Dear friends and colleagues,

Congratulations to everyone on another great year of NSMTA activities. AIM, Sonata-Sonatina Festival, Piano Competition, Scholarships… these are all highly valuable events that enhance the life of hundreds of music students, a thousand thanks to all the administrators that have worked so hard to make these wonderful programs possible!

Thank you also to our officers who are stepping down and to those who are continuing for their excellent work on our behalf!

Congratulations also to our new officers:

Heidi Mayer – President
Eric Sutz – First Vice President and Program Chair
Anthony Ty – Corresponding Secretary
Helen Raymaker – Second Vice President and Membership Chair
And congratulations to our Member of the Year – Anthony Ty!

Don’t forget our member recital and luncheon which is coming up soon on June 10. Best wishes to all for a wonderful summer, and looking forward to resuming our top-notch events and programs next season.

George Radosavljevic, President

AIM LOGO HERE

Congratulations to another successful year of AIM at NSMTA! This was our second year of offering both in person and remote exam options for levels 3-12 Theory and Performance exams, while AIM level 1-2 exams were only offered in person. The enrollment numbers were down from last year, and it is worth noting that the two areas that were significantly lower were students new to AIM and level 1-2 enrollments, who are often students new to AIM. We continually strive to make AIM participation a rich and rewarding experience for both teachers and students. For the first time, we are asking for teacher feedback in the form of an exit survey to review both the pros and cons with this year’s exams. All feedback is greatly valued and appreciated and will be kept confidential.

CLICK HERE to take the 2023-24 Post-AIM Exam Teacher Survey

How did our numbers compare to last year?

How many teachers participated in AIM this year? 73 And in 2023? 75
How many participating teachers were new? 6 And in 2023? 7
How many students were enrolled in AIM this year? 680 And in 2023? 715
How many students were new to AIM this year? 160 And in 2023? 230
How many level 1’s and 2’s were enrolled this year? 121 And in 2023? 154
How many level 9 students were enrolled this year? 38 And in 2023? 51
How about level 10? 45 And in 2023? 40
And level 11? 28 And in 2023? 18
How many students have made it all the way to level 12? 29 And in 2023? 37 (12 still pending)
What level had the largest number of enrollments? Level 5 with 84 And in 2023? Level 4 with 96


What was the breakdown of in person and remote exams this year?
Levels 3-12 Theory Exams:
• at Lake Forest? 62% in person, 38% remote And in 2023? 60% in person, 40% remote
• at Northwestern? 76% in person, 24% remote And in 2023? 65% in person, 35% remote
Levels 3-12 Performance Exams: • at Lake Forest? 56% in person, 40% remote And in 2023? 55% in person, 41% remote
• at Northwestern? 68% in person, 33% remote And in 2023? 64% in person, 30% remote

The member portal continues to be of great value with the ease of registrations and communicating important information to teachers and students. We are especially looking forward to launching the new ongoing Level 12 Event, which will streamline the whole completion process from repertoire registrations to assigning judges.

AIM Awards have been ordered but are still awaiting delivery on some of them. Coordinators will notify teachers when they are ready for pickup. Thank you to all teachers for your continued participation and commitment to AIM. Have a wonderful summer!

Jennifer Cohen, Lake Forest Area AIM Coordinator & AIM Chair
Jia-Yee Tang, Northwestern Area AIM Coordinator

NSMTA 2024 Winners’ Recital
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 2 pm
Northfield Community Church
Northfield, Illinois

The winner’s recital on Sunday, May 12, was very successful! One of the three scholarship winners was able to perform as well as winners from 3 of the 4 divisions of the NSMTA Piano Competition. Please see the program and photos below.

