Dr. Reid Smith, who has been teaching piano at MPA for 19 years, has been invited to join the faculty of the 2008 Batumi International Music Festival, and will audition MN students in piano, violin, cello, and clarinet on May 30th and 31st. Batumi, Republic of Georgia, (previously Russia), is located on the Black Sea. The festival is from July 12th-26th. Students will study with faculty from Israel, Russia, Korea, and from the Juilliard School, New York. The Batumi Symphony will be in residence during the festival, and many students will have the opportunity to play with orchestra. Some participants will be chosen for concerts in New York.

Last year, Reid brought 21 students ages 6 to 20 from the United States to the Yves Nat International Piano Festival in Serignan, France. Of the 21 he selected, 13 were from Minnesota, including five students from MPA: Jonathan Baldwin, Olivia Hagen, William Swanson, Emily Swanson, and Garseng Wong. Recently, six of the students who went to France under his auspices performed at Steinway Hall in NYC.

In addition to private lessons and master classes, participants may perform in one or more of these categories: Solo recital, ensemble recital, and one movement of a concerto. There will be many faculty recitals and orchestra concerts. Reid Smith and Oxana Yablonskaya, faculty member of the Juilliard School, will open the festival with a performance of Mozart's Two Piano Concerto with orchestra.

For the audition, applicants should prepare 10 minutes of memorized pieces selected from at least two style periods. The live audition will be recorded. Reid is pleased to be able to extend some preference to MPA students who might not be able to attend an international music festival otherwise. To arrange an audition, contact Reid at DrReidSmith@aol.com. Students selected in piano will study with Dr. Smith during June to prepare for their performances at the festival. Reid is a graduate of the Juilliard School and his recording of the complete Chopin Etudes was just released.

Oxana Yablonskaya, also on the faculty at the Batumi Festival and a juror at the International Piano E-Competition in St. Paul this summer, will present a solo recital, open to the public, at Reid's home on July 10. Afterwards, she and Reid will have an orientation session for the MN students selected to attend the festival. We will then travel to Istanbul, Turkey on July 12 for our connection to the festival.