The MTAC Piano Concerto and Solo Competition (Southern Region) offers students a chance to compete in prestigious solo and concerto categories. Important dates include:

• Registration Open: January 10, 2025

• Registration Close: February 10, 2025

• Audition Date: March 29, 2025

• Results Available: April 4, 2025

The convention will take place at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara from June 26-30, 2025. Participation fees range from $66 for master classes to $95 for solo and concerto competitions.

​

Division: 

Solo Division 1: 12 and Under

Solo Division 2: 13 - 15

Solo Division 3: 16 - 18

Solo Division 4: 19 - 24

Concerto Division 1: 12 and Under

Concerto Division 2: 13 - 15

Concerto Division 3: 16 - 18

Concerto Division 4: 19 - 24

The MTAC VOCE Region Audition for the South Region is an online competition with key dates:

• Application Open: November 1, 2024

• Application Close: December 1, 2024

• Media Submission Deadline: January 10, 2025

• Results Available: February 14, 2025

Fees range from $28 to $58 for solos and ensembles. The state finals will also be held online, with results announced on April 5, 2025. The final recital and convention will be at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara on July 6, 2025.

​​

​Division Information​​

BRANCH FESTIVAL DATE: March 1, 2025
LOCATION: First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego - Hillcrest, 298 W Arbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92103
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 1, 2025

The Mission of SCJBF
It is the aim of Southern California Junior Bach Festival to cultivate knowledge and understanding of Bach’s music, as well as to celebrate it. Through festivals, lectures, master classes, recitals and concerts, we offer many opportunities for musical growth to the best of Southern California’s young instrumentalists and vocalists.

Branch Festival
The Bach Festival at the branch level is held in the spring. Students may play any original music of J. S. Bach, transcriptions of Bach’s music, or music of other Baroque composers. Students are presented in short recitals of approximately 1 hour in length. A panel of not fewer than three judges writes evaluations of each performer. Teachers receive the evaluation sheets. The judges select eligible students to play in the Regional Festival. The length of each student’s performance is limited to 5 minutes.

Regional Festival
Eligible students perform again in recitals with students from other branches that have been selected.

Complete Works Audition
This adjudication is for highly competitive students who have performed at the Branch and Regional Festivals and have been selected to participate.

For over 40 years, students from all over San Diego have participated in the MTAC San Diego Sonata Contest, founded by Jane Smisor Bastien. The competition is open to students of MTAC San Diego teachers.

​

A repertoire list is published six months prior, and students prepare a sonata movement to be judged individually. About 25% of each group advance to the finals, which are adjudicated by three judges. 1st, 2nd, 3rd place trophies and Finalist ribbons are awarded. Winners must advance to a higher group the following year, and students may only enter one group annually.

​

New members must join by September 19, 2024, to participate.

​

​LOCATION: Point Loma Nazarene University
DATE: October 19, 2024
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: September 19, 2024

Dates: February 8, 2025 (Piano) & February 9, 2025 (Winds and Strings)
Location: Greene Music, 7480 Miramar Rd., San Diego, CA 92126
Registration Deadline: January 15, 2025
Document Upload Deadline: January 18, 2025, at 11:00 PM

Eligibility
Open to students of MTAC San Diego Branch members in good standing, and Contributory Members who joined the branch 30 days before the registration deadline.
Students must have studied with the entering teacher for at least 6 months and the teacher must be the primary instructor for the instrument entered.

Registration
Teachers must complete registration online at mtacsd.org.
Parents are required to upload a proof of age document, and teachers must upload a Teacher-Parent Agreement Form during the registration process.

Required Documentation
Proof of Age: Birth certificate, passport, student ID with birthdate, or driver’s license.
Teacher-Parent Agreement Form: Signed by both the teacher and the parent.

Student Categories
Division I: Piano (through age 11)
Division II: Piano (12-14 years old)
Division III: Piano (15-18 years old)
Division IV: Wind Instruments (through age 18)
Division V: String Instruments (through age 13)
Division VI: String Instruments (14-18 years old)
Note: No first-place winner can compete again in the same division, and winners cannot move to the next division until meeting the age requirement.

​

Audition Procedures
Each contestant is allowed a maximum of 10 minutes.
Orchestral parts must be played on a second piano.
Teachers may not accompany their own students.
Contestants must provide judges with original music (photocopies are not allowed).

