UMTNA winners to perform BYU recital Jan. 4 - BYU News Skip to main content
Intellect

UMTNA winners to perform BYU recital Jan. 4

The Brigham Young University School of Music will be presenting the winners of the Utah Music Teachers National Association Performance Competition in concert Tuesday, Jan. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall.

The free concert will feature Verina Chen, 16, and Joshua Wright, 23, on piano. These two students were named the winners of the Yamaha Senior Piano Competition and Steinway Young Artist Piano Competition, respectively.

Chen will be performing Beethoven’s Sonata in D minor, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Etude Tableau” and Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 2.

Chen began piano lessons at the age of 8 with Irene Peery-Fox. She has placed first in the Utah State Fair Competition twice. She was also a soloist with the Utah Symphony, Utah Valley Symphony and American Fork Symphony.

Wright will then perform Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in A major, works by Frederic Chopin and Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit.”

Wright has performed for audiences across the United States and Europe. He attends the University of Utah and is working on a master’s degree in music. He has gold medals from many competitions including the 2010 Seattle International Piano Competition and the 2010 American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music. He has also competed in Poland, Louisiana, New York and at the National Chopin Competition in Miami, Fla.

For more information about the concert, contact Scott Holden at (801) 422-7713 or scott_holden@byu.edu.

Writer: Brandon Garrett

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Three days, one song: BYU music students team up with Grammy winner Mark Lettieri to create new track

March 14, 2025
Imagine being tasked with writing a song in just three days, and then getting the chance to work alongside world-renowned guitarist Mark Lettieri. That was the incredible opportunity five BYU commercial music students.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU’s world-class pipe organ is the ‘crown jewel’ of the new Concert Hall

March 06, 2025
If you haven’t experienced the pipe organ in the BYU Music Building yet, you’re in for a treat. With 4,613 pipes and 81 ranks (sets of pipes), it’s the third largest organ in Utah and the only one with two consoles. Organists can play from a console located in the center of the pipework facade or from a movable stage console.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data

March 04, 2025
The researchers identify a possible rare triple system in the Kuiper Belt
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=