November 2024

Sonatina Competition is a wrap this year! Here are the results from our studio:

Devin Liu 1st place YB Level

Frances Sung 1st place Prep Level

Rayeanne Sun 1st place Level 2B

Craig Carlisle 1st place Level 2D

Olivia Rao 2nd place Level 4A

Andrew Gao 1st place Level 4B

Peyton Roliz 2nd place Level 7A

Albert Hsu 1st place Level 7B

Spencer Crossman 2nd place Level 8A

Leathan Li HM Level 8C

Level 9A: Darren Liu 1st place ....

and Alex Rao 2nd place!

Level 10: Charlie Boushley 1st place

Level Young Artist: Indigo Della Badia 1st place

October 2024

We had a great time in Moscow! Our state champions are both from our studio! MTNA Idaho State Champion in the Junior division is Charlie Boushley! MTNA Idaho State Champion in the Senior division is Indigo Della Badia! Way to represent and inspire the other pianistis in Idaho, as well as rest of our studio! Wish them luck in divisions!!!!

November 2023

Congratulations to Charlie Boushley for winning first place in the Idaho MTNA competition JR division, and to Indigo Della Badia for winning Alternate!  

January 2023

Winners of the piano division of the Meridian Symphony: Charlie and Indigo winning first in Junior and Senior respectively!

January 2022

Congratulations to Darren Liu for winning 1st place in the Meridian Symphony competition! He will be performing a Mozart concerto with the symphony!!

NOVEMBER 2021

It was so exciting to have a chance to perform live this weekend at the Sonatina Competition at BSU! For more inforation about this program, go to www.treasurevalleymta.org . Remember, your winnings are the growth you achieved! Anything else is just a bonus. Here are the bonuses the judges decided to award our kiddos this year:

1st Place Award Winners

Young Artist Level-Truman Walker

Level 10-Reagan Smith

Level 7A-Zachary Cheng

Level 6B Charlie Boushley

Level 5B Carter Tindall

Level 4A Henry Wei

Level 3A Anna Gwin

Level Preparatory Andrew Gao

2nd Place Award Winners

Level 10 Abigail Miller

Level 5A Maria Ma

Level 3B Elise Baker

Honorable Mention Award Winners

Young Artist Level Paige McCubbins

Level 6A Tiger Mao

Level 6A Graham Ragsdale

Level 5B Libby Sharp

Level 5A Lauren Mallory

Level 4A Emma Gao

Level 3B Evelyn Ragsdale

Level 1A Derrick Gu

Level Preparatory Oliver Koehler

Level Young Beginner Alex Chen

MARCH 2021

WOWZERS, 15 year old Truman Walker is the National MTNA First Place winner for Junior Composition! Thanks for your hard work and great example Truman!

Also great job this school year everyone, working through a pandemic of all things!!! Sonatina Competition was so successful, as well as Spring Festival, scholarship awards, and upcoming Piano Certificate! I'm proud of everyone's resilience and camraderie!

In Scholarship awards, the top 7 out of 9 piano awards were from our Studio! Being around other great students really helps us improve! Be sure to congratulate each other!

January 2021

Congratulations are in order for the Junior Soloist Winner with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra: 8 year old Zachary Cheng. He will be performing Mozart in the December Holiday Concert with the MSO in 2021. And Congratulations as well to the Senior Soloist Winner with the MSO, Truman Walker! His performance of Rachmaninoff Concerto #2 is March 2021. Also, a shout out to Paige McCubbins who won Alternate in the Senior Piano division!!

In other news, congrats to Truman, the MTNA State winner, and Regional Alternate for Piano! 

AUGUST 2020

It seems a lifetime ago since we last posted! Congratulations to the many winners and successes in the studio! Truman Walker again went to Nationals for Junior MTNA! Many students received scholarships and were Sonatina Champions in Sonatina Competition. Three of our best students graduated High School and are off to greener pastures. Best wishes to Taige, Zach and Josh-all three are fantastic musicians and wonderful people. You will be missed!!!!! Fall lessons start August 24th!!!

