Composers: George Gershwin

Sean Sutherland– Cliburn Amateur 2016 Semifinal Round Recital

SEAN SUTHERLAND, 39
Entrepreneur/lecturer
Montréal, Québec
St. Vincent and The Grenadines/Canada

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Semifinal Round – Thursday, June 23, 2016
Van Cliburn Recital Hall
Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Born in St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Sean Sutherland serendipitously discovered the piano as a child and was instantly enamored. His opportunities for pursuing his studies were limited on St. Vincent, however, so he resumed his studies upon his arrival at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while earning bachelor’s degree in music, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science; he went on to receive an MBA from McGill University in Montreal. Since graduating, he has founded a niche tutorial service and lectures at McGill University as an adjunct professor of international finance and information systems. Mr. Sutherland is keenly interested in “exploring opportunities for leveraging technology to promote learning” and is passionate about adapting classical music for the steelpan (drum).

Program:
CHOPIN, Preludes, op. 28, nos. 13-18, 20-24
GERSHWIN-SAY, Summertime Variations

Gregory Knight – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

Gregory Knight, 53
Software engineer
Morganton, North Carolina
United States

Gregory Knight started playing piano at age 4, under his mother’s guidance. Formal instruction began seven years later, at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina, where he went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in piano performance. While in school, he participated in a master class with Guido Agosti in 1981, and placed first in the Gardner-Webb College Concerto Competition one year later. Following graduation, Mr. Knight went on to pursue a career in software engineering, yet continued to take master classes and hone his musical hobby. He looks to the Amateur Competition as a means to test his aptitude: “It gives me not only a reason to learn new, challenging repertoire, but also an opportunity to perform it for people who truly understand and appreciate piano literature.” The motorcycle buff is a father of four and grandfather of three, and has been married 18 years to his wife, Cathy.

Program:
GERSHWIN-WILD Embraceable You
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 7 in D Major, op. 10, no. 3: I. Presto

J. Spencer Thompson – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

J. Spencer Thompson, 55
Radiation oncologist
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
United States

Born in Bountiful, Utah, J. Spencer Thompson studied piano with Lennox Larson and Gladys Gladstone Rosenberg at the University of Utah and received bachelor’s degrees in music, zoology, and Spanish from Brigham Young University in 1985. After attending the University of Utah School of Medicine, he completed his residency in radiation oncology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Currently, he is an associate professor in the department of radiation and oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City. Dr. Thompson says: “Even though I chose not to make music my profession, I can’t really imagine my life without music in it,” and to that end, studies with Sergio Monteiro. A 2011 Cliburn Amateur competitor, he enjoys cooking, skiing, traveling, reading, and rooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Program:
RACHMANINOV, Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, op. 39, no. 5
GERSHWIN-WILD, I’ve Got Rhythm

Kevin Grigsby – Cliburn Amateur 2016 Preliminary Round Recital

2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition
Preliminary Round
Van Cliburn Recital Hall

Kevin Grigsby, 41
Marketing executive
Trussville, Alabama
United States

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1975, Kevin Grigsby studied piano from a young age. He received a master’s degree in music from the University of Oklahoma in 1998, and then went on to become a member of the adjunct faculty as a keyboard harmony/theory professor at Birmingham Southern College for four years, as well as serve as an orchestral pianist for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. A career in marketing followed—Mr. Grigsby is currently a market specialist at Alabama Power Co.—but he still makes plenty of time to practice the piano and to serve as a role model to his musically inclined son (10) and daughter (9). “Ultimately,” he says, “I hope that whatever the outcome for me [in this Competition], my children can appreciate the preparation, the experience, and the fact that one is always, always practicing the piano to improve.”

Program:
RACHMANINOV, Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, op. 39, no. 5
GERSHWIN-WILD, I’ve Got Rhythm