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Helen Taylor Johannesen International Piano Festival
August 4-12, 2023

Directed by Ning Lu

The Helen Tayler Johannesen International Piano Festival and Competition is a well-established summer camp with a global reputation. The 2023 Piano Camp offers students the opportunity to study music in a stimulating environment under the tutelage of our distinguished piano faculty. This intensive program includes private lesson, class lecture on a variety of topics, master classes, and performance opportunities.

This year, we are proudly presenting a concerto and a solo competition for pianists from around the world and our local community, winners will perform with the Festival Orchestra in Libby Gardner Concert Hall at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, USA. For international or non-Utah residents, Please contact Prof. Ning Lu for more details (ning.lu@music.utah.edu)

APPLY BY JULY 15

Young Musicians aged 10 and under
Two contrasting standard piano works, memorization is required.

Junior division aged 11 - 13
Two contrasting standard piano works, memorization is required.

Young Artist division aged 14 – 18
Three standard piano works with at least two contrasting periods, memorization is required

 Concerto repertoire limited to any concerto movement of Bach, Haydn, or Mozart.

1. No program changes will be allowed after July 15, 2023.

2. All pieces must be performed from memory. Repeats are at the discretion of the competitors.

3. Contestants should not have contacts with any Jury Member during the competition period. Failure to observe this rule may lead to disqualification.

4. All decisions of the Jury are final and cannot be appealed.

5. All prize money is subject to tax under US taxation laws.

6. The performances will be open to the general public.

All decisions of the Jury are final and cannot be appealed.

Young Musician division

  • 1st prize - $200
  • 2nd prize - $150
  • 3rd prize - $100

Junior division

  • 1st prize - $300
  • 2nd prize - $250
  • 3rd prize - $200

Young Artist division

  • 1st prize - $500
  • 2nd prize - $400
  • 3rd prize - $300

 

Orchestral rehearsals, Aug 8 and 11 evenings in Libby Gardner Concert Hall

Winner Concert of Solo Piano Competition, Thursday, Aug 10, 7:30 p.m. in Libby

Recital of Winners of Solo Competition and Camp Participants, Aug 11 at 3 p.m. in Libby

Winner Concert of Concerto Competition, Saturday, Aug 12, 7:30 p.m. in Libby

August 7 in Libby
9:00 – 12:00   

August 7 in Libby
1:30 – 5:00     

August 7 in Dumke
9:00 – 12:00   

August 7 in Dumke
1:30 – 5:00     

August 8 in Thompson
10:00 – 12:00 

 

 

Guest Artist & Jury Members

Andrew Staupe, concert pianist, professor of piano University of Houston

Esther Jeehae Ahn, professor of piano Weber State University

Cahill Smith, professor of piano Utah State University

Lei Wen, professor of piano University of Northern Colorado

Ning Lu, Artistic Director (only judge the applicants of international or non-Utah residents)

Jie Lu, professor of Piano University of Utah (only judge the applicants of international or non-Utah residents)

 

Artistic Teachers

Jie Lu

Ning Lu

Lei Wen

Andrew Staupe

 

 

UMTA teachers and students

The School of Music University of Utah Piano Area would like to invite all UMTA teachers and students to attend the 2023 Helen Taylor Johannesen Piano Festival Masterclass series from August 6 – 9 at the School of Music David P. Gardner Hall.  All events are free to the public.  This year, the festival features world-renown pianists and teachers Lei Wen, Andrew Staupe, Cahill Smith, Esther Jeehae Ahn, and piano faculty Jie Lu and Ning Lu of the University of Utah.  The schedule is as follows:

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Concerto Competition at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall
9 AM – Noon; 2 - 4 PM

August 7 - 9, 2023

Piano masterclass at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall
9 AM – Noon; 2 - 4 PM

Piano masterclass at the Thompson Chamber Music Hall
10 AM – Noon

Piano masterclass at the Dumke Recital Hall
9 AM – Noon; 2 - 4 PM



htjAbout Helen Taylor Johannesen

Helen Taylor Johannesen was a gifted and promising Juilliard-trained composer and the wife of pianist Grant Johannesen, who died tragically at age 34 in a car accident. Johannesen grew up in Salt Lake City, where she attended the McCune School of Music to study piano. She received her BM from the University of Utah in 1937, her MM from Columbia Teachers College in 1941 and her degree in composition from Juilliard in 1945, where she completed a three-movement symphony. She also joined the Martha Graham Dance Company as a composition pianist. She and Grant had one son, David, with whom Grant collaborated in the 1990's to record all of Helen's work, including Discovering Helen Taylor, vols. 1 and 2. When she died, she was working on an opera, David and Bathsheba, from the Old Testament stories.

 

Last Updated: 7/31/23