Several NDSU music students placed first at a recent Young Artist Competition, held during the Music Teachers National Association State Convention in Dickinson, N.D. The students will perform during the regional competition, which will be held in Sioux Falls, S.D., in January. Each contestant or ensemble prepared a stylistically varied program of works with a performance time totaling no less than 40 minutes.

Bernadette Fromherz, Park River, N.D., placed first in the piano competition. Fromherz is a junior pursuing a bachelor of music in piano performance and is a student of Robert Groves.

The NDSU Saxophone Quartet, under the direction of Matthew Patnode, placed first in the chamber music division. The quartet consists of Kohei Kameda, Carolyn Braus, Andrew Budke and Paul Nasion. Kameda, Tokyo, is a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in saxophone performance and also was selected as an alternate in solo performance. Braus, Bismarck, N.D., is a sophomore pursuing a performance degree and received an honorable mention in solo performance.  Budke, Fargo, is a senior architecture and music major and Paul Nason, Minot, N.D., is a senior pursuing a music education degree.

Additionally, Groves presented a lecture titled “Piano and Pain Don’t Have to Go Together” during the convention. The presentation explained how to identify and deal pedagogically with the causes of chronic tendon inflammation that can occur in the hands and arms of piano students.