

2025 SCMEA Spring Piano Festival

Registration is here! Bylaws Vote
Hello SC Piano friends.
Good afternoon. First off, I just want to share my heartfelt thanks to all of you and our SCMEA board for a wonderful SCMEA Conference! We had some of the most well-attended sessions in our (very short) Piano Division history and met some great people and programs accross the state. Many people noted that our Fall Recital was one of the best ever and I couldn't agree more. I hope our teachers enjoyed the professional recordings of our students done by Jaye Ingram of Ingram Tracks. We have 2 things to take care of: Vote on the By-laws revisions and find a Piano President-Elect! Let us know if you have any nominations. We need you!
We are starting to take registration for the 2025 Spring Piano Festival. It is due this Friday, March 7th. I'm happy to announce that we are able to bring our Upstate festival back and even offer a Virtual option as well. Lowerstate will take place on April 24 (James Island Charter HS) April 25 (Peace Presbyterian) and Upperstate on May 1 (Shandon United Methodist). We want all virtual submissions in By April 24th. More instructions to come with virtual submissions.
Our Spring Masterclass Clinician will be with Claflin University's Piano faculty, Eunjung Choi. This will take place on May 17th at Parkside Presbyterian Church in downtown Charleston with our Honors Piano Recital to follow.
If you’re interested in learning more about the SCMEA Piano Division, check out our up-to-date SCMEA Piano Division website or contact me directly.
Yours,
Andrea K. Quinn
SCMEA Piano Division President
Director of Piano & Orchestras
James Island Charter High School
andrea.quinn@scmea.net l https://www.scmea.net/divisions/piano-division/
SCMEA Piano Division Bylaws Vote- Please follow the link to Ballot
Lowcountry:
- Thursday, April 24, James Island Charter HS (Charleston/James Island)
- Friday, April 25, Peace Presbyterian (Goose Creek)
Upstate:
- Thursday, May 1 Shandon United Methodist (Downtown Columbia)
Virtual:
- Youtube Video submissions due by April 24. More directions to come!
About our Spring Festival Masterclass Clinician, Eunjung Choi from Claflin University
Dr. Eunjung Choi, a native of Seoul, South Korea, currently serves as Professor of Music at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, where she administers the keyboard program as well as teaches applied piano, class piano, piano pedagogy/literature, and music appreciation courses. Most recently, Dr. Choi was selected to be one of four recipients for the FY 2023 Fellowship award from the South Carolina Arts Commission. In addition, she was awarded a 2022 SC Humanities Major Grant and a 2021 SC Humanities Planning Grant to present lecture-recital series to South Carolina audiences. She was also awarded a 2021 South Carolina Arts Commission Arts Project Support Grant to make her CD, titled “Celebrating Women Composers.” Other performance projects have included a 2016 South Carolina Arts Commission Quarterly Grant to make her solo CD, titled “Inside Out: A Journey,” and a Major Grant from The Humanities Council SC for the lecture-recital series, “Promoting South Carolina African-American Composers' Classical Music.” Videos from the lecture-recital series may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy570QZxUg.
Dr. Choi has presented numerous performances to international, national, and regional music audiences in the United States and South Korea. She has been selected to perform in many conferences, including the College Music Society’s Regional, National, and International Conferences, Boston University African-American Music in World Culture International Conference, African Diaspora Symposium, The National Association of Negro Musicians Annual Conference, and The Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy Annual Symposiums in Seoul, South Korea. She has also been invited to perform in various venues such as Georgia College & State University Concert Series, Edward Waters College Concert Series, Steinway Galleries of Greenville and Charleston, Greenville Women’s Music Club, Stevenson Auditorium Concert sponsored by the Orangeburg Music Club, Pensacola Music Teachers Association, Texas A&M University-Commerce Concert Series, Midwestern State University Concert Series, The Korea Opera Society, Gimpo City Opera Association, and The Korea Piano Society in South Korea. In addition, Dr. Choi has been appeared as a concerto soloist with the Limestone College Wind Ensemble, Claflin University Wind Ensemble, and Georgia College & State University Concert Band.
Her research presentations have included topics such as multicultural music performance and teaching strategies and curriculum development to incorporate interdisciplinary approaches in music higher education. Her articles have been published in International Journal of Humanities and Applied Social Science, Piano Magazine, American Music Teacher, the Journal of Music Education Science, published by the Korean Society of Music Educational Technology, and the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy Press.
In addition to her active schedule as a soloist, collaborative artist, masterclass clinician, and adjudicator, Dr. Choi has been very active in the South Carolina Music Teachers Association, currently serving as President-Elect. She is also on the board member of the Korean Association of Piano Pedagogy.
Thanks to our Sponsors: Fox Music and Musicians Supply of Irmo, SC!
Thanks again to Joseph Fox with Fox Music House and Erik Lifchez at Musician's Supply of Irmo for helping to sponsor our sessions this year!
REVISED 2024-25 Calendar of Events
Start looking ahead to the SCMEA Spring Piano Festival!
- Registration is due March 7
- Lowcountry Piano Festival: April 25, 2025
- Upperstate Piano Festival: May 1, 2025
- Spring Masterclass and Honors Piano Recital: Sat. May 17, 2025 Charleston!