“Lancaster Mennonite Pianist Wins Again”
New Era
June 25, 2008
By Stephen Zook

A Lancaster teen won an international piano competition last week, and is already competing in another.

Xiaopei Xu, 17, is in New York City competing in the Fourth New York Piano Competition after she won a similar contest in Washington, D.C. Continued…

Boulder piano student tapped for NYC competition

By Wes Blomster

Daily Camera

Boulder, CO

June 22, 2008

 

It’s a competition where everyone wins; there are no losers. “We downplay the whole idea of competitiveness,” says Melvin Stecher, who with Norman Horowitz, his duo-piano partner of 35 years, founded the New York Piano Competition in 2002.

“These kids have worked so hard; why eliminate some of them in every round of the program.

“Everybody stays with it to the end — for a full week — and, at the least, takes home a prize of $1,250.”

Among the “winners” in the fourth session of the semi-annual program is Leann Osterkamp, who just finished her junior year at Boulder High School.

Leann — daughter of Kaye and Jeff Osterkamp, of Boulder — leaves for New York today.

She is one of 22 finalists, selected from more than 100 pianists ages 14 to 18, who will be in the city for the competition.

“My mother heard about the program,” Leann says. “We put together a CD of half a dozen pieces and sent it off to New York with photos.”

The winner of numerous awards and prizes, Leann looks forward to the week at the Manhattan School of Music.

“I think competitions are good,” she says. “They put pressure on you to reach a level that you wouldn’t achieve otherwise.”

And she hasn’t been troubled by stage fright for years.

“That’s a stage,” she says, “and it’s now behind me.”

Leann, who is currently working on Tchaikovsky’s famous B Flat Concerto with Doris Lehnert, describes the New York program.

“The first two rounds are solo,” she says. “The second must include ‘Improvisation and Fugue,’ a new work by John Musto, commissioned for the competition.”

In the third round Leann plays the first movement of a concerto, accompanied by a second pianist.

“In the fourth and final round I playa work for piano, four hands,” she says. “Partners are chosen by lot when we arrive.”

An evening seminar with Musto is part of the week. “This gives us a chance to talk about his piece and find out what went into it,” she says.

“John is an outstanding composer, and this is a marvelous work,” Stecher says. “It will serve these kids well as an audition piece when they apply for college.”

Monetary awards total $40,000, and first- through fourth-place winners will be presented in full-evening recitals during the coming year.

“Participants will work individually with the judges,” Stecher says. “We see ourselves not as managers, but rather as mentors for these young artists.”

The pianists will learn about the importance of image, of the very way they walk on stage and how they dress.

“Many of them are naive kids,” Stecher says. “They don’t even think about having an encore ready in case they need one.”

Among the 2008 judges are pianists Ian Hobson, Tong-II Han, Andre-Michel Schub, Susan Starr and Jeffrey Swann.

At Boulder High, Leann is pianist in the chamber orchestra. Last year she performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the school’s larger symphonic ensemble.

She knows she will study music after high school but has not yet chosen between conservatory and university programs.

“I love to perform,” she says, “but I’m equally interested in music theory.”

And she also loves jazz — not just Bach and Beethoven.

Lehnert was not accepting new students when Kaye Osterkamp asked her to recommend a teacher for Leann.

“I told her that I’d listen to Leann, who was 8 at the time, and give her some advice,” Lehnert says.

“Then Ozzi said that if Leann was talented I should take her.”

(Doris and her violinist husband, Ozzi, are both members of the music faculty at the University of Colorado.)

Today Lehnert looks with surprise – and admiration — at the dedicated and devoted student Leann has become.

“She loves music more than even I can imagine!” Lehnert says. “She’s a full-time high-school student and yet she practices five hours a day.

“I couldn’t do that myself.”

“So Young, So Talented”
Midweek
June 18, 2008
By Alice Keesing

‘Playing from the heart,’ plus long hours of practice, earn Honolulu teens Maile Cha and T.J. Tario a place in next week’s prestigious New York Piano Competition.

T.J. Tario couldn’t wait for summer. Summer means more time to play the piano, that is. At just 14, this musical whiz happily spends as many as l0 hours a day practicing his craft. Continued…

“Take Note: Gifted young pianists head for prestigious competition in New York”
Star-Bulletin
June 16, 2008
By Nancy Arcayna

T.J. Keanu Tario spends his Sunday afternoons tickling the ivories at local retirement homes.

It’s a really good feeling when I play for the elderly because they really appreciate my playing, even if I make mistakes,” he said. “After I finish playing for them, I just feel very warm inside. It feels very rewarding.” Continued…

“Grand performance wins top prize”
The Star-Ledger
June 16, 2008
By Allison Freeman

At the New York Piano Competition, 16-year-old Allen Yueh gave perhaps one of the best performances of his life.

“This may be the biggest competition I have ever been in, “Allen said in an interview last week. ìIt’s just so fortunate I could come out and play well and win.” Continued…

“First New York, Then the World”
The Cary News
May 28, 2008
By Valerie Marino

Apex pianist Vivian Cheng has some broad aspirations.

“My dream is to be a concert pianist and tour the world, just bring music into people’s lives,” said Cheng, 17. “I’m hoping I can go to Third-World countries and bring music to them.” Continued…

“Practice makes perfect: A lifetime at the keyboard pays off for La Crescenta’s Connie Kim-Sheng”
Pasadena Weekly
May 1, 2008
By Liz Hedrick

While most 3 1/2 year olds struggle to form simple sentences, Connie Kim-Sheng of La Crescenta had already begun to play the piano. Now 16, Kim-Sheng has recently been named one of only 22 teenagers from the United States to compete at the New York Piano Competition June 22 in New York City.  Continued…

“Pianist set to let her fingers do the talking”
Glendale News Press
January 22, 2008
By Angela Hokanson

In many elite youth piano competitions, contestants must be ready to endure multiple elimination rounds.

But the New York Piano Competition, which begins today at the Manhattan School of Music, gives this traditional model a twist. Contestants still play multiple rounds of challenging pieces, they are still judged and still awarded prizes based on merit. But they get to take part in the entire competition from start to finish without fear of being sent home. Continued…

“Review: Beyond the Practice Room”
Library Journal
May 15, 2007
By Bonnie Jo Dopp

Piano competitions are noxious to many, but the New York Piano Competition held by the Stecher & Horowitz Foundation for teenagers from 14 through 18 may be the kindest, gentlest version of them all. Once in the competition, no one is “eliminated.” The point is to let everyone have as many performance opportunities as possible. Continued…