ASTA National Conference
February 25-28, 2026 | San Francisco, California
MASTA Chamber Music Festival
By Michael Hopkins The 28th annual MASTA Chamber Music Festival was held on March 4, 2019 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Guest artists and competition judges were the four members of the MUSE Ensemble: Danielle Belen (violin), Kyoko Kashiwagi (violin), Eva Stern (viola), and Katri Ervamaa (cello). Additional festival faculty included Molly
Community Outreach Shows with the Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic
Ashley Grebe, Artistic Director at Saline Fiddlers The Saline Fiddlers Philharmonic (SFP) has long been known as one of America’s premiere youth fiddling show bands. With alumni still playing all over the state of Michigan, the US, and internationally, SFP’s reputation is far-reaching. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the group’s founding by renowned
MASTA Teacher & Administrator of the Year
By Michael Hopkins, MASTA President-Elect 2019 Teacher of the Year On Friday, January 25, 2019, Linda Trotter, Orchestra Director at West Bloomfield High School & Orchard Lake Middle School was awarded the MASTA 2019 Teacher of the Year. Linda Trotter is finishing her 36th year of public school teaching, spending the last 21 years teaching
BassFest West
At the Michigan BassFest, young bassists have a unique opportunity to get together with other young bass players, play ensembles, get instruction from nationally recognized bass teachers and performers, and hear some outstanding bass playing. Michigan BassFest-West will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at East Rockford Middle School. The registration deadline is May 4th.
Jingle Bells
Performance by the Bulldog Chamber Orchestra By: Steven Fernandez, Orchestra Director at Brighton Area Schools The Bulldog Chamber Orchestra was founded in order to give 7-12 grade students an opportunity to play in an ensemble. In our second year of the program, we only offer orchestra classes in 5th and 6th grade, but will be
Vote for the 2019 MASTA Teacher of the Year
It’s time to vote for the MASTA Teacher of the Year. In 2014, our organization began alternating this award between studio teachers and classroom teachers each year, and this is the year to award a classroom teacher. Please read about each candidate below, and then cast your vote by following this link: Teacher of the
MASTA/MSBOA String Reading Session 2018
String educators from around the state gathered together in September to play and discuss the merits of new literature for middle and high school orchestras. Dozens of new pieces were generously donated by Luck’s Music, which were raffled off to teachers at the end of the event. Thanks to Sam Hickey and Joe Oprea for
Bass Bash 2018
by Michael Hopkins 30 bass students in grades 6-12 attended Bass Bash at the University of Michigan on Saturday, September 15, 2018. The festival was directed by MASTA president-elect Michael Hopkins with University of Michigan Bass faculty Max Dimoff and Robert Hurst. Longtime MASTA members John Kennedy and Larry Hutchinson taught at the festival as
Luck’s Music Library Donates Over $35,000 to Texas School Orchestra Programs Affected by Hurricane Harvey
In the wake of the 2017 Hurricane Harvey, Luck’s Music started a YouCaring campaign to raise money for affected Orchestra programs in Texas. Melissa Luck, Music Library President at Luck’s, mentioned in a press release: “We began hearing from many of our orchestra colleagues at school districts in Texas that Hurricane Harvey was much worse than expected and
Announcing the MASTA 2018 Solo Competition
MASTA is proud to present the 2018 Michigan Solo Competition Competition Guidelines & Entry Form