Musical Arts International, Inc.
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Musical Arts International, Inc
Presents
A Season of Celebration
Calvin Kotrba and Matthew Chang, pianists
https://www.musicalartsinternational.org
Matthew Chang, seventeen years old, is mainly studying under the guidance of Dr. Martin Labazevitch. He has won first prizes at International Young Artist Piano Competition twice. In 2024-2025, Matthew received the silver prize and the special award for the best performance of a Chopin piece at the national final round of the MTNA senior solo piano competition, as well as the silver medal and the special award for the best performance of a Chopin Mazurka in the 31st International Chopin Piano Competition in Szafarnia, Poland. He has also received numerous accolades, including winning the National YoungArts with Distinction award, the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition, the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, he has won twice at International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington DC.
Matthew gave his first livestream solo recital at eleven years old and a second, during the Covid-19 pandemic, at the Polish ambassador’s residence at twelve years old; since then, he has performed in venues across the world, including appearances in Puerto Rico, Spain, Austria, Hungary, South Korea, and more. Matthew has also been featured with the Sinfonia da Camera orchestra under the baton of maestro Ian Hobson in Illinois and appeared on NPR’s From the Top.
Recently, he was selected to be a third-year Chopin national scholarship recipient.
Comments by the NY Concert Review: “He projected the life of each distinct phrase with a joyful and intense involvement. His rhythm was not merely solid, but also full of dance-like energy.”
Calvin Kotrba is a classical pianist dedicated to pursuing the true, the good, and the beautiful through music. Originally from Minnesota, he currently studies with Dr. Andrew Staupe at the University of Houston. He began Suzuki piano lessons at the age of three with his mother, Sara Kotrba, going on to study with Dr. Paul Wirth. He earned degrees in piano performance and mathematics with highest honors as a student of Dr. Ksenia Nosikova at the University of Iowa, and went on to earn his master’s degree in piano performance under Prof. Gila Goldstein as the Longy School of Music, where he was the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship and the Longy Leadership Award.
As a soloist, Calvin was the first-prize winner of the 2025 International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, D.C., as well as the 2024 Thomas F. Hulbert International Piano Competition. He also represented the state of Massachusetts in the 2023 and 2024 MTNA Competitions. Recent festival appearances include studies with Alexander Schtarkman and Gila Goldstein at the Berkshire High Peaks Festival in Great Barrington, MA, with John O’Conor at the Adamant School of Music in Vermont, and with Ksenia Nosikova at the Wiener Musik Seminar in Vienna, Austria. Calvin is particularly passionate about the music of French-Jewish composer Charles-Valentin Alkan; he recently became the first American to professionally record Alkan’s Scherzo Focoso, Op. 34, available on streaming services worldwide.
Calvin’s musical actives in Houston include teaching music theory, accompanying, and serving as the organist at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX; he is also pursuing studies in conducting, under the guidance of Dr. Anthony Maglione. A great lover of collaborative playing, Calvin previously accompanied the Youth Chorale and the Concert Choir of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, MA, where he also performed with Trio Idoneus. His collaborative coaches have included Renana Gutman, Elizabeth Oakes and Réne Lecuona, and he has received coachings from members of the Brentano, Miró, Harlem, Castalian, Dali, and JACK quartets.
Calvin is also a composer and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society. Calvin’s love of music is sustained and enriched by his Christian faith. When not playing the piano, he enjoys traveling long distances by train, eating steak, and organizing his schedule.
Li-Ly Chang, pianist, composer, has been featured at Silver Spring Town Center, Inc.: Asian Pacific Month, Frances Clark Center webinars: piano music by composers with Asian Heritage, and selected into Teacher's Honor Roll by Music Teachers National Association in 2026. She holds NCTM Certification by MTNA. She is the director of International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington DC. www.lilychangpiano.com
Tickets: regular $25, student $15. Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-the-season-tickets-1980417019617?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or mail a check to MAI, PO Box 2284, Silver Spring, 20915 or call 301-933-3715
Program:
- Sonata, op 81a, Les Adieux, Das Lebewohl (The Farewell) - Beethoven
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Transcendental Etudes, S.139-Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 –1886)
- Molto vivace
- Mazeppa
- Feux Follets (wills-o-the-wisp)
- Wilde Jagd (Wild Hunt)
- Frederyk Chopin Variations on Mozart's "Là ci darem la mano," Op. 2.
- Matthew Chang, piano
- Sonata in D major, D. 850 - Franz Schubert
- Piano Sonata, Op. 1 - Alban Berg
- Scherzo Focoso, Op. 34 - Charles-Valentin Alkan
- Calvin Kotrba, piano
Date: Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 @3 pm
Address:
Calvary Lutheran Church
9545 Georgia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910
Between 495 and Georgia Ave. Metro red line to Forest Glen. Free parking on Flora Lane, reception follows. Handicap accessible.
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Musical Arts International, Inc. is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization.