Conservatory Senior Pianist Cathryn Lai Wins Second Prize in the 49th Annual International Wideman Piano Competition in Shreveport, Louisiana Story and photo by Claire Chase
			Conservatory senior pianist Cathryn Lai recently was awarded second prize in the 49th annual International Wideman Piano Competition held in Shreveport, Louisiana. Lai, who hails from Greensboro, North Carolina, was chosen from a field of 54 contestants from top conservatories and prestigious studios. Six pianists representing institutions including the Juilliard School, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Southern California were chosen to compete in the finals, from which group Lai was selected as the Silver Medalist. According to Lai, the preliminaries took place on Friday and Saturday, December 3-4, in Hurley Auditorium at Centenary College in Shreveport. The 54 contestants prepared and performed compositions of their choice from the standard literature for solo piano and orchestra. Lai, who chose to play the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Samuel Barber, was initially unsure about her decision to compete with a twentieth-century concerto: "The majority of the contestants played the biggies, like Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Saint-Saens. And there I was playing the Barber, next to all these loud, romantic, traditional competition-winning works. When they announced that I was one of the six finalists, I was shocked. I didn't think the Barber could compete with all the Rach 3's and Tchaik's." Clearly, it could. After the final round, which took place in the form of a public concert open to the Shreveport community, Lai was awarded the Rice Family Silver Medal Award, a cash prize of $1500, and a performance at the Phillips Gallery in Washington, D.C., for the 2000-01 season. Lai's performance of the Barber also recently won her a hotly-contested spot in the 1999-2000 Oberlin Concerto Competition's winning roster. She is slated to perform the work with the Oberlin Orchestra under the direction of Paul Polivnick on April 9, 2000, in Finney Chapel. Professor of piano Robert Shannon, with whom Lai has studied for four years, says of his student: "I am thrilled for Cathryn. She has added a lot of personality to the studio, and I have been so fortunate to work with her these last few years." Despite her recent chain of successes, Lai has managed to keep things in perspective. "I never take the results of competitions seriously, whether I've won or whether I've lost. I just treat the experience like another performance. I try to focus on the music and nothing else. I also like to live life a bit away from the piano." Lai balanced her time between rounds of the competition by shooting pool, getting to know other contestants and preparing mentally for the competitive events. Of the entire experience, Lai remarks, "It's always a treat to hear people play. I was blown away by so many of the contestants in this competition. I find that going into these situations saying "I'm gonna win" is a sure-fire way to mess yourself up. After all, music is about playing, not about competing." About The Wideman Competition The Wideman Competition, sponsored by the Shreveport Symphony, was founded in 1950 by the late Nena Plant Wideman, a Shreveport piano pedagogue and concert pianist, and John Shenault, conductor and founder of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. Now in its 49th season, the Wideman is the oldest running international concerto competition of its kind in the United States. The Wideman competition judges included Mark Carrington, music director of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.; Alan Chow, concert pianist and professor of piano at Northwestern University and a former Wideman winner; Francisco Orozco, main guest conductor of the Filharmonia de Jalisco of Guadalajara, Mexico; John Shenaut, conductor emeritus of the Shreveport Symphony; and Dennis Simons, maestro of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. In an interview with the Shreveport Times, Mark Carrington remarked on the high quality of musicianship and artistry of the contestants in the competition: "I was astonished at the quality of playing at every level within the competition....the two rounds leading up to finals and the finals. I have attended other competitions as a music critic for the Washington Post, and I'd say the Wideman stacks up very favorably. The output from the musicians is high and noteworthy. It's hard to find placements for such talent." Information on the Wideman and other other competitions is available from Tamara Kissane in the Career Resources Center, Robertson 129.
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