MARCH 2019

Great job Scholarship Winners! Youssef, Carter and Zachary were all winners in the 11 and under. Truman, Reagan and Paige took home a whopping combined $850 from ages 12-14, and Zach was the top piano solo winner in ages 15-18, with Taige bringing home cash as well. The winnings are our improvement, but some money doesn’t hurt! :) Way to go!

NOVEMBER 2018

Truman Walker is the 2018 state MTNA Junior Piano Winner! Keep up the good work!

NOVEMBER 2018

CONGRATS to our Sonatina Competition winners

Level 15 First Place Taige

Level 13 First Place Zach

Level 12A First Place Truman

Level 11A First Place Julia

Level 10A First Place Ava

Level 9B Honorable Mention Reagan

Level 9A Second Place Ella

Level 8A Second Place Abigail

Level 7A First Place Paige

Leel 6A Honorable Mention Yousseff

Level 4B Honorable Mention Zachary

Level 3A Honorable Mention Kerstin

Level 2B First Place AND Second place Graham and Lauren

Level 1A Second Place Eva

MARCH 2018

Good job to all our Scholarship Winners who were able to participate! Julia, Reagan, Ava, Kylie, Paige, Youssef: we are so proud of you!

Also, congratulations to Truman who won 3rd place at tne National Finals of the MTNA Junior Piano Competition! Woo hoo!

JANUARY 2018

Congratulations to Truman who won 1st Place in MTNA Junior division for Idaho! He competed in Divisions in January against the state winners from Oregon, Washington, Montana and Alaska and won first place! Off to Nationals to compete against 7 other finalists from across the country, ages 11-14. Good luck!

Truman also won 2nd place in an International competition and has been invited to play in Carnegie Hall in NYC in March of 2018! Wow!!!

NOVEMBER 2017

Congratulations on a great Sonatina Competition!

Lauren 1st place Level 2A

Matthew 2nd place Level 2C

Charity Honorable Mention Level 3B

Belle Honorable Mention Level 4B

Paige 1st Place Level 6B

Ella 1st Place Level 7A

Abigail 1st Place Level 7B

Andrew Honorable Mention Level 7B

Reagan 1st Place Level 8A

Ava 2nd Place Level 8A

Julia 1st Place Level 10A

Josh 2nd Place Level 12

Truman 2nd Place Level 13

Zach Honorable Mention Level 13

Sarrah 2nd Place Level 14

Taige 2nd place Level 15

Evan Honorable Mention Level 15

MARCH 2017

Boise Tuesday Musicale Scholarship Auditions

Hooray for Kylie who won the top piano prize at this years auditions! $600

And Hooray for Evan Miller who tied for 2nd place piano prize! $500

And Hooray for Taige and Chase who tied for 3rd place piano prize! $300 each

I could hardly believe my eyes when I got the news! I had to re-read the results several times. Out of the top 6 pianists awarded overall, 4 were from our studio. Other scholarship winners included Abigail, Morgen and Truman. So many of you were out of town this year but maybe you can try next year! :)

So congratulations on bringing $2,000 of scholarship money for your further music studies! Keep practicing!

 JANUARY 2017

Congratulations Truman for getting Honorable Mention (2nd Place) in the Meridian Symphony Orchestra competition!

NOVEMBER 2016

Congratulations to Kylie for getting Honorable Mention in the 2016 Idaho Music Teachers Association State Competition, Senior Division ("MTNA")!

NOVEMBER 2016

SONATINA COMPETITION  

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Teeny tiny Lauren, on her first try, qualified for the recital on her first year and played sublimely against a girl twice her size. Wow! 2nd Place

CRITICS CHOICE AWARD: Julia Butikofer played her Mozart so well, other teachers were asking if she was my student and complimenting me on how wonderfully she played! First Place

SHINIG STAR AWARD: A random woman came up after the recital and told Belle Nichols that her piece was her favorite piece on the whole program, it was so musical and beautiful! First Place

RISING UP AWARD: Zach Bowden pulled a from behind victory that was described by his mom as "a Cinderella Story”. He made it to the finals and won with an astonishingly clean, steady and vibrant performance for the win against a fierce competitor! First Place

BIG TALENT IN LITTLE PACKAGES: Little Matthew Maxfield and Charity Linton, on their first time in Sonatina got Honorable Mentions!!! Spectacular! Honorable Mention x 2

