Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival
The Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival at Hastings College brings outstanding teacher-performers to the Hastings College campus for a day of informative and inspiring activities, all free of charge to festival participants!
The Festival attracts clinicians who share their expertise with piano students, teachers and the Hastings College community — including an opportunity for students in grades 8-12 to attend free of charge and work with the guest clinician and Hastings College faculty. These master class sessions are a great way to coach literature for upcoming solo recitals, Guild Auditions, contests or NMTA District Festivals.
2023 Piano Festival
The 2023 Festival is scheduled for Saturday, March 25, 2023.
We are pleased to invite all students grades 8-12 to attend this event free of charge, and request a lesson with our guest clinician, Dr. Wan-Chin Chang. Please register below.
Tentative Schedule for March 25
9:00 am — Welcoming remarks by Dr. Jonathan Sokasits, Professor of Piano
9:00–10:00 — Duet Recital presented by Dr. Wan-Chin Chang and Dr. Sokasits
10:00–10:30 — Lecture, presented by Dr. Wan-Chin Chang
10:30–12:00 pm — Masterclasses for area students with Dr. Wan-Chin Chang and Dr. Sokasits. Piano duet teams are encouraged to apply.
1:00–1:30 — Brief join solo recital, presented by Dr. Wan-Chin Chang and Dr. Sokasits
2023 Guest Artist - Dr. Wan-Chin Chang
Wan-Chin Chang appears regularly as a soloist with orchestras such as the Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, Dana Point Symphony, Southern California Philharmonics, MiraCosta College Symphony, La Mirada Symphony, Southland Symphony, Temecula Valley Symphony, Orchestra Collectives of Orange County, Orange County Symphony, and Orange County Wind Symphony. Besides concerto and solo performances, she also frequently collaborates with other musicians in chamber recitals. She had been invited to perform at the Fallbrook Music Society, Piano Day at Saginaw Valley State University, Grand Valley University, Fullerton College, White Lake Chamber Music Festival, Blodgett Faculty Recital Series at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, The Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival, Orange Women’s Club, and Music Teacher’s Association of California.
Dr. Chang attended the University of Southern California and Aspen Music Festival with full scholarships, and she was the winner of the Leni Fe Foundation Scholarship, Pi Kappa Lambda Award, Chamber Music Award, and Outstanding Graduate Award. She also served as an assistant lecturer while completing her DMA in piano performance with a minor in violin performance from USC under the guidance of Antoinette Perry on the piano, and Eudice Shapiro on the violin. She is currently the assistant concertmaster of Dana Point Symphony, and principal second violin at Orchestra Collective of Orange County.
As an educator, Dr. Chang’s students consistently receive top ratings and prizes in MTNA and MTAC evaluations and competitions. Several of her students have been accepted into music schools at University of Southern California, California State Universities (Fullerton, Long Beach, and San Marcos), and Chapman University. She is currently on faculty at MiraCosta College in Oceanside and Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo. During the summer, she is the piano department chair at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan.
Questions?
Contact Dr. Jonathan Sokasits at 402.461.7359 or jsokasits@hastings.edu.
History of the Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival at Hastings College
Gladys Frisch Harris, a member of the Hastings College class of 1932, spent more than fifty years of her life teaching private piano and organ pupils. She actively taught until two days before her death on Thanksgiving Day, 1981.
Following graduation, Harris taught high school music for two years, and then became a substitute teacher in the Evanston, Illinois public schools. She studied pipe organ in Chicago and attended the Diller-Quaile School of Music in New York.
Harris and her husband, the Reverend James W. Harris, were married in 1934 and had two sons, James and John. Mrs. Harris was a member of the Evanston Music Club and the Board of Directors of the West Suburban Symphony in LaGrange, Illinois. Her dedication to the field of music education still continues today through underwriting this annual student/teacher workshop.
About the Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival
The generous bequest of Reverend James W. Harris continues to honor his wife’s memory with an annual piano festival designed for area pre-college piano students and their teachers. Since its inception in 1984, the Gladys Frisch Harris piano festival has brought outstanding teacher-performers to the Hastings College campus for a day of informative and inspiring activities, all free of charge to festival participants. With the ongoing generous support of the Hastings College Music Department and Artist Lecture Series, the festival continues to attract top-notch clinicians to share their expertise with area piano students, teachers and the Hastings College community.
This annual festival occurs in March or April. It is a wonderful performance opportunity that helps students prepare for district festivals, auditions and spring recitals. Over the years, the festival has undergone a number of changes before arriving at its current format.
