Announcing our 2025 Sonata Contest Winners

On Saturday February 8, 2025, young pianists from Santa Fe and Los Alamos competed in the 2025 Sonata Contest, an annual event jointly hosted by the Santa Fe Music Teachers Association (SFMTA) and the Los Alamos Music Teachers Association (LAMTA). The two esteemed judges for this year’s competition were Terri Reck of Albuquerque and Dr. Jacquelyn Helin of Santa Fe.

The first-place winners of each level will be guest artists at the first LAMTA Musicale recital of 2025, showcase their winning performances on Sunday February 23, 2025, at 2pm in Fuller Lodge.

The Sonata Contest is open to all pre-college piano students studying with members of SFMTA and LAMTA, and pianists studying with non-members can compete for an extra fee. The LAMTA  and SFMTA are local chapters of the Professional Music Teachers of New Mexico (PMTNM), which is a state chapter of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).
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The first-place winners of the 2025 Sonata Contest, left to right from the top row: ​Graydon Waters, Elizabeth Wang, Glyn Lo, second row: David Robel, Riley Fensin, Cynthia Fu, third row: Gavin Hu, Alice Chen, and Anna Backhaus. 

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Results of the 2025 Sonata Contest

​Level 1: Keith Snell - Classic Sonatina in C major
1st place: Graydon Waters (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)
2nd place: Aylia Stull (Teacher: Wendy Ge)
3rd place: Gabriel Marin (Teacher: Wendy Ge)

​Level 2: William Gillock - Sonatina in Classic Style, C major, 1st mvmt (Allegro Moderato)
1st place: Elizabeth Wang (Teacher: Wendy Ge)
2nd place: Grace Waters (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)
3rd place (tie): Evelyn Fobes (Teacher: Dr. Haewon Yang)
3rd place  (tie): Sabah Wolff (Teacher: Dr. Haewon Yang)

Level 3: Albert Biehl - Sonatina in A Minor op 94 no 4, 1st mvmt (Allegro Moderato)
1st place: Glyn Lo (Teacher: Wendy Ge)
2nd place: Adam Turner (Teacher: Janna Warren)
3rd place: Jia Guo (Teacher: Wendy Ge)

Level 4:  Fritz Spindler Sonatina op. 157 n. 4 2nd mvmt (Presto)
1st place: David Robel (Teacher: Dr. Haewon Yang)
2nd place: Benjamin Minko (Teacher: Janna Warren)
3rd place: Alice Sun (Teacher: Aejin Chang)
Honorable Mention: Lucy  Smith (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)

Level 5: Erik Satie - Sonatine Bureaucratique, 1st mvmt (Allegro)
1st place: Riley Fensin (Teacher: Dr. Haewon Yang)
2nd place: Kenneth De Graeve (Teacher: Janna Warren)

Level 6: W. A. Mozart – Piano Sonata K. 545, 3rd mvmt (Allegretto)
1st place: Cynthia Fu (Teacher: Wendy Ge)
2nd place: Aniuta Dziuba (Teacher: Janna Warren)
3rd place: Alician Chen (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)

Level 7: Dmitri Kabalevsky - Sonatine in C major, Op. 13 no. 1, 1st mvmt (Allegro assai e lusingando)
1st place: Gavin Hu (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)
2nd place: Eric Xu (Teacher: Aejin Chang)

Level 8: F. J. Haydn – Sonata in G major, Hob XVI 39, 1st mvmt (Allegro con brio)
1st place: Alice Chen (Teacher: Dr. Patricia Wood)
2nd place: Lucia Roth (Teacher: Janna Warren)

Level 9: L. V. Beethoven – Piano Sonata op. 13, "Pathetique", 3rd mvmt (Rondo. Allegro)
1st place:  Anna Backhaus (Teacher: Janna Warren)
2nd place: Quinn Blakeslee (Teacher: Janna Warren)
3rd place: Griffin McCabe (Teacher: Janna Warren)
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