Courtney Stanage wins Ouachita’s 2015 Virginia Queen Piano Competition
May 08, 2015 - Katy Firmin
Courtney Stanage, a senior piano performance major from Hot Springs Village, Ark.,
was awarded first place in Ouachita Baptist University’s recent Virginia Queen Piano
Competition.
“It’s very rewarding. This is my last year, so I feel like it’s a great way to end
things. I’m really excited,” Stanage said. She earned a $500 cash award for her performance
of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Reminiscence, Op. 4, No. 1” and Johann Brahms’ “Capriccio in
C# Minor, Op. 76, No. 5.”
Stanage said she spent up to five hours a night practicing her pieces in the weeks
leading up to the competition. She is a student of Dr. Lei Cai, associate professor
of music at OBU.
“I knew the competition would be very close,” she said. “Everyone is so talented and
played really well this year.”
There was a tie for second place between Caroline Dunlap, a sophomore piano performance
major from Little Rock, Ark., and Jillian Turner, a senior music and vocal performance
double major from Fort Worth, Texas. Each was awarded $180. Dunlap is a student of
Dr. Adam Haas, visiting assistant professor of music, and performed Dmitri Shostakovich’s
“Prelude, Op. 24, No. 14 in Eb Minor” and Claude Debussy’s “Pagodes.” Turner is a
student of Dr. Lei Cai and performed Alexander Scriabin’s “Prelude, Op. 11, No. 1”
and the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Sonata, Op. 109.”
Lauren Johnson, a junior music major from Little Rock, Ark., and Sean Jackson, a senior
music composition major from Milton, Fla., were both awarded honorable mention. Johnson,
a student of Dr. Adam Haas, performed Franz Schubert’s “Moments Musicaux, Op. 94,
No. 2” and Maurice Ravel’s “Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn.” Jackson, a student of Dr.
Lei Cai, performed Sergei Prokofiev’s “Fleeting Visions, Op. 22, Nov. 20” and Franz
Schubert’s “Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 3.”
The competition was established nearly 30 years ago by Virginia Queen, Professor Emerita
of Music, to encourage piano students to excel in their area of study.
For more information, contact Dr. Lei Cai at [email protected] or (870) 245-5140.
By Katy Firmin
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