Wisconsin Music Teachers Association Badger Collegiate Piano Competition

Tag: Wisconsin Music Teachers Association Badger Collegiate Piano Competition

Two Lawrence University Musicians Earn Top Honors at State Piano Competition

Lawrence University musicians Ka Man (Melody) Ng and Amanda Gessler captured the first- and second-place honors, respectively, at the recent Wisconsin Music Teachers Association Badger Collegiate Piano Competition held May 7 at Lawrence. Both are students in the piano studio of Associate Professor of Music Anthony Padilla.

Ng, a sophomore from Hong Kong, earned $200 for her winning performance, which included works by Bach, Schubert and Liszt. It was the second state title in two years for Ng, who also captured top honors in last year’s Neale-Silva Young Artists Competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio. Gessler, a sophomore from Harshaw, Wis., performed works by Haydn, Bartok and Liszt.

Participants in the competition, which is open to students attending any college or university in Wisconsin, are required to play a 30-minute recital.

Lawrence University Pianist Wins Top Honors at State Competition

Lawrence University senior Rachel Bittner earned first prize honors Saturday, May 24 at the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association’s annual Badger Collegiate Piano Competition. It was the second straight year a Lawrence pianist was awarded the competition’s top prize.

In addition, Nicholas Towns and Erin Grier earned honorable mention recognition at the competition.

Conducted at Lawrence’s Memorial Chapel, the WMTA Badger Collegiate Competition featured 12 pianists from colleges and universities throughout Wisconsin. It was adjudicated by Fred Karpoff, chair of the keyboard department at Syracuse University.

Bittner, a senior from St. Paul, Minn., who earned honorable mention recognition in this same competition last year, received $200 for her winning performance. A student of Associate Professor Anthony Padilla’s piano studio, Bittner played Beethoven’s “Appassionata” Sonata, Op. 57, Prokofieff’s Sonata No. 7, Op. 83 and Chopin’s Scherzo No. 3. She will pursue graduate studies this fall in piano performance at the University of Wisconsin, where she will study with former Lawrence music professor Catherine Kautsky.

Towns, a senior from Princeton, Ill., and Grier, a junior from Woodside, Del., are also students of Padillla’s piano studio.