Pierce wins Ouachita’s 2022 Virginia Queen Piano Competition
July 21, 2022
- Felley LawsonAndrew Pierce, a freshman music and biology double major from Benton, Ark., won first place in the 2022 Virginia Queen Piano Competition presented in May by the Division of Music in the School of Fine Arts at Ouachita Baptist University.
Pierce received a $500 cash prize for his performance of Maurice Ravel’s “La vallee des cloches” from Miroirs and “Polonaise in C Sharp Minor, Op. 26, No. 1” by Frederic Chopin. He is a student of Dr. Mary Chung, associate professor of music at Ouachita.
“I was honored to be chosen as this year’s winner of the Virginia Queen Piano Competition,” Pierce said. “It was an amazing experience growing as a musician through these pieces and learning from Dr. Chung. I appreciated the chance to share this music with others and to celebrate a semester of hard work with my friends.”
Winners of the 2022 Virginia Queen Piano Competition are (from left) Katie Bayer, third place; Andrew Pierce, first place; and Jenna Barnes, second place. They're pictured with competition jurist Dr. Lim Angela Tchoi (far right).
Dr. Mary Chung
Jenna Barnes, a sophomore music industry major from Sheridan, Ark., placed second and won a $300 cash prize for her performance of “Fantastic Dance No. 2” from Three Fantastic Dances by Dmitri Shostakovich and “Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3” by Johannes Brahms. Katie Bayer, a junior communications & media/integrated communications major from Lonoke, Ark., won third place and a $200 cash prize for her performance of “Scotch Poem, Op. 31, No. 2” from Six Poems after Heine by Edward MacDowell and “Tarantella in A minor” by Albert Pieczonka. Barnes studies with Dr. Lei Cai, professor in the Division of Music at Ouachita, and Bayer is also a student of Chung.
Dr. Lim Angela Tchoi served as judge for this year’s competition.
The May event marked the 45th anniversary of the Virginia Queen Piano Competition, which is named in honor of its founder, the late Virginia Queen, professor emerita of music at Ouachita. Queen earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees at Ouachita in 1944 and a Master of Music degree from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
“Virginia Queen served 40 years as a piano faculty member at Ouachita,” said Chung. “Her dedication and love for students had a long-lasting impact on the music community throughout Arkansas. She established the piano competition to encourage and celebrate the piano students’ hard work and progress every year.”
To learn more about the Virginia Queen Piano Competition, contact Dr. Mary Chung at chungm@obu.edu or at (870) 245-5132.
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