Sara Helen Moore, almost 98 years young passed away in Charlotte, September 3, 2020. She was born in Durham, NC, November 22, 1922.  Sara Helen served as president of Euterpe Music Club in Greensboro and as state president of NCFMC from 1984-86. She was a life member of NFMC, a Rose Fay Thomas Fellow, and served as national chairman of American Music as well as vice-president of NFMC, Southeastern Region.  Sara Helen also served as national representative from NC on the board of NFMC. There will be a private funeral for family where Sara Helen will be interred in the Columbarium of Christ United Methodist Church in Greensboro, September 19, 2020.  Memorial contributions may be made to NFMC, 1646 W Smith Valley Rd., Greenwood, In 46142.  For full obituary, see Forbis & Dick Funeral Home, Greensboro.

Lynn Wilemon – State Chairman

FIRST PLACE WINNERS

PIANO

Marlene Speece Clifford Memorial Award 
Dennis Lin
Margaret Norwood, Teacher

Mary Davis Memorial Award
Patrick Carter
Lee Lanier, Teacher

Josephine Bunch Sande Award
Hannah Jen
Connie Beach Hillard, Teacher

Elizabeth Terrell Memorial Award
Emily Lin
Yong Im Federle, Teacher

Maxine Taylor Fountain Memorial Award
Aidan Quintana
Kazuko Adachi, Teacher

Norma Alexander Award
Anthony Yang
Irena Hramenkova, Teacher

NCFMC Past Presidents Award
Brandon Luo
Florence Ko, Teacher

Thursday Morning Music Club of Winston-Salem
Anastacy Golovidov
Olga Urick, Teacher

Hinda Honigman Memorial Award
Jonathan Song
Florence Ko, Teacher

Estelle Brady Piano Concerto Award
Madison Yee
Keiko Aloe, Teacher

VOICE

Nettie Loflin Musical Theater Award
Elizabeth Carter
Tammy Prevette, Teacher

Joel Adams Art Song Award
Christopher Simmons
John Creech, Teacher

Anne Graham McCurdy Art Song Award
Claire Goodwin
Julie Stewart, Teacher

Sara Copley Moore Folk Singing Award
Ryan Fussell
Teresia Queen, Teacher

STRINGS

Benjamin Swalin Strings Award
Adeleen Thorne
Shelley Livingston, Teacher

Joel Adams String Quartet Award
WCPE String Quartet – Jewel Hurtgen, Joydeep Mukherjee, Lauren Southwell, Sophia Knappe
Elizabeth Beilman, Teacher

HYMN PLAYING CUP AWARDS

Carolyn J. Summerlin Class I
Lily Privette, First Place
Samuel Keffer, Second Place

Carolyn J. Summerlin, Class II
Jeffrey Lyons, First Place
Apsara Koneswaran, Second Place

Peggy R. Robinson, Class III
Natalie Lyons, First Place
Jaya Koneswaran, Second Place

Peggy R. Robinson, Class IV
Jack Zamudio, First Place

John and Jonsey Queen, Class V
Shawn An, First Place
Lili Craven, Second Place

SECOND PLACE WINNERS

PIANO

Mary Davis Memorial Award
Emmitt LaBelle
Betsy Kistler, Teacher

Josephine Bunche Sande Award
Alice Wan
Florence Ko, Teacher

Elizabeth Terrell Memorial Award
Alison Wu
Svetlana Mongalova, Teacher

Maxine Taylor Fountain Award
Henry Hui
Irena Hramenkova, Teacher

Norma Alexander Award
Georgia Gerdes
Kazuko Adachi, Teacher

NCFMC Past Presidents Award
Keyan Miao
Michael Lehtinen, Teacher

Thursday Morning Music Club of Winston-Salem
Sarah Zhao
Medea Kiknadze-Toumadjanov, Teacher

Hinda Honigman Piano Award
Evengelina Dong
Randell Jones, Teacher

Estelle Brady Piano Concerto Award
Jacob Smith
Wilson Smith, Teacher

NCFMC President, Joel Adams and State Finals Chairman, Lynn Wilemon decided to try and save the State Finals Auditions in the aftermath of Covid-19 after receiving an email from noted cellist and teacher, Elizabeth Beilman of Raleigh, asking if students might be able to submit videos for judging. Lynn employed the tech knowledge of her daughter, Abbie who was home early from Furman University because of the pandemic, and soon had a system in place for receiving a possible 90+ student videos. Wow!  What a success story.  We received 89 out of 92 possible submissions! Judges were secured and rating sheets were mailed to them prior to receiving the videos.  They are in the process now of finalizing the judging and results will be posted here May 23rd. There will also be a virtual winners recital on May 23rd on the Facebook page “NCFMC 2020 Winners Recital” where all award winners will be announced along with the posting of the first place winners video audition. Rating sheets and awards will be mailed on May 25th directly to students unless other arrangements have been made by teachers.

The Area Festivals are listed alphabetically below for 2020. Please click on “Read More” to get the full, accurate list in a column.

