Nine area high school seniors will be recognized Sunday, March 14, with a special award from the Rochester Piano Teachers’ Guild.
The guild is presenting the Hanson Certificate of Merit Award to honor high school senior pianists, as a result of a recent audition sponsored by the group.
This year’s honorees are Jessica Zhang and Belinda Chang of Pittsford-Mendon High School; Mark Krasner and Taylor Gawinski-Stern of Brighton High School; Christian Bautista of Fairport High School; Brian Lai of Webster Schroeder High School; Sarah Koniski of Spencerport High School; and Elizabeth Gombert and Joshua Condon of School of the Arts in Rochester.
The teens will perform the recital and receive the award at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 14 at Nazareth College’s Wilmot Hall.
Jessica, daughter of XiaXi and Zinshang Zhang, studies piano with Alla Kuznetsov and is an honors student. Her most recent awards include winning first place in the Raymond Santirocco Memorial Piano Award; second place in the Jo Amish Young Artist Solo Competition, the Hochstein Recital Competition, and the Duquesne National Young Artists Competition. Jessica has plans for college this fall.
Belinda, daughter of Lily Chang, studies piano with Patricia Hanson. She will be graduating with honors from the Eastman Community Music School this spring. She also enjoys playing clarinet and participated in the 2009 All-State Conference for clarinet, as well as the Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools Cultural Convention in Thailand in 2008. After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in mathematics and economics in college.
Mark, son of Dr. Michael and Susan Krasner, studies piano with Hanson. He has been a winner twice in the Greater Rochester Junior All-Star Piano Competition and will graduate with honors in piano from the Eastman Community Music School this spring. He also plays clarinet and enjoys teaching guitar. He plans to attend the University of Rochester this fall and expects to continue piano studies and possibly major in English.
Taylor, son of Barbara Gawinski and Phil Stern, studies piano with Ruth Peck. He is a National Merit Scholarship commended student, who enjoys playing jazz piano, clarinet and saxophone. His other interests include cross country, track and ultimate frisbee. Taylor hopes to attend either Tufts, Brown or the University of Rochester in the fall.
Christian Bautista of Fairport High School, son of Dr. Maurino and Kim Bautista, studies piano with Elier Suarez and is an honors student. In 2008, he won a chemistry award and the St. Cecilia Music Award from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester; in 2010, the Hands of Christ Award. He has been the pianist in the church choir since age 11, is the drummer and keyboardist for the band Deeper Shade of Blue and plays on the varsity football team. He plans to attend SUNY Stony Brook in the fall.
