Contact:
Eric Sloss
412-268-5765

For immediate release:
July 15, 2004

17 Students from Carnegie Mellon's Music Preparatory School Take Honors at 2004 World Piano Competition

Will Perform at Carnegie Hall and the United Nations October 30, 2004

PITTSBURGH — Students from Carnegie Mellon University's Music Preparatory School participated in the American Music Scholarship Association's World Music Competition July 2-11 in Cincinnati, Ohio, with 17 students receiving honors. Winning students will perform in two concerts in New York City on October 30: one in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and another at the "Playing for Peace" event in the United Nations' Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium.

In order to reach the finals, students first had to compete in regional competitions and against more than 100 other young pianists in the semifinals in Cincinnati. First prize, second prize, third prize and honorable mention are awarded in each of 16 levels in the Young Artist Division, which is open to musicians 5-17 years old. First-prize winners received $100, second-prize winners received $75, and third-prize winners received $50. Winners from the Music Preparatory School are as follows:

Level 2
Amadis Amaya — Third Prize; age 9; Pittsburgh
Theodora Chu — Third Prize; age 8; Export

Level 3
Heidi Miller — Third Prize; age 8; Pittsburgh
Jennifer Kang — Honorable Mention; age 10; Pittsburgh
Vicky Li — Honorable Mention; age 9; McMurray

Level 4
Michelle Lee — First Prize; age 10; Wexford
Stephanie Guo — Third Prize; age 10; Pittsburgh
Joy Hou — Third Prize; age 10; Venetia
Yun Seon Lee — Honorable Mention; age 11; Export
Jeremie Kim — Honorable Mention; age 8; Pittsburgh

Level 5
Jonathan Lin — First Prize; age 12; Pittsburgh
Justine Kim — Second Prize; age 13; Pittsburgh

Level 6
Stacey Chen — Third Prize; age 12; Allison Park

Level 7
Cliff Kim — Second Prize; age 14; Pittsburgh

Level 8
Fonda Chen — Second Prize; age 15; Cheswick

Level 9
Anjali Rao — Honorable Mention; age 16; Pittsburgh

Level 11 — Solo
Brian Liu — Second Prize; age 15; Pittsburgh

Carnegie Mellon's Music Preparatory School is part of the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts. Thirteen of the 17 winners listed above began their music education in the Music Preparatory School's Beginning Piano Program, which is an 18-24-month-long, comprehensive piano program for children between five and six years of age. The Beginning Piano Program consists of weekly group classes, private lessons and eurhythmics. Once they complete this program, children continue with private lessons and supporting music classes. Music Preparatory School faculty members Hanna Wu Li, Luz Manriquez, Tatyana Gelman and Maho Nabeshima all instructed prize-winning students.

For more information about the World Piano Competition, including a complete list of winners, visit www.amsa-wpc.org. For more information about the Music Preparatory School at Carnegie Mellon, contact Jennifer Neslund at 412-268-3667. For more information about the College of Fine Arts, visit www.cmu.edu/cfa or contact Eric Sloss at 412-268-5765 or ecs@andrew.cmu.edu.