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Spring Piano Festival Results
Masterclass & Honors Festival this Saturday, May 18th
![Spring Piano Festival Results Masterclass & Honors Festival this Saturday, May 18th](https://cdn.smore.com/u/e83c/7f828c55660afa142b1e7b50049f2a1e.jpg)
2024-25 Calendar of Events and 2025-26 Tentative Calendar of Events are OUT!
Hello everyone. We hope you've enjoyed a great Spring and that your schedules aren't getting too hectic with performances---May always seems to be "that" time of year. Take care of yourselves and make sure you get enough rest! We hit the ground running after our Spring Break and had a well-attended Upper & Lower State Spring Piano Festival. The results are in this newsletter and we can't wait to hear them THIS Saturday, May 18, 2024 on the James Island Charter High School stage with Carol Commune leading our Masterclass beginning at 1:30 PM. Our Honors Recital will begin at 3 pm.
We had our SCMEA Executive Board Meeting and I'm excited to let you know that we have the next two Calendar of Events in the books. They are below in jpg and PDF format below.
Lastly, we will be taking submissions for our 2025 SCMEA Conference until June 1st which is right around the corner. Please encourage some of our talented colleagues to share their expertise or the great things coming out of their classrooms or studios with us!
Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Yours,
Andrea K. Quinn
SCMEA Piano Division President
Director of Piano & Orchestras
James Island Charter High School
Spring Piano Masterclass & Honors Recital- May 18, 2024
Congratulations Students & Teachers!
2024-25 Calendar of Events
2025-26 Tentative Calendar of Events
Call for 2025 SCMEA Conference Session Proposals & Performing Ensemble App.
Please complete this FORM if you would like to present at the 2025 SCMEA Conference, scheduled for February 6-8, 2025 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, SC. The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2023. Notifications of acceptance will be made by October 1, 2024.
We are actively seeking some talented colleagues at the K-12 or collegiate levels to give piano-specific sessions at the 2025 SCMEA Conference. More specifically, we are looking for sessions for:
- The non-pianist
- The group piano novice
- Best practices and repertoire session for more experienced programs
- A grant writing session to fund new and existing piano programs across the state.
- Lastly, we are looking for the 2nd-ever piano group to come perform at our 2025 conference! Performing Ensemble Application Use this form to submit an application to perform at the 2025 SCMEA Professional Development Conference. The deadline to submit is June 1, 2024.
Help us make the 2025 SCMEA Conference the BEST YET!
Welcome Carol Comune as our Spring Piano Festival Masterclass Clinician!
The music of American pianist and composer, Carol Comune, dances between the serious and the light from traditional and contemporary genres, with strong influences from Impressionism, Romanticism, and her Italian heritage. Her lyricism paired with technical precision has earned her a reputation as one of today’s premiere pianists, performing extensively throughout the eastern United States as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has been a featured artist in Princeton at Westminster Conservatory of Music, Bristol Chapel, and the Nassau Concert Series; in Boston at the New England Conservatory of Music, Gardner Museum, Art Complex at Duxbury, and Longfellow National Historic Site; in New York City at Lincoln Center and Steinway Hall; and Palm Beach at Flagler Museum and Kravis Center. In the new year, 2024 Ms. Comune performed in the Charleston Southern University Faculty Recital for Piano Duet. In 1985, the multi-faceted musician, teacher, composer, recording artist, and Steinway Artist founded Elegant Entertainment & Co. (BMI). She also founded Comune Music Press in 2006 to present her music scores. Many of her compositions have been featured at numerous piano festivals, including “Suite for Sleeping Beauty” at the prestigious 30th Annual Contemporary Music for the Young, MA, and premiere performances; “Variations for Piano on O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, Steinway Hall in NYC; “The Nightingale”, based on the story by Hans Christian Anderson in Westminster Conservatory, Princeton, NJ. Ms. Comune’s compositions have been described as, “charming, bold, imaginative, colorful, and exceptional”. Her albums have received worldwide recognition with over 6 Million listeners, over 70 Million all-time streams in 250 countries, and over 135K monthly listeners through Spotify. Since 2017, her music has been exclusively promoted by her record label: Double J Music from the UK. Ms. Comune will be presenting new releases in the genres of Classical-Contemporary and Neo-classical this Spring, 2024. She presented her Holiday album in November 2023, “Peaceful Piano Noel" which features a selection of timeless Christmas classics with original contemporary arrangements. It captures the essence of the season in a unique and heartfelt way with its soothing melodies and calming atmosphere. New releases in August 2023 EP “A Quiet Moment” and recently “Moments”, 2023 recorded 3 original compositions for piano. Her albums, “Montage” and “Homage”, 2022, and “The Perfect Place to Be” (over 16M), 2020 were featured on Spotify’s Classical New Releases and Editorial playlist, Classical Piano for her recordings of “Eusebius” from Schumann’s Carnaval; “Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42”: Variation 14 by Rachmaninoff and “The Little Shepherd” from Debussy’s Children’s Corner. Ms. Comune’s albums, “Pastiche”, 2020, and “From the Heart” feature original piano compositions. “Classically Yours” 2018, was her first full album in 10 years and has reached over 13 Million streams. Her music is featured on NPR, Pandora, Spotify, Apple iTunes, and Amazon.
Ms. Comune’s original composition “Reflections” was showcased on Moving Classics TV in Munich, Germany, in 2020. Ms. Comune was “Commissioned Composer” for NJMTA, 2022. Her album. MONTAGE won the 2022 “CLASSICAL” ALBUM OF THE YEAR - Carol Comune - Montage - USA (WINNER) awarded by www.solopiano.com / Mathew Mayer. Carol is a graduate of the NEC, Boston, MA (BM Piano Performance, David Hagan). Graduate studies: Piano Pedagogy, Jean Stackhouse (NEC); Composition, John Felice (NEC); and influential mentors Donald Waxman; the late concert pianist, Anthony di Bonaventura. Carol has been a Music Teachers National Association member for over 34 years and has had an active private studio since 1972. Artist Faculty: Westminster Conservatory of Music HMP; Charleston Academy of Music, Collaborative Pianist: Charleston Southern University. Former faculty: New England Conservatory Prep School; Berklee College of Music, MA, and Palm Beach Atlantic University; Conservatory at Lynn University, FL. Carol was honored with the Steinway Top Teacher Award in 2016, 2017, and, 2020. Additionally, Carol's students have been recipients of many outstanding achievements. Musical organizations include Music-fest (Rising Talents); The Royal Conservatory Exams; Golden Key; Solo Pianists at Westminster Conservatory: 1st Place and 2nd Place Winners - Weill Hall/ Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall/Kaufmann Center, NYC. Westminster Conservatory’s Annual Achievement Scholarship Competitions and Piano Concerto Competition-1st Place Winner, 2021.
More information about Carol:
Website:www.carolcomune.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/carolcomune
Spotify:https://spoti.fi/3DqSmXP
Sheet Music Store: https://carolcomune.com/store Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolcomune/