University of Alabama at Birmingham
Aleksandra Kasman senior Aleksandra Kasman won the Alabama Music Teachers National Association Alabama state auditions Friday, Oct. 28, at Auburn University.
UAB junior Eamon Griffith was named the alternate winner.
The MTNA competitions take place once every year. Participants first compete on the state level in three categories: Junior, Senior and Young Artist. The winners from each state compete at the division level; Alabama is in the Southern Division with Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Winners of each division will go to the national competition.
In January, Kasman will go to the MTNA Southern Division competition representing Alabama to compete with winners of the eight other states. The competition will take place in Columbia, South Carolina.
Winners of the Southern Division competition will go on to the national finals in Baltimore in March 2017, at the National MTNA Conference.
Kasman, of Vestavia Hills, played works by Beethoven, Liszt and Myaskovsky. Kasman is a music major in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music and a member of the UAB Honors College’s University Honors Program.
Griffith, of Birmingham, played works by Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Schumann. Griffith is a member of the UAB Honors College and is an applied music major.
Last year, Griffin won and Kasman was the alternate, and Kasman won the previous two years, says Professor of Piano Yakov Kasman, DMA. Both are students of Kasman; Aleksandra is Kasman’s daughter.
“In my 14 years at UAB, our students have won this annual competition 11 times, so we are pretty consistent,” Kasman said. “Our UAB Piano Studio is very strong, and I invite everyone to attend our upcoming recital Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 at Hulsey Recital Hall.”