Mason Community Arts Academy

Tag: Dr. Estrella Hong

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Events Faculty News

May the 4th Be With You: 2025 Spotlight on the Arts Festival

vocal teacher performing in front of an audience

Congratulations to our music faculty for a splendid evening of music and voice at yesterday’s Fairfax, Spotlight on the Arts festival performance. Our theme this year was music from film and television.

Pieces ranged from the main theme of Interstellar, performed by Dr. Nayoon Choi on flute and Dr. Estrella Hong accompanying on piano, to a selection of pieces from Star Wars and The Hobbit, performed by a guitar trio of Geoff Sawyer, Brian Slaymaker, and Hang Yin. 

This year was our highest attendance to date with 150 attendees! We look forward to more performances by our faculty in the future and we hope to see you for next year’s Spotlight performance.

This performance was made possible with the generous support of the City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts.

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Community Outreach

Connecting with the Community: MCAA at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

On Tuesday, November 5th, longtime Teaching Artist Dr. Ina Mirtcheva Blevins, along with Executive Director Mary Lechter and Instruments in the Attic Coordinator Dr. Samantha Clarke, visited with participants from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, sharing the many facets of the Academy and how it serves as a connection between George Mason University, The College of Visual and Performing Arts, The Reva & Sid Dewberry Family School of Music, and the community.

The presentation started with a lovely performance by special guests Dr. Estrella Hong (MCAA Piano faculty) and her daughter, Academy student Victoria. As an added treat, members of Dr. Blevins’ Beginner and Intermediate Piano for Adults 55+ shared kind words about their experiences with MCAA, and performed pieces they are working on in class.

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Events

Mason Community Arts Academy Students Shine at ARTS by George!

MCAA was proud to participate in the annual ARTS by George! celebration on September 28th, presenting a showcase of student work.

Featured were our Spotlight on the Arts scholarship recipient Camryn Carter, a musical theater student under the direction of Adam Lemos and Emi Eiting, performing “Waiting for Life” from the musical Once on this Island. Jakin Jordan-Brangman, a longtime student in Masha Feygelson’s piano studio and another Spotlight on the Arts scholarship recipient, performed Toccata in E-minor. Closing out the presentation was Victoria Hong, a student in Dr. Seon Gyu Park’s voice studio singing “Journey to the Past” from Anastasia, accompanied by esteemed MCAA piano teaching artist Dr. Estrella Hong.

Academy Voice Teaching Artist, Ashlyn Rock (left), performed “Sempre libera” from Verdi’s La Traviata, prior to Lea Salonga’s performance.

ARTS by George! is an important fundraising event for George Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA). Proceeds from the event are distributed to CVPA’s academic units, MCAA, and the Green Machine, to help fund scholarships. Our heartfelt thanks to those who attended our showcases, and to all of the evening’s attendees for their generous support of student work.

You can view more photos from the event on our Facebook and Instagram.