10th Annual Bunny Just Piano Festival

April 6 - 9, 2006

an opportunity for instruction and performance
from world-class teachers in a warm, friendly environment

download festival application form
(Word) (.pdf 22 KB)

About the Festival

The Bunny Just Piano Festival, hosted by he MSU Department of Music, was created with a dual mission: to provide an outstanding training opportunity for aspiring young pianists and to offer a showcase of piano performances with distinguished artists and promising young talents alike. Participants perform for a world-class instructor in a warm, nurturing, educational environment.

Three students will be awarded for their efforts. Cash awards are $450 for First Place, $250 for Second Place, and $100 for Third Place. Participants will be judged and rated by this year's clinician, Dr. Charles Asche, a member of the piano faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara. All participants will receive a Certificate of Merit.

The four-day festival is an excellent opportunity for music enthusiasts, teachers, and students to come together to experience fine piano performance. It is a substantial addition to piano offerings in the Mankato area. All events are free and open to the public with the exception of Artist Showcase events.

Beneta (Bunny) Just initiated the Bunny Just Piano Festival at Minnesota State University in 1996. In 2004 Bunny's estate created an endowment to fund the festival annually. She died realizing her support would fund the piano festival each spring for 100 years and beyond.

Some Past Clinicians

Douglas Ashcraft, piano faculty member at Idyllwild (CA) Arts Academy. Ashcraft is a prizewinner in many competitions including the Young Keyboard Artist's Association, Music Teacher's National Association, and the American Pianists Association.

Julie Bees, Professor of Piano and Director of the Wolff-Bing Chamber Music Program at Wichita State University. Her early successes include finalist in the 1968 Auditions for Young Performers for the CBS-New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts with Leonard Bernstein at Lincoln Center.

Margery Whatley Chair of the Music Department at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Her second CD, Margery McDuffie Whatley plays Bach, Haydn, Brahms and Ravel, was released in December 2002 to critical acclaim.

Laura Melton, Assistant Professor and coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Bowling Green State University.
She has been a prizewinner in several major international competitions including the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin, the New York Recital Division of the Joanna Hodges Competition, and the National Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Competition.

2006 Application Rules

• ELIGILBILITY: Students who are currently enrolled in grades 6-12.
• REPERTOIRE: Repertoire may be chosen from the Baroque through the 20th century style periods. If selected for the Saturday masterclass competition, repertoire must be memorized.
• AUDITION RECORDING: The audition process requires that each applicant send an unedited audio recording (CD or audiocassette tape, no videos) of the applicant's performance piece. Please label the audio recording with the applicant's name and title of the repertoire piece. Applicant's performance piece must not exceed 10 minutes.
• APPLICATION PROCESS: A completed application form (enclosed), audio recording, and a $20 application fee payable to the MSU Performance Series must be postmarked no later than Friday, February 17, 2006. The application fee is non-refundable. Applicant priority given by the date of postmark.. Teachers are required to furnish their recommendation and comments on the application form.

Cash Awards

• First Place $450
• Second Place $250
• Third Place $100

Schedule of Events

(Halling Recital Hall)

THURSDAY, APRIL 6
7:30 pm Artist Showcase
Gary Motley
Director of Jazz Studies, Emory University, Atlanta
Enjoy an evening of rags, stride, boogie-woogie and jazz piano.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15
10:00 am Joplin, Waller and more - a historical overview of jazz piano.
Gary Motley
The incomparable Gary Motley recreates the styles of pianists across the entire
exciting history of jazz.

2:00 pm College master classes
Dr. Charles Asche

SATURDAY, APRIL 16
10:00 am Performances of master class participants (Grades 6 - 12)
Students are ranked during this performance.
Notification of rankings at 3:30 pm.

1:00 pm Master classes (Grades 6 - 12)
Each student will work with Dr. Asche for approximately 15 minutes.

3:30 pm Award presentation - cash prizes and certificates of merit

SUNDAY, APRIL 17
7:30 pm Charles Asche, classical performance (solo)
Multi-piano performance with Charles Asche, Daniel Reippel,
David Viscoli, and Joseph Zins
The festival concludes with a performance featuring four artists performing
on four Steinway grand pianos!

Festival Showcase Artists

GARY MOTLEY

Jazz pianist and composer Gary Motley began studying the piano as a young child and would later be exposed to jazz as a teenager. It was soon thereafter that he would decide to make music his life's endeavor. During his career, Gary has established a professional association with many of today's leaders in jazz. He has worked with artists ranging from Dave Brubeck to Clarke Terry.

Gary has been recognized with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Soapstone Center for the Arts, the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, and the American Composers Forum. Gary has also been featured in Downbeat Magazine and on Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland (NPR). His recording credits range from his premier CD Peaceful Moments (1994) to his latest recording, Everything I Love which was released in May 2005.

In 2000, Gary served as pianist and conductor for the Alliance Theater's production of Blues in the Night and also collaborated with actress Debbie Allen and director Kenny Leon for the theater's premiere of Soul Possessed. Gary can also be heard on the Debbie Allen-Phylicia Rashad production of The Old Settler on PBS. Gary recently recorded music with Whoopi Goldberg for the Broadway production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and also collaborated with Kenny Leon and Sean Combs, providing music for the 2004 Broadway Production of A Raisin in the Sun. Gary is the recipient of Creative Loafing Magazine's Critics Choice Award for Best Local Jazz Pianist.

Notable performances include the recent premiere of Gary's first orchestral work, entitled The Artist and the Visionary, a duet performance with pianist Dave Brubeck and concerts with Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Jon Faddis, and Eddie Daniels. Gary's most recent composition, Highland Summit: A Suite for String and Jazz Quartet is scheduled for premiere at the Highlands Chamber Music Festival in 2006.

 

CHARLES ASCHE

Charles Asche has performed as a recitalist, a concerto soloist and as a chamber musician throughout the United States as well as in Russia and in South America. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Asche has been awarded first prizes in the Wiedemann Shreveport Symphony Competition and the Three Rivers Southwestern Regional Competition. Dr. Asche's teachers include Peggy Neighbors Erwin, Nelita True and John Perry.

Dr. Asche has presented master classes and lectures throughout the state of California, and in 1993 and 1994, he was invited to present classes at the Samara Musical College and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Russia. He was among the first American pianists to perform in the historical city of Samara, which was closed to foreigners for more than 40 years. Dr. Asche is currently a member of the Piano Faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has previously been a member of the faculties at the Interlochen Arts Academy, the National Music Camp at Interlochen, and the Claremont Colleges. Students and former students of Dr. Asche have been prizewinners in several competitions including the YKAA International, the 1st UCLA Piano Competition, the William Kapell International, the Washington International, and the 1993 Van Cliburn International Competition.