Music Educators Association of New Jersey

Beatrice Long's Solo Piano Recital on April 12 at 7 pm at the Palais de la Culture Felix Proto, Guadalupe, includes music by Bach, Chopin, Florence Price, Nicolai Kapustin, and Ravel.

Beatrice Long is performing Mozart Concerto in C major, K.467 with the Baroque Symphony Orchestra of New Jersey, Robert Butts Conductor, on Sunday, April 2 at 2 pm.

Danette Whelan, along with MTNA members, Dr. Laura Amoriello and Dr. Fernanda Nieto, will present From Heart to Hands: How Mindfulness Can
Revitalize Your Teaching, at the MTNA National Conference in Reno, Nevada on Wednesday, March 29.

Birgit Matzerath will be performing Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier books I and II in 6 Lunchtime concerts at the South Orange Public Library, 65 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ, in the meeting room between 12 noon and 1 pm starting on Bach’s birthday,  March 21, with preludes and fugues no 1-4.  Thursday, 3/23: preludes and fugues no 5-8; Saturday 3/25: preludes and fugues no 9-12; Monday 3/27 preludes and fugues no 13-16, Wednesday, 3/29 preludes and fugues no 17-20, Friday, 3/31 preludes and fugues no 21-24.  This is part of the 2023 “Bach-in-the-subways” project, which features Bach’s music in free concerts internationally. 

Dan Crisci, jazz pianist/composer, has had some success in placing his original music on TV shows.  On Sunday evening, March 19, his song Pop Up is played during a scene on the ABC show “The Company You Keep”.  In October 2023, his songs Midnight Blue and Offering will appear on an episode of “Bosch: Legacy,” streaming on Amazon Freevee where the songs will appear on season 2, episode 8.

Announcing the 12th Taubman Piano Festival!
Visit our New Website  - In-Person or via ZOOM 
Co-Directors Dr. David Witten and Sondra Tammam announce this annual event on Fri/Sat/Sun - June 23 - 25 at the Cali School of Music, Montclair State University.
Guest Artists: Tiffany Poon, Saturday Recital, and Ann Schein, Sunday Recital. Ms. Schein has been a former guest of MEA-NJ.
MEA members Nancy Modell, Dragica Curcic, and Dan Crisci are Festival Presenters.
 
Master Classes for students and daily Open Workshops. Guests: Ben Steinhardt,  Father Paul Maillet, Jackie Herbein, Alexander Technique, and Prof. Christina Paolucci, Body Mapping.

Beatrice Long and Christina Long are presenting 'Rachmaninoff's 150 Year Celebration- Songs and Suites for Two Pianos' at the Brooklyn Performing Arts Center on March 2 at 7 pm.

Sophia Agranovich is selected as one of the official mentors of the GrammyU program - Recording Academy (Grammys - NARAS).

Dr. Thomas Parente's climate change awareness song trilogy which chronicles the gradual submersion and disappearance of a fictitious South Sea Island, "Island Elegy and Aubade" is slated to be premiered at Montclair State on February 18 and then again on February 25 at the Boston Conservatory of Music. The marvelous soprano who also coordinates the voice section of Montclair University's Music Department, Lori McCann, will be the singer. 

Sophia Agranovich is participating in the Valentine's Day show, ‘Lite Lounge with Dimitri K.’, on multiple US and international radio stations. It is recorded and available on demand.

Sophia Agranovich is one of the featured artists at "Piano Matters" with David Dubal on WWFM.ORG - The Classical Network, January 29at 12 PM.

Sophia Agranovich is one of the featured artists at "Piano Matters" with David Dubal on WWFM.ORG - The Classical Network, January 25 at 10 PM.

Sondra Tammam is teaching Piano Pedagogy - Exploring the Taubman Approach, MUPR437-01 (2 credits), the only in-depth credit course on the Taubman Approach, at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University on TUESDAYS, 4:00-5:45 pm, from Jan. 17 - May 9, 2023.
Auditors ARE WELCOME on ZOOM or in person. The fee is only $150 for the semester. 
For questions email me tammams@montclair.edu or the Extension Division director, Letitia Stancu stancul@montclair.edu.

Sophia Agranovich is a recipient of the Gold award for Best Classical Recording at One Earth Awards 2023.

