It's been an unusual last couple of weeks for me (and busy ones, too...ergo the scant blog entries). The week before this last one, I spent a good deal of time in and around the fourth annual Southeastern Piano Festival at the University of South Carolina, in the company of some outstanding pianists from grades 8 through 12. I did a recital program on June 12, and at the end of the week, was a judge for the Arthur Fraser Concerto Competition involving 16 of these young artists. My fellow judges (Jon Nakamatsu, Ann Schein, Nicholas Smith of the SC Philharmonic, and John Kenneth Adams, Professor Emeritus at USC) and I were treated to an entire day of  impressive performances. I don't generally like the idea of music competitions, but reluctantly accept that they are a way to give young musicians a target for learning large amounts of big repertoire. It's always tough to quantify what is after all a subjective judgment. Are we rewarding the finished product as it stands (the concerto performance itself, asking "can this work right now with an orchestra on stage?") or are we to give a boost to someone who shows glimmers of ultimately being the one among this group who may have the most to say, the poetic nature inside to say it?

That's a tough question, and the fact that the five of us took over an hour to decide the three top prizewinners and three honorable mentions is indicative of that dilemma. But we were all reassured by the fact that all three top winners will be able to perform a movement with the SC Philharmonic. These three promising young pianists are (1st Prize) 9th-grader Sejoon Park of McLean, Virginia, who gave us a Beethoven 3rd Concerto of true command, poise, and clarity; (2nd Prize) 11th grader Jooeun Shim of Glenview, Illinois, whose Chopin 1st Concerto showed similar command and sweeping momentum, punctuated by moments of loveliness where needed; and (3rd Prize) 9th grader Mariana Olaizola of Bethesda, Maryland, small of stature but who made us all sit up and take notice with truly heartfelt, poetic approaches to both the Schumann Arabeske and Beethoven 3rd Concerto. (More details on the results, including the date of the winners' performance in Columbia, here.)

There were other remarkable events all week at the Festival. Jon Nakamatsu's recital was magnificent, everything I believe in my heart about music and piano playing rolled into an evening. He's got the full arsenal, but knows enough not to swat a mosquito with a sledgehammer, pianistically speaking (a lesson most of the competing young artists needed to learn). But make no mistake, when he does turn on the afterburners, it's that much more thrilling for our senses not having been dulled by a constant onslaught. He made more sense out of the first of the D. 899 Schubert Impromptus than anyone I've ever heard before. His Chopin B minor Sonata was deeply intelligent, keenly attuned to harmonic, contrapuntal, and structural elements within to make a listener lament, "what if Chopin had not died at 39? What might a Chopin of 1875 have created?"

Kudos for this wonderful Festival goes to Marina Lomazov of the USC faculty, who, as Artistic Director of the event, has it down to a science by this point. The students received intensive lessons all week from the very fine USC piano faculty, including Dr. Lomazov, and also Scott Price, Charles Fugo, and Joseph Rackers. Well I've spent so much time writing about this that I haven't even mentioned what I just finished doing this very week just past, which was even more intense and exhilarating...stay tuned for the next entry.