Music Educators Association of New Jersey

Joseph Kalichstein enthralls audiences all over the globe, winning equal praise as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. As an Australian critic exclaimed: “To hear Kalichstein play is to fall in love with music all over again!”  Visit Here to learn more about this world renowned artist! This is going to be a fantastic propgram!

I.
  Sonata No.3 in F minor, Op. 5  - Johannes Brahms
1st movement,  Allegro maestoso
Rebecca Eng, piano

II.
 Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 66 -  Felix Mendelssohn
 2nd movement, Andante espressivo 
 Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 - Clara Schumann
4th movement, Allegretto 
Agnes Kwasniewska, violin, Sariah Mourik Johnson, cello, Cherwyn Ambuter, piano

III.
 Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32 -  Sergei Rachmaninoff                            
Allegro, no. 12
Larissa Sokoloff, piano

 IV.
Violin Sonata - César Franck 
4th movement, Allegretto poco mosso
Nicole Lee, violin, Naomi Takagi, piano

The Festival will be held at Caldwell University on
 May 5^th  at 2 p.m.
Teachers may enter up to 5 students in the Festival,
not including Eric Steiner Competition participants.
Registration Fee: $10.00 per student.
Online registration is available from your Member Homepage.
For more information visit the OCF webpage Here.

Please note:  Students enrolled in the Eric Steiner Original Composition Competition are already enrolled in the Original Composition Festival at no additional fee. 

Please note that this meeting will be held at The New Jersey Youth Symphony building located at: 570 Central Avenue, New Providence, N,J 07974. This is the same space where the October special event was held.

On February 21, Aaron will  speak about Debussy and Visual Arts. If you have never attended one of Adam's presentations here is your chance!  Adam is on the faculty at Juilliard and William Paterson University, Graduate Department. He  is an excellent lecturer and exquisite pianist. You can read all about his illustrious career Here.

Registration:  March 1 - 31

Fifteen teachers signed up 145 students on the first day of the Annual Piano Auditions Registration!  Congratulations to those teachers who took the plunge early and succesffuly navigated the new system! 

 To access your Audition Portal you must be an "Active Member" so be sure to pay your membership dues if you have not already done so. You also must be able to access your Member Homepage.  Please do this ASAP so that you can explore your Audition Portal  and register your students before the March 31 deadline.

The following documents  are available from your Member Homepage :

Member Homepage issues?  Contact: membership@mea-nj.org

Audition Portal issues?  Contact: Auditions@mea-nj.org

Auditions: Saturday, June 1, County College of Morris 
Master Class: June 13, Madison Library
Master Teacher: Victor Rosenbaum

Remember, do not use the new Annual Piano Auditions online process to apply for the Master Class Audition. Instead you need to fill out the interactive application form online or download an application form from our website and mail. 

The Interactive form can be found on your Member Homepage. To mail in an application form download from Forms/Downloads Here.

Visit the YA Master Class webpage  Here for all the details.
For more information contact Joan Bujacich:
  Joan.Bujacich@mea-nj.org

Registration is now open for the 2019 Eric Steiner Original Composition Competition.   The deadline to enter is March 1st.  Because of the nature of the competition, late submissions cannot be accepted.  

To register, simply login to your Member Homepage. You will find the interactive registration form in the righthand column. Please be sure to follow the guidelines on the ESOCC  webpage for submissions.

View the student compositions from 2018 in a beautiful  booklet  which is available for current members to view/download.  Simply login to your  Member Homepage and look in the right-hand column under downloadable documents. Chair Kathy Knittel and  Christina Hansen did a beautiful job putting together this lovely compilation.

Registration for the Annual Piano Compeition is now closed. Good luck to all of the talented young competitors!  Note the new venue for the Winners' concert:

Montclair State University, Leshowitz Hall
1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ
2:00 P.M.

Read the latest message from our president, Nancy Modell Here.

The second  meeting of the MEA's Composers'  Corner will be Thursday, March 28, at 10:15 A.M. at the home of Dan Crisci, Maplewood. RSVP to: dcrisci88@gmail.com. The October 25th "kickoff' meeting of MEA's Composer's Corner was significant, congenial and enlightening. There was an extensive variety of musical styles and sensibilities that each composer brought to the group. An atmosphere of openness and a willingness to share abounded in this good-vibe, first meeting, followed by a light bite to eat.

Join us at the Madison Library  on May 16 to hear Adam Kent present Portraits of Barcelona — works by Catalan composers Federico Mompou and Manuel Blancafort.  Please arrive by 9:45. Learn more about our wonderful guest speaker and perfromer Here.

The Scholarship Committee awarded Camp Scholarships to three outstanding students:

Gordon Li.   A student of Julia Lam, Gordon is an 8th grader at William Annin Middle School and attended the one-week Westminster Choir College Piano Camp in July. 

Kelsey Lee.  Kelsey, who studies with Beatrice Long, is a student at Summit High School and attended the two-week Interharmony International Music Festival in Germany in August.

Eliza Tagle.  Another student of Beatrice Long, Eliza also attended the two-week Interharmony International Music Festival in Germany in August. She is a student at Millburn High School.

All three students have impressive music credentials and experience, including awards, recitals, second instrument proficiency, and  ensemble performance.  The Board awarded a total of $1,100. Click here to see the write-ups of their life-changing summer experiences.

 Congratulations to these outstanding, deserving young musicians!

The MEA-MJN (Mary Jean Nelson) Scholarship Fund relies solely on the generosity of our donors, matching contributions from employers, and music sales at the monthly MEA general meetings. MEA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and all donations are tax-deductible. Making a contribution to the scholarship fund is a wonderful way to support aspiring musicians and perpetuate the beauty inherent in the arts. With your donation, you can also honor a person with congratulations (birthday, anniversary, graduation, etc.), get-well wishes, or in memoriam. Please help us continue our scholarship efforts!

 The MEA Scholarship Committee:  Sondra Tammam and Charlene Step, Co-chairs and Sal Mallimo

 For more information on the scholarship program click Here.

Guests from many New Jersey music organizations joined MEA members to hear Ingrid Clarfield’s presentation and enjoy the festive Potluck  Buffet Luncheon at the October 18, 2018 general meeting.  The change of venue  to accommodate the larger audience and extensive buffet was ideal. It was truly a memorable event. To read more about the general features of the gathering and Ingrid's presentation go Here.  

The Higlights from this most exciting meeting are now posted. Click Here to read all about Ms. Osinchuk's wonderful presentation celebrating Leonard Bernstein's 100th Birthday!   To learn more about our guest speaker visit Here.