UT Martin student, pianist claims prestigious award

The Messenger 04.04.12

University of Tennessee at Martin student and South Fulton native Andrew Moore is known throughout the area for his skills on the piano, but now the music and chemistry double major has a prestigious regional award under his belt.
Moore recently won the Beethoven Club’s Young Artist Competition in Mem-phis.
“I was completely shocked when I logged onto the Beethoven Club’s website to see my name as the winner of the competition. Honestly, I was not even expecting to place because I was so young. I read my name a few times before finally calling one of my friends to log on to the site and verify that I wasn’t just seeing things. It was very exciting,” Moore said.
Open to pianists in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky ages 21-30, it was only the second competition in which Moore has competed in college, but he will receive a $300 monetary prize at a winner’s concert on March 18 in Memphis.
Moore has been practicing his pieces, “Danzas Argentinas” by Alberto Ginastera and “32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80” by Ludwing van Beethoven, for several months. He also played them for his senior piano recital in October.
“I get more nervous at competitions than I do in recitals because I’m being critiqued to a much higher degree. It also makes me somewhat anxious to listen to the performers ahead of me because it makes me aware of the competition and talent that I’m up against. When it’s my turn to perform, I just try to imagine that I’m in the practice room, playing for myself, to help calm my nerves,” he said.
Moore started piano lessons at the age of six and began studying under Dr. Elaine Harriss, professor of music at UT Martin, when he was 14.
He went on to attend the school as a student, which recently became an All-Steinway campus, as all of its pianos were replaced with Steinway pianos.
Moore is in the University Scholars program at UT Martin and plans to attend medical school.
He received the Harry Neal Memorial Award for Outstanding Piano Major in 2008, 2009 and 2011, as well as the Outstanding Music Student Award in 2011.
He has also been a pianist for First United Methodist Church in Martin since 2008.
His piano accompaniment featured in Dr. Roberto Mancusi’s “Songs of Nature” record will be released by Centaur Records Inc. this year.

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