt concerto no. 1

March 2018 - Jason Lin wins 2nd prize at the MTNA national competition in Orlando, FL. He also won the Chopin prize!

April 2018 - Hannah Rosen accepts a scholarship offer from the Eastman School of Music, where she will study as a piano major

June 2018 - at the Texas Music Teacher’s Association state-level competition, we had 3 first places and 3 second places (out of 8 possible divisions in the state!), including: Ella Tran (7 solo, first place), Esther Pham (8 solo, second place), Sydney Levey (9 solo, second place), Pranay Varada (9 solo, first place), Gordon Liu (9-10 Concerto, second place), and Shiv Yajnik (9-10 solo, second place).

June 2018 - Jason Lin wins second prize at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition at the Southeaster Piano Festival

January 2019 - Shiv Yajnik wins the grand prize at the Collin County Young Artist Competition. As a result, he soloed with the Plano Symphony in March, performing the MacDowell concerto no. 2, mvt. 1. This is the fourth year in a row that a student from this studio has won the grand prize and performed with the symphony! Previous winners include: Jason Lin, Liszt 1 (2018); Shaun Orth, Schumann mvt. 1 (2017); Patrick Magee, Rachmaninoff 2, mvt. 3 (2016).

February 2019 - At Dallas Symphonic Festival, McDonald Music Studio students won 9 first places, out of 15 possible divisions. Amazing job, everyone!

Jason Lin wins MTNA Regional

Pianist Jason Lin will compete at the MTNA national competition in Florida in March! Jason was the senior winner for MTNA in Texas last November, and went on to win the regional round in Louisiana. Congratulations Jason - we wish you all the best at nationals! Jason has masterfully performed Bach’s prelude and fugue in c-sharp major (bk. 1), Beethoven’s sonata op. 81a (mvt. 3), Chopin’s fantasy in f, and Ligeti’s Devil’s Staircase

video by www.ethosmedia.net // audio by Michael Vazquez