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Marimbist Ben Hall competed Saturday in both the preliminary and final rounds of the Peck Music Competition in the Tarble Arts Center Atrium. (Bryce Peake | Daily Eastern News)

Facing the music

Fourth Peck competition rewards skilled musicians

By: Ashley Mefford/Senior Campus Reporter

Posted: 3/3/08

To check out out slideshow from the competition, click here

Once was enough for Oliver David.

David, a first-year graduate student in music/jazz studies, entered this year's Peck Music Competition for the first time.

In his first try, David won the prestigious award.

In the competition, which took place Saturday at the Tarble Arts Center, contestants were given 10 minutes to perform for three judges: Michael Ewald and Ricardo Herrera from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Beverley Simms from Indiana State University.

The Fourth Peck Music Competition featured two rounds. The winners of the first round went on to compete in the second. The first round began with 13 students and, by the second, five remained.

David played the same piano piece for both rounds. He performed "Fantasy Pieces op. 6: III. Scherzo" by Charles T. Griffes.

"It was a dream-come-true; an incredible blessing." David said of winning the award.

Monetary awards were given to the top three contestants: $1000 for the first-place winner, $500 for the second-place winner and $250 for the third-place winner.

David decided on the Griffes piece because he said he liked how it was musically arranged.

"I think it's a strong competition piece in that in has both elements of musicality and virtuosity," David said. "And since it's a piece that I love, I believe that I deliver it with conviction."

He created a new way to practice for the competition.

"I tried performing this piece at random times for random people, just to get used to performance situations, where you cannot correct mistakes and need to learn to stay focused and not let yourself be destabilized by random things," David said.

He said he worked about 14 hours a week for the competition.

David wanted to be involved with the competition because it allowed him to compare himself to other musicians, allowing him to improve for future competitions, he said.

He plans on competing again next year.

Michael Pond-Jones, a music major, played bass trombone for the competition and won second place.

Pond-Jones performed "Concerto in One Movement," by Alexander Lebedev.

Charity Carls won third place at the competition. She said she knew music was going to be in her life since she was young.

"I think I kind of knew after the first day of playing that this was my thing," Carls said. "I have loved music and the saxophone since the first time I made a sound on the sax."

Carls, a senior music performance and music education major, performed "Scaramouche" by Darius Milhaud.

The piece had dual purposes for Carls.

"The Scaramouche was a piece I really enjoy, and I'm also performing it for my senior performance recital in April," Carls said.

This was the first time Carls participated in the competition, and David served as the accompanist for her piece.

Carls said she wanted to perform in front of others, which gave her motivation to enter the competition. She said she would most likely not compete next year because she plans to teach in spring 2009.

For David, winning the competition was not solely about the prize money, but how playing the piano allows him to express himself.

"When you have enough mastery of the piano, you have a certain freedom to play with ideas, emotions, sounds, expectations, and to express yourself in a unique way," David said.

Ashley Mefford can be reached at 581-7942 or at almefford@eiu.edu.