THE STORY: JUNE 2026

SUMMER I SEMESTER: MAY 3RD - JUNE 27TH

Student Achievements
Concerto Class Performance
StringStravaganza!
Champagne Showcase
IN Residency - Mak Grgic
Summer Enrollments
NMS Happenings

Student Achievements

Constantine Wang (13), student of Winston Choi and Sean Bennett, won Gold in the 13-16 youth category of the 2026 Singapore Raffles International Music Festival Piano Solo Online Competition.

Mark Mykytsey (16), student of Anila Aliu, has won the first prize at Salzburg’s International Music Competition Grand Prize Virtuoso and has been selected to perform at the Sölitar, Mozarteum in Salzburg on Sunday, July 26th.

New Music School had a superb showing at the 2026 Illinois Music Association
State Olympic Contest. Congratulations to the following students on your achievements!

• Raegan Lau (7) First Prize (Cadet Level II) - student of Clinton Velman

• Kingston Lau (6) First Prize (Cadet Level II) - student of Clinton Velman

• Jonathan Kwok (5) - First Prize (Cadet Level I) - student of Clinton Velman

• Noemi Ciborowski (5) - First Prize ( Cadet Level II) - student of Clinton Velman

• Sumayyah Muhammad (10) Second Prize (Junior Level II ) - student of Stefani Haas

• Olivia Ma (4) Third Prize (Cadet Level I) - student of Clinton Velman

• Nathan Ng (5) Third Prize (Cadet Level I) - student of Clinton Velman

Tomorrow! - Concerto Class Performance

Join us on Saturday June 6th in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University for our Concerto Class Performance! The event will take place in two time sessions: the first starting at 12:00pm, and the second beginning at 2:30pm. We invite all NMS students and families to join us for both!

A selection of NMS students of a variety of instrument types have been involved in this class opportunity, working on a concerto movement throughout the Spring Semester. 15 students have been selected by video audition to perform with a professional chamber orchestra under the baton of conductor Conner Gray Covington. It’s a remarkable opportunity for our students to gain collaborative skills, and we hope you’ll support their journey! Mark your calendar, and we’ll hope to see you there!

Tomorrow! StringStravaganza!

Join us for our All String Departmental Recital, StringStravaganza! which will be held Saturday June 6th in Ganz Hall on the 7th Floor of Roosevelt University!

This event will happen in correlation with our Concerto Class Performance, also in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University! We will start at 3:45pm, allowing our String Students to watch and be inspired by the students who are playing with a professional chamber orchestra in our Concerto Class Performance. 

Then, the rest of our students will take center stage of Ganz Hall for our annual All String Department Recital. We hope you can join us for this exciting day of music making!

Tonight! Champagne Showcase

Join us for our upcoming Champagne Showcase on Friday June 5th at 7:00PM in our NMS Concert Hall.

The NMS Champagne Showcase is a delightful evening for our Adult Students to show off everything they've been working on over the past semester. Bubbly* and snacks are provided, and the atmosphere is joyful and celebratory!

Join us to cheer on all our adult students as they share their gifts!

*This event is for students and audience members age 21 and above.
**Our standard accompanist fee will apply.

IN Residency - Mak Grgic

NEXT + IN Recital
Steve Yepez, flute & Jeffrey Panko, piano

NMS Flute Faculty member, Steve Yepez, will present IN Recital + Next on Friday June 19th at 7:00pm. He’ll be joined by NMS Piano Faculty member, Jeffrey Panko, for an evening of flute works.

Program:

Amanda Harberg - Feathers and Wax
J.S. Bach - Flute Sonata in Eb Major, BWV 1031
Francis Poulenc - Sonata for Flute and Piano
Yuko Uebayashi - Flute Sonata

Tickets are $20 each, and can be purchased at Eventbrite. We love when our faculty are able to perform for our NMS Community, and hope you’ll be able to show-up and support!

Summer Enrollments

We’re currently in our Summer I Semester, which runs until Saturday June 27th. Summer II Semester will start Sunday June 28th and run until Saturday August 22nd.

Questions? Email billing@newmusicschool.com!

NMS Happenings

Graduating Senior Tong-Bai Deng (pictured with his teachers Sean Bennett and Winston Choi) performed IN Recital for his final House of Ravel performance on Saturday May 30th. He was joined by fellow NMS graduating senior, Annikki Jurva, flute, for the Prokofiev Flute Sonata among other works. Congrats to Tong-Bai, and all the best as he heads to Oberlin Conservatory to continue his piano studies in the fall!

Graduating Seniors Kenneth and Joseph Gallwas (pictured with their teacher, Jeffrey Panko) gave their final House of Ravel Recital on Saturday May 23rd. We wish them the best as they pursue double majors in Piano Performance and Economics at Northwestern University this fall!

Piano Faculty member Dana Brown led our Adult Students in a Performance Class on Friday May 29th. Pamela Spann, mezzo-soprano, Arthur Langlois, piano, and Aymar de Vandiere, flute (pictured Left-Right), joined other members of our Adult Lesson Learner community to prepare for our upcoming Champagne Showcase on Friday June 5th.

Viola student Harin Park works with NMS Violin Faculty member MingHuan Xu in our most recent String Performance Class! String students got the opportunity to receive helpful feedback for their upcoming StringStravaganza! performances!

NMS Piano Faculty Members Jeffrey Panko and Matthew Lorenz shared a moment backstage at the Lakeshore Symphony Orchestra Concert. Mr. Panko was the solo artist for the rarely heard Gershwin Piano Concerto in F, and Mr. Lorenz played piano for Copland’s Appalachian Spring.

New Music School Events, Summer 2026

• June 5: Champagne Showcase (7:00pm)

• June 5: Concerto Class Rehearsal - Ganz Hall @Roosevelt (9:00am-5:00pm)

• June 6: Concerto Class - Ganz Hall @Roosevelt University (12:00-4:30pm)

• June 6: StringStravaganza! - Ganz Hall @Roosevelt University (3:45-6:00pm)

• June 7: Performance Class (4:00pm)

• June 19: NEXT + IN Recital - Steve Yepez, flute & Jeffrey Panko, piano (7:00pm)
  
  NMS Academic Calendar available on google calendar here.