MOBILE, Ala.—The Mobile Music Teachers Association will hold its 40th annual Sonata Contest from 9 a.m. to 3:30 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, which include Jeremy Samolesky, Josh Martin, Daniel Nagy and Amanda Penick.

Samolesky is a native of Canada and works as an assistant professor of piano at Auburn University. He holds two doctorate degrees from the Eastman School of Music; one in piano performance and one in accompanying. Known for his passion for both solo and collaborative piano performances, he has appeared in concerts throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Austria and Singapore.

As a concert soloist, he has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony; the Grand Folks Symphony; the University of Manitoba Symphony; the University of Washington Symphony; and recently with the Auburn University Orchestra.

The recipient of many awards, Samolesky has been featured in a documentary on the piano music of Sergei Prokofiev, produced by the Manitoba Television Network. Samolesky will soon tour around the U.S. and Canada. He will also record a commercial CD.

Martin holds a master’s and doctorate in piano performance from the University of Alabama and teaches at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla. He is an Alabama native and includes his teachers, Penick and Ron Shin, both of whom regard him highly. He resides in Cottondale, Ala., with his wife and two small children.

Nagy was born in Brazil and entered the Conservatoria Musical de Lapa, where he earned a piano performance diploma in 1984. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1988 and earned a Master of Arts degree in sacred music from Pensacola Christian College and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has studied with Gilberto Tinetti, Daisy de Lucca, Lois Leventhal and Faina Lushtak.

Nagy has received many awards, participated in music festivals in Brazil and performed solo and chamber music in the U.S., Brazil and Europe.

For 16 years he was on the faculty of Pensacola Christian College, but currently operates a private studio and serves on the music faculty at Pensacola Junior College.

Wilson recently retired from Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., and is an independent piano teacher with more than 50 students. She has a master’s degree in piano performance from Northwestern in Indiana and a doctorate degree in pedagogy from the University of South Carolina. She is nationally certified by the Music Teachers National Association and is in demand as an adjudicator and clinician.

Penick is a professor of music and coordinator of the piano area at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has appeared extensively as a soloist and collaborative pianist and was the host of the Alabama Public Television series, “The Pianist at Work.”

She has served as a guest artist, clinician, adjudicator and conductor of master classes for numerous local, district, state and divisional levels for the MTNA.

She is a past president of the Alabama Music Teachers Association and was awarded the inaugural teacher of the year award for her service and excellence in writing in 1995.

In the same year the board of directors of the MTNA Foundation voted to establish the Amanda Penick Endowment, a  $20,000 fund earning that will be used for teacher-enrichment grants. She was honored in 2008 when the MTNA named her teacher of the year.

Each judge will hear about 60 students and selected first-, second-and third-place winners in each level they adjudicate. At their discretion they may also award honorable mentions to deserving students. First-place winners will receive engraved trophies; second-place winners will receive a medallion; and honorable mention will receive ribbons.

A total of 304 student representing 29 piano studios have registered for the contest and will perform compositions ranging from level-one through college difficulty.

There is a hobbyist and noncompetitive category for adults.

The contest is open to the public. For more information contact Williams at 626-2712.