22 December 2013 Magazine www.artsmagazine.info

High school students gathered at Tennessee Tech University Oct. 19 for the seventh annual TTU Young Artist Piano com-petition.

“The technical and musical maturity

of these young pianists is inspiring,” said Catherine Godes, TTU piano professor and event coordinator. “This competition show-cases some of the best musical talent in the region.”

Jarrett Takaki, from Wilmette, Ill., won

the first place $600 S.K. Ballal Award. The recipient of the $500 Dave M. McCall Award was Michelle Schodowski, of Kingsport, Tenn. The $350 Rodney Carlson Award was given to Knoxville’s Melissa Yu and Stanley Xiang from Brentwood, Tenn., won the $250 Hope High Award.

Schodowski began taking piano lessons

when she was 5 and has been playing since.

“Music means my entire life,” she says. “I love nothing more than performing in front of an appreciative audience and sharing my music with them. Performing is such an intimate and personal thing, and a musician can express things through music that could never be expressed with words or actions. It is the greatest feeling being able to evoke deep emotions and thoughts in my audience. The greatest musician is capable of making people laugh and smile with joy and move them to tears with the sorrowfulness of the music. It is so gratifying to be able to accom-plish something like this.”

The competition was also filmed for a WCTE documentary set to air in December.

peoples. The stories and poems of “Red Hol-ler” elegantly cohere to depict what makes Appalachia so fascinating: its irreverent and outlaw challenges to mainstream notions of propriety and convention.

Professor Thomas’s essays, stories, and plays also have been seen in several literary journals and anthologies, including “Sudden Stories: The Mammoth Book of Miniscule Fic-tion” and “River Teeth.”

Thomas has been with Tusculum College since 2005. He has served as editor of the Tusculum Review, overseeing the student-driven production of the college’s literary journal. Thomas is also the 2012 recipient of Tusculum College’s Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award.

Local pianist places in Young Artist Competition

Tusculum College’s Wayne Thomas, chair of the Fine Arts Department and as-sociate professor of creative writing, is the co-editor of a recently released anthology with John E. Branscum.

The book, “Red Holler: Contemporary Appalachian Literature,” contains poetry, fiction, non-fiction and graphic narratives written in the past 10 years and extending from the mountain ranges of Mississippi to New York.

“Red Holler” illuminates the lively culture of the Appalachian Mountains and contains pieces written by both known and new authors. From Native American myth, African-American urban legend, folk culture and European ghost stories, this is an anthology of disenfranchised, yet robust

Tusculum Professor co-edits Appalachian literature anthology

“This documentary will feature inter-

views with the pianists and judges,” said Godes. “It will showcase these fine young pianists and illuminate the inner workings of piano competitions, which have become vital components of developing musical careers throughout the world.”

The competition featured three judges:

Vicki King, author, pianist, and professor of piano at Tennessee State University; Grace Choi, TTU pianist; and Fred Kennedy, TTU voice professor.

Michelle Schodowski