It is with thanks and appreciation the Nominating Committee would like to present these exceptional members who have accepted the nominations for the following Board of Directors offices:
- WSMTA Treasurer: Mary Grant, Kitsap Chapter
- District I Director: Jensina Oliver, Edmonds Chapter
- District III Director: Oxana Ejokina, Tacoma. Chapter
- District V Director: Marina Munter, Moses Lake Chapter
- District VII Director: Fabio Menchetti, Pullman Chapter
These nominees will be voted on at the WSMTA Annual Members Meeting at the State Conference in June at Gonzaga University. Our fellow members are contributing time and energy on behalf of us all. Many thanks and much appreciation.
Judy Baker, Nominating Committee Chair
WSMTA Treasurer Nominee
Mary Grant, Kitsap Chapter
Mary Grant, NCTM, is the youngest of five musical sisters, raised in a household where Bach was king. She likes to think she learned everything she ever needed to know from her early piano teachers, Vicky Hoffman and Michiko Miyamoto. In addition to her classical training she grew up with a love of traditional music and dance, developing a rich sense of rhythm, harmony and melody while dancing Greek syrtos and singing Balkan harmonies with her sisters. Since opening her piano studio in 1995 she has served more than a dozen years on the board of the Kitsap Chapter of WSMTA, including ten years as treasurer. She was a charter member of both the West Sound Chapter of WSMTA and the Bainbridge Community Piano Association. When she’s not teaching piano or playing chamber music with friends, she loves sailing, hiking and camping, gardening and cooking epic meals with friends and family.
District I Director Nominee
Jensina Oliver, Edmonds Chapter
Known for her expressive and passionate performances, pianist Jensina Oliver has appeared as soloist and chamber musician in the United States, China, Canada, Costa Rica, Israel, and throughout Europe. Her performances with orchestra include appearances with the Hubei Provincial Orchestra of Wuhan, China, as well as concerts with the Utah Philharmonia, Orchestra of Southern Utah, Intermountain Chamber Orchestra, and University of Washington Symphony.
She was a national finalist of the MTNA Chamber Competition, was a resident artist at the Banff Chamber Music Festival, and has won several solo and concerto competitions throughout the United States.
Ms. Oliver earned her DMA at the University of Washington and has taught at Shoreline Community College since 1998. As a National Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), she has a thriving studio with students of all ages. Ms. Oliver currently resides with her family in Seattle, where she is a well-known performer, teacher, clinician, and adjudicator.
District III Director Nominee
Oxana Ejokina, Tacoma Chapter
Russian-born pianist Oxana Ejokina is Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and Associate Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University. An artist of great breadth and versatility, she appears frequently as guest recitalist and chamber musician on concert series across the United States and abroad. She has soloed with the Seattle Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in Russia, Tacoma Symphony, and performed in venues such as the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Davies Orchestra Hall in San Francisco, and Klassik Keyifler Festival in Turkey. A dedicated performer of new music, she has premiered works by Marilyn Shrude, Wayne Horvitz, Bern Herbolsheimer, and Laura Kaminsky, among others. She has been featured on multiple live radio broadcasts on such stations as WFMT-Chicago, KUOW and KING FM in Seattle, Maine Public Radio and NPR Performance Today. Her collaborations have included concerts with the Seattle Chamber Players, Avalon String Quartet, violinists Ian Swensen and Andrew Jennings, and cellists Johannes Moser and Anthony Elliott.
Ejokina holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from Stony Brook University. She is the pianist of the Volta Piano Trio, whose recordings for Con Brio label received accolades in multiple international music magazines, such as The Strad, Gramophone and American Record Guide.
District V Director Nominee
Marina Munter, Moses Lake Chapter
In 1995, Marina Munter came to Moses Lake, WA from Narva, Estonia, where she taught solfeggio and piano at a music school for twelve years. She has been a member of Moses Lake-Central Basin chapter since 1996. Marina became Nationally certified in 1998 and since then has been serving as chapter’s certification chair. She has previously served as Adjudications Co-Chair, Chapter Vice President, District V Vice President, and currently is serving as Chapter President.
Marina is also a church pianist and taught music classes at Day Star Christian Academy.
She received her Bachelor Degree in Choral Conducting from Smolensk Music College, Russia, and a Master Degree in Piano Pedagogy from Central Washington University, where she studied with Dr. John Pickett.
Marina maintains her music studio, where she is teaching private and group piano lessons to her 78 students.
District VII Director Nominee
Fabio Menchetti, Pullman Chapter
A native of Italy, Fabio Menchetti is Assistant Professor of Piano at Washington State University, while maintaining an active performance career. A sought-after adjudicator and clinician, he is frequently invited to present at regional and national conferences. He recorded solo piano music by English composer Peter Seabourne, music for violin and piano by Italian composers written between the two world wars, and John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music. His latest releases include music by living composer for bassoon, flute, oboe, tuba and piano.
After studying in Italy, he received his MA from Houghton College, and his DMA from University of Cincinnati.