Congratulations to all of the students who auditioned for the 2023 Maryland All State Ensembles. We are very proud of every student who auditioned.
MMEA would like to express our gratitude to our Executive Board, component leaders of MBDA, MCEA, and MODA, and the dedicated members and chairs of the All State Planning Committee. We are also incredibly thankful to the professional musicians and educators who assisted as the adjudicators for these auditions. These events would not have been possible without the dozens of hours of our MMEA volunteers. In addition, we want to send a special note of appreciation to the faculty, staff, and administration at Laurel High School, North Point High School, Parkside High School, Williamsport High School, and The University of Maryland, Baltimore County for hosting our auditions.
All Concert Dates
MMEA is excited to present the 2023 Maryland All State Concerts.
Concerts will be approximately one hour in length.
All State Junior Chorus Concert
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Time - 12:00 PM
Location - Morgan State University, Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218
All State Junior Orchestra Concert
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Time - 4:00 PM
Location - Morgan State University, Murphy Fine Arts Center, 2201 Argonne Dr, Baltimore, MD 21218
All State Senior Jazz Band Concert
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Time - 3:30 PM
Location - University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Arts & Humanities Building,1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250
All State Senior Chorus Concert
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Time - 11:00 AM
Location - Baltimore Convention Center - Ballroom I & II (400 Level), 1 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201
All State Senior Orchestra Concert
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Time - 1:00 PM
Location - Baltimore Convention Center - Ballroom I & II (400 Level), 1 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201
All State Junior Band Concert
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Time - 3:00 PM
Location - Baltimore Convention Center - Ballroom I & II (400 Level), 1 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201
All State Senior Band Concert
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Time - 5:00 PM
Location - Baltimore Convention Center - Ballroom I & II (400 Level), 1 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21201
Meet the Conductors
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Junior Chorus, February 19
Terry Eberhardt
Terry N. Eberhardt received his Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and his Masters Degree in Opera Performance at The University of Maryland Opera Studio.
Mr. Eberhardt currently serves as the Music Coordinator in Howard County Public Schools and the Past President of the Maryland Choral Educators Association. In his role as coordinator, Mr. Eberhardt oversees 220 music educators and is responsible for music curriculum for students pre-K through grade twelve.
The former Department Chair at Marriotts Ridge High School, Mr. Eberhardt’s choirs consistently earned Superior ratings at local, state, and national festivals. Mr. Eberhardt has been on the voice faculty at Towson University, Trinity College and currently at Red Bridge Studio’s in historic Savage Mills Maryland.
Mr. Eberhardt is a native of Maryland and has performed in numerous oratorios as baritone soloist and bass soloist. He is well known to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. audiences with performances as a principal artist in many local opera productions.
Terry Eberhardt has served as a guest conductor for many honor choirs in the state, including Baltimore County, Prince Georges County, Calvert County, Carroll County, Charles and Frederick County groups. He is also an active adjudicator and clinician. Mr. Eberhardt is the proud recipient of The Maryland State Teachers Award, The Maryland Distinguished Scholarship in talent and education, and The Peabody Scholarship in talent. In 2008 Mr. Eberhardt was named the “Howard County Teacher of the Year” for his commitment to music excellence in the classroom. Mr. Eberhardt was featured as a “Choral Director of Note” in the January 2011 edition of the Choral Director Magazine. In 2015 Mr. Eberhardt was named Grammy Music Educator of the year semi-finalist.