TEAM SPIRIT AWARD: On the impossible Level 15, BOTH Chase and Evan got the only 2 HM awarded. After listening to the recital, I can honestly say they were sooooo close to the quality of the finalists - in some ways better, and in some ways the finalists were better. So congrats!! I am told Chase and Evan said they would have preferred to either both be in the Finals, or both be Honorable Mention, and that speaks volumes to their sportsmanship and friendship. That made my heart burst with pride. Honorable Mention x 2

WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCLE: Carter Crafton got his first “on the board” with a clean win! One of the out-of-town recital judges came down afterwards to ask who his teacher was, he was so impressed. Thanks for making us look good bud! First Place

BEATING THE BEST AWARD: Truman and Kylie played like angels, both beating out a couple of the top students in the entire valley. First place x 2

FOCUS UNDER PRESSURE AWARD: Lastly, Taige played like a champ in spite of arriving very late due to a sibling getting baptized a few minutes before! Professional!!!! Several teachers kept asking me "who that amazing blonde kid” on Clementi? First place

Congratulations to the whole team for your excellent musicianship and hard work!! Okay, bragging on you is officially over.

OCTOBER 2016

A shout out to Truman, who brought home two large 1st place trophies and some cold hard cash from the Spokane Competition back competing against students from the intermountain west. Congrats! 

MARCH 2016

Boise Tuesday Musical Scholarship Auditions

Congratulations to the studio for bringing home $1,150 in cash awards. A special congratulations to Kylie for working to earn a $500 award. The top three players in the 11 and under category were also from our studio. Keep up the great work!

JANUARY 2016

Meridian Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition January 2016

Congratulations to these fantastic pianists from our studio:

Junior Piano Honorable Mention (2nd place): Truman Walker

Senior Piano Honorable Mention (2nd place): Kylie Linton

NOVEMBER 2015 Sonatina Competition, TVMTA

I hope everyone had a wonderful time sharing their music yesterday! I know it was a real treat for me to hear everyone playing, from our studio and from other studios! I am happy most of all for the incredible sportsmanlike conduct, the great attitudes in success and defeat, and the overall classy behavior from you students. Thank you! I am so proud. Our studio took home a fourth of all the first place trophies in the entire competition! Kudos!

Level 14

First Place - Kylie L.

Honorable Mention - Kyrie Z.

Level 13

Second Place - Evan

Level 10

First Place - Taige

Second Place - Zach

Level 9

First Place - Catherine

Level 7A

First Place - Truman

Level 7B

First Place - Julia

Second Place - Ava

Level 6

First Place - Abigail

Second Place - Andrew C.

Level 5B

First Place - Reagan

Level 5C

Second Place - Ella

Level 3A

First Place - Belle

Level 1B

Honorable Mention - Jonah

Congratulations also to the fine and artistic performances by Megan, Matthew, Carter and Haylee who also participated! Okay, now we are done celebrating and it's time to get humble. I love you kids and I'm excited to be moving on to new music! Now go practice.

 MARCH 2015

Congratulations to the students who participated in the BTM Scholarship competition! Students from our studio received $1,100 in cash prize awards!

 NOVEMBER 2014

Results from the Sonatina Competition are in! There were nearly 450 students participating this year, in 15 levels of difficulty, with over 40 teachers. Students did a wonderful job, and more impressively, students in our studio were placing in the most advanced levels of the competition. Nice work!

1st Place - Abigail - Level 3C

1st Place Ella - Level 3D

1st Place Reagan - Level 4A

1st Place Truman - Level 4B

1st Place Ava - Level 5A

1st Place Kylie - Level 12A

2nd Place Morgen -  Level 5A

2nd Place Eliza -  Level 7C

2nd Place Megan - Level 14A

2nd Place Chase - Level 15

Honorable Mention Hannah - Level 5B

Honorable Mention Jonathan/Andrew -  Intermediate Duet

Honorable Mention Taige -  Level 9A

Honorable Mention Zach - Level 10A

Honorable Mention Matthew - Level 13A

Exhibition Performance - Dellan and Kyrie

(Dellan and Kyrie were asked to play an exhibition performance of the Advanced Duet on the first recital, as there were no other entrants in Advanced Duet this year.)

