BYU Piano
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Brooke Ballard Wins the UMTA Piano Concerto Competition
BYU piano performance major, Brooke Ballard, received first place in the recent UMTA Piano Concerto Competition. This competition is open for all collegiate pianists in the state and had numerous entrants from all of the major universities in Utah. She performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25. Brooke is from Riverton, Utah. She says, “This is one of my favorite pieces to perform, and I’m honored to be awarded for it.” Brooke is studying with Dr. Scott Holden. Here is a live recording of her performance recorded during her recent sophomore recital.
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Ariel Wong Wins the MTNA Piano Competition
Congratulations to Ariel Wong, BYU sophomore and piano performance major. She was the winner of MTNA’s 2021 national competition for the high school division. Previously, she was the 1st prize winner for the state of Utah and the Southwest Division. (Ariel skipped a grade, and being 18, still qualified to compete in this division.) Her repertoire included Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses, Op.54, Dutilleux’s Chorale and Variations, and Wagner-Liszt’s Liebestod. Ariel is from Hong Kong. This is the second year in a row that a BYU student has made it to the national finals. Attached is a video of her playing Rachmaninov while competing in the 2020 Emory Young Artist competition in Atlanta, where she was prize winner. Way to go, Ariel!
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A Visit with Paul Sheftel: Pedagogy Beyond the Keys
Paul Sheftel, a renowned piano performer, pedagogue, composer, and leading figure in the creation of MIDI technology learning materials, visited BYU (via Zoom) earlier this month. He called in from New York City to meet with BYU’s piano pedagogy class (MUSIC 364), taught by Professor Jihea Hong-Park.
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Welcome, Jihea Hong-Park!
We welcome Professor Jihea Hong-Park as a piano faculty member at Brigham Young University!
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A Visit from Dr. Thomas Parente
BYU’s keyboard pedagogy class had the amazing opportunity to learn from Dr. Thomas Parente, a leading expert in Dalcroze Eurhythmics and author of highly acclaimed book, “The Positive Pianist: How Flow Can Bring Passion to Practice and Performance.” He is a former Associate Professor of Piano at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and has presented workshops, courses, and clinics both nationally and internationally.
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Guest Artist: Douglas Humpherys
BYU welcomed returning guest artist, Dr. Douglas Humpherys, who currently serves as Professor of Piano and Chair of Piano Department at Eastman School of Music as well as Artistic Director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. Dr. Humpherys conducted a master class for current BYU students, drawing from his incredible experience as a performer.
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Guest Artist: Jihea Hong-Park
BYU Piano department has had the immense pleasure of hosting two guest artists in the past weeks, both of whom are interviewing for positions on piano faculty.
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Senior Recital: Esther Chang
Among the (many!) impressive recitals presented this semester by BYU piano majors was Esther Chang’s Senior Recital, which featured works by Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin.
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Guest Artist: Kirill Gliadkovsky
This October, the BYU piano department was thrilled to welcome Kirill Gliadkovsky, a returning guest artist from Saddleback College. In addition to hosting a masterclass for current BYU students, he presented a recital with works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and Beethoven.
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Guest Artist: Alexander Kobrin
The BYU piano department was honored to host guest artist Alexander Kobrin, visiting from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. During Kobrin’s exceptional masterclass, he instructed both students and audience on a variety of pieces, which ranged from Bach to Barber. His authoritative insights (tempered by good-natured humor) made the participating students enthusiastic and receptive. Reflecting on the master class, student Morgan Bronson remarked, “I gravitated to his comments on balance--that all performance should feel like a play between propriety and surprise.”
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Hyrum Arnesen Wins Utah MTNA
Hyrum Arnesen (a second-year graduate student in Dr. Stephen Beus’s studio) recently won the 2019 Utah Chapter of the Music Teachers National Association Competition, carrying on a longstanding tradition of competitive BYU performers. Hanae Yamamoto, a senior in Dr. Scott Holden’s studio, and Gregory Smith, a junior in Dr. Stephen Beus’s studio, were also recognized in the competition, receiving two of the three honorable mentions.
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Avery Gunnell Wins Utah’s Salute to Youth
In its 60th Anniversary Annual Salute to Youth Concert, the Utah Symphony performed a variety of concertos with ten young instrumentalists, including Brigham Young University freshman Avery Gunnell.
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Faculty Recital: Stephen Beus
It is no secret that BYU’s faculty members maintain exceptional performance schedules. Dr. Stephen Beus recently presented a solo recital, captivating the audience (as always) with his artistry and providing an inspiring example for the students.
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Visiting Artist: Desireé Gonzalez-Miller
Following the retirement of Dr. Irene Peery-Fox, the piano department at Brigham Young University welcomed a new visiting member to its full-time faculty: Dr. Desiree Gonzalez-Miller. Dr. Gonzalez-Miller recently completed a Doctorate degree in Music Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Utah (where she studied with Dr. Vedrana Subotic).
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Collaboration with Central Conservatory of China
A new musical bridge between China and Brigham Young University opened up on January 23, 2019. Members of the BYU piano faculty met with a large delegation of Chinese piano professors and representatives from the Yamaha Piano Corporation to discuss future collaborative masterclasses between BYU and Chinese pianists. The delegation included teachers from the Central Conservatory of Music (“the Julliard of China”), as well as teachers from conservatories in Zhajiang, Wuhan, Sichuan, Xinghai, Mianyang, and Guangdong.
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Nathan Schaumann Wins Emory University Young Artist Competition
On 26 January, Nathan Schaumann (a freshman in Dr. Scott Holden’s studio) won 1st prize in the Emory University Young Artist Competition. This national competition was open to any US resident between 13 and 18 years old, and drew in pre-college and early college applicants from across the country. In the final round (in which twelve selected finalists participated), Nathan presented the following works: Piano Sonata No. 1 by Carl Vine; Piano Sonata Op. 2, No. 3 by Beethoven; “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov arr. Georges Cziffra; and Étude Op. 39, No. 8 by Rachmaninoff.
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Guest Artist (Distance): Frederic Chiu
In addition to its impressive collection of concert instruments, BYU recently acquired a state-of-the-art Yamaha Disklavier, which has enabled the piano department to conduct masterclasses literally across the world. Most recently, BYU students used the Disklavier to collaborate with esteemed artist Frederic Chiu, who coached students from over 2,000 miles away in New York City.
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