Junior Orchestra, February 19
Victoria Gau
Victoria Gau is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Capital City Symphony (DC) and Cantate Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and the former Associate Conductor of National Philharmonic. Orchestral guest conducting includes the Open Page Ensemble, Alexandria (VA) and Akron (OH) Symphonies, the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra, and the Kennedy Center Messiah Sing-Along. She has been active as Artistic Director of the Takoma Ensemble and is the former Conductor and Music Director of the Richmond Philharmonic Orchestra in Richmond, VA. Opera music directing includes the Other Opera Company, Washington Savoyards, Victorian Lyric Opera Company, Annapolis Opera Musicales, the Eldbrook Opera Ensemble, and the IN-Series, as well as serving on the opera faculty at George Mason University
Gau is in demand as a leader of concerts for young audiences as well as a conductor and string educator at youth orchestra festivals and workshops. For a number of years she conducted National Philharmonic’s annual concerts for Montgomery County 2nd graders and the Philharmonic’s Junior String Institute Orchestra. She is the former conductor of the Young Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra (DC Youth Orchestra Program), as well as the Akron Youth Symphony, and has conducted youth orchestra festivals in Virginia, Ohio, and New York. Gau has conducted Side-by Side events with DC-area youth orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the SOGO Conservatory Orchestra (Olympia, WA), the Vermont All-State Orchestra Festival, and the Maryland Senior All-State Orchestra. She is a sought-after clinician for orchestral programs.
Gau has guest conducted such choruses as The Metropolitan Chorus, Capitol Hill Chorale, and the Congressional Chorus. She has assisted in preparation of the 150-voice National Philharmonic Chorale for approximately 6 concerts per season, and served as Co-Director of the National Philharmonic Singers, and Director and Co-Conductor of the National Philharmonic Summer Choral Institutes.
Ms. Gau holds degrees in Viola Performance and Conducting from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she won the Phi Kappa Lambda Prize for Musicianship.
Senior Jazz Band, February 25
Matt Belzer
Multi-instrumentalist/composer Matt Belzer has a diverse musical life. By age 22, he had received two degrees from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, having studied with Bill Dobbins, Fred Sturm, and Ramon Ricker. Since then, Matt has dedicated himself to projects ranging from traditional jazz to noise punk rock, R&B, contemporary chamber music, and modern creative jazz. In addition to his numerous projects, he is a very active freelance musician, regularly performing on woodwinds at the Kennedy Center, the National Theatre, and various theaters and concert halls in the region. As a result, he has performed with artists including Smokey Robinson, Hugh Jackman, CeeLo Green, Jewel, Chaka Khan, Barry Manilow, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Bernadette Peters, and Vanessa Hudgens.
His compositions are published on Advance Music, UNC Jazz Press, and his own Matobelu Music. He has been honored by Downbeat magazine, the Jazz Composers Alliance and the Maryland State Arts Council. Most recently, he is a member of the Afro-Cuban jazz group the Anansi Trio and has released two albums featuring his original work.
He is the Director of Jazz Studies at UMBC where he directs the jazz ensemble, teaches jazz courses, teaches saxophone, and collaborates with faculty and students.
Junior Band, March 5
Brian Balmages
Brian Balmages is known worldwide as a composer and conductor who equally spans the worlds of orchestral, band, and chamber music. His music has been performed by groups ranging from professional symphony orchestras to elementary schools in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Sydney Opera House, Toronto Centre for the Arts, and many more. He is a recipient of the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, won the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest with his work Love and Light, and was awarded the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Visual and Performing Arts. In the same year, he was commissioned by his other alma mater, the University of Miami, to compose music for the inauguration of the institution’s 6th president, Dr. Julio Frenk. His music was also performed as part of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, which was attended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden.
As a conductor, Mr. Balmages enjoys regular engagements with all-state and regional ensembles as well as university and professional groups throughout the world. Notable guest conducting appearances have included the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band Clinic, Maryborough Music Conference (Australia), College Band Directors Conference, American School Band Directors Association National Conference, numerous state ASTA conferences, Teatro dell’Aquila (Italy), and others. He is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association and has taught instrumental conducting at Towson University where he also served as Assistant Director of Bands and Orchestras. Currently, he is Director of MakeMusic Publications and Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic.
