Westover Student Pianist Honored at National Competition

Middlebury, Connecticut – Marie Shiraishi, a member of Westover School’s Class of 2015 who studies piano at the Manhattan School of Music, placed second in the “young artist” category at the 2014 National Young Maestro Competition, which drew approximately 50 musicians ages 5 to 19 to a day-long event March 2nd at the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center in New York City.

The competition included pianists, flutists, violinists, and other musicians, including a number of students from the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music. Shiraishi attends classes on Saturdays at Manhattan School of Music’s Pre-College Division. Students from Westover have been participating in the Manhattan School of Music program for 25 years.

The young musicians were selected for the competition after submitting recordings of their performances. The competitors were divided into four categories: early intermediate (ages 5-9), late intermediate (ages 10-12), advanced (ages 13-14), and young artist (15-19).

Shiraishi performed Franz Liszt’s Gnomenreigen (Dance of the Gnomes), a piano etude known for its technical difficulty.

“Everyone was very strong in technique,” Shiraishi said. “Luckily, I was chosen as the second best of the young artists – there were nine of us competing in this division – and won a silver medal with a certificate and a trophy.

“The judges claimed that this competition was one of the longest and hardest to judge,” Shiraishi added, “so they must have focused on vivacity and musicality as much as on technique. I wouldn’t have won anything if they had graded us only based on the numbers of our mistakes,” she added with a laugh.

Westover is a selective boarding and day school in Middlebury, Connecticut, with 205 students in grades 9-12 from 17 states and 20 countries. The School offers its students more than 20 Advanced Placement courses as well as signature programs in science, engineering, art history, and music.