MTNA Performance Competitions - Washington State Music Teachers Association

The MTNA Performance Competitions offers an opportunity for advanced students. The competitions are offered at the Junior, Senior, Young Artist, and Chamber Music levels, and are open to any student who plays at the level of the required music. The state competitions are considered the primary educational level, with the division and national levels showcasing outstanding performances and honoring significant pedagogical achievement.

2026-2027 Piano, String, Woodwind, and Piano Duet Competitions

The three-tiered Performance Competitions begin with State Competitions. The winners/representatives of each state’s competitions advance to a video-only Division Competition. Division winners compete in the National Finals at the annual MTNA National Conference in April 2027.

WA State Competition
Registration opens: Early August, 2026
Registration deadline: Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (on MTNA website)
Date: November 6-8, 2026
Location: Central Washington University

The order of performance at the State Competition will be determined by the time stamp of the registration: The earliest to register will be the last to perform (collaborative pianist availability will be taken into account). Please submit the correct name of the collaborative pianist at the time of registration. You are urged to register your students as early as possible.

2026-2027 Brass and Voice (Senior and Young Artist only), and Chamber Music Competitions

Brass and Voice (Senior and Young Artist only) Performance Competitions are two-tiered competitions: the Preliminary Round, by video submission only; and the Final Round, live at the MTNA National Conference in April 2027.

Registration opens: November 1, 2026
Registration deadline: Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 3 pm Eastern Time (on MTNA website)

Please contact WSMTA Vice President Jason Kuo, NCTM with any questions.

Complete MTNA 2026-2027 Competitions Guidelines at MTNA.org

2026-2027 WA State Performance Competitions
RESULTS

2026 WA State Performance Competitions
JUDGES

AT LAST YEAR’S COMPETITIONS

*Piano judges, from L to R: Johan Botes, Xiaohui Yang, and William Chapman Nyaho*

2025-2026 WA State MTNA Performance Competitions Booklet WA State MTNA Performance Competitions
PAST RESULTS

WA State Underrepresented Composer’s Award

HISTORY AND AWARD DESCRIPTION

In 2025, WSMTA announced the creation of a new prize, celebrating the best performances of an Underrepresented Composer in the WA State MTNA Performance Competition in each level and division. Students have the option to use ONE of their repertoire pieces to be considered for this award, which shall include BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), Women, and other composers underrepresented in the standard concert repertoire.

Judges will select ONE WINNER in each of the following categories:

Young Artist (Piano): $125
Young Artist (Strings): $125
Young Artist (Woodwinds): $125

Senior Division (Piano): $100
Senior Division (Piano Duet): $100
Senior Division (Strings): $100
Senior Division (Woodwinds): $100

Junior Division (Piano): $75
Junior Division (Strings): $75
Junior Division (Woodwinds): $75

AWARD APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Students have the option to use one piece from their repertoire for consideration of the WSMTA Underrepresented Composers Award. To make sure the piece qualifies, please check against this list of eligible composers:

WSMTA List of Underrepresented Composers

If your student will be playing a piece by a composer not on this list, please use the following form to request approval by June 8, 2026:

Request approval of a composer not on the compiled list of eligible composers linked above • due by June 8, 2026

Once you have registered your student on the MTNA website, you need to submit an application to WSMTA (see yellow button below) to designate the piece for the Underrepresented Composers award before September 9, 2026 at 3 pm Eastern Time.

Application for the Award for the Best Performance of an Underrepresented Composer in the WA State MTNA Performance Competition • due before September 9, 2026 at 3 pm Eastern Time

FURTHER INFORMATION

Please be advised that the WSMTA Composers Committee shall be the final arbiter of whether a particular work qualifies for the award. If the work is deemed ineligible for the award, this information will be communicated to the student/teacher shortly after the deadline.

Only one piece per student may be eligible for this award. If a student’s program has more than one piece of repertoire in this category, ONLY ONE MAY BE LISTED for consideration (this choice is up to the student and teacher). Please note, regardless of this award, WSMTA encourages teachers and students to explore varied repertoire and to learn many pieces by underrepresented composers.

