Ouachita Stories

Caroline Dunlap, a senior from Little Rock, Ark., won Ouachita Baptist University’s recent Virginia Queen Piano Competition.

A piano performance major and student of Dr. Adam Haas, visiting assistant professor of music, Dunlap earned $500 for her winning performances of “Prelude in D major, Op. 23 No. 4” by Sergei Rachmaninoff and “Sonatine, Animé” by Maurice Ravel.

“The Rachmaninoff ‘Prelude in D major’ was, by far, my favorite piece this semester, and I was excited to be able to share it with people during the competition,” said Dunlap, who averaged three to six hours of practice a day throughout most of the semester.

Second place and $300 was awarded to Elizabeth Anderson, a senior choral music education major from Salem, Ark. A student of Dr. Lei Cai, professor of music, she performed “La fille auxcheveux delin” by Claude Debussy and “Variation on Nel cor piu non mi sento” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Third place and $200 was awarded to Tyler Sanders, a sophomore music major from Arkadelphia, Ark. A student of Dr. Cai, he performed “Song without Words, Op. 19, No. 1” by Frederic Mendelssohn and “Prelude, Op. 6, No. 6” by Robert Muczynski.

Isabel Dodds, a senior piano performance major from Leslie, Ark., earned honorable mention. A student of Dr. Cai, she performed “Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2” by Johannes Brahms and “La cathedrale engloutie” by Claude Debussy.

Dr. David Korevaar, Peter and Helen Weil Professor of Piano at University of Colorado, was the judge for this year’s competition.

The Virginia Queen Piano Competition was established nearly 40 years ago by Virginia Queen, a former Ouachita piano professor, to encourage piano students to excel. Queen served on the music faculty at Ouachita from 1946-1986.

For more information, contact Dr. Lei Cai at [email protected] or (870) 245-5140.

 

By Kacy Spears

May 15, 2017