SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI (January 22, 2024) — Missouri State University music students excelled at the Missouri Music Teachers Association (MMTA) and Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) auditions, held November 2-5, 2023, at University of Missouri-Kansas City.
MMTA auditions are yearly, state-level auditions held at different universities across Missouri every November. Nineteen MSU students competed in a field of over 500 students in this year's events.
"MSU has been participating for many years now," said Dr Jason Hausback, MSU music professor and MMTA president. "In the last five to eight years, our institution has had a strong presence and has recently dominated the competitions as the strongest-placing school in the state."
The MMTA results
Collegiate Woodwind Lower Level
- Winner: Emmitt Rieffer (Canton, Missouri); teacher: Dr Grant Peters
- Runner-up: Brady Perkins (Ozark, Missouri); teacher: Dr Hausback
Collegiate Brass Lower Level
- Winner: Emily Schmidt (Saint Charles, Missouri); teacher: Dr Peters
Collegiate Piano Duet
- Winners: Juchan Lee (Seoul, South Korea) and Chaihun Kim (Goyang-si, South Korea; teachers: Drs Hye-Jung Hong and Wei-Han Su
Collegiate Piano Lower Level
- Winner: Sanjana Dhabasekaran (Markham, Canada); teacher: Dr Hong
- Runner-up: Suyeon Yang (Suwon-si, South Korea); teacher: Dr Hong
Brass Graduate Level
- Winner: Alex Ryan (Smyrna, Tennessee); teacher: Dr Hausback
- Runner-up: Ethan Sherer (Muscatine, Iowa); teacher: Dr Hausback
- Honorable Mention: Frankie Harrison (Canal Winchester, Ohio); teacher: Dr Hausback
Collegiate Piano Upper Level
- Winner: Jiyeon Lee (Seoul, South Korea); teacher: Dr Hong
Piano Graduate Level
- Winner: Kim; teacher: Dr Su
- Runner-up: Daniel Corredor Silva (Bogota, Columbia); teacher: Dr Hong
Collegiate Strings Lower Level
- Runner-up: Orion McKenzie (Tulsa, Oklahoma); teacher: Dr Hays
Collegiate Strings Upper Level
- Runner-up: Nathan Price (Ozark, Missouri) Teacher: Dr Hays
The MTNA results
Young Artist Brass
- Winner: Christopher Kemp (Bixby, Oklahoma); teacher: Dr Hausback
Young Artist Piano
- Alternate: Shawn Jian Yue Lee (Seremban, Malaysia); teacher: Dr Su
Young Artist Woodwinds
- Honorable Mention: Jessica Baird (Willard, Missouri); teacher: Dr Jill Heyboer
- Honorable Mention: Conlan Boatman (Warr Acres, Oklahoma); teacher: Dr Matthew Tracy
Young Artist Strings
- Alternate: Elise Thierbach (Marthasville, Missouri); teacher: Dr Ketter
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