RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wilkes piano students perform for music educators conference
Students earned the privilege of playing after winning in the annual All-State Piano Competitions held at Mercer University's McCorkle Music Hall in Macon on December 2, 2006. The three pianists formed a trio (six hands at one keyboard.) They were Genevieve Coe, Michal Wright, and Ian Coe. Their winning composition was Gavotta, Op. 192, No. 2 of Cornelius Gurlitt. Genevieve has won for five years in a row, and Ian for six. This is the second time Michal has been a GMEA All-State Winner. For the third year, most events of the conference, including piano, were held at Savannah's International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island. Some events continue to be held at the Savannah Civic Center, Christ Episcopal Church, Westin Savannah Harbor Hotel and Resort, and the Desoto Hilton Hotel. GMEA events have been held in Savannah since 1973, and Savannah has been the home of the In-Service Conference since 1988. The major feature of the Conference of 2007 was the Technology/ TI:ME Institute for Music Educators. There was something to interest every participant in the TI:ME sessions with plenty of hands on experience demonstrating the latest music education hardware and software. Combinations of Apple and Sound Tree sponsored the computer lab. Apple sessions include iTuner, iPods, GarageBand and the iLife suite. SoundTree sessions featured tips on building a lab in schools and MakeMusic session included Finale and SmartMusic demos. There were also sessions on Sibelius and In The Chair. Dr. Benny P. Ferguson is the current President of GMEA, and is Director of Visual and Performing Arts, Savannah Chatham Public Schools. Students and teachers were also able to visit some 155 exhibit booths. The trio performed on Saturday in the Four-and-Six-Hand Master Class, grades 10-12, conducted by Dr. Barbara Fast, Keyboard Department Chairman and Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Fast has performed in England, Russia, Japan, and Korea, and has given Lecture Recitals and Master classes throughout the United States. The trio was impressed with her ability to keep students at ease, as she gave helpful and important comments regarding their performance of the Gavotta, a character piece from the romantic genre offering challenges of intricate articulations and slurrings, within relatively equal difficulty of the three parts. Doctors Elizabeth and Stan Coe are parents of Ian and Genevieve. Ian attends Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School, and Genevieve is home-schooled. Georgette and Kenneth Wright are parents of Michal Wright, and she attends Athens Christian School. Students, parents, and teachers enjoyed over a hundred scheduled lectures, workshops, concerts, recitals, master classes and clinics, including some of Georgia's best ensembles and soloists. For the second year, outstanding for pianists was the Recital and Master Class given by the internationally famous Canadian born Jon Kimura Parker, Professor of Piano at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. With instrumentalists from Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, Parker performed a French program of Suite by Darius Milhaud, the Violin Sonata in A Major of Cesar Franck, and Piano Quartet, Op. 15, of Gabriel Faure. Many advanced piano students performed in his Master Class. Genevieve Coe was one of those who played in his Master Class at the 2006 Conference, performing the Tambourine of Bela Bartok. Some other clinicians heard by students and teachers were "Georgia's Own." Atlanta-born artist in-residence at Georgia State and Kennesaw State universities, Robert Henry, gave a lecture on the "Nine Basic Steps" of the famous piano pedagogue, Tobias Matthay. Henry has won first prize in four international piano competitions, with career highlights at both Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. The husband-wife team of Joy and Phillip Hayner from the faculty of Piedmont College in Demorest gave a joint lecture on "Accompanying" for the piano division. Dr. Hayner is a commissioned composer and holds the DMA from College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Mrs. Hayner is an organist. Dr. Susan Tusing of Andrew College in Cuthbert presented a workshop designed to give help for piano students with very small hands. Dr. Tusing has participated in Fulbright-Hays Professional Development Seminars in Taiwan and Thailand, and has served as project director of the seminar in Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia. Piano students participating in the GMEA All-State Piano Competitions held in Macon, other than the ones who played in Savannah, were among former GMEA winners. Christina Albertson, a winner for four years, and Troy Colvard, for two years, performed a duet by Eric Satie entitled The Eccentric Beauty, Grand Ritornello, No. 1, from La Belle Excentrique-Fantaisie Serieuse. In addition, Christina performed a solo, placing 14th in Tenth Grade Solos and receiving "Honorable Mention." Her piece was Improvisation, Op. 84, No. 5, by Gabriel Faure. Christina is the daughter of Daphne and Steve Albertson and Troy is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Greg Colvard. They both attend Washington Wilkes Comprehensive High School. Others competing were Ian Coe, solo piano, 11th grade, performing Excursion, Op. 20, No. 4, of Samuel Barber, and Genevieve Coe who played Consolation, No. III in DFlat of Franz Liszt. She placed 15th, earning Honorable Mention in the Ninth Grade Division. Emily Beggs, a sixth grader from Lincoln County Middle School, competed with an Allegro movement from Sonata, Hob XVI/G1 of Joseph Haydn. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Beggs of Lincolnton. During a conference, numerous teachers and students with their families stayed at hotels in Savannah's Historic District. They enjoyed frequent, scenic, twominute rides from shore-to-shore, crossing the Savannah River to the Island on the Belles Ferry system in vessels christened after key women featured in the city's history. A favorite of students was the Juliette Gordon Low, named for the beloved Savannah-born founder of the Girl Scouts.
In addition to serving as "Presider" for two of the piano sessions, Miss Harris participated in the State Piano Council Meeting, held at the Conference annually. She has served on the council consecutively for over 10 years. Other activities included students, parents, chaperones, and teachers who all enjoyed sightseeing, restaurants, and shopping in the famous historic district of Savannah.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
