Meanwhile, in Hockessin Music Studio, my students were performing in various events, and winning top honors. Shown below are several examples of articles that came out in the Wilmington News Journal about that same time period. These events all pertain to theAssociated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) examinations.

 

DEWHITT STUDENTS IN ABRSM EXAMS (2003)

Four students from the Hockessin area recently were chosen to participate in the “Honors Concert” at Princeton on June 14th.  They are Billy Huang, Tony Lu, Cindy Duan, and Joyce Li.  The participants are all piano students of Mitzi DeWhitt of Hockessin.  Joyce Li, with 142 points (“High Distinction”) achieved the highest mark for all Level 2 students, and came within one point of receiving the highest marks in the entire East Coast region.  Billy Huang, with 140 points (“High Distinction”) received the highest marks in all of Level 3.  Cindy Duan, Level 2, also received 140 points (“High Distinction”).  Of the 609,000 entrants, world-wide, and the 650 entrants within the East Coast region (the four-state area of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware), five percent ranked in the Distinction category, and only one percent in High Distinction category (the designations which indicate scores above 130 or 140, respectively, out of a total of 150 points). The students are tested in the areas of performance of specifically-assigned repertoire, scales, sight-reading, and aural perception.

 

                       

PIANO STUDENTS RECEIVE HIGH HONORS IN ABRSM EXAMS (2004)

Seven musicians from the Hockessin area, piano students of Mitzi De Whitt, recently participated in the internationally-accredited Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), regarded as the leading international examining body for music.  All seven placed in the “High Distinction” category.  Shown pictured, front row: they are: Cindy Duan, Angela Li, (Mrs. DeWhitt), and Matthew Lan; second row: Joyce Li, Billy Huang, Tony Lu, and Steven Chen.  Top scorer, Matthew Lan (pictured seated next to Mrs. DeWhitt) not only achieved the highest mark for all Level 1 students, but also received the coveted High Scorer award, given to the one student in the four-state region having the highest score overall (in this instance, 145 out of a possible 150 points).  Cindy Duan received the highest overall marks for Level 3 (142 points).  Mitzi DeWhitt teaches in Hockessin and serves as Delaware Certification Chair for the Music Teachers’ National Association (MTNA). 

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Joyce Li went on to achieve High Scorer at the two highest grade levels (grade 7 and grade 8) two consecutive years in a row.

 

There are other exemplary students from my studio who have achieved the prestigious honor of High Scorer. However, due to space constraints I must limit this list, and here will name only the most recent winner of the ABRSM High Scorer Award.  Her name is Nicole Wang, my student of the past five years who, in December (2016), was notified that she was the High Scorer in Grade 6, and was invited to participate in the East Coast Region High Scorers’ Concert, this year held in Monmouth, New Jersey, where she received a Special Commendation and Plaque.  

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Nicole Wang, High Scorer, Grade 6, ABRSM, 2016