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Park University Graduate Student Wins Nationally-Recognized Piano CompetitionBy Summer A. Evans - December 5, 2005 - 9:54 amEmail this article | Printer friendly page | Media Inquiries Park University graduate student Tatiana Mitchko Tessman recently won the 55th annual Wideman Piano Competition held Dec. 2-4 in Shreveport, La. Sponsored by Shreveport Symphony Guild, Inc. and hosted by Hurley School of Music Centenary College, Tessman and fellow contestant Ji Yeon Shin were both named winners of the Gold Medal Siskron-Rice Award of $2,000. Shin and Tessman both performed complete concerto and the judges made the decision to combine the two top awards, the F. Thomas Siskron III Family Award and the Silver Medal Martha Jones Rice Award, given by Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Carl Rice. Tessman, along with Shin, will perform with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra on May 14, 2006. Tessman performs regularly in her home country Russia, as well as in Germany, Italy and Latin America. She frequently collaborates with renowned Russian conductors Vladimir Ponkin and Alexander Skulsky, and takes part in many chamber music projects. She is currently pursing a master's degree in piano performance at Park where she is studying under Stanislav Ioudenitch, associate professor of Music and the artistic director of the Youth Conservatory of Music and the International Center for Music. The judges include Mark Carrington, pianist, composer and music director of Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.; concert pianists Alessio Bax, Lucille Chung and Alfred Mouledous; and James Setapen, music director and conductor of the Amarillo Symphony. The Shreveport Symphony Board of Directors established the piano competition in 1950. In recognition of her guiding spirit, commitment and tireless efforts to the competition, the Board named it after the late Nena Plant Wideman in 1983. |