Sophia Agranovich is one of the featured artists at NPR WLPR-FM "Art on the Air" - Interview and performance

Dan Crisci's album release show for “Cries of the Heart” will be performed at Shanghai Jazz on Main Street in Madison, NJ on December 14, between 6 to 8:30 PM. Reservations can be made by calling 973-822-2899.

Jazz pianist and composer, Dan Crisci's final release of the year, on December 2, is a full album of 12 songs called “Cries of the Heart”, which includes the two singles plus 10 other solo piano pieces. 

Dr. Thomas Parente's Choral work “ October" was sung in a concert presented by the same Berkshire Concert Choir under the wonderful conductor, Matthew Thomas on November 19 and 20.

Dan Crisci, jazz pianist and composer, released “City Vibe”, a jazz swing solo piano piece on November 18.

Nancy Modell's student, Charles Love, was awarded the NJMTA High School Scholarship for Composition and he performed Static Spring at the State Conference at Gill Chapel, Rider University on November 12. 
Nancy’s student, Ella Zhang, is the Elementary Division State winner of the NJMTA Composition Competition.

Nancy Modell will teach ECC! (Every Child Can!), the introductory course to the Suzuki Approach, online on Nov. 5-6 for the NJ Suzuki Workshop.

Dr. Thomas Parente offered a Dalcroze Eurhythmics workshop for members of The Berkshire Concert Choir and American Guild of Organists on Nov. 5.

Danette Whelan, along with MTNA members, Laura Amoriello, Phd. and Dr. Fernanda Nieto-Pulido, will present From Heart to Hands: How Mindfulness Can Revitalize Your Teaching, at Jacobs Music in Princeton on November 4th, at 9:45 am sponsored by The Piano Teachers Forum of Central NJ. 

Dan Crisci, jazz pianist and composer, released “Light’s Out”, a jazz ballad duet with soprano saxophonist Anton Denner on November 4.

Dr. Thomas Parente's arrangement of the popular song "Downtown" was performed at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Mass. by the marvelous Eagles Trombone band on Nov. 4.

Sophia Agranovich's album, "Franz Liszt: Rhapsodies, Etudes and Transcriptions," was charting in the Top 10 albums at One World Music Radio and made The Want List of 2022 of Fanfare Magazine, including four rave reviews and an interview in the Nov.-Dec. issue of Fanfare. A rave review of this album is published in Whole Note, one of the largest Canadian Classical music Magazines.

In October Sophia Agranovich received recognition for Franz Liszt: Rhapsodies, Études and Transcriptions:
Best Classical Album – Clouzine International Awards/Clouzine Magazine; Best Classical Recording”- Indie Music Channel; Charting in Top 10 Albums, September and October 2022 – One World Music Radio –; Best Classical Album – Akademia Music Awards;  2 Silver medals for Outstanding Achievement – Global Music Awards –;  2 Platinum awards: Best Female Artist/Best Classical Music and 2 Gold Awards: Best Instrumental Music and Best Performance – LIT International Talent Awards 

This album is on Fanfare’s Wanted List, along with reviews from Fanfare Magazine (4),  Ark of Music, Mainly Piano, and One World Music Radio.
It was featured in these podcasts: Lite Lounge with Dimitri K. – Album show and Interview – starts at 29:34; “Chatting with Nat” – Interview and performance; “Mixing It” with Nicki Kris – Interview and performance

Sophia Agranovich was one of the featured artists in the "Autumn Praise" benefit concert at Drew University on Oct. 15.

Sophia Agranovich will perform a solo concert at the famed "floating concert hall" BargeMusic in Brooklyn, NY, on October 2 at 4 PM. Visit http://bargemusic.org for more details.

Michelle Kuo and her son Christopher Kuo have relaunched their in-person Two Piano Journey tour. In April, they hosted their first in-person concert since 2020 for Minds Matter San Francisco, raising $110,000. This fall, the tour will bring them to New York, Florida, Massachusetts, and California as they perform concerts for the Chinese-American Planning Council, Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, the Adams Theater, and Wu Yee Children’s Services. The project is projected to reach the $2MM fundraising mark by December. Michelle and Chris have established new fundraising partnerships with Embrella and the Greater Newburgh Symphony. Learn more at twopianojourney.com. 