Senior Band, March 5
Travis Cross
Travis J. Cross (he/him) serves as professor of music and director of bands at UCLA, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, leads the graduate wind conducting program, and chairs the music department. He was also associate dean for academic mentoring and opportunity during the initial years of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He previously taught at Virginia Tech and Edina (Minn.) High School. Cross earned doctor and master of music degrees in conducting from Northwestern University and the bachelor of music degree cum laude in vocal and instrumental music education from St. Olaf College. His principal teachers were Mallory Thompson and Timothy Mahr. Cross has appeared as a guest conductor, composer, and clinician in nearly 40 states; Canada, China, Korea, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates; as featured band clinician at the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention; and on several occasions at the Music for All National Festival and Midwest Clinic. Cross is a member of the Council of Korean Americans and a Yamaha Master Educator.
Senior Chorus, March 5
Dr. Diana Sáez
Dr. Diana V. Sáez is the Director of Choral Activities at Towson University. A leading specialist in Latin American music, Dr. Sáez is a frequent guest conductor, adjudicator, and lecturer in the United States and abroad. In the past five years, she has presented at national and regional ACDA conventions, American universities, and various other engagements in North and South America. Prior to that, she served for 25 years as artistic director of Cantigas, the award-winning chamber choir of Latin American and Spanish music. Her compositions are published by Hal Leonard, Boosey and Hawkes, and the Roger Dean Publishing Company.
Senior Orchestra, March 5
Dr. Johannes Dietrich
Johannes Dietrich, a native of Bozeman, Montana, joined the faculty of Lebanon Valley College in 1995. As the Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor in Instrumental Music, he directs the LVC Symphony Orchestra, teaches conducting, string methods, applied violin and viola, and coaches chamber music ensembles.
As a violinist and chamber musician, he has performed throughout the United States, as well as in Austria, Germany and Italy. As a member of Duo Terlano, he performs regularly with his wife, cellist Marie-Aline Cadieux. He has released two CDs - Solo Journeys, which includes the World Premiere of Scott Eggerts “Adagia” for solo violin and the Duo Terlano recording, Whimsies.
Dr. Dietrich has conducted festival, district, regional and All State orchestras from New Jersey to Montana. His college orchestra has toured Austria, Italy, Ireland and the Czech Republic, with performances by special invitation at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, and the world- renowned Rudolfinum in Prague. Plans are underway for a return trip to Europe, scheduled for the spring of 2023.
Dr. Dietrich began studying the violin at the age of five, and shortly thereafter began lessons on the piano. He has studied with Helmut Zehetmair at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, with Cora Cooper and Johan Jonsson at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and with Constantine Kiradjieff at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, from which he holds a Master of Music degree in violin performance and a Doctorate in Violin Performance and Conducting.
His students have been prizewinners and finalists in both State and National competitions, and have been accepted into leading undergraduate and graduate music programs. Many have gone on to become successful teacher, performers and conductors in their own right.
Concert Recordings
For All State 2023, the concerts will be professionally recorded in audio format. Digital downloads of the concerts are on pre-sale now, through Lentz Media: Shop | Les Lentz Audio/Video (lentzmedia.com)
Digital links will be emailed to purchasers at the beginning of April, after the conclusion of all of the All State ensemble events.
IMPORTANT - All video recording will be strictly prohibited.
Audience members are welcome to take still photographs before, during, and after the concert from their seat. To provide an enjoyable and respectful experience for all involved, photographic devices must not obstruct the view of others nor have any audible sounds, beeps, or clicks.
Concert Programs
Click here to view the 2023 All State Concert Programs
These are the concert programs that were distributed at the concerts.
2023 All State Merchandise
All State Ensemble T-shirts and more are available at the MMEA Online Store.
Audition Score Requests
We are no longer accepting score requests for the 2022-2023 All State auditions.
Communications Policy
Caregivers or students may need to communicate directly with MMEA staff for questions and support. We ask that the student’s music educator be copied on all messages to MMEA to assure transparency and accurate communication. MMEA staff will extend the same courtesy in the event staff needs to communicate with caregivers and/or students.
Please direct all questions to MMEA Staff at mmeamarylandinfo@gmail.com.