Meet Teacher Maria

Meet New Mozart’s amazing new teacher! Maria teaches voice and piano currently and will also be teaching Songwriting & Harmony Road classes starting next semester.

Teacher Maria is a singer/songwriter born and raised in Cali, Colombia (Latin America). She came to the US to follow her passion for music and graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Music Industry from The College of Saint Rose. Growing up, she won various singing competitions and was an opener for big music festivals in Colombia. Now, under the artist name “Ria Carval”, Maria’s debut album “Ignorance” has more than 57k streams and her main singles have reached radio, blogs, magazines, newspapers and TV appearances worldwide. Her vocal training is very diverse after experiencing classes with remarkable opera, gospel, musical theatre and even rock singers. She also learned piano at a young age, was trained on jazz and contemporary piano techniques and it is now the instrument she uses to write songs on the daily. After being a music educator for almost 3 years, Maria has discovered a passion in teaching children the magic and welcoming nature of music. In everything she does her purpose “Feel To Heal” is what makes her a great teacher. “I want my students to learn that feeling is ok, and music can become a place for them to dream, grow and embrace their uniqueness and potential”.

Student Highlight - Penelope Cheung

In this photo, Penelope performs at the Musikverein in Vienna as the 1st Prize Winner of the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition.

Penelope also just returned after performing at Carnegie Hall on July 21st as the 1st Prize Winner of the Golden Classical Music Competition.

1. What is your name and how old are you?

My name is Penelope Cheung, and I am 8 years old.

2. How long have you been studying music and how old were you when you first started?

I have loved music since I was a baby, I think. I was 4 years old when I started playing piano (in the Harmony Road Program with Ms. Christine). I started playing violin when I was 5 years old.

3. Who is your teacher?

My teacher is Marcia.

4. What pieces are you currently working on?

On the piano, I am working on Bach’s Gigue from Partita #1, Schuman’s Fantasy Dance, and Chopin’s Nocturne in C-sharp minor.

On the violin, I’m working on Monti’s Czardas and Massenet’s Meditation from Thais.

5. How often do you practice?

I try to practice music everyday.

6. Why do you love music?

I like the way music sounds and makes me feel.

7. Tell us about some of your recent accomplishments.

For Piano:

·      New Mozart Distinguished Honors Student (2020 and 2022)

·      New Mozart Practice Challenge (2021 and 2022)

·      2020 Bay Area Music Association US International Open Music Competition – 3rd place

·      2021 US Open Music Competition – 2nd place (Open Solo)

·      2021 Bay Area Music Association US International Open Music Competition – 3rd place

·      2022 Golden Classical Music Awards – 1st prize

·      2022 US Open Music Competition – 3rd place (Showcase Piano Solo), 4th place (Open Solo), 4th place (Treasury of Romantic Composers)

·      2022 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition Vienna – 1st prize

·      2022 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition London – 1st prize

·      2022 Crescendo Little Mozarts International Competition – 1st place

 

For Violin

·      2021 Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition London – 1st prize

·      2021 Bay Area Music Association US International Open Music Competition – 2nd place

·      2021 Crescendo Little Mozarts International Competition – 1st place

·      2021 Golden Classical Music Awards – 1st prize

·      2021 Prima Volta Music Competition – 3rd place

·      2021 Elite International Music Competition – 2nd place

·      2021 Crescendo International Music Competition – 3rd place


8. What are some things you like doing besides music?

I like to dance ballet, sing, ski, ice skate, swim, make food with my dad, make YouTube videos, play with my family and my cute little brother, travel with my family, play with my friends, and explore and learn about new things. You can watch my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/1612ca/videos

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I don’t know yet. I want to be many things when I grow up.

Recent New Mozart Student Accomplishments

Congratulations to New Mozart's talented students who have recently won competitions and completed various exams!

Penelope C - First Prize Winner, Golden Classical Music Competition (will perform at Carnegie in the winner’s concert in July). Third Prize Winner, Open Music Competition (Showcase Piano Solo)
Vinca L - Second Prize Winner, American Protégé International Music Talent Competition (will perform at Carnegie Hall in 2023) Third Prize Winner, US Open Piano Competition

Cory T - Third Prize Winner, New Stars Music Competition
Ella M - First Place at SFBAC NATS auditions in Children's Classical Music division,
& First Place in Children's Musical Theatre division
Ria C - Spongebob Squarepants in Spongebob Squarepants The Musical and played The Old Woman as well as being a featured vocalist in The Old Man and the Old Moon both shows at Menlo-Atherton High School and will be attending Harvard University in the fall
Margaret D - The Mayor in Spongebob Squarepants the Musical and Matheson, a main character and narrator of the show in The Old Man and The Old Moon both at Menlo-Atherton High School
Krisaana G- Peninsula Youth Theatre debut as Mal in Descendants The Musical and will be featured in their next show as Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof
Benjamin V- Gunn High School Choir Musical
Logan L - Warren in "Ordinary Days" by Adam Gwon in back to back shows at Mid-Pen High School.
Jackson L. - ABRSM grade 1 with Distinction

Ritam S- ABRSM level 5 with Distinction
Olivia L. - ABRSM grade 2 with Merit
Adi B. - ABRSM level 5
Indigo Y - ABRSM initial grade with Distinction
Chloe W - ABRSM grade 3 with Distinction
Cory T - ABRSM grade 1 with Distinction
Maya C - Certificate of Merit level 6 with State Honors
Mira P - Certificate of Merit level 6
Kingston N. - Certificate of Merit level 3 with State Honors
Steven S - Certificate of Merit level 8 with State Honors
Sophie W - Certificate of Merit level 8
Upasana H - Certificate of Merit level 6 with State Honors
Chloe W - Certificate of Merit Level 7

Student Highlight - Alice C.