Asheville               no date, no chairman
Burlington             February 29
Charlotte               February 2 and 22
Clayton                 February 21
Gastonia               February 22
Greenboro             March 14
Hickory                  March 21
New Bern              February 22
Raleigh                  March 7
Salisbury               March 21
Thomasville           March 28
Whiteville               February 22
Wilmington            March 7
Winston-Salem      March 7

NCFMC held a postponed meeting in Charlotte on August 24, 2019 in the home of Lib Hughston. Appropriately, we met in Lib’s spacious teaching studio with 2 grand pianos for later performances. Lib had the space organized with folding chairs and a table from which Joel Adams, President, could conduct business. Much needed topics were discussed and a new 2 year budget through June 2021 was passed. [The minutes of the meeting will be posted in this space in due course.] At noon, members were treated to a delicious luncheon at a long table, beautifully set for 20 people, with white table cloth, lovely china, gleaming silverware and sparkling crystal in Lib’s home. The buffet consisted of compotes of luscious fresh berries, a large bowl of crisp, fresh, salad greens, croissants, tasty chicken salad complemented with shredded broccoli-stem slaw (wonderful) and amazing, individual cheesecakes in 4 flavors to finish off the meal. After lunch the meeting resumed with excellent performances from 3 Charlotte Music Club scholarship winners, 2 pianists and 1 cellist. The meeting was adjourned around 2:30 pm. Kudos and many thanks to Lib and her 2 federation members who assisted with the meeting and luncheon.

Ellis Piano Duo

The Ellis Piano Duo, [known as The Happy Dog Duo] will perform in concert March 26, 2019 at 8 p.m. in the beautiful, historic Smedes Parlor on the campus of Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, NC.  The piano duo consists of Eric Tran and Nathan Cheung of San Francisco, California.  Eric and Nathan were the first prize winners of the NFMC Ellis Duo competition in 2017, as well as the Abild American Music Award. These awards carried a cash prize of $40,000. They have also won 13 gold medals in piano duo events at the United States Open Music Competition, along with other accolades. The Ellis Duo has performed with numerous symphony orchestras around the nation and have played at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.  They have also performed on extensive tours in Korea, China, and Canada. The name ‘Happy Dog’ comes from their eponymous 30 second “masterpiece” composition, The Happy Dog. Neither Nathan nor Eric owns any dogs.

Note:  This concert is sponsored and produced, jointly, by NCFMC and Saint Mary’s School- Smedes Parlor Concert Series.  The concert is free admission and open to the public.

May 19-20, 2017 Raleigh, NC – Holiday Inn Downtown  919-832-0501
Reserve rooms by April 19 @ $109 for King or 2 Queen beds and mention you are with the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs.  May 3rd is the registration deadline.

Schedule: May 19

PLEASE NOTE: The workshop for Online Festival Cup Management is scheduled for Friday, May 19, 2 -4 pm with Janice Flinte as the clinician in Event Meeting rooms C & D at the Holiday Inn Downtown.

2:00 – 5:00 pm – Preliminary auditions for the new Gregory McCallum Piano Scholarship.
5:30 pm – Banquet to honor 8 living Past Presidents
8:00 pm – Attend North Carolina Symphony Concert

Schedule: May 20

Breakfast on your own – No Executive Board Meeting
8:30 am – Opening for General Session
8:35 am – Welcome by Mark Fountain
8:50 am – Full Business Meeting
9:45 am – “Composition for Juniors Workshop” led by Diane Higgins
10:45 am   Break
11:00 am – Open Auditions for 3 Finalists for McCallum Award
11:50 am – Memorial Service led by Irene Craig
12:15 pm – Luncheon – Skye Tower Restaurant  (Hotel)
1:20 pm – National President, Michael Edwards: The Next 100 Years
1:40 pm – Hinda Honigman Fellows Inductions
1:50 pm – Break
2:00 pm -Collegiate Winners Concert
3:00 pm – Door Prize Drawings
3:10 pm – Adjournment

NCFMC will commemorate 100 years affiliation with NFMC in Raleigh,  May, 19-20, 2017 with a Gala Celebration.  The Holiday Inn Downtown Capitol will be hotel central where most events will take place.  Michael Edwards, President of NFMC will be our special National Guest. On Friday evening, May 19, following a banquet to honor 8 living Past Presidents, the group will attend a performance by the North Carolina Symphony in Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.  There will be a concert by an NFMC Young Artist on Friday who will also present a Master Class with selected students.  In addition, 2 workshops for teachers are scheduled:  Composition Tips for Teachers of Junior Composers and Online Federation (Gold) Cup Registration Workshop.  Bring your laptops.  The workshops will occur on Friday and the Online Registration Workshop will run 2-3 hours.  A must for teachers who have Junior Clubs, since NFMC will mandate online registration in the near future.
DO NOT MISS THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT!

JUNIOR FESTIVAL DAY
May 7, 2016,
Western Avenue Baptist Church,
1206 Museum Road,
Statesville, NC 28625.
Royalty Competition State Finals in the morning.
Afternoon RECITAL of State Auditions Winners and
Royalty Competition State Winners.

June 3-4, 2016  STATE CONVENTION in historic New Bern, hosted by St. Cecilia/East Carolina Music Club.  Hear NFMC Young Artist, Nicholas Susi, pianist, in concert, as well as a motivational talk by Diane Higgins of Charlotte.  Barbara Hildebrand, national treasurer for NFMC, will give the convention address on how NCFMC may safely invest funds in order to maximize earnings. Also, learn what your Federation is doing and how the organization is improving music opportunities for all NC youth. Spend a week’s vacation at the North Carolina coast and take a couple of days for the convention and for visiting North Carolina’s Colonial Capitol Building, TRYON PALACE, as well as the historic drugstore that is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola! Or take a relaxing tour boat ride around the New Bern harbor. Come join the fun, learn from others and meet club members from around the state.