Portsmouth Kiwanis Presents 26th Chopin Competition
Chopin Senior Division winners, l to r, Kyle Tennant, Thomas Smith, Lauren Green, and Tanya Salyers
Chopin Junior Division winners, l to r, Nikki Bays, Olivia Cole and David Pettit
Kiwanis of Portsmouth Chopin Committee, standing l to r, Carl Daehler, Jean Taylor and James Kricker; seated l to r, Vickie Mains and Marilee Stephenson; not pictured, Richard Grimm, Donna Wolery and Bob Wilson.
The Portsmouth Kiwanis Club presented its 26th annual Chopin Piano Competition Apr. 30, 2005, at Shawnee State University's Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. This year's competition featured four pianists in the Senior Division and nine in the Junior Division.
Representing the Junior Division, which includes students enrolled in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, were Nikki Bays, Olivia Cole, Jee Hae Jones, Ashley Keller, April Li, David Pettit, Brittany Ray, Marissa Shepard and Stephanie Sparks. Competing in the Senior Division, which includes students enrolled in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades, were Lauren Green, Tanya Salyers, Thomas Smith and Kyle Tennant. Teachers who had students in the competition were Dara Henry, Kimberly Lewis and Mary Smalley.
Winners of this year's Chopin Piano Competition Senior division were: 1st place, Lauren Green, a senior at Harvest Christian Academy and daughter of Rev. Mark and Marcia Green; 2nd place, Tanya Salyers, a junior at Glenwood High School and daughter of Terry and Jinny Salyers; tied for 3rd place were Thomas Smith, a junior at Valley High School and son of Jeffrey and Beverly Smith, and Kyle Tennant, a sophomore at Notre Dame High School and son of Steve and Patty Tennant.
Winners in the Junior Division were: 1st place, Olivia Cole, a 7th grader at Wheelersburg Middle School and daughter of Rod and Yvonne Cole; 2nd place, David Pettit, a 7th grader at Portsmouth Junior High School and son of Dr. George and Carolyn Pettit; and 3rd place, Nikki Bayes, a freshman at Greenup County High School and daughter of Leonard and Barbara Bayes.
This year's panel of judges included former Scioto County resident Janice Cooley Suverkrop and Professor Bard Suverkrop. Ms. Suverkrop holds degrees in piano performance and music education from the University of Cincinnati. A former Miss Portsmouth and Miss Ohio, Janice represented the state in the national Miss America competition where she was the grand talent winner. She has taken advanced studies in Graz, Austria and was the recipient of the Gramma Fischer scholarship. Janice is the winner of over thirty solo piano competitions, including the American Musical Scholarship Association. She has spent ten years as assistant conductor in European opera houses and was leading opera coach at Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Germany, which has the largest performing repertoire in the world. Janice was also the musical director of the International Youth Festival and the Wagner Seminar in Bayreuth, Germany. She has been heard as a pianist with symphony orchestras throughout Germany. A performing educator, Janice is on the artist faculty of the Bay View Music Festival.
Bard Suverkrop is Professor of Music at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia and administers the opera program. A California native, Professor Suverkrop began his musical training in piano and graduated in voice and opera from the University of Cincinnati, where he was the pupil of Italo Taj. Bard has been heard in recital, concert, and opera in Europe, the United States, and Asia, where he was the guest of the Korean Philharmonic and twice represented the United States in the International Friendship Concert. Suverkrop was a member of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and has been Opera Director at Michigan's Bay View Music Festival since 2002.
First place winners in each division received $100, while second place and third place winners received awards of $50 and $25, respectively. The first place Senior Division winner was also awarded an engraved plaque to be displayed in her school for the coming year.
Members of the Kiwanis Chopin committee were Co-chairpersons Marilee Stephenson and Carl Daehler, Jean Taylor, Donna Wolery, Vickie Mains, Bob Wilson, James Kricker, and Richard Grimm. Kiwanis President Ralph Nolfi presented the awards at the Chopin Competition.