Nancy Modell was elected to the Board of Directors of the international Suzuki Association of the Americas beginning August 1.

Sophia Agranovich was one of the featured pianists in "Between the Keys" episode #0368 by Jed Distler on WWFM - The Classical Network.

Members Dr. David Witten and Sondra Tammam, Co-Directors of The 11th Taubman Piano Festival 2022 at the Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, announce this annual event to be held on Fri/Sat/Sun - June 24 - 26.
MEA members Nancy Modell, Dragica Ćurčić, and Dan Crisci are Festival Presenters.

There will be Master Classes for children. Open Workshops for students and teachers every day. Guest Master Class teachers and recitalists are Robert Shannon, Oberlin College, Professor of Piano, and Dr. Mika Sasaki, Juilliard School Evening Division. Workshop and lecture by Guest Ben Steinhardt, Faculty: Father Paul Maillet, recognized Taubman Institute Faculty and former Fleisher student. Jackie Herbein, NCTM, Alexander Technique, and Certified Yoga teacher of Pittsburgh, will begin each day with Body Mapping participant warm-ups.

New events include Small Group Workshops and Healthy Computer Habits.
Single-day attendance is welcome! This year’s events are in Leshowitz Concert Hall and "live" on ZOOM.
For registration and more information visit: https://taubmanuniversalapproach.org

Sophia Agranovich will give a solo concert at the Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ at 8 PM.

The album Ludwig van Beethoven – In Celebration of the 250th Anniversary of his Birth by Sophia Agranovich is charting for 12 months across all the genres on One World Music Radio. It won Best Classical Album award.

Dan Crisci has released a new album of original compositions and
improvisations. A Day’s Journey is a solo piano album that is a musical depiction
of a day, from morning songs through evening songs. It is available as a CD, a
digital download, or it can be heard on all of the major streaming platforms.
You can purchase it at Dan’s website at https://dancrisci.com/music

As part of the Frances Clark Teacher Education Webinar Series, Dr. Patricio F. Molina will present ARABIC MUSIC AND THE PIANO: THE USE OF THE PIANO IN LEBANON AND EGYPT DURING THE GOLDEN AGE OF ARABIC MUSIC on May 11 at 11 AM.  He will discuss the introduction of the piano, and equal temperament, into Arabic music in the 1930s-60s. This new combination made a deep impact on the structure of Arabic music.  Dr. Molina will compare Western and Arabic music theory and explore how the piano influenced the composition of Arabic music. Dr. Molina is a Chilean-Syrian composer, pianist, and educator based in New Jersey. The New Jersey Youth Symphony and White Snake Projects are among the many institutions that have recognized his talents with commissioned works. Dr. Molina serves as Conservatory Director at Newark School of the Arts. He is a Yamaha Artist.

Sophia Agranovich is a Platinum Winner in Best Classical Pianist and Best Instrumental Artist categories and a Gold Winner in Best Female Instrumental Artist Category at LIT International Talent Awards 2022. She is also a winner of the overall Instrumental Category of the year 2022.

Sophia Agranovich is one of the featured performers on ‘Piano Matters’ with David Dubal at WWFM.ORG radio station at 12 PM.

Sophia Agranovich is a Winner of the Indie Music Channel Radio Music Awards 2022 in Best Classical Artist, Best Classical Recording, and Best Instrumental Recording categories.

Sophia Agranovich is one of the featured performers on ‘Piano Matters’ with David Dubal at WWFM.ORG radio station at 10 PM.

Sophia Agranovich will be performing at the Indie Collaborative Event celebrating Earth Day at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall at 8 PM.
A limited number of complimentary tickets are available. 

“Mixing It with Nicki Chris” on Blogtalkradio will air a pre-recorded interview and performance by Sophia Agranowich at 8 PM.  The broadcast will be available on-demand.

Danette Whelan’s former student, Kailyn Williams, currently a student at NYU, has been accepted to NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development’s music composition program. 

Kailyn won first place in both the 2020 NJMTA State Composition Competition for her string quartet, Silver Bells & Golden Sand, and the 2021 ESOCC for her piano composition titled Metamorphosis. Silver Bells & Golden Sand was also performed professionally by the Montclair State Orchestra’s string ensemble last summer at the Morris Museum.