It is with special pleasure that we saw Oregon piano students sweep the MTNA* Piano Competitions (Northwest Region) in January. Oregon students competed against top students from 5 other NW states and took first place in all 3 piano categories (Junior, Senior, and Young Artist).
The winner in the Junior category was Michael Gu, student of Dr. Rachelle McCabe. Many of you have seen Michael perform in COPI master classes and at the Steinway Day event at the Corvallis Library in 2015 when Michael was just 10 years old. Now age 12, Michael has won both the state and NW regional competitions. This qualifies him to go on to compete at the MTNA national competitions in March.
Previous winners of the MTNA national competitions include: Stephen Beus, who has performed twice on our Steinway Piano Series; Alan Chow, Frederic Chiu, and Monica Ohuchi Bunch.
Below are the names of the 3 Oregon winners. We wish them all the best at the MTNA national competitions in March.
Junior Piano Competition
Michael Gu, Corvallis
Senior Piano Competition
Nathan Kim, Portland
Young Artist Piano Competition
Ho Ni Connie Mack, Eugene
*MTNA is Music Teachers National Association of which OMTA is the Oregon affiliate.
~ Bonnie Esbensen