Welcome to the Monday Musical Club of Portland’s Music Awards Alumni page! This page is dedicated to preserving the history of our Music Awards program and connecting the past with the present. We are looking for past Music Awards winners and would really like to hear from you to share your stories! What have you done since you received your Music Award? Are you still involved in music or did you pursue a different career? Did you stay in Portland or venture out elsewhere?
We would love to include your stories on our website. Please include the year you received your Music Award, what instrument you played, and any other details to: Nita Van Pelt at nitamondaymusicalclub@gmail.com.
If you know of any other past MMC Music Awards winners, please share this info with them so we can hear from them as well!
Monday Musical Club was established in 1904 and has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. As a non-profit organization, we are encouraged by making a difference for young musicians and their families. Here are some stories from past winners:
Derek Choi (2021) and Ryan Jun (2022) discussing “Project Prelude” by Derek Choi:
I was a 2021 Monday Musical Club of Portland Scholarship recipient (violin), and Ryan was a 2022 recipient (violin). Since then, we have become the joint leaders of the student-run nonprofit, Project Prelude. I serve as Executive Director, and Ryan serves as Musical Director.
Project Prelude engages high school musicians to bring cost-free group violin programs to over 80 underserved youth in the Portland Metropolitan area each year. The organization was founded in 2016 by Isabelle Zheng and Cammie Lee with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony as our fiscal sponsor. We feel incredibly lucky to continue the great work that has been done. Since taking on our roles, we have launched new programs including the Coda Fellowship (in partnership with the international Back to BACH Project) to bring private instruction to young students, and the Crescendo Masterclasses (in partnership with the Monday Musical Club of Portland) to expand opportunities for pre-professional growth — and to help more students prepare for their MMC award auditions! This season, Project Prelude will launch into a new region in the New York Metropolitan Area, which will have a team of 13 volunteers.
We are also equally passionate about the violin! This past summer, Ryan served as concertmaster of Carnegie Hall’s NYO2, leading the orchestra on tour to the Dominican Republic with conductor Joseph Young. I served as concertmaster of the Kennedy Center Summer Music Institute Orchestra (where Ryan is a fellow alum), with conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser from the San Francisco Symphony.
Here at home, we have collectively contributed over 11 seasons to the Portland Youth Philharmonic! We are grateful to PYP for bringing us a shared joy of orchestral music, and teaching us the skills of commitment and dedication. We will also forever cherish the lifelong relationships that we found in the PYP community.
Koharu Sakiyama, 2019:
Nov. 2021 update: “I was a 2019 recipient of the Monday Musical Club scholarship on the violin. I am now a senior at West Linn High School. In recent years I have taken music composition more seriously and have had multiple pieces premiered by both the Portland Youth Philharmonic and Metropolitan Youth Symphony, with a commission from renowned koto soloist Kozue Tada set to premiere in Tokyo in April 2022 and another collaboration with MYS set to premiere in May 2022. Although I am currently unsure where I will go to school next year, I plan on majoring in molecular biology with the ultimate goal of becoming a cancer researcher. Regardless of where I go, I know music will play a huge role in my life and hope to keep composing and playing for the rest of my life. I will always be grateful for the support MMC provides for aspiring musicians, and am very thankful to have had the opportunity to receive a scholarship two and a half years ago.”
Ian Song, 2019:
“I received MMC’s Hazal and Harold Phillips Family Instrumental Scholarship award in 2019 for the best instrumental performance,” (violin). “I am now a sophomore at Cleveland High School in Portland. I’ve played in the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) Organization for 7 years and currently serve as one of PYP’s co-concertmasters. Though I have not decided what to major in college, I am certain that music will at least play a part in it. Together with my musician friends, I recently founded a nonprofit organization called toRhapsody (www.toRhapsody.org) to give back to the community through music. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we first started playing outdoor concerts at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. I firmly believe that music is a universal language and can be a means to comfort people and bring unity and peace to the community. With MMC scholarship money, I was able to upgrade my violin. I am so thankful for MMC’s generous support and work to encourage and cultivate young musicians like me.”
Annabel MacDonald, 2018:
April 2021 update: “I’m so happy to share that I will be pursuing my master’s degree in music performance at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin starting this fall and have accepted the position of Teaching Assistant for the flute studio! I feel honored, excited, and incredibly fortunate to get to continue my classical studies in such a fantastic program. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me get here, especially my AMAZING professor Dr. Jacqueline Cordova-Arrington, all the other wonderful faculty I’ve worked with in my time at the University of Oregon, and my crazy supportive friends and family. I’ll be moving to Austin this summer!!”
Fumika Mizuno, 2016:
“I am a violinist and a 2016 recipient of the Monday Musical Club Scholarship. After receiving the scholarship, I attended Princeton University where I studied Politics and East Asian Studies. I continued to play the violin in college, serving as the concertmaster of the Princeton University Orchestra and performing a solo with them as a winner of their concerto competition. After graduation, I am headed to Chicago to work for a non-profit focusing on criminal justice and education.”
Kenny Regan, 2013:
“I was a scholarship recipient of the Monday Music Club of Portland in 2013. I used the money from the scholarship to purchase high-end music production software for the purpose of composing and producing orchestral film scores from home. Seven years later and I am now a professional film composer working on several diverse projects, including a Hulu show, a feature film, and a video game. I still use the software I purchased with the scholarship on almost every project.”
