April 2023 Newsletter

President's Message

from our President, Kim Farrell

Happy Spring Everyone!



As I look at our CNYAMT Calendar of Events, I am amazed at what our organization has been able to accomplish this year. Without our dedicated teachers, event chairs, committee members, sponsors, tech. support, and Board of Directors, none of our events would have been possible. Thank you all, so much, for your diligence, perseverance, and support of our mission to serve the needs of our members and their students.

Congratulations go out to:

1. Lynn Moroz for organizing and supervising the Baroque, Classical and Sonatina Festival which was a huge success. Congrats to all the students who performed on a job well done!

2. The students who performed in the outreach recital that was held on March 12th at Maple Downs. The residents and staff there absolutely loved it!

3. The teachers and students who were involved in the Artist Piano Advanced

Competition. It was a huge success, with a total of 10 winners performing at the recital on March 26th. What a wonderful and impressive array of music and performers!

4. Mary Whittington on organizing our first April Fool’s Day Recital, which was held at the Marvin Schuh Recital Hall at OCC. It was SO much fun that we decided to make this an annual event for CNYAMT!

5. Sean Alvaro, student of David DiGennaro, for winning the Senior Scholarship! Thank you Dana DiGennaro for organizing this competition.

Upcoming Events:

Instrumental Competition – May 6th , Dana DiGennaro

Teacher Forum – Thursday May 18th at 11:00 via Zoom, Mary Whittington

Vocal Competition – May 13th , Neva Pilgrim and Gayle Ross

Outreach Recital – May 28th , Kim Farrell

Scores for Scholars and Luncheon – June 14th , Barb Irwin

All members are welcome to join us at the next

Zoom Board Meeting on 06-07-23.

Email me for an invitation at farrellka4@gmail.com

Teacher Forum

Next month's teacher forum, on May 18th, will be our last until August. The topic will be "Teaching Neurodivergent Students and Students with Special Needs". This is meant to provide a supportive space for fellow teachers to share their personal experiences and perspectives on teaching this special subset of students. Please join us to share your thoughts and hear from others.

Watch for an email with an invite to our Zoom Teacher Forum.

CNYAMT’s annual luncheon and Scores for Scholars Music Sale

Wednesday, June 14th

11:00 at Drumlins Country Club

Watch for your 2023 Invitation!

Join us for a delicious meal, mingle with old friends, and meet some of our many new talented members. The luncheon will be served at noon, but there will be plenty of other business to take care of beforehand.

We will be sharing exciting news about plans for next year, as well as updates on CNYAMT’s many successful events this year.

Membership renewal forms will be available that day. Checks can be made out to CNYAMT. The annual dues are $50. It makes it much easier on our membership chairperson to have it all done at once! Your dues can also be paid on our website at cnyamt.org.

More information will be available soon concerning the Scores For Scholars used music sale. There will be raffle baskets to give away to help support our scholarship fund. If you would like to donate a basket or raffle item, please contact Barb Irwin, (315)458-9020 or 1950belaine@gmail.com.

Also, bring your creative ideas to drop in the suggestion box.

ALL MEMBERS, NEW AND OLD, ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND! IT’S FREE FOR MEMBERS and $15 for guests. (Vegetarian choices are available).

See you there!

Barb Irwin, Banquet Chairperson

Scores for Scholars

Music Sale

Our annual music sale will take place at the June

luncheon on Wednesday, June 14th from 11-12 a.m. and at the close of the luncheon after the business meeting. We invite our members to bring fairly new, gently used, and minimally marked books and sheet music to be set up before the sale begins. Please sort your books as to instrumentation, genre, etc. At the close of the sale, we ask that you take home and recycle any music that has not been sold. All proceeds from the sale will benefit our Student Scholarship Fund.  

For questions, contact Bernadette at: bckessler@twcny.rr.com

Instrumental Competition

Deadline 4/21/2023

Music Camp Tuition Assistance

Deadline 4/21/2023

The purpose is to provide students with funds designed to go toward the tuition of a summer music camp. The scholarship committee determines the amount of the tuition assistance based on our availability of funds as well as the applicant’s age, CNYAMT participation and musical experience.

Vocal Competition

Deadline 4/24/2023



The CNYAMT Music Merit Scholarship

is offered to high school seniors pursuing a college degree in music.

No audition is required.

Applications must be submitted by May 15th!

