ECU piano competition goes virtual

ECU piano faculty members Keiko Sekino, left, and Kwan Yi perform at the opening concert for the virtual competition and master classes. (Contributed photos)

Providing opportunities at East Carolina University for the next generation of talented young pianists didn’t stop this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, ECU’s School of Music transformed the 2021 ECU Piano Competition on Jan. 23 into an interactive, all-day virtual event for students, parents and teachers.

Forty-one pianists competed and 14 students attended master classes taught by ECU piano faculty. Participants were from North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. Guest judges were from Nevada, Michigan, Virginia and Tennessee.

“Historically, we’ve had the competition by itself every year,” said Kwan Yi, assistant professor of music at ECU. “However, we wanted to add something more to the existing model by adding the master classes where students can work with the ECU piano faculty in a safe and nurturing environment while others could observe and learn from watching the sessions.”

In addition to Yi, ECU piano faculty members Dr. John O’Brien and Dr. Keiko Sekino taught the master classes. ECU music students and alumni helped administer Zoom rooms and conducted sound checks with participants.

“Due to the pandemic, we simply could not hold the event in person on our campus; however we wanted to continue to award and give opportunities to the next generation of talented young pianists,” Yi said. “The online technology/platform gave us the opportunity to do just that and more. We were able to recruit students and invite guest adjudicators nationally and introduce ECU and our music program to a wider audience.”

Olivia Li performs during the 2021 competition.

Luke Turner, a junior at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Alabama, won second prize and $500 in the senior division of the competition and watched the master classes, which helped him learn from his fellow students and the teachers, he said.

“The competition was a great motivation for me to polish my pieces, especially since many other competitions I had planned on entering have been canceled,” Turner said. “It was a lot less stressful for me because instead of playing live for the competition, I sent in prerecorded videos that I had done from my home.”

While he missed getting to talk directly with the judges as well as meeting and hearing from other participants as he would at an in-person event, Turner said he enjoyed listening to other winning performances. “One of my favorite parts of hearing other performers is finding pieces that I might be interested in learning,” he said.

The competition was founded by Dr. Henry Doskey, professor of piano emeritus, in 2006 and has had strong community involvement and support through the years.

Along with Doskey, ECU alumni Dr. John Holter and Dr. Bonnie Mani of Greenville as well as former faculty member Dr. Kerry Carlin have donated funds for prizes. This year, there were seven winners of cash prizes ranging from $200 to $1,000 — all from private donors, Yi said.

Benjamin Luo plays the piano during the virtual competition.

Turner said the cash prizes were an extra incentive for preparation. “I’m so thankful for the donors who are supporting young musicians like myself,” he said.

In previous years, winners have returned to campus to perform a recital during the competition, which inspire and challenge ECU music students and community members in attendance, Yi said.

“While the primary goal of these events is to recognize aspiring young pianists in the region for their years of dedication, it is the good word that they spread about the music programs at ECU as they return to their communities that has lasting influence,” Yi said. “Along with our East Carolina Piano Festival — which takes place during the summer — we hope to create an enriching environment for the young and talented pianists and promote ECU in the process.”