Cara Gabrielson, 2010:
“I am a Classical Soprano and was a 2010 Scholarship Winner of the Monday Musical Club of Portland. I went on to study Voice Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where I earned my Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Currently I reside in the Bay Area and am a full time musician singing opera, recital and concert works. Highlights of my career so far have been performing as the Soprano Soloist in Bach’s Magnificat with the San Francisco Symphony, singing on the Metropolitan Opera stage as a National Semi Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and singing the title role in Handel’s Acis & Galatea with Opera Idaho. www.caragabrielson.com”
Rachel Porter, 2008:
“After winning a Monday Musical Club scholarship in 2008, I studied piano performance and English at University of Southern California and Portland State University. I then moved to New York City, where I got a master’s degree in English education at Brooklyn College and taught English at a 6-12 public school for a couple years. I also occasionally accompanied the choir and individual students there; piano collaboration has been one of my favorite areas of work ever since high school! Since then, I’ve been working in education, publishing, and music primarily as a freelancer. I’ve sung in several choirs in the NYC area, both professionally and volunteer, and occasionally give piano lessons from my apartment in Brooklyn. In addition to freelance editing and tutoring, I worked part time for a few years at Penguin Random House. Because COVID-19 has disrupted some of my normal work, I’m currently working in public health for an organization doing COVID response and epidemic preparedness work in the U.S. and globally. I can’t participate in community music as much at the moment, but I still play piano for fun whenever I can! Thank you for putting this project together! Winning that scholarship (and an Encouragement Award the previous year) was a huge help financially as I applied to colleges and traveled for auditions, and it made the transition to university so much easier. I’m so glad to hear it’s still going strong!”
Paul Feeny, 2006:
“After graduating from Lakeridge, I went to Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin to pursue a Bachelor of Music Performance. It was a great environment for me and I found a lot of friends in the Midwest. I’m very glad that I took the opportunity to attend a small, conservatory school for my undergraduate degree. It not only afforded me the chance to get to know the faculty and student life closely, but also allowed me to begin working administratively to support the ensembles as librarian, manager and stage crew. Although I pursued a Master of Music Performance at the University of Michigan, my interest in production and support grew more rapidly. A large amount of my time was dedicated to the Ensembles Office at the SMTD (School of Music, Theatre & Dance) and, once I completed my degree, I was hired as a full time staff member in 2012. I have served the SMTD in various roles for the past 8 years and am now the Director of Concerts & Events! My office oversees a number of staff, and a multitude of student staff, that directly support and advance 600+ events every year. In addition, I serve as Producer for the annual College Concert. We’ve had a very challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain one of the few public universities still holding (limited) classes in-person. Having directly overseen many of the designs and implementations of the SMTD Safety Plan, I’m thrilled to have seen so many hours of planning result in a successful start to the term. Our University Productions office is continually adapting!”
Nita Van Pelt, 1972:
“My senior year at Sunset High School in Beaverton, OR I auditioned and received a scholarship from the Monday Musical Club. I was very grateful! I had already been accepted at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, OH on clarinet. Over the next years I earned 2 degrees from Oberlin and started my public school teaching in Elyria, OH. I returned to Oregon and continued teaching mostly string orchestras but some band and general music too for 30 years in Lake Oswego. I conducted the Interlude Orchestra of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony for 21 years. During all those years I played clarinet in local bands and orchestras. I still play in the Tilikum Chamber Orchestra. After I retired I joined the Monday Musical Club and am very happy to come full circle and help continue the tradition of scholarships for young musicians.”
Kathie Reed, 1968:
“I was awarded a MM scholarship in 1968. I lived in Salem and do not remember going to Portland to audition. I guess I must have. I probably auditioned on piano although cello was the instrument that ‘spoke’ to me. I decided to be a music teacher when I was in the 8th grade and studied toward that goal from then on. I studied both cello and piano through college (2 years at Linfield College before transferring to U of O my junior year for my Bachelors in Music Education. I received my Master of Arts in Education from Lewis and Clark College. I taught both instruments privately and taught strings in the Lake Oswego School District until I retired. I also conducted an orchestra for Metropolitan Youth Symphony for 20 years. In 1979, I started my training to teach the Suzuki Method (Mother Tongue). I continued my studies and eventually became Co-Director of the Oregon Suzuki Institute, a summer camp for students and teachers of the Suzuki Method. I performed on cello with the Columbia Symphony in Portland for many years.”
Gyrid Hyde-Towle, 1950:
“I received my Monday Musical Club scholarship award in 1950 just after my senior year at Jefferson High School. I had moved to Portland from Chicago during my junior year of high school. In Chicago, I was an art student and had a scholarship to study at the Chicago Art Museum when I was in the 7th and 8th grade and I had been studying violin since I was 4 1/2 years old. I joined the Portland Junior Symphony (now known as the Portland Youth Philharmonic) when I moved here and was then recruited by the music director at Jefferson to play in their orchestra as well. In my senior year, I had to choose between art and music for my college studies. I chose music and my MMC scholarship provided me with enough money to pay for all my private music lessons the next year at Lewis and Clark College. I auditioned and was accepted to play violin in the Oregon Symphony in 1953 and retired after 48 years in 2001. I joined the Monday Musical Club in 2011 to support the organization that helped me in my musical journey. I am currently serving as the club’s Vice President.”
Visit our “Scholarship Information” page to learn more about the MMC Scholarship Fund and current Scholarship activities, and also check our “Scholarship recipients” page which includes a list of our previous MMC Scholarship winners (work in progress, list will be updated)