By Darla Martin Tucker

While Olympic competitors prepare for the 2008 Beijing games next week, more than 25 young pianists from Shanghai vied for prizes this week at La Sierra University.

The musicians range from elementary to high school ages. They arrived from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in Shanghai, China and surrounding areas to participate in the 2008 2nd Across the Pacific Piano Camp and Competition at La Sierra University. The camp began Sunday, Aug. 3, with competition and performances through Thursday, Aug. 7. The lineup included two, free public recitals at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday evening at La Sierra’s Hole Memorial Auditorium.

The group is comprised of about 50 students of who more than half competed. Following the camp at La Sierra, the group will travel to Las Vegas for sight-seeing and then to New York City to tour The Juilliard School. One of last year’s young artist division winners may perform at Steinway Hall New York or another New York music venue.

Music professors from the Shanghai Conservatory, the Clarisse B. Kampel Foundation in Seaford, N.Y., the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and from La Sierra University will coach the piano competitors for three days. The clinicians then judged the students in preliminary and final competition rounds for junior, intermediate and young artist divisions on Wednesday and Thursday. They awarded the winners with prizes.

The recital performances Tuesday and Wednesday spotlighted last year’s competition winners and young artists who have won international events. They played pieces by Czerny, Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Liszt, Milhaud, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.

Piano camp coaches and judges included La Sierra’s Director of Keyboard Studies and Music Technology Elvin Rodriguez; Carl Battaglia, board director with the Clarisse B. Kampel Foundation; Christopher Zhong, professor of piano at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Wendy Wang, professor of piano at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Dr. Patricia Taylor Lee, artistic director of the 2009 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition; Thomas Schumacher, professor of piano, Eastman School of Music.

Zhong serves as the piano camp’s founder and artistic director and Wang serves as founder and deputy director. A Chinese company organized the group’s U.S. tour.

The Shanghai professors selected La Sierra for the piano competition ultimately through Rodriguez.  “I heard of the possibility while attending a Steinway Society of Riverside and Coachella Valley board meeting two years ago. As a vice president of programs at the time, I worked with Derry Faji of Prosser Pianos [Steinway piano dealership in Rancho Mirage] to see if we could bring the venue to LSU,” Rodriguez said. He is currently a board director with the Steinway Society.

Through Prosser Pianos and Faji’s efforts, “Steinway has sponsored the use of their [pianos] free of charge to the university,” Rodriguez said. “This has added  world-class pianos for students to practice and perform on and has helped in our cause to become an all-Steinway school in the future.”

“Because these students represent truly outstanding musicians, I thought it would be prudent for La Sierra University to host them since their excellence reinforces what we try to accomplish with our students here,” Rodriguez said.

“Although it's summer, and unfortunately most of our students are out of town, I feel hosting this festival puts La Sierra University on the map as a place where outstanding music is heard and taught, and helps reinforce the perception in the community that this is a happening place for serious music education,” he said. “Also, the festival brings with it known names in the world of music that legitimize the worth of the festival and connects them with La Sierra University.”

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)