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Winner of Piano Competition Performs at Carnegie Hall
Third Former Elaina Comia, who has studied the piano for 10 years, was a first-place winner in this year’s Crescendo International Competition. She performed in the winners’ recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City Feb. 14, playing the same piece she auditioned with, “Libestraum No. 3” by Franz Liszt. There were about 45 performers at the recital, all first-, second- or third-place winners from around the world.
She sent an audition video to the competition last June and did not hear from the judges for months. Last November, she received an email from her piano teacher, Pi-Hsun Shih at the Hartt School of Music, sharing the news that she had won first place. “I really didn’t believe it at first and thought that there had to have been some mistake,” said Elaina. “I never thought that I would ever accomplish anything so significant as international recognition in my piano career. Once I realized that I actually had won, I was delighted that my hard work over the past 10 years had finally felt like it paid off.”
Elaina said winning and playing at the concert was a life-changing experience. “Through the hard work I had put into preparing for the competition, my moment onstage reminded me of why I have continued playing piano all these years,” she said. “Though I was shaking with anxiety, I utterly enjoyed the few minutes I had on that stage. I believe that I won this award because of my love for the piece I performed. It is hard to think that thousands of other people have played the same piece, yet each musician plays it in his or her own way. The piece itself is one of the most beautiful melodies I’ve heard, and the fact that I am in control of each key and each note gives me a sense of serenity. I think that it is my love for music and the opportunity to escape that keeps me practicing every week.”
Winning the competition has motivated Elaina to work even harder studying the piano. “I am now inspired to keep playing, so I can continue to learn,” she said. “I hope that I will be given the privilege to perform at Carnegie Hall again in the future. I want to continue to compete in local, national and international competitions to challenge myself to improve my piano abilities and maybe surprise myself once again along the way.”
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