Karen Tobias, Chair

Scholarship Winner

Haydn violin concerto in G major, Hob. VIIa, 1st mvmt.
Betty Benton Camp Scholarship

Andrea Lee, violin
(Student of Hui-Yi Lavinia Lee)
Acc. by Grace Juang

Primary Division Competition Winners

Song of the Lark, Op. 30, no. 22 Tchaikovsky
Li Wen Lim – 1st Place
(student of Brenda Huang)

Song of the Lark, OP. 30, no. 2 Tchaikovsky
Jacob Zhao - 2nd Place
(Student of Daniel Baer)

Prelude in g minor Kabalevsky
Guglielmo Coduti – 3rd place – tied
(Student of Matt Hagle)

Song of the Lark, Op. 30, no. 22 Tchaikovsky
Oliver Chen –3rd place-tied
(Student of Vivian Zhao)

Song of the Lark, Op. 30, no. 22 Tchaikovsky
Yifan He –honorable mention

(student of Vivian Zhao)

Elementary Division Competition Winners

Romanian Folk Dance No. 1 Bartok
Alexandra Paschos – 1st place
(student of Christina Tio)

Berceuse OP. 109, No. 7 Burgmuller
Heming Liu – 2nd place
(student of Yumy Kim)

Romanian Folk Dance No. 1 Bartok
Justin Li – 3rd place
(student of Jennifer Cohen)

Junior Division Competition Winners

Nocturne in G minor Chopin
Evangeline Wang – 1st place
(student of Brenda Huang)

Prelude in C, Op. #12, No. 7 Prokofiev
Sophia Lin – 2nd place
(student of Ann Birman)

La Campanella Liszt
Ava Lee – 3rd place –tied
(Student of Brenda Huang)

Toccata (1952) Tauriello
Joseph Shu Honorable mention
(Student of Gary Geiger)

Senior Division Competition Winners

None of these winners will be playing today.

Competition winners that were unable to perform today.

Austin Yu, student of Shihui Yin, Junior division 3rd place, tied.
Michelle Xu, student of Brenda Huang, Senior division, 1st place
Runbai Aaron Wu, student of Grace Juang, Senior division, 2nd place
Qi Zhang, student of Brenda Huang, Senior division, honorable mention
Andrew Ji, student of Vivian Zhao, Senior division, honorable mention

Scholarship winners that were unable to perform

Bruce Berr Camp Scholarship
Emily Hu, piano, student of Christina Tio

Merle Hansen College Scholarship Award
Samuel Kim, student of Soo Lee

Thanks to our fine performers today, to their families, and their teachers.

Many thanks to the Northfield Community Church for allowing us to hold this recital here today.

NSMTA participating Chairs:

Competition: Lindsey and Larry Baer

Scholarship: Dr. Mary Beth Molenaar

Winners’ Recital: Karen Tobias

Church Liason: Helen Raymaker

NSMTA assistant:: Dr.Grace Juang

NSMTA Scholarship Winners - 2024

  • Betty Benton Camp Scholarship

    Andrea Lee

    5th Grader at Wescott School, Northbrook, was accepted to the Chicago Chamber Music Workshop at the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory for a three week camp this summer. Piano student of Grace Juang, & violin student of Hui-Yi Lavinia Lee.

  • Merle Hanson College Scholarship

    Samuel Kim

    Piano student of Soo Lee, awarded the NSMTA Merle Hanson College Scholarship. Sam is a pianist and percussionist and planning to major in Music Education this fall at Northwestern University. He hopes to teach middle or high school music.

  • Bruce Berr Camp Scholarship

    Emily Hu

    Piano student of Christina Tio, was awarded the NSMTA Bruce Berr Camp Scholarship. Emily is in 10th grade and is planning to attend the Chicago Chamber Music Festival

Teaching Opportunity

Kindermusik Northwestern

Kindermusik at Northwestern is seeking a teacher to join our team for the 2024-25 school year.

This is a part-time position on Saturday mornings, teaching classes for 3 and 4-year old children and their caregivers. Teachers must be certified by Kindermusik International, but those without certification may be considered if they complete the necessary online training.

If you love young children and music, and want to join a terrific team, please contact Jennifer Merry, j-merry@northwestern.edu

For more information on Kindermusik, visit their website: Kindermusik | Northwestern Bienen School of Music