Five Conservatory Students Awarded Scholarships at Tuesday Musical Club Competition Story and photos by Michael Chipman
			Five Conservatory students were among the 26 recipients of Tuesday Musical Club scholarships. Those students are: Sung Ha Lee, a junior piano major from Seoul, South Korea; Hiromi Takaoka, a senior piano major from Tokyo, Japan; Wei-Wei Le, a senior violin major from Shanghai, China; Alyson Cambridge, a double-degree junior (sociology/voice) from Arlington, Virginia; and Scott Skiba, a sophomore voice major from Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. The Tuesday Musical Club, an Akron-based organization, sponsors a scholarship competition each year for student singers, pianists and instrumentalists, with several awards in each category. According to Marie Brooker, Scholarship Chairman of the Tuesday Musical Club Awards, "The purpose of the 2000 scholarship program is two-fold: 1) to provide performance experience and valuable critique, and 2) to award twenty-six scholarships to assist talented students with the advanced study of music." Prizes were awarded after the competition held March 18, in Akron. The 2000 competition drew students from 20 colleges and universities. Winners represented eight schools. Sung Ha Lee Pianist Sung Ha Lee, a student of Haewon Song, professor of pianoforte, received one of 10 first-prize awards of $2,000, which places her in the final-round of the Tuesday Musical Club competition slated for May 21 in Akron. At the final round, a formal winners recital, all 10 first-prize winners will compete for the grand prize. Lee began piano lessons at age four. "I studied in Korea with a teacher who knows Ms. Song," says Lee. "Then I came to Lake Ridge Academy, a private high school in North Ridgeville, Ohio, when I was sixteen. I studied there for two years while studying privately with Ms. Song. Then I came to Oberlin to study with her. Ms. Song helped me through so much. She is my inspiration for everything: personal life, music, everything. She is a mother-like figure." Lee says she plans to pursue a masters degree when she leaves Oberlin. "Then I hope to perform and teach, but I think I will stay in the States. In Korea there are not too many performance opportunities. I miss my family, but I get to visit them in Korea twice a year." About performing, Lee says, "I like the feeling of being on the stage. It's a challenge and it can be scary, but it is addictive. I didn't used to get really nervous before a competition, but this was the first time I really freaked out -- I almost I almost collapsed after coming down from the stage because I was so focused. It made me realize how much work I have to put into one piece." Hiromi Takaoka Pianist Hiromi Takaoka, another student of Haewon Song, won the Clarenz J. Lightfritz Scholarship for $1,000. Takaoka has played the piano since she was five, but says she "became interested in piano when my family moved to Hawaii and I met my teacher, Ellen Masaki. She gave me many performance opportunities." Takaoka came to Oberlin to study with Haewon Song, who "put lots of time and effort in teaching me how to express what I want to say in my music. I'm so fortunate to have met wonderful teachers. I have always been inspired by dedicated teachers who not only taught me how to play piano, but have inspiring personal qualities. "I like entering competitions because I can set a personal goal," says Takaoka, "and in the preparation process I strive to polish my pieces the best I can. The neat thing is that each time I do, I discover something new about myself." Takaoka plans to teach after she gets her masters degree. "I enjoy teaching," she says. "The idea that I can contribute something to others is neat. I hope to become a teacher and be the positive influence for someone that my teachers have been for me." Song says of her work with Lee and Takaoka: "Both Sung Ha and Hiromi are wonderfully gifted and hard working students, and I am very fortunate to be their teacher. Sung Ha's bold and dynamic personality at the piano is fun and also challenging for me to work with and Hiromi's great work ethic inspires all her studio members and me. Both of them are ambitious and musically instinctive. I am very proud of them." Wei-Wei Le Violinist Wei-Wei Le, a student of Roland and Almita Vamos, professors of violin, won the $1,000 Tuesday Musical Club scholarship for violin. She began violin studies at age six, in Shanghai, then moved to England to study at the Yehudi Menhuin School in her early teens. "The Menhuin School was an excellent experience," says Le. "I learned a lot musically -- about phrasing and harmony changes. I did a lot of chamber music there, and studied with Wenchou Li. I also had many opportunities to perform with Yehudi Menuhin conducting the orchestra. I actually played for the Queen and the Royal Family. They looked like normal people." After the Menuhin school, she "wanted to come to America for college. I heard the Vamoses are great and had a lesson and really loved them. They are the best teachers I have ever had. I love them. They teach violin so well, but more than that, they teach me how to be a person and deal with life. All the Vamoses think about is what is best for you. And, I have learned so much from them technically and musically." Almita Vamos describes Le as "one of the most phenomenal talents I have ever come across. She is awesome and amazing!" Le says she loves playing the violin because "I get to experience different feelings and get to express myself. I don't get a chance to do that very much in normal life. As a musician sometimes people think you are mad or crazy, but in music I can just let it all out." Alyson Cambridge "This is the first competition that I've ever won," says Alyson Cambridge, a student of Daune Mahy, professor of voice and winner of the $1,000 Areden J. Yockey Scholarship for Voice. "I Like doing competitions. It is great to get feedback from other voice teachers and the judge at this competition had really helpful comments. In past competitions I was always a finalist or second place but this was the first time I actually won; it was a very good weekend." A good weekend indeed. Cambridge won The Tuesday Musical Club competition on the Saturday between performances of Oberlin Opera Theater's production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in which she sang the role of Donna Anna. "Opera is definitely what I want to do," says Cambridge, who began piano lessons at age four and singing lessons at age 12. "In high school I wanted to sing like Madonna for a while, but my teachers assured me that wouldn't happen." Alyson Cambridge as Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Oberlin Opera Theater, March 2000. Photo by John Seyfried. Her double degree in sociology keeps Cambridge in touch with ways to help the community. "Sociology is really interesting," she says. "I'm interested in the law and serving my community. I always figured that if singing didn't work out I would go to law school." But for now, Cambridge wants an operatic career. "I just like to make music," she says. "I like the whole art of singing -- the physical act of singing doesn't mean anything unless you're making music. It's a combination of the voice and one's musicality and the words. It's about putting it all together and that whole process of making it into something beautiful." Scott Skiba Winning the Tuesday Musical Club $500 Bowers Scholarship for Male Voice will enable Scott Skiba to participate in the Oberlin in Urbania, Italy program this summer. "I'm really looking forward to going to Italy," says Skiba. "I will sing the role of Gherardo and understudy Rinnucio in Puccini's 'Gianni Schicchi.' It will be my first time out of the country, my first time on a plane, and my first major operatic role." Skiba is in his second year at Oberlin, but he has studied voice for four years. In addition to his vocal studies, Skiba is a lab assistant in the Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center, and he has sung in the chorus of every Oberlin Opera Theater production since his freshman year. "Opera chorus has been a good experience," he says. "I think Gounod's 'Roméo et Juliette' during fall1998 is still my favorite opera because it was my first." In the future, Skiba hopes to perform both opera and musical theater. "I just love to perform," he says. "When I sing I seem to lose track of time," says Skiba. "I start practicing and two hours fly by. As much as I do it I never get tired. The best part for me is the communication. I do a recital at home every summer. People I know -- who don't ever hear classical music -- will come up to me after and say how much they loved the music and the words I sang. That's why I love singing." Mahy says of her work with Cambridge and Skiba, "Alyson has a stunning instrument which she uses with great skill. She has wonderful instincts and is able to integrate the text and its musical and dramatic ambience. She is extremely responsive and a joy to teach. Scott is a delightful young leggero tenor with excellent theatrical instincts. He is very comfortable on stage and a wonderful communicator. He too, is a delight to teach."
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