Leonard Hayes, a junior from Dallas, Texas, qualified for the national finals of the 2010 National Association of Negro Musicians Scholarship Competition in Piano after winning the NANM regional competition March 20 at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Ark.
For winning the regional event, Hayes received an all-expense paid trip to the national competition July 25-28 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He will be of five regional winners competing in the national finals. Hayes advanced to the NANM regional as the winner of the local Dallas competition.
For both the local and regional auditions, Hayes performed movements from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 7, George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 2 and Cesar Franck Poco’s Allegro and Fugue. He is a student in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky.
Founded in 1919 and based in Chicago, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans. During its 90-year history, NANM has provided encouragement and support to thousands of African American musicians, many of whom have become widely respected figures in music and have contributed significantly to American culture and music history.
