Successful 2021 MMTA Judged Festival
After two years of disappointment - the snowstorm in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020 - the first online Judged Festival was held successfully on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
The Judged Festival provides students of high school age and under varying levels of playing a chance to perform and compete. There is a rotating theme annually, and this year was “Nature.” Students performed one piece selected from a required list of repertoire according to their ages. From 6 levels of ages, students were subdivided into smaller groups consisting of 9 to 12 contestants to keep the feeling of a recital format. This year, as the pandemic continued, we took Judged Festival online for the first time, and the new format provided a safe way for students to participate by submitting recorded video performances.
It was an all-around achievement! This year, a record-high number of students participated: 49 teachers registered their students, and a total of 229 students submitted videos. The event ran smoothly using MMTA’s new online registration platform, TenutoWeb. Submitted videos were adjudicated by eight excellent judges: Julie Chiang, Adam Mayon, Penny Ouellette, Jonathan Roberts, Elaine Rombola Aveni, Kathy Southworth Lundahl, Sarah Takagi, and Margaret Tuttle. Every participant received two judge’s comments and a certificate. Out of 23 judged groups, a total of 118 winners received awards. You can view the winners’ list HERE.
MMTA congratulates all who participated in the 2021 Online Judged Festival: the teachers, students, and parents. We are grateful to the judges for their time and expertise. And as a chair of the event, I want to thank the MMTA Board and President Heather Rogers Riley for making the Judged Festival possible during the pandemic.
MMTA looks forward to the next 2022 Judged Festival. If you missed this year, we hope you’ll join us next year. Please look for our latest updates through our email communications and website.
I look forward to seeing you all again soon!
Ranko Konishi-Houston
MMTA Judged Festival Chair