Tag Archives: competition

Congratulations MFMC Competition Winners!

Hello WCS Students & Families!

Ms. Kirby and I want to take a moment to congratulate the West County Strings students who earned scholarships through this year’s Missouri Federation of Music Clubs Scholarship Competition, which took place recently on March 26. This year’s winners were:

Tarini Karnati, viola

Tarini earned her place as one of this year’s MFMC Scholarship Competition winners playing the 1st mov. of the J.C. Bach-Casadeus Concerto in C Minor. A sophomore at Parkway Central, Tarini also enjoys playing tennis and studying Carnatic vocal music.

Aaron Wolz, viola

No stranger to success in the MFMC Scholarship Competition, Aaron previously earned a scholarship in 2020. He competed this year playing the 1st mov. of the Concerto in D Major by C. Stamitz. A junior in high school, Aaron attends Flo Valley Community College through Pattonville’s Early College Program, where he participates in the college’s orchestra. He is also a member of the St. Charles County Youth Orchestras Symphony Orchestra, which he credits with much of his growth as an orchestral musician, and a member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, where he also serves as the orchestra’s first student librarian.

Nathan Zhou, violin

Nathan is also a two-time scholarship winner, having previously competed playing the Accolay Concerto No. 1 in A Minor in 2020. He was also runner-up in the MFMC District Competition in 2021, playing the 1st mov. of the Mozart Concerto No. 3 in G Major. This year, he performed the 1st mov. of the Bruch Concerto in G Minor in order to secure his second scholarship win. Outside of violin, Nathan also enjoys studying the piano and French horn, as well as playing goalie for his school’s water polo team.

We’re so proud of the effort that these three students put into preparing for this event, and even more so want to recognize the consistent dedication that they have displayed over the years, which has allowed them to reach this level of mastery in their playing. And we’re thrilled that their efforts have earned them these scholarships to put towards their ongoing music education.

The Missouri Federation of Music Clubs has competitions available for students grades 7 and up, so who knows: next year, or a few years down the road this could be you! Students grade 7-12 are eligible to participate annually, with winners being required to take one year off between appearances.

MFMC ’21 Competition Results!

Every spring, we look forward to the opportunities afforded to our students by the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs Virtuoso Club. Whether to give students the opportunity to prepare and perform for ribbons, trophies, and judges feedback, or for camp scholarships, district and state honors, or even college scholarships and scholarships to major summer institutes, the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs is a great organization that we love participating in. This year, we want to congratulate our students who took home honors in the Camp Scholarship and District Competitions.

District Competition

The Missouri Federation of Music Clubs Virtuoso Club’s District Competition is open only to 10th – 12th grade students, and affords the winner the opportunity to continue on to compete at the State Competition in May. With only one winner from all string entrants, the competition is stiff, and this year we want to congratulate Nathan Zhou for coming in 1st Runner Up in the District Competition, performing Mozart’s Concerto No. 3 in G Major, 1st movement – a huge accomplishment! Nathan As only a 10th grader, participating in this competition for the first time, we’re sure the future is bright for Nathan and have high hopes for him next year, as well. Many congratulations for your hard work and a job well done, Nathan!

Camp Scholarship Competition

The Missouri Federation of Music Clubs Virtuoso Club’s Camp Scholarship Competition is open to two divisions of students – those in 7th – 9th grade, and those in 10th – 12th grade. This year, we want to congratulate Christien Fanta and Andrew Kang, who both won scholarships in the 7th – 9th grade division of this competition. Both Christien and Andrew performed Haydn’s Concerto No. 2 in G Major, 1st movement, earning themselves scholarships to use towards furthering their music education. Congratulations, Christien and Andrew! And with last year’s Camp Scholarship Competition winners eligible to reenter the competition next year and even more of you growing and maturing in your musical ability who could enter for the first time, we look forward to a great presence in the Camp Scholarship Competition in 2022!

It’s always wonderful for students to have a concrete goal to work hard towards. The progress they make, the self-discipline they cultivate, and the overall improvement to their level of playing that they achieve simply by going through the process of preparing over weeks and months to be ready to compete is the real reward. Winning is simply an added bonus. We’re so thankful for the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs Virtuoso Club and all the opportunities it affords to students, and we hope that even more of you will participate in the Festival, Camp Scholarship Competition, District Competition, or College Music Major Scholarship Competition next year!

Congratulations!

Ms. Kirby and I want to extend our heartfelt congratulations to:

Tarini K. and Aaron W., who won seats in this year’s St. Louis High School All-Suburban Orchestra.

