Lee University International Piano Festival And Competition To Begin Soon

Lee University’s School of Music will present its 12th Annual International Piano Festival and Competition June 12-18.

The event, which began in 2005 as a competition for high school students, was expanded in 2011 to include opportunities for non-competitors to also study with internationally-acclaimed artists. At the same time, it offers the public a chance to take in some brilliant performances. This year, for the second time, the competition will be divided into two levels: pre-college and college.

"This year’s festival has attracted 19 outstanding young pianists to the Lee campus," officials said. The participants come from nine different states in the U.S. and one from People’s Republic of China, and range in age from 11-26. 

"Highly-praised performers and teachers Mack McCray, Enrico Elisi, and Shen Lu are the guest artists for this year’s festival. Lee faculty Ning An and Cahill Smith will also contribute to the festival, which is chaired by Lee’s Phillip Thomas," officials said.

One feature of this annual event is that the guest artists offer concerts to the community. Mr. Lu and Mr. Elisi will present a recital on Monday evening, June 13, and Mr. An, Mr. Smith, and Mr. McCray will perform on Friday evening, June 17. Both recitals will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall of the Humanities Center on Lee's campus.

Concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday evening will feature selected festival participants. All of the festival concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall and are free and open to the public. 

Festival participants have the opportunity to learn from faculty and guest artists in masterclasses during the day. Faculty and guest artists will also offer private lessons.

The competition will begin Thursday, June 16, at 10 a.m. Winners will be presented on the morning of Saturday, June 18, following the competition’s final round which begins at 10 a.m.

Mr. McCray, a faculty member of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1972, also serves as artistic director of the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Courmayeur, Italy. He has performed with the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, on the all-Schubert series at famed Trinity Church in Manhattan, at the Carmel Bach Festival, and at the Los Angeles County Art Museum, as well as in Alaska and across the United States. Mr. McCray was the top prize winner of the International Enesco Competition in Bucharest and of the International Liszt Competition in Boston.

Mr. Elisi is described by La Nueva España as “a true musician and a master of elegance, refinement and fantasy.” He has performed solo recitals and has been featured as soloist with several orchestras in the United States and abroad. Mr. Elisi leads a large class of international students as an associate professor of piano at the Eastman School of Music. An active chamber musician, he began a collaboration with violinist Federico Agostini, a former leader of I Musici. Mr. Elisi has performed in such prestigious venues as La Fenice Theatre in Venice, the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and the Bibbiena Theatre in Mantua, among others. Mr. Elisi has given master classes, workshops, and lectures at colleges and conservatories throughout the world, held a guest professorship at the China Zhejiang Art School in Hangzhou, China, and taught at Penn State University and University of Nevada. He also founded “Musica Domani Prize,” an international composition competition he currently directs. 

A native of Jiangsu, Mr. Lu is a multiple award-winning pianist, acclaimed on four continents for his artistry, diverse repertoire and quietly charismatic performance style. Mr. Lu has appeared with orchestras and in concert halls around the world; has been a featured artist at the China International Piano Festival in Beijing, Piano Texas International Academy and Festival, and New York’s PianoSummer at New Paltz; and has collaborated with the Sydney Trio and the Aurora and West Edge string quartets. Mr. Lu was awarded the gold medal of the 2014 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the first prize from the 2002 Hong Kong Asia Open Piano Competition.  He was awarded The French Music Prize for the best performance of a French work at the 2015 Dublin International Piano Competition.

Mr. An has been hailed as a musician who “combines a flawless technique and mastery of the instrument with an expressive power that is fueled by profound and insightful understanding” (New York Concert Review). His top prizes from the Queen Elizabeth, Cleveland, and William Kapell Piano Competitions led to performances from Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Salle Verdi (Milan), to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. An has also been a top prize winner of the Paloma O’Shea Santander Competition, the Tivoli International Piano Competition, the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition and the Alfred Cortot Prize winner of the International Chopin Piano Competition. A frequent guest lecturer, Mr. An has given masterclasses throughout the United States and Asia. He serves as the artist-teacher on the piano faculty of California State University, Fullerton and as a visiting artist at Lee.

Mr. Smith, who started playing piano at age ten, earned his doctorate of musical arts in piano performance at the Eastman School of Music. He has performed in recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and been featured as soloist with the National Ukranian Symphony Orchestra in Kiev.  Mr. Smith’s programming of works by Russian composer Nikolai Medtner has attracted the attention of audiences and critics. He has performed at numerous venues including the Royal Dublin Society’s concert hall and the Aspen Music Festival’s Harris Hall. Mr. Smith currently serves as an assistant professor of piano at Lee. While at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned his doctorate of musical arts, he held three graduate teaching assistantships and was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Teaching. 

Mr. Thomas has served as chair for the festival since its inception. He has studied piano, music history, and conducting at some of the world’s finest institutions and has also served as adjudicator for a variety of competitions on the local, regional, and international levels. He currently serves as the chair for the Department of Musicianship Studies at Lee and has appeared as harpsichord soloist with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Thomas is listed in Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

For more information on the Lee University International Piano Festival and Competition, contact the Department of Musicianship Studies at 423-614-8264, music@leeuniversity.edu, or visit http://www.leeuniversity.edu/academics/music/piano-festival/.