Congratulations also to Evan, Haylee and Andrew M. on wonderful performances, but who did not place this year!

SEPTEMBER 2014

I was so impressed by the playing at our recital yesterday! You are truly becoming artists! 

SPRING 2014

We have been busy as bees in our studio this spring! Wonderful results from Spring Festival and Certificate of Excellence, including glowing comments from judges. One judge wrote of someone in the studio, "This is the BEST performance of this piece that I have ever heard." Good job everyone!

Many kids were invited to the Honor's Recital at BSU after Certificate of Excellence, and in March several students won scholarship money at the scholarship competition. I was told that in the under-11 category of this competition, the top 3 students were from our studio! 

The spring recital was a dazzler chock full of musical and brilliant performances of big pieces. Congratulations to all! Thank you for letting me help you learn to play this beautiful music!

NOVEMBER 2013

Great job everyone!! Sonatina Competition Results:

1st Place - Abigail M

1st Place - Reagan S

1st Place - Morgen M

1st Place - Andrew C

1st Place - Eliza L

1st Place - Taige Z (On Level 8 also: Bennett 2nd Place, and Jonathan H Mention)

1st Place - Zach B

1st Place - Kyrie Z and Dellan Z Advanced Duet

2nd Place - Bennett L

2nd Place - Brenna W

2nd Place - Seth W

2nd Place - Chase M

2nd Place - Matthew M

Honorable Mention - Grant W

Honorable Mention - Andrew M

Honorable Mention - Jonathan M

JULY 2013

It seemed we all had a rockin' time at our summer recital and barbecue! I hope everyone enjoyed playing with the professional rhythm section. General favorites were the piano quartets "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Bumble Boogie"! Thanks for your hard work and for sharing your talents!

MARCH 2013

Wow, festival is over! Congratulations to everyone! And good job to those who won scholarship money! $650 went to students in our studio at the Boise Tuesday Musicale Scholarship competition. Practice club is going well - keep up the good work! Our recital is just around the corner and I can't wait for everyone to hear your challenge pieces!

NOVEMBER 2012

Congratulations to all the Sonatina Competition participants! Great sportsmanship and growth all around! Statistics:

1st Place - Andrew C.

1st Place - Morgen

1st Place - Evan

1st Place - Jonathan

1st Place - Chase

1st Place - Matthew

1st Place - Taige

1st Place - Megan (with a broken arm!)

1st Place - Ben

1st Place - Eliza

2nd Place - Miranda (same division with Morgen)

2nd Place - Kylie (same division with Chase)

2nd Place - Andrew M

2nd Place - Zach

Honorable Mention - Grace

On to new music - yay!!!

SEPTEMBER 2012

Article about my piano teacher from High School  (I wonder who the former student from Idaho was...)

http://www.abiggervoiceblog.com/2008/01/piano-lessons-t.html

MAY 2012

What a great recital! Thank you for all your fine, fine work. Congratulations to you and ESPECIALLY to the parents who should get a lot of the credit!

This summer we are focusing on duets. Lots of fun in store! We will end the summer with a duet recital.

APRIL 2012

CONGRATULATIONS to the entire studio! Without an exception, everyone received "Superior" marks at Gold Cup Festival!

CONGRATULATIONS as well to the winners of the BTM scholarship auditions! Every student from the studio who entered won scholarship money.

NOVEMBER 2011

Last weekend I enjoyed the honor of judging for the MTNA state championship contest. Two other judges and I (a piano professor at BSU, and a teacher from Washington) heard pianists ages 11 and up from all across the state from ages. I heard some dazzling playing. You may not be aware that anyone is welcome to come listen to the performances as an audience member in the BSU Recital hall.

NOVEMBER 2011

Congratulations to all the kids who played in the Sonatina Festival!! I saw such incredible progress in all of your playing. And of course a hearty congratulations to the many winners!

Great job as well on our Fall Recital! You worked hard and it shows!! Let's keep pushing till Christmas vacation, when you will get a 2 week vacation from practicing. You will need it because....

January starts the 120 Days of (consecutive) Practice Club! See the Practice Club tab for details!!!!