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Young Artist Program in Piano
This class is open to senior piano students, and provides instruction in a setting that moves towards traditional music college/university instruction while maintaining roots in Suzuki philosophy and pedagogy. It is expected that these senior players, who provide a role model to other participating students, will join happily in other Institute events.
Students Eligible: Pianists who have completed Mozart, Sonata, K. 330 (Suzuki Bk. 6) or who have completed RCM or Conservatory Canada Gr. 9 piano
Program includes:
- Daily public Master Class (half-hour per student) with Stephen Runge.
- Daily Ensemble class (string/piano duo, trio class, or piano duo).
- Daily Advanced Percussion class.
- Solo performance opportunity at the end of the week.
Please note that mature students may better handle the audition process and the public master class instruction in the Young Artist Program. While there are no age limits, high school age students may adapt to this somewhat more intense experience more easily than younger children. The regular Senior Piano program is another very rewarding option available for advanced students who are not sure about the YAP or who are not accepted into the program (there is strictly limited enrollment in the YAP).

How to apply: Submit the Young Artist Program student application form, delivered or postmarked by Friday April 20, 2012. Your video audition DVD must be delivered or postmarked by May 1, 2012 (no exceptions). Be sure to follow the audition DVD directions closely.
NOTE: Audition recordings will not be processed until we have received the registration fee. Some classes will begin on Sunday, August 12.
Cost: $500 CDN
Application Forms:
Young Artist Program | YAP Audition Form (to be included with your DVD)
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Pianist Stephen Runge has been heard across Canada in recital, as chamber musician, and with orchestra and is demand across the country as teacher, adjudicator, and clinician. Stephen came to national attention when he was awarded first prize in the piano category of the National Music Festival. Since then he has been the recipient of several important awards, including prizes at the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, the International Stepping Stone of the Canadian Music Competition, the C.F.M.T.A. National Piano Competition, the Roberto and Mary Wood Competition, the Shean Piano Competition, and the B.C. Young Artists' Piano Competition. |
Dr. Runge enjoys performing lesser known repertoire and new works. In 2000, he gave the Canadian premiere of Lowell Liebermann's Piano Concerto No.2 with the Regina Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and the University of Victoria Orchestra. Dr. Runge has been broadcast nationally on CBC Radio Two and La Chaîne Culturelle de Radio-Canada. He has received special recognition for his frequent performances as chamber musician and art song collaborator. He is currently undertaking a major recording project of the large works for solo piano by Robert Schumann. As a clinician, Dr. Runge has given workshops at provincial and national teaching conferences on topics such as effective practice methods, performance practices for Baroque and Classical music, and the challenges of teaching popular music.
Born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Stephen Runge studied with Janice Elliott-Denike before completing a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in Piano Performance at the University of Victoria where he was a student of Dr. Robin Wood. Upon graduation from the University of Victoria, he was awarded the Victoria Medal and the Governor General’s Silver Medal as the top student in his class. He completed a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at l’Université de Montréal and an Artist Diploma at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto under the direction of Marc Durand. He has also studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts with Julian Martin of the Juilliard School, and has performed in master classes for artists such as Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, André Laplante, and John Perry. In the summer of 2005 he attended the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts as a Fellow where he performed in a variety of chamber and orchestral concerts. Stephen Runge completed his Doctorate of Music at l’Université de Montréal in April 2007.
Dr. Runge taught at St. Olaf College in Minnesota before joining the Department of Music at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick in 2007, where he is currently Assistant Professor of Piano and the Director of Mount Allison Local Centre Examinations in Music. He received a Paul Paré Excellence Award from Mount Allison in 2010.
For more information on Stephen Runge, please visit his website at www.stephenrunge.comNOTE: This year, YAP students may also enroll in the special Seminar on the Alexander Technique, held on the evening of Tuesday, August 14, and also enroll in private Alexander lessons during the week.
NOTE ABOUT PRICES: We try our best to be accurate, but typos sometimes happen. If there is confusion over pricing, our administrator has the final word. USD pricing will vary with the exchange rate. You can confirm the USD pricing at the time of your payment.

