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Date: 2/1/2023
LONGMEADOW – One young student’s hands flew over the piano gracefully. Another’s fingers fell heavy on the black and white notes. Someone else used precise movements with the instrument, while still another was almost casual, with fingers bouncing along the length of keys. Four very different pianists. Four very different playing styles. What they have in common, however, is a love of the piano and the experience of playing at Carnegie Hall.
The first round of the Crescendo International Music Competition took place in November 2022. Four students from The Music Cellar in West Springfield placed first in the competition among hundreds of other piano students between the ages of 4 and 24 years old. Rather than competing against each other, the students were marked on their performance, complexity of the piece and the “contestant’s artistic maturity,” according to the competition’s website.
The second round of the competition, on Jan. 28, took place at Carnegie Hall, a legendary concert venue in midtown Manhattan that has hosted some of the greatest musicians from around the world. Reminder Publishing spoke with the pianists ahead of their New York City debut.
Gavin Barkman, of West Springfield, has been playing the piano for seven years. He began by playing a piano app on his iPad. “It’s relaxing. Like, it’s calming. I get time to myself.”
While he chose to enter the competition with a prelude by Rachmaninoff, Barkman said his favorite composer is Franz Listz. “It’s complex, so it’s fun,” he said of the composer’s music. While Barkman plays a lot of classical music, Barkman also enjoys playing ragtime, describing it as “fun and really different.” He admitted to playing the piano during online classes during the time the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close.
The Crescendo International Music Competition was Barkman’s first competition. He said he was both excited and nervous to play at Carnegie Hall in the second round of competition. “I like playing by myself. It’s personal,” he said.
A pair of brothers from Longmeadow also scored high enough to win first place. Mason Xu began playing piano eight years ago. “We had this electric piano. You put a code in, and it would play a song,” he shared. Mason said that he couldn’t keep up with the notes, and it made him want to learn more.
“I tried to beat him at it,” said his brother Brandon Xu of his motivation for learning the piano.
For the Crescendo competition, Mason played “Sabre Dance” from Aram Khachaturian’s ballet “Gayane.” Brandon chose the first movement of Mozart’s “Sonata No. 16 in C.”
Brandon also plays the violin. When asked which instrument he prefers, he quipped, “I can’t really say, especially because my piano teacher is right there,” referring to The Music Cellar’s owner, Ellen Buoniconti, who stood nearby.
“I’ll be super proud after I play Carnegie [Hall],” Mason said, Brandon added, “It. feels very fantasy-like to be accepted.”
While Barkman and the Xu brothers are in their early to mid-teens, at 15, 13 and 12 years old, respectively, Lawrence Ni is just 7 years old.
Buoniconti said that, while he could have competed in the Little Mozarts competition for 3- to 14-year-olds, Ni’s performance was strong enough to compete in the Crescendo competition.
“I practice every day,” said Ni, a Wilbraham resident. “I just sit down and play.” He said focusing is not difficult because, “I just love playing piano.”
Ni, who has been playing for a year and a half, entered the competition with a performance of “Flood Time” by Eric Thiman. “I got excited because I got gold,” Ni said of his first-place ranking.
Buoniconti said, “These are good kids. They’re doing good things for themselves and their community.” She called music “the universal language.”
Buoniconti has run the Music Cellar with her husband William Buoniconti for 40 years. The business began as a way to make a little extra money while being a stay-at-home mother, but it became her full-time profession. The Music Cellar now teaches 35 students at a time, from age 4 to adults.
Students from The Music Cellar have won the Crescendo competition before, going on to play at Carnegie Hall, but COVID-19 shut down the program for a couple of years. This is the first year her students have returned to competing. Even so, all four pianists recorded their performances and submitted them to the first round of competition.
Beyond the experience and the potential to win a cash prize, Buoniconti said the students often make lifelong friendships through the competition. Another thing Buoniconti hopes the students receive through music is “a different look at life. Life can be so challenging. This is something they can always go to. It’s their own private world. And if they want to, they can share it.”
More information about The Music Cellar can be found at https://www.themusiccellar.net. To learn more about the Crescendo International Music Competition, visit https://crescendocompetition.org.