Jeanne Backofen Craig, 46
Homemaker/part-time minister
Forest, Virginia
United States

Piano studies and competitions took up most of Jeanne Backofen Craig’s childhood, but after graduating from Virginia Tech, she stopped performing. In the ensuing 20 years, Ms. Craig stayed home with her three children while pursuing cooking, sewing, gardening, and home-improvement projects. At the encouragement of her husband and now-teenage children, Ms. Craig started to play again, and when she learned about amateur competitions, she says she was inspired to “dig out my old music and see if I could still play those pieces.” A self-taught webmaster, she designed and maintains websites for the Lynchburg Symphony Youth Orchestra as well as her church, where she is a part-time minister of music and liturgy. In her spare time, Mrs. Craig enjoys long-distance running, and she qualified and ran in the 2011 Boston Marathon.

COMPETITION REPERTOIRE

Preliminary Round
BACH   Prelude and Fugue in G-sharp Minor, WTC I, BWV 863
DEBUSSY   Arabesque No. 1 in E Major

Quarterfinal Round
GRIEG   “Notturno” from Lyric Pieces, op. 54
HAYDN   Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:52: I. Allegro
LISZT   Concert Etude No. 3 in D-flat Major (“Un Sospiro”)

Semifinal Round
BRAHMS   Intermezzo in A Major, op. 118, no. 2
LISZT   “Vallée d’Obermann” from Années de Pèlerinage
LISZT   Hungarian Rhapsody No. 11 in A Minor

Final Round
MENDELSSOHN   Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, op. 25: III. Presto