The College of Southern Maryland and ArtLinks announce the first Southern Maryland Regional Piano Competition for high school level pianists, which will be held on April 4 and 5, at the college’s Prince Frederick Campus.
The high-level juried competition is open to any high school student within the region as an opportunity to promote piano performance and reward and encourage young pianists within Southern Maryland.
“Through this competition, we hope to recognize and foster the talented, young artists in our region who display a high level of musical expression combined with their technical excellence. Even more, what an absolutely exciting opportunity for these young artists to be able to perform on this magnificent and absolutely superior, handcrafted Boesendorfer,” said Donna Wayson, chair of the piano competition committee.
All pianists will audition on Saturday, Apr. 4 on the piano, which is the centerpiece of the college’s Ward Virts Concert Series and located at the Prince Frederick Campus. The piano was gifted to the community by the Ward Virts Piano Project Group as a tribute to the late Ward Virts, a talented concert trained pianist from the region and who died in 1993.
The winners of the competition, in addition to receiving cash awards, will perform in concert on the Boesendorfer for the closing performance, on Sunday, Apr. 5.
Deadline to apply for the competition is Jan. 15, 2009. Applications, as well as the competition rules, are available at www.csmd.edu/SoMdPianoCompetition. For information on applications, contact Donna Wayson, (301) 855-2966 or donnawayson@verizon.net.