Lois Trester piano competition is an annual event at the University of Arizona. It is a big event at the institution because by its very nature it is interactive. It is a fun filled bonding session where students from various faculties are united with a common purpose: bonding. Though this is not the main reason why these awards were launched in 2010, the competitions were introduced in honor of a beloved piano teacher called Lois Trester who passed away a few years ago. After Lois Trester’s death, the management in conjunction with the student’s fraternity found it prudent to keep Trester’s memories alive by funding this scholarship in memory of her devoted contribution to the local piano community and TMTA.
These awards were the talk of the day by the students who could not ponder over what to expect at such hilarious moment. It was so anticipated that it added zest of the occasion as the much awaited competitions proved worth by the quality of the music that was played by the pianists. The event begun on a high note and there is little doubt that any student will decline the idea of inculcating the event in the annual calendar. This year, the Third Annual Lois Trester Piano Competition took place on April 1st in universities’ Crowder hall.
The event kicked off at exactly 3.00pm with superb presentations from students majoring in piano. Among most anticipated performers of the day was Kyung Lee who is a South Korean native but his love piano has seen her traverse several continents both as a student and teacher for opera programs. She gave a debut concert in 2004 during the New Great Pianist Series in Seoul. After the debut, she travelled to America in 2006 to undertake her master’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa. Ms Lee has been of help in helping the students prepare for the event under the guidance of Dr. Kristin Dauphinais. She enrolled for the DMA program in piano performance. The second anticipated performer was Chiew Hwa Pooon a Malaysian native completed her masters of music degree in piano performance at Missouri State University. Currently, she is a first year at the Doctor of Musical Arts degree programs and piano performance at the University of Arizona. She has received several awards including the Yamaha Music scholarship and the Malaysian Youth Festival. She is a qualified teacher who enjoys teaching class piano at the university.
In addition to the two teachers, a lot was expected from the contributions of Nathanael Gross who begun studying music at a very tender age. He thus participated in many piano competitions where he won several awards including being the best performer in the Prescott Fine Arts Association’s Most Outstanding Performer. In 2010, he made Beethoven presentations to boys and girls at Central Arizona and he is currently undertaking two courses on piano performance and mechanical engineering. Xi Luo who is an active performer in Beijing was also expected to show her expertise in the Lois Trester Piano competitions. She was the winner of the China Instrumental Competition in 1999. She is a student of Professor Tannis Gibson at the University of Arizona where she is pursuing a master’s degree in music.
Among the lucrative prizes awarded to the winners included $ 2,000 which is the ultimate first prize for the winner of the Lois Trester piano competitions. The first runner up was awarded $ 1,000 being the prize for Winifred Knight Price, TMTA while the third was awarded a prize of $ 500. The fourth prize was $ 300 and in the Michael Moore Undergraduate Prize, the winner was awarded $ 1,000. The best audience was awarded $ 100. In 2010, Joo Young Oh scooped the first place and was equally awarded with the audience prize. The second place was taken by Bokyung Park and the third place was granted to Dylan Marney. In 2011 the best prize was taken by Elena Miraztchiyska, there was a tie in the award of the second prize between Chia Chun Ko and Ian Houghton.
Works cited
Lois Trester Piano Competition. University of Arizona, n.d. web. May 1, 2012. <http://music.arizona.edu/News-events/event/163>
