Lorraine Gomez

Class Piano 112A

Dr. Vernon Synder

15 March

Philip Clarke Memorial Piano Scholarship Concert

Every year, scholarships are offered to every music major attending Cal Poly

Pomona. Every single one of those scholarships are a sort of pat on the back for putting

in the time and effort into your music. The Philip Clarke award is for those with a love

and passion for the art of playing the piano.

It was a a beautiful concert and I was once again amazed at the talent and

technique that was displayed in every single one of the performances. Every pianist has

elegant posture and their hands seamlessly floated across the keys.

In some of the songs, the pianos were placed strategically. So that all the pianists

playing together could maintain eye contact when they were playing. I also noticed that

every single cue and movement was watched and practiced. It was amazing how much

they had had to have practiced to achieve the solidness and confidence that was

displayed.

In one of the particular pieces, Dr. Shpachenko was the absolute star. While I can

barely manage to keep time while playing the piano, Dr. Shpachenko was not only the

lead pianist but the conductor as well. She not only coordinated with the other pianists

but mustve practiced for quite some time to have been able to achieve that level of
communication and understanding with her performers. She even managed to conduct

the toy pianos on stage.