Medora Music Academy
August 3-8, 2025
Strings, Piano, and Voice
Ages 13-27 years old – with consideration outside these parameters.
The Medora Music Academy offers five immersive days of intensive music instruction, performance training, master classes, and concerts. Students will learn from and perform alongside distinguished guest artists and esteemed college faculty, all within the historic heart of Medora.
Applications Open Now
Priority Deadline: March 31st, 2025
Past the priority deadline, applications are accepted until spots are filled.
ACADEMY ACTIVITIES:
Strings & Piano
- Individual Lessons
- Group Masterclass and Technique Class
- Chamber Music or Collaborative Piano (selected)
- Chamber Orchestra (strings)
- Showcase Performances for All Instruments
Voice
- Voice Lessons
- Stagecraft, Characterization, and Movement
- Musicianship
- Staged Final Concert with Piano Accompaniment
- Classical/Opera, Musical Theatre, and CCM (Popular)
Additional Opportunities
- Concerto & Aria Competition
- Attend the Medora Musical
- Visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- Tour Medora’s historic town and attractions
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Strings, Piano & Voice
$735
Lodging, Tuition & Meals
$485
Tuition & Meals
Limited Scholarships are available if applying by the priority deadline of March 31st, 2025.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:
Video recording of two solo pieces of contrasting style from appropriate literature that showcases the student’s best-performing ability. Videos should be uploaded as ‘Unlisted’ to YouTube (not Private), or in online storage accessible by a simple click of a link.
For voice, the songs should be recorded with piano/guitar accompaniment or a backing track.
Once you submit your audition, please check for our confirmation email. If accepted, you will receive an email and a promo code to register for the Medora Summer Music Academy.
Concerto and Aria Competition
Participants stand a chance to perform with the MMA ensemble in the grand finale and/or receive valuable feedback from experienced judges. The prize includes performing with the MMA ensemble in the final concert, and participants can choose their piece from a curated list.
Instructors
Simona Barbu (Strings)
Co-Artistic Director
Burgum Endowed Chair, Associate Professor of Music at the University of North Dakota
An astounding international cellist, Simona Barbu began her musical studies at age seven and gained public attention as a member of the leading string quartet of the Conservatory of Timisoara in her native Romania, where she made her solo debut in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with the conservatory’s symphonic orchestra. Ever since, she has traveled to Asia, South America, Europe, and the United States as a soloist, chamber musician, clinician, and orchestra musician.
Nariaki Sugiura (Piano)
Co-Artistic Director
Associate Professor of Piano and Music at the University of North Dakota
International concert artist Nariaki Sugiura has performed solo recitals and concerto engagements in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia at prestigious concert halls. His arrangements for chamber ensembles and piano ensembles have been frequently performed.
A devoted teacher, Sugiura has become of the leading piano pedagogues of his generation giving piano master classes around the world.
Mark Stevens (Piano)
Director of Piano Studies at South Dakota State University
Dr. Mark Stevens serves as Director of Piano Studies at South Dakota State University. Dr. Stevens’ experience as a pianist ranges from traditional piano repertoire to contemporary music, with a focus on works written in the past 50 years. An active commissioner, he is preparing to premiere 10 new works composed by a diverse range of early to middle career American-identifying composers, all written to be playable by an advanced amateur pianist. In recital, he engages audiences through thematic programming, juxtapositions of unique repertoire, and colorful insights about music, composers, and cultural context.
An active and committed teacher for 25 years, he has repeatedly been recognized for the quality of his instruction. His students have won dozens of prizes in competitions including the MTNA competition, the South Dakota and Washington State Music Teachers Competitions, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Seattle Young Artists Music Festival, and the Northwest Bach, Viennese Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary Piano Festivals. He is regularly invited to adjudicate and teach throughout United States, offering masterclasses and workshops for universities, professional organizations, private studios, and music academies. As president of the South Dakota Music Teachers Association, he is active in service to his profession at the state level and beyond.
Justin Montigne (Vocal)
Assistant Professor of Voice: Music Director & Musical Theatre Production at the University of North Dakota
Justin Montigne teaches workshops, classes, and private voice lessons in North Dakota and abroad. At UND he teaches Applied Voice, Diction for Singers, and is music director and conductor for the annual Musical Theatre Production. Dr. Montigne has taught on the voice faculties of UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and Sonoma State University. He co-founded the Bay Area Vocal Academy, and for many years was Director of Voice Studies for the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus. Dr. Montigne is a versatile countertenor comfortable in many styles and eras of music. He toured the world and recorded for three years with Chanticleer, and is a founding member of Clerestory, curating more than forty different concert programs and recordings over fifteen seasons.
Dina Maria Neglia (Strings)
Co-director of the League of David Conservatory
Violinist Dr. Dina Maria Neglia enjoys a multifaceted musical career dedicated equally to teaching, performance, and scholarship.
As a performer, Dr. Neglia has concertized extensively as a chamber musician and soloist around the world. She has been featured on MPR Classical Radio and has had the honor to perform by invitation for U.S. Presidents and other public figures. Her first love is the orchestra, where she has served as concertmaster for many orchestras in both the United States and Europe.
Dr. Neglia has served as part of the faculty at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Vincennes University, North Dakota State University, and Concordia College in Moorhead. She is the co-director of the League of David Conservatory.
Keith Teepen (Vocal)
Tom Kenan Assistant Professor of Piano at Flagler College
As both a collaborative and solo pianist, Keith Teepen enjoys a multi-faceted career in performing and teaching. Keith has performed in Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout North America. He has collaborated with a diverse spectrum of celebrated artists including: American operatic tenor, Bryan Hymel, baritone, Christopher Job, trumpeter, Tine Thing Helseth, Broadway stars, Laura Osnes and Donna Vivino, internationally renowned euphonium virtuosos, Adam Frey and David Thornton, tuba virtuosos, Øystein Baadsvik and Alan Baer, as well as internationally renowned trombonist, Scott Hartman.
Frequently sought after as a musical theatre pianist and coach, Keith has had the pleasure of music directing a variety of different productions. Recent engagements include: Edges, Last Five Years, Cinderella, Children of Eden, A Chorus Line, and Into the Woods. In January, Keith will be collaborating with Broadway star, Laura Osnes in a serious of cabaret performances. Keith is also a frequent collaborator in the opera world and was the “official pianist” for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions – North Dakota-Manitoba District from 2015-2018.
In addition to his performance schedule, Keith is a respected educator. He taught on the piano faculty at Pró-Música Music Festival in Juiz de Fora, Brazil and has held collaborative piano positions at DePauw University School of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and the University of North Dakota. Keith has taught master classes in both the solo and collaborative piano areas in New York, Macau, Hong Kong, Brazil, and many other cities across the United States and China. He has given lectures discussing the importance of a collaborative pianist in both Asia and the United States.
Keith received his D.M.A. in Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is currently the Tom Kenan Assistant Professor of Piano at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.
Registration Includes
- Three days of master classes, music fundamentals, and seminars
- Meals starting with dinner on Sunday until lunch on Thursday
- A complimentary voucher to the 2023 Medora Musical
- Lodging for registrant for four nights at the Elkhorn Quarters
* Registration Fees are due on or before June 1st after acceptance notification to save your spot.
Lodging Details
Lodging includes accommodations in an Elkhorn Quarters family room with 3 campers.
Parents and Families
Families are invited to join their students in Medora. Student registration includes:
- 15% Off Medora Musical Tickets for parents.
- 10% off Elkhorn Quarters Family or Queen Rooms
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LITTLE PICTURES. BIG MOMENTS.