Valencia native Celine Chen, 14, will compete as a Division Finalist in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Southwest Division Junior Piano.

Chen, the daughter of Jemmy and Erly, earned this opportunity after winning the California MTNA Competition Junior Performance Competition. A freshman at West Ranch High School, Chen has been studying piano for 10 years and is currently a student of Nobuyo Nishizaka.

Celine’s Bio:
Celine Chen, 14, was instinctively drawn to the piano and began playing at the age of 4. She is currently studying with Nobuyo Nishizaka. Celine has won countless accolades in numerous piano competitions, including the Glory International Music Competition, the US New Star Piano Competition, Los Angeles Young Pianist Competition, Glendale Piano Competition, the Grand Prize award from Satori Young Piano Competition, the James Ramos International Competition, the CAPMT Sonatina Competition, the CAPMT Romantic Competition, the MTAC Scholarship Competition, the Southwestern Young Music Festival and the International Music Talent American Protege Competition, which allowed her to perform at Carnegie Hall in the winter of 2017. She was also a Gold Medalist at the Complete Works Bach Festival. Recently, Celine won the Gail Newby Concerto Competition and will perform with the Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra in March of 2019. Additionally, Celine is an active member of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber Music and was a recent scholarship recipient to the Montecito International Music Festival, in which she had the opportunity to participate in a masterclass with Dr. Thomas Lymenstull. She has also had the privilege of engaging in masterclasses with Petr Jiříkovský and Avedis Kouyoumdjian on her honor tour with JCM to various cities in Europe in the summer of 2018. In addition to her passion for music, Celine was also the principal flutist in her school, a member of CSUN Philharmonic Orchestra and the California All State Honor Band. Aside from music, Celine enjoys art and reading books. Looking toward the future, Celine plans to pursue music both as a pianist and flutist.

The winner of the division competition will compete in the National Finals during the MTNA National Conference in Spokane, Washington, in March. National Finalists will be announced in mid-January.

The three-tiered MTNA competitions begin at the state level. Winners of each State Competition advance to the video-only division competition. Division winners then proceed to the National Competition Finals.

To receive more information about the MTNA National Competitions, including competition rules and applications please contact MTNA national headquarters at (888) 512-5278, mtnanet@mtna.org or visit the website at www.mtna.org.

Music Teachers National Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of 20,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to advancing the value of music study and music making to society and to supporting the professionalism of music teachers. Founded in 1876, Music Teachers National Association is the oldest professional music association in the United States.