?This award is a reflection of Meghann?s hard work,? said Sheila Litke, associate professor of piano and piano pedagogy, and Eblen?s studio instructor at Tabor.
?She is a wonderful example of what we want our students to work for, and she is certainly very deserving of this award.?
In the competition, Eblen played the first movement of the Mozart Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 414?a demanding piece of music, which she performed to near perfection, according to Litke, who herself is an accomplished concert pianist.
?Mozart needs to be played very cleanly, beautifully and elegantly, and I think that?s what Meghann did,? Litke said. ?It was very clean, very musical, and that?s what captured the judges? attention.?
Eblen?s performance lasted only 10 minutes, but was made possible by four years of devoted piano study, including hundreds of hours of practice on the one piece of music.
?She worked that piece all summer, putting in somewhere between 200 or 300 hours of rehearsal time,? Litke said.
?That?s the difference between someone who plays, and a real musician,? she added. ?To make music takes effort. You can play all of the right notes, but that doesn?t mean you?re musical.
?This was the culmination of four years of study for Meghann. It has taken hard work, stamina, and dedication, and now the payoffs are starting to come.?
The winner of the contest will perform at the Winter Classics Orchestra Concert on Feb. 8 at Bethel College.
As the alternate, Eblen will perform if the winner is unable to do so.
