Piano is getting a lot more exciting and a lot busier! I just recently competed in the American Fork Symphony auditions and it went really well. I was not chosen to perform with them, but I felt like I played my best. This next Friday I will be competing in UMTA (Utah Music Teachers Association). It is a concerto competition so I will be playing Concerto in F by Gershwin. I am really excited! Yesterday, I got four hours of practicing. Even though it was hard to get that many hours I felt accomplished and felt really good when I was done. It is a lot of work but the rewards are amazing!!

After taking about two months off of piano I am ready to jump back in! The reason why I took the past two months off is because I was preparing for the ACT. Now that the ACT is done and it is the start of the new year I am ready to push hard and do as much piano as I can. I am planning on competing in several competitions this year and I am very excited! It should be a great year!

Just a few days ago I had my MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) competition. There were about 14 people in my division so the competition was a lot tougher. I played Variations Serieuses by Mendelssohn, Aria Variata by Bach, and Fireworks by Debussy. I didn't place at all but I felt like I played my best. To me that is all that matters is that I do my best. I also had no expectations that I would win so I was able to still be happy when I found out my friend won which felt really good. I know that someday I will have my time to shine so in the meantime I am just plugging away and doing my best.

Well, at the end of August I competed in the Utah Valley Symphony auditions. I played well enough to make it to the finals but I was not chosen to perform with the symphony. It was still neat to make it to the finals. Over the past month I have been working really hard to get up my songs for MTNA. It is in two weeks and I am almost ready. I am playing my Bach, Mendelssohn, and Debussy pieces. Since I am in the senior division I have to perform 25 minutes worth of music. It is hard but I enjoy the challenge. I am going to try to be as ready as possible for MTNA and hopefully it will go well!

Well, a few weeks ago I found out that I wasn't chosen to compete in the final auditions to play in the Salute to Youth concert with the Utah Symphony. That is okay though. I am plugging forward and gearing up for the Utah Valley Symphony auditions and MTNA. The UVS auditions are next weekend and I am going to use the Gershwin Concerto. I have only competed in it once a few years ago but I made the finals so I am hoping that it will go well this year. MTNA is in October so I am starting to work hard on my pieces. I have a feeling it is going to be a good year!

This next week I am going to the Utah State Piano Clinic. It will be my third year going and I am very excited! I get to perform Concerto in F by Gershwin in the Cool Classics Rising Stars Concert. It is a very neat opportunity that I have been able to participate in for three years now. During piano camp, we have classes that we take each day. The classes are master classes, theory, keyboard skills, piano literature, lecture classes, etc. It is amazing how much they pack into you in one week! I can't wait to go! I am able to improve my piano knowledge and skills and I get to have a great time with friends!

I just did my recording this past Thursday to send in to the Utah Symphony! I went up to Logan and recorded in my teacher's office. The recording process went really well. I didn't feel very nervous which helped me to play a lot better. I was able to get the recording that I wanted on the second try. Now all I have to do is send it in! I can't wait!

Well, right now I am gearing up for my Salute to Youth recording! What I do is I send in a CD of my concerto and then the Utah Symphony chooses about three kids from each division to come and do a live audition with them. They then choose the finalists who will perform with the Utah Symphony at the end of September! I am very excited! I am auditioning with the first movement of Concerto in F by Gershwin. I am hoping this is my year! I love this concerto more than any other concerto I have done and I want to perform it with the Utah Symphony. I am recording the first week of July. I am a little nervous but mostly excited because I know that I can do it!

Since I last posted nothing much has changed. I am now working on a Mozart Sonata and I am continuing to work on my Gershwin concerto to get it ready for Salute to Youth auditions which begin in July. This past week I kind of took a break from piano as I prepared for school finals and such, but I will be getting back into practicing tomorrow. I definitely can't wait for summer!

Yesterday was the best day ever!! It was the Utah State Piano Festival. My mom and I left at about 7:15am to go to Logan and we spent literally all day up there! I competed in 3 divisions: Baroque/Classical, Concerto, and Impressionistic.  I placed 2nd in the Baroque/Classical and Impressionistic divisions and placed 3rd in the Concerto division. It was definitely very exciting for me! Not only am I excited that I placed but I am also excited that I feel like I played my very best and I enjoyed performing. A lot of times during competitions I just can't wait for them to be over. But yesterday I really felt happy when I played. The happiness and joy overruled the nervous which really helped. Again thanks for everyone's support! I especially want to thank my parents for driving me to Logan each week and using their time to help me pursue my dream!

