A number of Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s piano players have been branching out.

They’ve also been winning awards.

Four WMA students entered multiple piano competitions outside of the Academy this spring, with three of them earning recognition.

Most notably, Mary Chen ’29 earned a gold medal at the Rising Pianists Competition on May 3 at Simsbury, Connecticut.

Also placing at their respective recitals were Jonny Jiang ’29 and Faith Agboola ’28.

Mary performed “Turkish Marsh” and “Arabesque No.1,” which she said was “challenging in finger independent, and Arabesque helped develop fluency playing. Besides the skills challenges, they are different in style too, (with) the active and energetic (style) of ‘Turkish Marsh’ and the gentle feeling of ‘Arabesque.’” 

Mary won despite “some mistakes because I was nervous and had (an) uncomfortable feeling of the piano keys that affected my performances.”

Meanwhile, Jonny finished third at the Virtuoso Pianist Competition on April 26 in West Hartford, Connecticut. He performed Chopin’s Étude Op.25 No.12 and the third movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

“I chose these two pieces because their powerful and passionate melodies really match my personality,” Jonny said. “Both works have intense, dramatic emotions that I deeply connect with, and I enjoy expressing their grand, energetic musical style through my playing.”

Jonny practiced for five hours the night before the competition.

“This award reminds me that I still need to keep practicing and improving my piano skills continuously,” he said.

Playing “Tarantella” by Albert Pieczonka, Faith finished fourth at the New England Cup Competition, which was part of the New England Music Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts, on April 12.

“I chose this song because it was both fun to play and it helped me improve my technique,” Faith explained. “There were many fast sections, and because of how fast they were they required me to improve my technique a lot. 

“I’m so glad I was able to participate in this competition, and I’m glad I was rewarded for all the hours of hard work that I put in.”

Also competing in concerts outside of WMA were: Mary and Jonny at the Audrey Thayer Competition; and Quoc Canh Truong ’27 at the Select Students Competition, both on May 2.