Two Greer students, Zhanshuo Zhang (Riverside High School) and Andrew Ning (Riverside Middle School) won top prizes at The South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities’ 8th Annual Junior Artist Piano Competition (JAPC) on Oct. 30.
The competition featured 23 students from across the state, who competed for cash prizes.
The winners included:
- Zhang – 1st prize, $1,500
- Vanessa Nguyen of North Charleston – 2nd prize, $1,000
- Ning – 3rd prize, $500
- Henry Sun – honorable mention, $50 award
- Harry Ding of Mt. Pleasant – honorable mention, $50 award
- Max Nie of Irmo – honorable mention, $50 award
- Brandon Xu of Simpsonville – honorable mention, $50 award
- Michael Zhang of Charleston – honorable mention, $50 award
“As the official timekeeper for the competition, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing each of the outstanding performances throughout the day and the talent level was extraordinarily high,” said Stephen Taylor, Governor’s School faculty member and coordinator of JAPC. “Piano artistry is certainly alive and flourishing in South Carolina.”
The Junior Artist Piano Competition began in 2012 and is open to aspiring professional pianists throughout South Carolina in grades 8-10.
Each participant must perform a memorized program of works for up to 20 minutes. They then receive written comments and feedback from a panel of judges.
The 9th Annual SCGSAH Junior Artist Piano Competition will be held on Oct. 29, 2022. Students may apply to participate at scgsah.org/japc.
