Marian Garcia Piano Competition and Festival

Esteemed pianist Greg Anderson treated the participants of the 2025 Marian Garcia Festival and the Penn State community to a spectacular one-of-a-kind recital! Debuting Penn State's newly acquired Steinway Spirio, Greg's program, "Time Unraveled," featured musical dialogues across time through his ingenious use of Spirio technology. His arrangement of Radiohead's Paranoid Android: Duel of Flesh and Circuitry brought the audience to their feet!

First Prize Winner of the Marian Garcia Collegiate Category Maikol Perez Gomez opened the second half of the concert with a delightful performance of Bartok's Burlesque No. 3.

A tremendous thanks to the Guarriello family for their generous gift of the Steinway Spirio; and special thanks to Sides Music, the MTNA Collegiate Chapter, and the University Park Allocation Committee for their support in making Greg's residency possible.

We can't wait for next week!🥳 We have a full schedule of events and look forward to welcoming everyone on campus!

🔔Reminder: Deadline approaching tomorrow, October 11!

Big news! The Penn State School of Music will celebrate the dedication of its new Steinway & Sons Spirio B piano with a weekend of events October 24–25, featuring internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, and Steinway Artist Greg Anderson.

The weekend, which coincides with the annual Marian Garcia Piano Competition, will include masterclasses and demonstration sessions in which Anderson will work with Penn State students and faculty, exploring the expressive and technological possibilities of the Spirio — Steinway’s high-resolution player piano. The celebration concludes with a free public recital by Greg Anderson on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall, offering audiences the chance to experience his artistry and the remarkable capabilities of this innovative instrument.

This event would not be possible without the generosity of the Guarriello family, whose gift of the Spirio piano expands artistic and educational opportunities at Penn State , and support from the University Park Allocation Committee.

Read more:
https://www.psu.edu/news/arts-and-architecture/story/internationally-renowned-pianist-greg-anderson-headlines-spirio-piano

Registration for the 2025 Marian Garcia Piano Competition at Penn State is OPEN! Accepting applications for Collegiate, High School and Middle School categories. Applications due October 11. Visit https://sites.psu.edu/garciacompetition for more details!

Thank you, Profs. Xun Pan, Kevin Sun and Sofya Gulyak for judging for us!

We are all still reeling from Prof. Sofya Gulyak's stupendous recital last Friday! Thank you for inspiring us with your incredible artistry and pedagogy.

Congratulations to our high school concerto competition participants today! What terrific young talents!

1st place: Xinyuan Zhang, student of Michael Chertock
2nd place: Bryan Wang, student of Marina Lupinacci
HM: Anh Nguyen, student of Amy Gustafson; and Richard Qian, student of Charisse Baldoria

Sofya Gulyak's guest artist recital this Friday is not to be missed!