The Music Merit Scholarship forms are available on our CNYAMT website. If you have a student who is a high school senior and is planning to major in music next year at an accredited university or college, please encourage them to apply. If they meet the following eligibility requirements, and are interested in applying, they must have their applications in by May 15th. It has been determined by the scholarship committee that the award this year will be $1000 to be divided among deserving applicants. The student must be a high school senior in good academic standing on track to graduate during the current academic year.

• Student must currently be taking lessons from a CNYAMT teacher who has been a member since November 2022. The student must have participated in CNYAMT performances, events or competitions during the past three years.
• Students who have won the high school scholarship competition are not eligible for this scholarship.
• Student must be approved by their current CNYAMT teacher.
• Students must submit their scholarship application on or before the deadline date, May 15th . There is now an online application.

(The merit scholarship should not be confused with the competition scholarship for which the student must compete.)

If you have any questions, please contact Barb Irwin, 1950belaine@gmail.com or (315) 458-9020.

2023 Baroque, Classical, Sonatina Festival

took place on March 11th at Artists Pianos in East Syracuse with 4 studios participating: Amy Heyman, Lynn Moroz, Ida Tilli-Trebicka, and Mary Whittington. Congratulations to the 28 students who received high honor and honor ratings. A very special thanks to Jo Beth Dellinger of Artist Pianos in East Syracuse for hosting the annual festival and to Lynn Moroz, event chair, for a very successful event.

Festival Awards List

2023 Artists Pianos Competition

took place on March 25th with the Winners Recital on March 26th. The Piano Competition and the Winners Recital was held at Park Central Presbyterian Church with a total of 9 teachers and 16 students participating in the competition and with the winners performing at the recital. This year's judges were Milton Laufer of Syracuse University and Victoria von Arx of the University of Albany. They both commented on the wonderful artistry and talent of our students. A very special thank you to Jo Beth Dellinger and Artist Pianos for their continued sponsorship of this wonderful event.

Artist Pianos Competition Winners List

Artist Pianos Competition Program

Artist Pianos Competition Pictures of Winners

Chairpersons: Amy Heyman, Bernadette Kessler, Robbie Padilla, Ya-Wei Tseng

April Fool's Day Recital

We had our first April Fool's Recital, on April 1st, of course! Our recital was held in the Marvin and Schuh Recital Hall at OCC. What a wonderful opportunity for our students to perform in a beautiful facility and on an amazing grand piano! This crazy recital was filled with silly novelty pieces, humorous repertoire, joke-telling, and creative performances using balloons, stuffed animals, and fun costumes, too. The program included Haydn’s "Minuet al Rovescio", satirical pieces like “Not Für Elise”, and duets with part-switching, balloon popping, "tap" dancing on the piano and more. What an absolutely delightful and enjoyable afternoon! Congratulations to Mary Whittington who put together this fun event with her students. Kim Farrell and Jane Wolfe also had students who participated in this festive event. A huge thank you goes out to Laura Enslin for coordinating the use of the wonderful auditorium space at OCC, setting up the auditorium, the sound system, and the lighting, too! Congratulations to all on a job well done! For more pictures from this fun event, visit our April Fool's Day page on our website!

New CNYAMT Sign and Vase Sign Out Procedure

CNYAMT members are welcome to sign out the CNYAMT sign and vase for events they chair. To sign out these items, use our new sign out sheet located on the Member Log In page of our website.

• MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO PICK UP THE VASE AND SIGN FROM THE LAST PERSON WHO HAD IT.
• PLEASE KEEP THE VASE AND SIGN TOGETHER IN A SECURE PLACE WHEN YOUR EVENT IS COMPLETE SO THAT THE NEXT PERSON CAN USE THEM.
• IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT KIM FARREL, CNYAMT PRESIDENT AT farrellka4@gmail.com

2022-2023 Board of Directors

Our board members are an invaluable resource in acting in the best interests of our organization. They are creative, articulate, and bring their own skills, experience, and knowledge to support our members and students. They not only serve on the board, but also chair or serve on the committees of CNYAMT events. They serve a 3 year term with a 3-term limit.

Board of Directors 

(Numbers listed indicate the year of the present term)

Mary Ellen DiPietra (9)

Gayle Ross (9)

Michelle Wilcox (5)

Mary Whittington (3)

Laura Enslin (1)

Barbara Irwin (1)

Joanne Mroczek (1)

Need more information? Check out our website and social media!

www.cnyamt.org