Augustana University is excited to announce that its School of Music (SoM) will host its annual J. Earl Lee Piano Festival on Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, at Hamre Recital Hall in the Fryxell Humanities Center. The festival features Pianist and Composer Conrad Tao — a leader in the new generation of classical music.
For more than a decade, Augustana has hosted a biennial piano festival held in honor of Dr. J. Earl Lee and his wife, Dr. Clara Lee ‘39, professors emeriti of music and speech. The festival has been funded by the generous and longstanding estate gifts of Karl O. Lee and his mother, Augustana 1908 alumna Agnes Lee. After announcing a formal partnership in June of last year, Augustana University’s SoM and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) teamed up to reimagine the festival with two very different competitions — one to be held in the fall and spring each year.
The celebration of the piano this fall features the inaugural Pre-College Competition — a solo competition.
“Prospective Augustana students, pre-college students, come to Sioux Falls to compete for a cash prize, but also our top scholarship in the School of Music, an $8,000 annual Pro Musica Scholarship,” said Dean of the School of Music Dr. Peter Folliard.
Along with Augustana students, the winner(s) also get to interact with Tao, the guest artist that SDSO will bring in for the competition.
“Students will come to Sioux Falls, come to campus, and see the dress rehearsal with the South Dakota Symphony, then go meet the featured pianist,” Folliard said.
The students will also have the chance to see Tao in concert at the Washington Pavilion with the SDSO, as well as have an opportunity to experience Yamaha pianos and discover their possibilities as Augustana, which is home to the first 2022 Yamaha DCFX concert grand piano in North America, as well as the Yamaha CX7, the "most recorded piano in history."
Augustana and the SDSO will feature a collaborative piano competition in the spring.
All of the events at Augustana are free and open to all teachers, students and the general public. For more information and to view the full schedule of events, visit augie.edu/LeePianoFestival.