LA PLATA, Md. (March 8, 2009)—The College of Southern Maryland and ArtLinks have teamed together to organize the first Southern Maryland Regional Piano Competition for high school level pianists, April 4 and 5, at the college’s Prince Frederick Campus. The high-level juried competition is seen as an opportunity to promote piano performance and reward and encourage young pianists within the region.
Fifteen pianists from all three counties will audition on Saturday, April 4 on the handcrafted Boesendorfer 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.
"This competition has been a great environment to cultivate relationships between the college and our music community, including the area’s private music teachers, school music teachers as well as these talented, young musicians," said CSM Professor Stephen Johnson, who is also a member of the piano competition committee. "Since we historically have concentrated our music curriculum in Charles County, this particularly has enabled us to expand our arts program for Calvert and St. Mary’s communities to enjoy."
The winners of the first Southern Maryland Regional Piano Competition, in addition to receiving cash awards, will perform in concert on the Boesendorfer for the closing performance, on Sunday, April 5. The concert will also feature local pianist Jason Brown.
"The final performances by the winners of the competition and by pianist Jason Brown will be an absolutely wonderful experience," Johnson concluded.
Brown and the Southern Maryland Regional Piano Competition winners will perform for the public beginning at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 5, at CSM’s Prince Frederick Campus, 115 J. W. Williams Road, Prince Frederick. The concert is free. For information, visit
www.csmd.edu/SoMdPianoCompetition/.
For information on being a part of the competition as a sponsor or partner, contact Joann Kushner, 410-257-2627 or Joannkushner (at) hotmail.com.