Well, it has been a bit rough the past few weeks. I have been having a few health issues and so it has made it difficult to get my practicing done. But I am getting back into practicing now and am plugging forward to my next competition. My next competition is in the middle of April up at Utah State University. I will be entering three songs in three different divisions. This is one of my favorite competitions to do! It is kind of like I am at home at this competition because Utah State is where I study piano so I usually feel pretty comfortable. I am going up to Logan almost every week for the next month to prepare. I want to be really prepared for this competition!

Well, I worked hard and played well, but I didn't win. It is okay though because I have decided that I am not going to let myself get discouraged. I am going to let this experience make me want to work harder instead of giving up. Even though it was a tough competition and I didn't make it, I still played my best and loved every minute of it..........that is what's most important. I am now excited to start working toward my next competition which is in April. It is the Utah State University Piano Festival. The great thing about life is that no matter how many times you "fail" you always get another chance and can try, try again.

Well, tomorrow is the big day! It is the Utah Symphony Youth Guild competition. I will be playing Aria Variata by J.S. Bach. I am very excited but also a little nervous. No matter what happens tomorrow my goal is to play my best and have fun! Whenever I compete I always have to remind myself of this. Yes, it is very exciting to win, but that isn't the whole point of competing. The most important thing is that I do my very best!

I am loving piano right now! Yesterday I had a recital at Daynes Music Store in Murray. It went really well! I was very pleased with how I played! It was so nice to perform in front of a big group. Performing for groups really prepares me for competitions because I get more nervous playing for a lot of people than playing for a few judges. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to share my love of music with others. Performing has always been a harder thing for me because I have to feel the music in order for the audience to feel it and even though I could play the music I had a hard time feeling it, but now I am becoming a lot more comfortable with it and I love it!

It is now official! I just sent in my application for the Youth Guild Recital Competition. I am doing the Bach Variations and it is really coming along well. It has been such a long time since I competed and I can't wait! This might seem crazy, but the feelings of competing are so wonderful! I always get really nervous right before I go in, but then as I sit down at the piano and begin to play I don't feel nervous at all. Everything I was worried about leaves my mind and it is just me and the piano. Everything just seems to fall into place when I play and it is the best feeling in the world to come out of a competition and say I did it! I am very excited!

Yesterday I went up to Logan to have a lesson with Professor Amano.  It was a great lesson.  We worked on my Bach Variations and we decided that I am going to use it to compete with in February for the Utah Symphony Youth Guild competition.  The Bach is going really well and basically I am just working on "polishing" it.  As the competition gets closer I will definitely be needing people to play for!

This week has been the best week!!  On Sunday, my mom told me that no matter what I had to get a minimum of three hours a day Monday through Friday.  I had many late nights but I managed to get three hours each day.  Since I got fifteen hours during the week I get to have a relaxing weekend!  One thing I learned is that no matter how hard it is to do something and no matter how easy it seems it would be to quit, just keep working hard because you will be rewarded and feel happy in the end. 

I love piano so much but it can be so frustrating sometimes! I have been working really hard on one of my pieces and I felt like I almost had it, but then I played through the entire thing and it went all wrong. I kept messing up and it sounded terrible! I know that when I have moments like these I just have to keep plugging away and I have to remind myself that it will all come together....so that is what I am going to do.

I have decided that I love accompanying!  I love to compete and perform for people, but I also really enjoy accompanying for singers or instruments.  It gives me a chance to meet new people or get to know people better and it also is really relaxing for me.  It is completely different from competing and just performing because I am not the soloist.  I have to learn how to follow whoever I am accompanying.  It is a different skill that I am glad I am able to learn and develop as I accompany more and more!

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote! Over the past few weeks not a whole lot has happened. I have just been doing a lot of practicing and have been trying to get some extra practicing in during the break. Today I had a great two hour lesson with Professor Amano! I hadn't seen him in a few weeks so it was really nice to work through things in my songs. We haven't decided which song I am doing for the youth guild competition in February but I am still aiming for Mendelssohn's Variations Seriuses.

The past few weeks have been a bit difficult for me as I have tried to work through some of my own fears and struggles, but with many talks with my mom and some personal experiences, my whole view of life and piano changed. I was in my room one day looking at the quotes on my walls when I read a quote by President Thomas S. Monson. He said, "Our task is to become our best selves. One of God's greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final." This brought great comfort to me because before I read the quote I had been stressing out about my next competition. I was worrying about my song and what would happen if I lost. For some reason I had gotten into my mind that if I lose this competition then it would all be over. But what I forgot was that I can always try again. Not only with piano but with anything in life I can try, try again. With my mom we talked about taking risks and not worrying about what will happen. I have decided to take a risk and just be excited about my next competition and the new steps I am taking in life because the only thing that matters is that I try my hardest and have fun!