Master's student wins piano competition

From a UNT News Service press release

University of North Texas master's student Janice Fehlauer of Chilliwack, British Columbia, recently won the top prize at the Nena Wideman Piano Competition, earning a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity to perform across the country.

The competition, sponsored by the Shreveport Symphony Guild and hosted by the Centenary College-Hurley School of Music, was held Dec. 2 and 3 in Shreveport. Her prize includes appearances with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra in Mississippi, the North Florida Orchestra and the Shreveport Symphony. In addition, she will present recitals at the Bell Series at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., on the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago broadcast by WFMT, and at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

"This award is the recognition of a lot of years of work, which is great, but it's also the opportunity to perform," says Fehlauer, who plans to graduate with a master's degree in piano performance from UNT in May 2008. "I love performing -- that's why we practice for hours and days and years." The contest, which began in 1950, attracts pianists from throughout the United States and other countries and is judged by nationally and internationally known pianists and conductors.

"This is validation," says Pamela Mia Paul, Regents Professor of piano and Fehlauer's teacher. "There are so many competitions and so many fabulous pianists everywhere trying to get money, recognition and most importantly, concerts. It's a huge boost for her to be recognized this way. The opportunity to perform over the course of the next nine or 12 months is a real taste of what the profession is like when you get into it."

Fehlauer submitted a recording of Bartok's Concerto No. 2 for the competition and was one of 50 applicants chosen to perform in the final rounds in Shreveport. From there, the field was narrowed to five finalists, including competitors who studied at Stony Brook University (also known as the State University of New York at Stony Brook), the Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School of Music.

Fehlauer received an associate diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Canada, in both piano and violin and went on to complete a bachelor of music degree at the University of British Columbia, where she studied with Jane Coop and Rena Sharon. She joined UNT as a student in fall 2005.

Fehlauer was the winner of the UNT Concerto Competition and was voted Most Outstanding Graduate Piano Student by the UNT faculty in 2006. In addition, she has performed extensively with members of Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Song Circle and Brio String Quartet. Her performances have been broadcast and recorded live on Rogers 10, Bravo!TV and NowTV.

In 2004-2005 Fehlauer performed regularly for the UBC Learning Exchange, a group of artists who sought innovative and non-traditional ways of presenting classical music to the underprivileged in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

UNT News Service Press Release
Ellen Rossetti can be reached at erossetti@unt.edu.

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