Kaya M. and Alan S. who won seats in this year’s Missouri All-State Orchestra.

Aaron W., who also placed in this year’s St. Charles County Youth Symphony Concerto Competition.

If we missed any All-Suburban (middle school or high school), All-State, or SYCCO Concerto Competition winners, please let us know, so that you can be recognized!

We recognize that doing well in any event like these is not something that can be done by last-minute preparation, but rather is the result of consistent dedication, and steady improvement over many years, which certainly deserves to be applauded.

With so many more opportunities for students coming up this spring, we can’t wait to see all that you will accomplish! It truly is rewarding and motivating to see what started as seeds of musical ability being nurtured, developing, and flourishing.

2021 “Virtuoso Club” Student Opportunities

Hello WCS Students & Families!

Every spring, we look forward to the opportunities made available to our students through the “Virtuoso Club,” one of St. Louis’ local chapters of the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs. These include:

Spring Festival

Available to the widest range of student ages and levels, the Spring Festival gives students the opportunity to prepare a required piece, and a choice piece – or a required concerto movement – to perform for a judge. Students will then receive judge’s feedback, and earn a yearly ribbon and points towards trophies (several of you are on the cusp of earning your next trophy this year!). It’s a great opportunity to prepare perform under a bit of pressure, but still in a warm, safe, nurturing environment that’s designed to encourage not to critique. And the annual achievements serve as a great motivator for many students.

Music Camp Scholarship Competition

The Music Camp Scholarship Competition is held in two levels of competition, and available to students in 7th – 8th – 9th and 10th – 11th – 12th grade, respectively. Winners can earn up to $500 to be used towards a music education opportunity, and still receive judges feedback, ribbons, and progress towards trophies like Spring Festival participants, so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of for all who are able. Prior year’s winners are not eligible to participate, which means that we’ll have a few students who can’t compete in this competition this year, but will be able to again next year. But we do have quite a few students for whom this would be a great opportunity!

District Competition

The District Competition is reserved for students in 10th – 11th – 12th grade, and offers winners the opportunity to compete at the State Competition. It is a higher level of competition, and serves as a great preparatory experience as well as a nice honor for winners to use on resumes. Prior year’s Camp Scholarship Competition winners should strongly consider competition in this competition this year.

Many of you will be used to participating in the Camp Scholarship and District Competitions at the Steinway Piano Gallery on Dorsett Rd. in March, and at the Spring Festival at St. Charles Community College in April. However, due to the ongoing difficulty of securing locations for large groups of participants, the Virtuoso Club has decided to hold this year’s events by online video submission this year, as they did in 2020. This means all participants can prepare performing with a prerecorded accompaniment track, and submit their performance at their convenience.

The cost for entry into all events is $30. Please make entry fees out to West County Strings, and we’ll submit a single payment for the studio. Registrations are due from by February 15, and video submissions are due by April 8th. Although that seems like a long way away, we’ve already started preparing in many instances, and should certainly start preparing as soon as possible for anyone who would like to participate! Let’s all make sure to discuss your opportunities in your next lesson.

New Year ’21 Update

Hello WCS Students & Families,

Welcome to 2021 at West County Strings! Kirby and I are so looking forward to each and every teaching moment, learning opportunity, and continuing to develop and deepen our relationship with each of you during this upcoming year. By the end of 2021, we hope and trust that each of you will look back at a vast chasm between your ability when you started the year as compared to where you ended up!

Here’s a few key dates for the beginning of 2021 to note:

Private lessons will resume on Wednesday, January 6 and run through Saturday, May 29.

Group classes will resume on Tuesday evenings at the beginning of March and run through May.

Missouri Federation of Music Clubs opportunities are available through the local “Virtuoso Club.” These include the chance at a $500 scholarship as a winner of the Summer Music Camp Scholarship Competition, District Honors and the chance to compete at the State level through District Competition, and a performance opportunities, insightful judge feedback, ribbons and points towards trophies as part of the Spring Festival. All events will be held via video submission this spring, and your teacher will be in touch regarding repertoire selection and requirements, if you have not begun preparing your repertoire already.

And of course, as always, we will have our Spring Solo Recitals and Spring Festival Group Performance to look forward to and work hard to prepare for, as well!

I think that about sums it up for now, so we look forward to seeing you all again beginning on the 6th, and we trust that you’ve been listening, reviewing, and practicing new material over the break. If you’ve fallen a bit rusty, now would be a great time to dust things off and buff them up. We’ll see you soon!