Repertoire
One complete movement of a soloist work with orchestra must be performed.
All pieces must be performed from memory.
Previous first-place winners cannot compete with the same concerto in a different division.

Awards
First, second, and third place winners will be chosen in each division.
All participants receive a Certificate of Participation.

Winners Performances
First-place winners will perform with the MCC Community Orchestra on dates to be determined.

This event is open to students of MTAC San Diego Branch members and showcases Chopin’s solo piano works, encouraging the highest level of performance. The festival is open to students 19 years old and under as of the event date.

• EVENT DATE: May 31, 2025 (updated 3/4/25)

• LOCATION: First Presbyterian Church of San Diego

• REGISTRATION OPENS: April 15, 2025 (updated 3/4/25)

• REGISTRATION DEADLINE: April 30, 2025 (updated 3/4/25)

Categories:

• Division I: Waltz or Mazurka

• Division II: Etude

• Division III: Nocturne

• Division IV: Impromptu or Polonaise

• Division V: Scherzo, Ballade, Barcarolle, or Fantaisie

• Division VI: Open (non-competitive)

• Other Works: Miscellaneous Chopin pieces will be assigned to a competitive category (Divisions I-V) at the discretion of the event chair.

Repertoire: Performers will play complete pieces or entire sonata movements with no time limit.

Judging: Qualified judges will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each category. Judges' decisions are final, and no ties are allowed. Teachers and parents cannot contact the judges about the competition.

New or contributory members must join the San Diego branch 30 days before the registration deadline to participate.

The Goodlin Scholarship Competition is open to pianists, organists, and instrumentalists residing in San Diego County. The competition aims to honor outstanding music students in the area.

Auditions
Preliminary Round: Video Audition

Applicants must submit a video recording of two repertoire selections. A panel of three judges will adjudicate each video, and approximately 25% of applicants will advance to the Finals Round.
Video Submission Deadline: April 11, 2025, by 11:00 PM
Finalist Notification Date: May 3, 2025
Finals Round: Live In-person Audition

Finalists will perform the same two repertoire selections in front of a panel of three Finals judges.
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025 (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
Location: Cuyamaca College, 900 Rancho San Diego Pkwy, El Cajon, CA 92019
Eligibility
Applicants must have resided in San Diego County for the past 12 months and must submit proof of residency.

Piano Duo Festival

Date: April 5, 2025
Location: Greene Music Recital Hall
Registration Deadline: March 15, 2025
The Piano Duo Festival offers students a wonderful opportunity to perform duet pieces from the piano repertoire in a recital format. Students are grouped by age, starting from as young as 5 through to high school and college levels. Performers may choose music for four hands on one piano or two pianos, with transcriptions and arrangements allowed. Memorization is not required, but a copy of the music is needed for the judges if not performed by memory.

Awards:

1st place duo teams receive trophies
2nd and 3rd place teams receive rosette ribbons
All participants receive a certificate
Categories:

Category I: Ages 5-9 (3-minute limit)
Category II: Ages 10-12 (4-minute limit)
Category III: Ages 13-15 (5-minute limit)
Category IV: Ages 16-high school (7-minute limit)
Category V: College (7-minute limit)
Category VI: Student & Teacher (non-competitive, 3-minute limit)*
Category VII: Student & Adult (non-competitive, 3-minute limit)*
*Categories VI & VII are non-competitive and provide an opportunity for students who do not have a duet partner. These participants will receive judges' comments and a participation award, with no entry fee required for the teacher.

New or contributory members must join the San Diego branch 30 days before the registration deadline to participate.

Ensemble Festival

Date: April 5, 2025, 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. – this will be in recital format with 2 recitals

Location: Encinitas Community Center, 1140 Oakcrest Park Dr, Encinitas, CA 92024

Fee:  $25.00 per ensemble member, including student accompanist.   