WSMTA Leadership and the WA State MTNA Judges are excited to hear inclusive performances and a broader range of representation. However, this is not a requirement to enter the competition. It is hoped that participation in the Underrepresented Composer’s Prize will be embraced by many!

In addition, the 2026 Winners will be invited to perform in the Washington Winners Concert at the WSMTA Conference, June 26-28, 2027, in Vancouver, WA!

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2026-2027 WASHINGTON STATE

MTNA PERFORMANCE COMPETITION RESULTS

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2026-2027 WASHINGTON STATE

MTNA Performance Competition Judges

Piano Division

Giyong Ahn

A native of South Korea, Giyong Ahn is a pianist and chamber musician. Since he began playing piano at the age of six, Dr. Ahn has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout South Korea and the U.S.A. He has served as an official collaborative pianist for American Single Reed Conference and ISB Double Bass
Competition. A sought-after collaborative and chamber musician, Dr. Ahn has been invited to perform in a variety of venues such as the Society of Composers Conference and WFHB. He has participated in the Music Academy of the West, and Colorado College Summer Festival as a collaborative piano fellow. Dr. Ahn also served for Austin Chamber Music Center Workshop, coaching the young artist division and performing as a faculty artist.

Ahn has performed extensively with choirs and large ensembles including, Concordia University Community Choir, UT Wind Ensemble, UT New Music Ensemble, UT Symphony Orchestra and CCSMF Orchestra, performing diverse styles of music.

Dr. Ahn received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in collaborative piano from the University of Texas at Austin with Colette Valentine. Previously he earned his Performance Diploma at Indiana University with Anne Epperson, Master of Music at the University of Texas at Austin with Gregory Allen, and Bachelor of Music at Kyungwon University with Seunghye Choi. During his D.M.A and P. D, he served as a teaching assistant and graduate assistant.

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Stephen Olsen

Called “Superb” by the Boston Globe, pianist and teacher Stephen Olsen, DMA possesses a diverse repertoire, from classical standards to the avant-garde music of our time.

As a performer, Olsen has performed around the world and worked with some of the most respected composers of his time, including Helmut Lachenmann, John Luther Adams, Jonathan Harvey, and Michael Finnissy (who wrote and dedicated a piano piece to him). Highlights of Olsen’s performing career include: Beethoven’s Piano
Concerto No. 4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Music of John Cage at Lincoln Center’s Walter Bruno Theater; A recital as a guest artist at Seattle University; Performing music by Schoenberg with his daughter at the Goethe Institute in Boston; A lecture recital in Xiamen, China; 2 seasons as pianist with the Fromm Players at Harvard University; Performances with new music groups such as the Calitthumpian Consort, the Seattle Modern Orchestra, and the Ludovico Ensemble. In reviewing Jonathan Harvey’s performance of Tombeau de Messiaen at the New England Conservatory of Music’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Piano Performance, the Boston Globe said the piece “stood out… amid consistently excellent performances” and praised Olsen’s “accurate tribute.”

As a teacher, Olsen has built an international reputation, teaching master classes and piano lessons throughout the United States and Asia. He regularly judges competitions, judges young artists, and leads master classes. Recent highlights include a master class for pianists at Seattle University, university teaching in Xiamen, China, and private studio teaching in Beijing, China. From 2012 to 2017, he was a piano instructor at the historic Greenwich House School of Music in New York City, where he maintains a large teaching studio. Olsen has also taught music history and theory to undergraduates at Stony Brook University in New York.

In addition to teaching and performing, Olsen is an administrator at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Hunter College in New York City.

Born in Renton, Washington, Olsen holds a Master’s degree and a Graduate Certificate from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Stony Brook University. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Western Washington University in 2004. His most influential teachers include German Diez, Jeffrey Gilliam, Margaret Brink, and Stephen Drury.

