SPANISH FORT, Ala. — The Mobile Music Teachers Association will hold its 41st annual Sonata contest from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the Thomas T. Martin Fine Arts Building on the University of Mobile campus.

Sonata contest coordinator Vincentine Williams has secured five judges for the event. They are William DeVan, Lucy DeSa —both faculty members at Birmingham Southern College — Susan Berg and Amy McLelland — also from Birmingham — and Alice Butler from Cullman, Ala.

DeVan is a graduate of the Julliard School of Music and first-prize winner of the International Piano Competition Vianna di Motta in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently, he is the artist-in-residence at Birmingham Southern College and serves on the executive board of the World Piano Pedagogy Conference. As a Steinway artist, he has given many concerts in China, Taiwan and Hawaii, where he was the featured artist for their 2009 state music teachers conference. This March, he is scheduled to perform again in China.

DeSa, a native of California, holds degrees from the University of Southern California, where she studied with John Perry, and Stony Brook University, where she was a student of Gil Kalish. Before joining the faculty at Birmingham Southern in 2008, she taught at the University of California at Irvine and at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. She has judged concerto competitions for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Society and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

She has performed both solo and chamber music concerts in major cities in the U.S. and in Belgium, Paris and most recently, throughout South Africa. DeSa resides in Birmingham with her husband and two sons.

Berg is a graduate of Samford University and maintains a private piano studio where she produces many award-winning students. She is nationally certified by the Music Teachers National Association and serves as the pianist for the Mountain Brook Baptist Church. She also is the pianist and director of the junior Choristers for the Birmingham Boys Choir, which is under the direction of her husband, Ken. She has served in various offices of local music teachers organizations and is the treasurer of the Alabama Music Teachers Association.

McLelland holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Alabama and is a nationally certified independent teacher in Birmingham. She was the recipient of many awards throughout her college and pre-college days. She is quite active as an adjucator of piano events and was most recently in Mobile to judge the 38th Sonata contest. During summers, she teaches at the Golandsky International Piano Institute in New York City, N.Y., and Princeton University. She has performed in both solo and chamber music concerts and in March will perform in Vienna, Austria.

Butler graduated from the University of Montavallo with a master’s degree in both piano performance and pedagogy. In addition to teaching private piano, she is the music director at Rocky Ridge Church and also teaches music classes at the Hilltop Montessori School. She has held offices in both state and local music organizations as well as the National Federation of Music Clubs. She is the chairman for the Birmingham district auditions. She is an active accompanist in north Alabama and is much in demand as an adjudicator throughout the state.

A total of 255 students representing 32 piano studios have registered for the contest and will perform compositions ranging in difficulty level from Level 1 through college. There is also a hobbyist, non-competitive category for adults.

Each judge will hear approximately 50 students and select first-, second- and third-place winners in each level they adjudicate. At their discretion, they may also award honorable mentions to deserving students.

All students participating will receive a certificate of participation and a written critique of their performance. Commemorative T-shirts are available for purchase.

All performances in the Sonata contest shall be open to the public so

far as space permits.

For more info call 626-2712.