Deadline to apply:  February 18, 2025

The Ensemble Festival will be non-competitive and feature student groups.  Students will receive excellent comments and receive a rating and ribbon of Superior, Excellent, or Good.  The purpose is to encourage ensemble performance and student accompanists.    
Ensembles can be 2 or more students with the same or mixed instrumentation. No piano duets.
Students can participate in up to two groups.
Solo instruments, winds, strings, and voice, are also included with a student accompanist. (The accompanist should be a high school senior or below.)
Each group of 3 or less members will be limited to 5 minutes to include set up and tuning.  For larger groups of 4 or more, the limit will be 7 minutes to include set up and tuning. Ensembles may not use a conductor.   
Studios are encouraged to collaborate and students from various studios are welcome as long as the coach of the ensemble is a member of our branch.  Teachers can coach and register up to five ensembles.
Literature should reflect the level of the ensemble and should be appropriate for instrumentation. A full score needs to be provided for the judges (can be printed from IMSLP, purchased download, or physically purchased score).
Registration and payment occurs by logging into the teacher account on www.nsdmtac.com. Each student in the ensemble must be registered and paid for separately. List all members of the ensemble in the Duet Section of the registration.
All participants must have a signed copy of the MTAC Parent Consent Form 2025 on file before the registration deadline (only needed once each school year).
Co Chairs: Alina Steele – alinafreiman@gmail.com, Jane Masur – janemasur50@gmail.com, Anders Nelson – andersclarinet@gmail.com, Dana Burnett – dburnett6105@gmail.com

Senior Scholarship Program

​

The Northern San Diego County Branch of MTAC shall give an annual scholarship to qualified candidates. The Board shall determine the amount of the scholarship. 1. Instrumental and vocal candidates must be capable of performing music at a level comparable to the most advanced levels in the Certificate of Merit® (CM) Syllabus (Level 9- Advanced in instrumental; Level 7-Advanced for vocal candidates). It is not necessary for the candidate to be registered in CM®

​

2. Applications for the scholarship must be mailed and postmarked by 5/10/25. The application fee is $35.00. Payment can be made via Zelle number 858-521-8514 or a check payable to Northern San Diego MTAC and is nonrefundable. The application must be mailed or emailed to Scholarship Chair Alyze Dreiling. The Parent Consent form (if not already on file) needs to be emailed to nsdmtac@gmail.com by 5/11/25.

 

3. Applications are accepted from members who have been Active Members of the Northern San Diego County Branch of MTAC since August 1, 2024. A candidate must be a current student of an Active Northern San Diego Country Branch member for at least six months prior to the audition.

 

4. A candidate must be a graduating high school senior and not over 19 years of age. Exceptions can be made in considering a candidate who has accelerated schooling and enrolled in college without high school graduation, providing he/she would normally graduate the year of the application.

 

5. Instrumental candidates should perform a program which includes at least 3 contrasting selections from different periods of literature. Vocal students should have at least 3 contrasting selections, one of which should be in a foreign language. Student’s original compositions and non-published pieces are NOT accepted. Students need to bring an original score for the judges and play from an original score if the music is not memorized. There is no time limit on the pieces but the audition time is 15 minutes long. There can be cuts in piano accompaniments but not in the soloist’s part. It will be at the discretion of the judge to stop a piece before it is complete.

 

6. Pianists and vocalists-all music must be memorized. Strings-concertos and solo works must be memorized; sonatas do not need to be memorized. Winds-only one piece must be memorized. Other than for unaccompanied works, an accompanist is required for nonpianists. Strings and Winds – only one unaccompanied piece can be performed.

 

7. A candidate for the scholarship must be planning to continue his/her musical education beyond high school. A student applying as a Music Major or Minor or continuing private study in his/her instrument can be considered for a scholarship.

 

8. Auditions will take place in person on Saturday, May 17 beginning at 1:00 p.m. Students will be given their audition time after they apply. Auditions will be held at a private home at 16064 Lofty Trail Dr., San Diego, CA 92127. There is no warm up room.

 

9. It will be the responsibility of the Scholarship Chair, with any assistance needed from the Board, to select the judges necessary for the adjudication. Judges used for the scholarship adjudication cannot be members of the Northern San Diego County Branch. Scholarship auditions shall be closed.

 

10. The winner(s) of the scholarship competition will be notified by email and will receive their check by mail after filling out a W9 form. The winners must submit a video of the piece the judges choose on YouTube by June 1 and the YouTube link emailed to the Scholarship Chair, Alyze Dreiling as well by June 1. These videos will be shared on the Northern San Diego County Branch website for the members to watch.

 

11. In the event of extenuating circumstances, the Board has the final ruling on Scholarship decisions. Judges are not obligated to choose a winner. The scholarship chair, along with the Board, will decide on monies to be distributed to the winner(s). Judges may only determine the winner(s) of the scholarship.

​