OTTEN, UCHIDA SHARE SAN DIEGO STATE PIANO AWARDS

Thomas Otten, a 26-year-old pianist from Los Angeles, won first prize in San Diego State University’s Joseph Fisch Piano Competition. The four top finalists were presented in a public recital Saturdqy evening in the university’s Smith Recital Hall.

The judges divided the $2,000 grand prize equally between Otten and Reiko Uchida, a 16-year-old Torrance musician who was awarded first prize in the junior division.

In addition to his cash prize, Otten will be featured in a solo recital next season at SDSU.

For the final round, Otten played the last movement of Beethoven’s C Minor Sonata, Op. 122; J.S. Bach’s C Minor Prelude and Fugue from “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” Vol. II, and Rachmaninoff’s “Etude-Tableau,” Op. 33, No. 3.

A USC doctoral student studying piano with John Perry, Otten completed his undergraduate music studies at the University of Maryland. Coincidentally, Lisa Spector, who shared last year’s Fisch competition grand prize, was also a Perry protege.

Second-place winner in the senior division was Leonard Anderson of San Jose. Second place in the junior division went to James Myers of Logan, Utah. Each was awarded $850. Only one local musician, Yu-Mei Wei of Coronado, was among the competition’s seven semi-finalists.

Judges for the final round were Gregory Allen of the University of Texas at Austin, Ruth Meyer of East New Mexico State University, and Mitzi Kolar of the SDSU music faculty. The awards were presented by Joseph Fisch, the San Diego arts benefactor who underwrites the competition.