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String Division

Julia Tai

Praised by the Seattle Times as “poised yet passionate,” Taiwanese-American conductor Julia Tai is one of today’s most dynamic conductors on the international stage. Currently, she is the Music Director of Missoula Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, and the Co-Artistic Director of the Seattle Modern Orchestra. Her career has led to acclaimed performances and rehearsals with the American Youth Symphony, Bakersfield Symphony, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Czech Republic), Boise Philharmonic, Brandenburger Symphoniker (Germany), Estonian National Youth Symphony (Estonia), Idaho Falls Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Lake Washington Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, New Symphony Orchestra (Bulgaria), Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM (Mexico), Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil Charlos Chávez (Mexico), Philharmonia Northwest, and the Seattle Symphony.

Recognized as a prominent innovator of the contemporary music world, Maestra Tai is the conductor and Co-Artistic Director of the Seattle Modern Orchestra, which champions the music of today, commissioning and premiering new works from an international lineup of composers. The orchestra “operates at that exciting cusp between old and new, between tradition and innovation,” (Vanguard Seattle) and is where “the future is more likely to be found” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker). Tai has worked with legendary composers, performers, and ensembles such as Jonathan Harvey, Tristan Murail, Robert Aitken, Claire Chase, Stephen Drury, Graeme Jennings, Garth Knox, Steven Schick, International Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Modern. Under her direction, Seattle Modern Orchestra is a grant recipient of NewMusicUSA, The Amphion Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Washington State Arts Commission, 4Culture, and Seattle Office of Arts and Culture.

As a passionate music educator, Maestra Tai has established many education initiatives at the Missoula Symphony, including Symphony Kids, a free concert series designed for kids at the Missoula Public Library and its branches in western Montana. The Student Night @Dress Rehearsal Series allows music students to observe rehearsals and peek behind the scenes at each concert. Its Youth & Family Concerts combine theater and music in a highly educational and entertaining format that attract thousands of students each year. Tai has served as a clinician for high school orchestra festivals and is a sought-after guest conductor for honor orchestras throughout the country.

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Mary Manning

Mary Manning is longtime principal and section violinist with Northwest Sinfonietta, and an active freelancer in orchestral, operatic, chamber, and baroque ensembles throughout the Northwest. She has served as Lecturer at Pacific Lutheran University and was a member of the faculty string quartet. She has coached for many youth symphonies, summer camps, and maintains an active private teaching studio. Her extensive work as a baroque orchestral musician has included membership in the Seattle, Portland, and Pacific Baroque Orchestras, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, and the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra. Mary is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory where she studied both modern and baroque violin performance with Marilyn McDonald. More unusual gigs have included appearing in a Folgers coffee commercial, recording a soundtrack for a silent movie, and performing atop the Great Wall of China. Beyond music Mary is active in local environmental causes, community activism, and stewarding a small forest at her home.

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Ruth Boden

Ruth Boden is an Associate Professor in the School of Music at Washington State University where she teaches cello, bass, music theory and coordinates the chamber music program.

Boden holds a BM and MM in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a DMA from the University of Alabama.

Ruth is an active performer and has appeared as a guest artist with the Mid-Columbia Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, Coeur d’Alene Symphony, and gave the premier performance of Philip Wharton’s Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Rendezvous Orchestra in Moscow, Idaho. She has also been a member of numerous
orchestras throughout the Southeast and Northwest, including the Pensacola Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, and Spokane Symphony among others. Additionally, Ruth has worked with several notable chamber artists including the Vermeer, Juilliard, Miami, and Cavani String
Quartets and the Diaz Trio.

Ruth served as the interim conductor for the Washington State University Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2011, interim Artistic Director and conductor for the Spokane Youth Symphony during the 2013-2014 season, and has served as guest conductor and clinician for numerous festivals throughout the Northwest.

Ruth is a staunch supporter of new and contemporary music. She released her first solo CD Off the Cuff in July of 2014 which features eclectic contemporary music for solo cello. An avid hiker and lover of the outdoors, Ruth spends parts of her summers backpacking with her cello and performing new works commissioned for her project Music Outside Four Walls.

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