The classes will be held at the St. Paul Conservatory of Music. The start times for the classes are posted below:

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists/ Young Artists @ 1pm
• Young Artist Class 1 @ 2:15pm
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 4pm

Austin has accepted a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston as composition major.  It was a difficult decision as he had many offers from very fine schools.  Austin will study composition with Rob Smith, and will join two of our very gifted alumni, Kenny Broberg, and Josh Tan, in the internationally recognized studio of artist/teacher, Nancy Weems.

In April, Austin performed Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat Major, Opus 7, for the prestigious Salon se levè Concert Series. His performance of this great and mature work is getting greater and greater with every outing.  He shows every indication of the ability to plumb the depths of this profound, early masterpiece.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Austin, will end his high school music career with us in a grand manner.  He is preparing his Liszt Hungarian Fantasy for three more performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, including a “run out” to Willmar, Minnesota, May 25.  His final performances with the orchestra will be two family concerts, Sunday, June 3, at 1:00 & 3:00 pm at Orchestra Hall.  Jo Anne and I ask that all of our students and parents support and celebrate Austin’s great achievement by attending one of these concerts!

Austin’s Senior Recital will be Sunday, July 1, at Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, at 4:00 in the afternoon.  Again, we ask all our students and families to come out to support and hear one of the top representatives of our Young Artist Class. The recital will feature works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, and the premiere of Austin’s first solo work for piano.

Finally, the Blaine High School Orchestra will premiere Austin’s orchestral work, Co-exist, Thursday, May 17.

In other news, Noah Chojnacki, continued his excellent year by reaching the finals of The Schubert Club Young Artists Competition, and being named Honorable Mention in Thursday Musical’s Young Artist Competition, Junior High Division.

In addition, Michael Tang, performed Chopin’s Nocturne in B-flat minor, as an invited guest artist of the American Association of University Women in April.  This honor came to Michael as a recipient of Honorable Mention in Thursday Musical’s Young Artist Competition, Junior High Division.

More later!

Yours in Music –

Joe & Jo Anne

The recitals will be held at the Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Set below are the start times for each class.

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists/ Young Artists Class 1 @ 1pm (performers arrive at 12:30pm for portraits)
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 3pm (performers arrive at 2:25pm for portraits)
• Young Artist Class 3 @ 5:15pm (performers arrive at 4:55pm for portraits)

Performers are requested to dress in formal attire. A friendly reminder that the door to the performance hall will be closed at the start of each recital, so please plan accordingly to make sure that you arrive on time. Also, as a courtesy to the performers and other audience members, please do not bring children under the age of 6 (unless they are students of CHS of course) or those who cannot sit quietly and still throughout the entire program (1+ hour).

Artist Portraits: Yeng Lor, Chloe Chang’s mom who is a professional photographer, will also be taking professional headshots of each of our performers. We ask that you all performers arrive at least 15-20 minutes early to recitals to get their portraits taken. Portraits will be placed in our library to be used for press and media releases, as well as on our website. Parents may also order prints and portraits for their personal usage as well. Details on portrait ordering will be handed out at the recitals.

We look forward to a brilliant showcasing of our studio’s talents this Sunday!

The classes will be held at the NEW Schmitt Music location in Edina- Southdale Square (on 66th & Xerxes). Another reminder that the Schmitt Music at the Galleria no longer exists – they moved to the Southdale Square location above. The start times for the classes are posted below:

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists/ Young Artists Class 1 @ 12:15pm
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 1:30pm
• Young Artist Class 3 @ 3:15pm

Due to the huge amount of repertoire that will be presented by our Young Artists in preparation for the Schubert Club and Thursday Musical Competitions, we will be placing the following newest members of our Young Artist Class in a mixed class (@12:15pm) this coming Sunday:

Richard Chang
Mulan Zhu
Niels Wu
Larry Chen
Rex Shen

We look forward to another day of wonderful music!

Yours in Music –

Joe & Jo Anne

Austin and Anna with Joe at the Rising Stars Competition in Janaury.

As the winner of the prestigious regional “Rising Stars Concerto Competition” of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra in January, Austin Frohmader performed last Saturday night to a near-full house of eleven hundred concert goers at the Theatre of Viterbo University, La Crosse Wisconsin.  He received a wildly enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience.  This marvelous opportunity to perform on a subscription concert of the La Crosse Symphony was part of his Anna Beth Culver Award, which also included a $2,000 monetary award.  We look forward with great anticipation for a DVD of the performance from the La Crosse Symphony.  Hopefully, we will be able to share it with everyone right here on our web-site.  There is no rest for Austin as he left the next day for Bloomington, Indiana to interview for scholarship at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.  It is one of the most prestigious music schools in the land, and the world’s largest.  Next week, he is off to Houston where he will audition for Nancy Weems at the University of Houston (where Kenny Broberg and Joshua Tan are currently full-scholarship students), and at Rice University.  Just as he returns the final weekend of the month, he will leap head-long into a taxing week of a dress rehearsal and six performances with our world-renowned Minnesota Orchestra (more on that shortly!).

As we reported earlier, Anna Waldron was awarded Third Prize in the “Rising Stars” as she rendered deeply warm and captivating performances in both the Prelims and Finals.  The audience’s response to Anna’s playing was – in return – equally warm and deeply appreciative.

Noah Chojnacki had a wonderful month as he followed up his Honorable Mention in the “Rising Stars” with reaching the finals of the Young Peoples’ Symphony Concert Association (YPSCA) of the Minnesota Orchestra.  Noah presented a gorgeous performance of MacDowell’s Second Concerto at Orchestra Hall.  His performance was wonderfully organic, had great forward flow, and contained exquisite artistic detail.  His tone was powerful, colorful, yet unfettered, as he filled the vastness of Orchestra Hall with sound.

Our huge month of January continued with a good showing in the Mozart Concerto Competition as Christina Waldron and Nita Qiu both received Honorable Mention.

Lucas Jones rounded out our events with a great performance at the University of Colorado, Boulder.  Lucas represented our State of Minnesota in the National Regional Competition of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) – one of the largest and most prestigious competitions in the nation.  Although Lucas did not come away with any of the top awards – this time!! – he represented our state with class and highest artistic values.

We turn now to the big spring events of the Thursday Musical and Schubert Club Competitions in March, and our much anticipated Spring Celebration Recitals at Sundin Music Hall in April.  The brochures for our Young Artist World Piano Festival should be arriving this week and we will begin to make plans for the pinnacle event of our artistic year!

Yours in Music!!

Joe & Jo Anne

The classes will be held at the NEW Schmitt Music location in Edina- Southdale Square (on 66th & Xerxes). The start times for the classes are posted below:

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists @ 12:15pm
• Young Artist Class 1 @ 1:30pm
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 3:15pm

We understand that not everyone could make the drive out to La Crosse, Wi to listen to Austin play this weekend, so we decided to bring his performance to your home computer! Below, please enjoy Austin’s winning performance from the competition last month.

Our next performance classes will be on Sunday, January, 15, 2012. The performance orders have been posted and may be downloaded from the Calendar page.  Please check carefully on the performance order sheets to see which class your child will be performing with.

The classes will be held at Schmitt Music at the Galleria in Edina. The start times for the classes are posted below:

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists @ 12pm
• Young Artist Class 1 @ 1pm
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 3pm

The classes will be held at St. Paul Conservatory of Music in downtown St. Paul. The start times for the classes are posted below:

• Young Performers/ Junior Young Artists @ 2:30pm
• Young Artist Class 1 @ 3:45pm
• Young Artist Class 2 @ 5:15pm