Carson pianists play command performance

Six youthful but talented pianists from Carson City and Minden were among 92 participants in last weekend's Reno Youth Piano Festival at the University of Nevada, Reno's Nightingale Hall.

Five of the six earned a superior rating and were invited back for a Thursday's Command Performance.

The half dozen from the Carson area performed in the upper level division categories and included:

Colter Thomas and 13, Blake Moreland, 12 in Level III, Anna Macquarie, 13, and Jill Malkiewich, 13 who performed in Level IV. Performing in level V were 13-year-old Joanna Xie and in the Gold Medalist Division 12-year-old Alice Sady.

Students performed pieces from a required repertoire list suitable to their years of study and were judged by a panel of three. Each judge adds some constructive criticism to their rating, teacher Louise Hogan said .

Returning Thursday to perform were:

--EThomas who played Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov's "Valse Melancholique."

-- Macquarie performed "Allegro Agitato in C Minor."

-- Xie performed Modest Moussorgsky's "Hopak."

-- Sady played "Gique" from Johann Sebastian Bach's "French Suite in G Minor."

-- Moreland, who earned superior distinction played Aram Khatchaturian's "Ivan is very Busy."

Students are among those taught by Hogen, Shirley Bierman and Dr.s Ronald Williams and James Winn.

"These youngsters work all year, sometimes hours a day perfecting their festival pieces," Bierman said. " The level of refinement and overall musicianship is absolutely incredible."