Concord-Carlisle freshman takes first prize in state violin competition

A Concord-Carlisle High School student violinist is a division finalist in the Music Teacher National Association competition. 

Anyuu Inomoto Fong, daughter of Kin Chung Fong and Yuki Inomoto, was awarded the first prize in violin at the Massachusetts statewide competition, and will represent the state as she competes against delegates from other states in the northeast region. 

Fong is a student of Fudeko Takahashi Cohler and has been a member of the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra since 2016. She also won first place in the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition 2019. 

"The violin lets me express my feelings musically and it's fun learning new pieces and fully being able to play them well, and it makes other people happy too," Fong said. 

Fong's mother said this is her daughter's second time competing in the state competition, and her win was unexpected because her first year of high school was demanding amid the pandemic, but Fong still dedicated herself to the violin. 

"Last year her private lessons were on Zoom, so for her to keep motivated to practice, it was really from her inner will that she wanted to do this," Inomoto said. "So this was something really special that she really pushed it through the pandemic."

The winner of the division competition will compete in the National Finals. Division winners will be announced in mid-January.

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

Music Teachers National Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of 17,000 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.