Donna Lee, standing, instructs a
former Piano Institute participant.

Students from grades 7-12 will have an opportunity to rub elbows with individuals from around the world at this year's sixth annual Piano Institute at Kent State University presented by the Piano Division at Kent State's Hugh A. Glauser School of Music.

The Piano Institute offers a unique combination of lessons, master classes and performance opportunities. Students will interact at Kent State for 11 days of inspiration, learning and sharing. Applications are currently being accepted for this highly intensive festival for talented piano students in grades 7-12.

Activities for Piano Institute participants include:

• Performing in a final gala performance at Severance Hall's Reinberger Chamber Hall
• Receiving four hours of one-on-one lessons with Kent State piano faculty
• Participating in master classes with esteemed guest artists, Spencer Myer, international concert pianist, and Joela Jones, principal keyboardist with The Cleveland Orchestra
• Attending workshops on sight-reading, technique, practicing and audition/competition preparation

In addition, participants will live on campus, enjoy picnics and recreational activities and will have the opportunity to attend field trips to Porthouse Theatre and a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center.

All classes, lessons and monitored practice sessions will take place in Kent State's Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. The school offers a wide variety of bachelor's and master's degree programs in performance, conducting, music education, composition, ethnomusicology, musicology and theory, as well as three doctoral programs in music education, musicology-ethnomusicology and theory-composition.

The cost of the 11-day program is $1,285 and includes:

• Room and board
• All classes
• Four hours of private instruction
• Master classes
• Concerts
• Transportation to field trips
• Recreational activities
• A concert CD
• A T-shirt

The application deadline is April 21. Scholarships are available.

For more information on the Piano Institute, visit www.kent.edu/pianoinstitute or contact Monica Brately at mbratel1@kent.edu or 330-672-3100.