The Times

Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Kyle Smith Sugar Land eighth grader, Albert Zhang concentrates on perfectly playing the music during the competition last Saturday. He is playing Muczynski's Prelude I from six prelude. Zhang was among 13 area junior high and high school students who competed in the contest.

Media Credit: Kyle Smith Seven through nine first place winner Christopher Mowery, runner-up Rose Yeh, 10 through 12 winner Aaron Hendrix and runner-up Ann Flanangan were able to showcase their talent to college professors Sarah Spencer and Martha Braswell at the Young Pianist Competition.

Sounds of sweet sonatas and intoxicating toccatas flowed from the fingers of middle and high school students onto the sleek keys of the piano at Central's Young Pianist Competition last Saturday in the Jan Corbin Recital Hall.

Central's department of music sponsored its second annual Young Pianist Competition for 13 promising young musicians with passions for piano.

With the idea coming directly from a competition Blinn College has done for 20 years, Martha Braswell, a piano professor, believed the event would prove beneficial for those who entered and even more so for those wishing to pursue piano as a major.

Winners of the competition received cash prize awards; $150 for first place winners and $50 for second place winners. In addition to the cash prizes, a deserving senior had the opportunity to be considered for the Noel Wilkins Foundation Scholarship and a Music Departmental Scholarship at the judges' discretion.

The contest contained two categories that included grades seven through nine and 10 through 12.

Christopher Mowrey, a seventh grader of Westbrook Intermediate in Friendswood, took first place for the first category presented. Mowrey decided to perform Beethoven's Lei-chte Sonate because of the many ornaments, tones applied as decoration to a principal melodic tone, and the musical technique required to play the piece.

"[Piano] really lets me express myself, and the music is very expressive too," Mowrey said. "I enjoy that a lot."

Runner-up for the seventh through ninth grade category was seventh grader Rose Yeh of Missouri City, who played a Sonata in E minor Allegro Assai by C. P. E. Bach.

In the 10th through 12th grade division, Aaron Hendrix, a home-schooled senior won first place. Hendrix played Charles Griffes' Scherzo from Fantasy Pieces and became encouraged to enter the contest after his piano instructor mentioned it to him; she said that it would be a good experience for him.

Ann Flanagan, a home-schooled sophomore, took the prize for runner-up. Her passion for piano led her to enter the competition and perform the Katch-adourian Toccata.

Contestants were evaluated on several elements including accuracy of memorization, interpretation, presentation, rhythm, meter, tempo and overall performance.

Central's music department chose to sponsor the competition to encourage piano majors and help students in deciding to attend San Jacinto College as their two-year institution.

"We have a lot of untapped talents in the area, I believe, and I want it at San Jacinto College," Sarah Spencer, a piano professor at Central, said.

"Mainly, [the competition] really is a recruitment tool for us. We'd like to reward the students in the area and their teachers for all their hard work and show that we recognize how talented they are."

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