Ridge Junior Becomes National Finalist For Piano Duet

Press release from Music Teacher National Association:

March 3, 2021

Ridge High School Junior Gordon Li of Basking Ridge will compete as one of the top seven national finalists in the 2021 Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) Senior Piano Duet Competition for the second year in a row.

Li earned this opportunity after winning the Eastern Division of the MTNA Senior Piano Duet Competition, which encompasses the states of Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia.

As winners of the Eastern Division, Li and his partner Jasmine Meyer from Mendham, New Jersey memorized thirty minutes of repertoire and spent hours of practicing individually and together on the synchronization for technical passages and musical interpretation.

Li has been playing piano for eleven years, studying under Dr. Julia Lam of Basking Ridge for the past seven. In November of 2020, Li won first place in the NJMTA Young Musicians Competition for duet and honorable mention for his solo performance. In that same year, he also won the NJMTA Advanced Masterclass Competition and performed for renowned piano professor Dr. Daniel Epstein at the NJMTA state conference. His other piano solo accomplishments include first and second place in the Steinway Scholarship Competition, first place in the MEA-NJ Annual Piano Competition, Grand Prize in the National League of Performing Arts with performance at the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, third place in the International Young Artist Piano competition in Washington D.C., winner of the Cecilian Music Club Young Artists Competition resulting in a performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and second and third place at the NJMTA Young Musicians Competition.

Aside from competing, Li strives to improve his playing by learning from as many individuals as possible, receiving masterclasses from pianist Alessio Bax, professor Boris Berman of Yale University, and professor Ingrid Clarfield of Rider University. Li also attended the High School Piano Summer Camp at Westminster Choir College on a prestigious MEA-NJ Camp Scholarship.

Li believes that music is essential to a healthy lifestyle and works to spread this idea by participating in his school's wind ensemble program as trumpet player and joined his local AYLUS chapter to perform piano at his local senior living center throughout the year. Outside of music, Li has won many awards in high school debate and is a member of numerous school clubs.

The national winner of this competition receives a cash prize and will perform in a Winners Concert during the 2021 MTNA Virtual National Conference.

The three-tiered MTNA competitions begin at the state level. Winners of each State Competition advance to the video-only division competition. Division winners then proceed to the National Competition Finals.

To receive more information about the MTNA National Competitions, including competition rules and applications please contact MTNA national headquarters at (888) 512-5278, mtnanet@mtna.org or visit the website at www.mtna.org.

The Music Teachers National Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of 20,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to advancing the value of music study and music making to society and to supporting the professionalism of music teachers. Founded in 1876, Music Teachers National Association is the oldest professional music association in the United States.

This press release was produced by Music Teacher National Association. The views expressed here are the author's own.