For the past 23 years the Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition has been held at San Jose State University during the last weekend in February. This competition was founded in 1987 by Celia Mendez, a San José pianist and teacher, and its purpose is to be an artistic learning experience for California high school students to further their appreciation for Beethoven.
Applicants submit a CD performance of a complete Beethoven Sonata, and a screening committee of qualified pianists selects six semi-finalists to appear in the competition in front of an audience and three prominent judges. Consistent with the aims of this competition, the “prize” of the competition for the three finalists is participation in a master class given by an internationally known artist. The screening comittee this year was headed by Marta Schermerhorn, a pianist and teacher from Palo Alto, and the screening process involved over fifty hours of listening to the CDs from thirty-three California applicants — twenty-two from the north and eleven from the south
Some of the previous artists who have appeared in recital and given master classes in connection with the competition have been Richard Goode, Malcolm Bilson, Claude Frank, Yefim Bronfman, Garrick Ohlsson, John O’Conor, Anton Kuerti, Charles Rosen and Menahem Pressler. This year’s artist, Angela Hewitt, played a recital consisting of two major works by Bach and two Beethoven Sonatas the previous evening.
On Saturday morning the six semi-finalists each played a complete Beethoven Sonata for the three judges, Dr. Gwendolyn Mok (Associate Professor at San Jose State University), Thomas Schultz (Professor of Music at Stanford University) and Lyn Bronson (Instructor in Piano Emeritus – California State University Monterey Bay). At noon the judges announced the three finalists (who were not ranked): Alison Lee, a senior at Mission San José High School, and a pupil of Hans Boepple; Fantee Jones, a sophomore at Visions in Education and a pupil of Tien Hsieh; and Amanda Wang, a senior at Palo Alto Senior High School and a pupil of Hans Boepple. On Saturday afternoon we had an opportunity to hear the three finalists in Ms Hewitt’s Master class.
Angela Hewitt & Alison Lee
The first performer was Alison Lee, who performed Beethoven’s Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1. Ms. Hewitt’s first words were, “I enjoyed that very much.” Ms. Hewitt immediately focused on the opening chords in the right hand and the melody in their upper voices. Her question was whether the chords needed as much separation, or should there be an implied legato. After trying various ways, they came to a solution that was mutually agreeable. During their half hour session, Ms. Hewitt made several suggestions about changing colors through altered dynamics, shaping phrases and how to make sure extremely slow tempos in slow movements still retain their forward momentum. Alison Lee responded well to every suggestion and showed that she could instantly adapt to new ideas.
Amanda Wang
Next Amanda Wang walked out on stage and played Beethoven’s Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90. Ms. Hewitt offered her congratulations and said, “That was a very beautiful performance.” An interesting suggestion from Ms. Hewitt was to use “flutter pedal” in louder descending scales to give them more power. She had a suggestion in the final movement of using fingers 3, 4 & 5 to begin the movement in the right hand, rather than 4, 5, & 5, which fragmented the phrase. Amanda proved to be a very flexible student who could instantly try out any suggestion.
Fantee Jones
The last finalist to perform was Fantee Jones playing Beethoven’s “Waldstein” Sonata in C Major, Op. 53. After complimenting her, Ms. Hewitt suggested that the first movement of this sonata can sound like a finger exercise, and thus has to have its tempo held in check and its power also held back in reserve. “Feel the power from within,” she suggested. She also worked with Fantee to find the shape in every musical line — to feel its rise and fall.
In the morning the audience and judges heard three other semi finalists. Jeannie Chen, a senior at Granada Hills High School, and a pupil of Mark Richman, played Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata and impressed us with the special beauty of her performance of the Adagio Cantabile slow movement. Clara Lee played the Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 22, in a big, bold and exciting performance. Yoo-Jung Kim, a sophomore at Leland High School and a pupil of Erna Gulabyan, performed the Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, and was especially exciting in the final movement.
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