Announcing the December YouPerform Contest Winner

Posted on Jan 26, 2009 by Monica in Contest Winners, General Musicnotes News, YouPerform Contest

We are thrilled to announce that fourteen-year old Daniel was the winner of Musicnotes.com YouPerform contest for December. Performing a challenging Nutcracker Medley, Daniel arranged the selections from The Nutcracker for the organ.

Let’s listen to Daniel as he talks about his love for the organ and a bit about his musical background.

I arranged the music for the organ and performed it on my Allen Home Organ. I love Theatre Organ and wanted to give the medley a Theatre ending so the last part is my own special arrangement. The organ is more versatile than a piano and the the different sounds and pedals that I chose made the medley sound like it was played with a full orchestra. Organs are not just for “Churches” and for playing classical pieces. Thank you for offering organ music on your website -- it would be awesome to a have a greater, more contemporary, selection in the future. I love playing all types of music on the organ -- Beatles songs are my favorite!

I have been taking organ lessons for 5 years and piano lessons for 3 years. I play both instruments every day for at least 1/2 hour. Most days I do not formally “practice” but just play for the enjoyment of it. I also play trumpet in the school Concert Band and play the keyboard in the school Jazz Band. I used the whole month of December to master the song -- spending about 10 minutes each day on it.
--Daniel, December Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest Winner

Daniel offered this tip to you, our fellow music lovers, if you’re going to try to learn this challenging piece: “I found it helpful to learn the song slowly, section by section, just a few lines at a time. I did not try to learn the piece all at once. This way I perfected each part of the song before I continued on.”

Join us in giving Daniel a huge round of applause, and feel free to watch this contest-winning performance. Don’t forget — we have new rules for the Musicnotes.com YouPerform Contest so be sure to submit your performance for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to our store.

Congratulations, Daniel! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR MUSIC!