On February 27, 2010 in Columbus Mississippi, the Golden Triangle Music Forum Board selected me to represent them for the scholarship to the University of Mississippi Piano Discoveries Camp . I tried out in Canton Mississippi on May 8 at the Mississippi Federation of Music Clubs (MFMC) Junior Convention. The MFMC offered two scholarships and three students including me competed. I played Northwoods Toccata by Carol Klose and Romance Op.24 No.9 by Jean Sibelius. Another student and I won the two scholarships.
On Sunday, June13, I traveled to the University of Mississippi in Oxford to check in and perform for the piano teachers who host the music camp. I stayed with a couple right outside Oxford for the week. The music camp was from June 13 through 19
On Monday, I drove to Oxford for my first day at music camp. Throughout the week, we had a variety of classes and workshops including an improvisation workshop with Paul Kenyon, a class about the way a piano works with Monica Hern, an overview of the composer Schumann’s life with Judith Fairchild, and many more. Breakfast and dinner were at the cafeteria and lunch was catered from restaurants such as Zaxby’s and McAlister’s Deli. The camp was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The teachers, Dr. Ian Hominick, Mr. Stacy Rogers, and Mrs. Diane Wang were great and did a fantastic job.
The faculty at Ole Miss were very gracious. Being a true Mississippi State Bulldog fan who literally wears his loyalty on his shirt they did not give me a hard time. My MSU cap did draw a few looks from the students at orientation when I ate in the cafeteria, but no food fights. To “give credit where credit is due” – Ole Miss does a great job in their music department. Dr. Hominick is a great pianist, instructor, and camp organizer – so much so that my MSU alumni dad said he would wear a t-shirt from the camp.