Meet our talented violin student Alice. She began her musical journey in our Harmony Road program at the age of four and now studies violin with Teacher Shaoqing.

1. What is your name and how old are you?
My name is Alice and I am 10.

2. How long have you been studying music and how old were you when you first started?
I started six years ago. I was 4 years old.

3. Who is your teacher?
My teacher is Mr. Shao

4. What pieces are you currently working on?
I am working on Spring by Vivaldi.

5. How often do you practice?
I practice every day for around 30 minutes.

6. Why do you love music?
I love music because I find it beautiful and it is very fun.

7. What pieces are you working on right now?
I just finished an etude and passed on to the next one. I also managed to play a pop piece of music with my dad just by listening to it. It was very fun.

8. What are some things you like doing besides music?
I really like art, math, and programming.

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be a scientist.

Congratulations to New Mozart Honor Students 2022

Congratulations to New Mozart Honor Students 2022 for making the honor roll this year! 

New Mozart Distinguished Honor Students 2022

New Mozart Distinguished Honor Students are presented certificates commemorating their achievements and will be performing in the honors recital on March 20th and March 27th.

New Mozart Honors Recital March 1, 2020

Zacharie Aaron-Pracht
Adi Banwasi
Lukas Bau
Alisha Bernatzki
Anna Birman
Malaika Boros
Simon Braun
Beatrice Capodieci
Alice Cavalotti
Zoey Chan
Jasper Chan
Penelope Cheung
Siddharth Chidambaram
Debby Chu
Ella Cohen
Ria Cuellar-Koh
Chiara D'Agostino
Nickolas Daily
Dhriti Deepak
Aditya Deka
Zara Donepudi
Paxon Fatehi
Paloma Fatehi
Jordan Greenberg
Isabela Grimmer
Soham Gupta
Austin Guydish
Sarabeth Huang
Neil Iyer
Ayan Iyer
Lukas Jelks
Zoe Jovanovic
Hana Jovanovic
Ella Katila-Mikkulainen
Mei Tsai Knutson
Elijah Leppert
Vinca Lu
Valentina Marinucci
Yazan Massarweh
Paul McBurney
Alli Miikkulainen-Katila
Ella Miikkulainen-Katila
Nicola Montanari
Jiya Naik
Malhar Nair
Marlene Ng
Mira Poeta
Charlotte Ranisavljevic
Evelin Ren
Leo Shang
Sherry Shao
Steven Shu
Aidan Sighn
Anoushka Sinha
Kipling Song
Kelly Tanaka
Adalyn Tao
Shreya Tiruvury
Claire Truong
Cory Tsai
Matias Velasquez
Keaton Wan
Chloe Wu
Megan Xu
Lyra Yang
Nathalia Yang
Ayla Yarnall
Helena Ye
Annabel Zhao

New Mozart Honor Students 2022

New Mozart Honor Students are presented certificates commemorating their achievements.

Yohann Aaron-Pracht
Matthew Arradaza
Tlali Behar-Andrade
Paloma Boros
Yue Cao
Antoine Cetin
Inhoo Chang
Mikl Choi
Tiffany Chou
Evelyn Chu
Amanda Dharmawan
Timothy Feng
Abigail Friedland
Madeline Gifford
Robin Gray
Krisaana Gunsagar
Sophie Hackworth
Upasana Halder
Chantal Herath
Jeremiah Hollingsworth
Bennet Huang
Anya Jain
Avni Jain
Adam Ji
Eleanor Jiang
Jacob Jonson
Hana Jovanovic
Arnav Kamath
Jugat Kholi
Charlie Klinkner
Grace Knowles
Genevieve Knowles
Kay Knutson
Elsa Lagarblad
Joseph Lee
Toran Lento
Asher Leppert
Jackson Leung
Paul Liu
Luke Liu
Taylor Liu
Meredith Ma
Julia Marcos
Emma Martin
Sigourney Miskowicz
Guillermo Moreira
Aritra Nag
Naveen Narayanaswami
Camille Paldi
Alicia Pelley
Aria Poeta
Nia Porter
Kai Porter
Saina Priyadarshi
Harrison Rampell
Reina Rampell
Cameron Rampell
Alex Rampell
Pedro Rivadeneira
Rafael Rodrigo
Ritam Saha
Annelise Sailer
Nadhini Santhanam
Matias Santisteban
Sophie Shand
Shiv Sitaram
Claire Spence
Allyson Spence
Artem Tesov
Ishana Tewari
Alex Tong
Wesley Tsai
Rylan Tsai
Charlotte Urban
Iker Vahamaki
Benjamin Vakil
Aarthi Venkatraman
Elizabeth Wahl
Arwen Wei
Kate Wong
Zara Wong
Chloe Wu
Isaac Xun
Michelle Yi
Spencer Young
Indigo Young
Dean Zaba
Cindy Zhang
Haha Zhang
Evelyn Zhao

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