We are very proud of the 20 contestants who performed in the 2009 festival. Students performed at a very high level. Every student who fulfilled the attendance requirements received a "Participant Certificate." First prize winners were awarded $100 for each prize earned. An unusually high number of Honorable Mention recipients received CD recordings or other prizes.

• Alie Yorgason & Elise Peterson (duet) from Salt Lake City, UT (students of Vera Watanabe) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A PRE-BAROQUE, BAROQUE WORK OR CLASSICAL PERIOD WORK" award for their performance of Theme and Variations in G Major, K. 501, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

• Alie Yorgason from Salt Lake City, UT (student of Vera Watanabe) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A ROMANTIC PERIOD WORK" award for her performance of Etude-tableau in D Major, Opus 39, No. 9 by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

• Alie Yorgason & Elise Peterson (duet) from Salt Lake City, UT (students of Vera Watanabe) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF AN IMPRESSIONISTIC OR CONTEMPORARY WORK (IN ANY STYLE)" award for their performance of Libertango by Astor Piazolla (1921-1992)/arranged by Vera Watanabe.

• Maurissa Weight from Heber City, UT (student of Laurisa Cope) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A COMPOSITION IN ANY STYLE BY A FEMALE COMPOSER" award for her performance of an original work entitled "Maelstrom."

• Matt Scofield from Grand Junction, CO (student of Monte Atkinson) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A LYRICAL AND PREDOMINANTLY SLOW WORK" award for his performance of Sea Piece by Edward MacDowell (1860-1908).

• Matt Scofield from Grand Junction, CO (student of Monte Atkinson) won the "THE J.B. HART MUSIC AWARD FOR BEST MESA COUNTY (CO) PIANIST" award for his varied performances, which included works by J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) and Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

• Noah Smith from Colorado Springs, CO (student of Sarah McDaniel) won the "THE ESTHER BOELTER AWARD FOR BEST COLORADO PIANIST" award for his varied performances, which included Des Pas Sur la Neige by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), an original piece, and other works by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).

• Maurissa Weight from Heber City, UT (student of Laurisa Cope) won the "MOST VERSATILE PIANIST" award for her varied performances, which included works by herself, Robert Muczynski (1929- ), George Gershwin (1898-1937), Henry Purcell (1659-1695), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and Arthur Houle (b. 1955).

• Alie Yorgason & Elise Peterson (duet) from Salt Lake City, UT (students of Vera Watanabe) won the "BEST DEMONSTRATION OF EMBELLISHING AND/OR IMPROVISING IN A CLASSICAL WORK (an appropriate Baroque, Classic or Romantic period work, or Neo-Classical contemporary work)" award for their performance of Theme and Variations in G Major, K. 501, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

• Maurissa Weight from Heber City, UT (student of Laurisa Cope) won the "BEST DEMONSTRATION OF SPONTANEITY AND/OR IMPROVISATION IN A JAZZ, POP, GOSPEL OR RAG STYLE WORK" award for her performance of Summertime by George Gershwin (1898-1937) and Sally Saddle (from "Cowboy Jazz") by Arthur Houle.

• Noah Smith from Colorado Springs, CO (student of Sarah McDaniel) won the "THE SUSAN TORGRUDE AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE OF AN ORIGINAL COMPOSITION BY THE CONTESTANT" award for his performance of an original composition entitled "Hydrostellar."

• Alie Yorgason & Elise Peterson (duet) from Salt Lake City, UT (students of Vera Watanabe) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A TASTEFUL TRANSCRIPTION OR ARRANGEMENT (IN ANY STYLE, ORIGINAL OR NOT) FOR PIANO SOLO, DUET OR TWO PIANOS" award for their performance of Libertango by Astor Piazolla (1921-1992)/arranged by Vera Watanabe.

• Marybeth Riskey from Grand Junction, CO (student of Arthur Houle) won the "GRAND JUNCTION MUSIC TEACHERS AWARD FOR BEST GRAND JUNCTION PIANIST STUDYING WITH A GJMTA TEACHER" award for her performance of Polonaise in A-Flat Major, Op. 53 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849).

• Maurissa Weight from Heber City, UT (student of Laurisa Cope) won the "BEST PERFORMANCE OF A COWBOY JAZZ SELECTION" award for her performance of Sally Saddle by Arthur Houle.

Honorable Mention Awards

• Noah Smith in the "Most Versatile" category and for his performances of Bach, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich (4 honorable mentions total).

• Alie Yorgason in the 'Most Versatile" category and for her performances of Beethoven variations and Bartók (3 honorable mentions total).

• Nicole Chang for her performances of Debussy and Romantic period repertory (2 honorable mentions total).

• Lauren Mann for her performances of Bach and Bartók (2 honorable mentions total).

• Elise Peterson for her performances of Bach and Emily Doolittle (2 honorable mentions total).

• Alex Brahmsteadt for his performance of "Prairie Gary" (from "Cowboy Jazz").

• Taryn Brahmsteadt for her performance of Valenti.

• Zach Bush for his performance of an original composition.

• Analisa Harveland for her performance of Rebikoff.

• Lauren Lewakowski for her performance of Ravel.

• Ben McLam for his performance of "Fats" Waller.

• Francesca Perry for her performance of Ravel.

• Benjamin Tarmin in the "Most Versatile" category.

• Emily Warzeniak for her performance of "Evening Rain," an original composition.

• Maurissa Weight for her performance of Muczynski.

• Alie Yorgason & Elise Peterson (duet) in the "Most Versatile" category.

Creative Teaching Incentive Award

• The "Creative Teaching Incentive Award" was awarded to Vera & Eugene Watanabe from Salt Lake City, UT.

Judges

The judges for the 2009 festival were Dr. John Salmon, Stuart Isacoff, and Dr. Monte Atkinson.

We are grateful to our 2009 festival contributors, without whom this festival would not have been possible:

Evelyn Billberg
On behalf of Esther Boelter
Paul C. Collins, M.D.
Laine Cross
Juli Draney
Azam and Arthur Houle
Bijan and Jenny Houle
John and Linda Stedman
Frank & Jayne Steuart Susan Torgrude, M.S. (Environmental Researcher/Planner, BOELTER DESIGN GROUP, Inc.)

Thanks also to Mesa State College, the Grand Junction Music Teachers Association,
& to J. B. Hart Music for their sponsorship.



YAMAHA PIANOS & CLAVINOVAS • FENDER & MARTIN
GUITARS
AMP's • DRUMS • PA's • KORG KEYBOARDS
417 Main St., Grand Junction, CO 81501
(970) 242-9282 or 1-800-310-9282

Special thanks to our volunteers

Evelyn Billberg
Britni Bryan

We also appreciate the day-to-day support and tireless contributions of our music department head, Calvin Hofer, and our fine arts administrative assistant, Lyn Ross.

Finally, a hearty thanks goes to Frank & Jayne Steuart for their hospitality in hosting our out-of-town judges.