National Electone Keyboard Finals Excite La Mirada Crowd

Linda Eckert, 17, of Newington, Conn., won the top senior division prize Saturday in the 1988 Yamaha U.S. National Electone Keyboard Festival Finals, held at La Mirada Civic Theatre.

Eckert, who played a transcription of “Jupiter” from Holst’s “The Planets,” received $2,000 and will represent the United States at the International Electone Festival in Paris in December. Her division was made up of amateurs and professionals, ages 16 and older.

Other winners included Frank Monastero IV, 17, from Huntington, N.Y., in the Youth II Division (amateurs 14-18); and Tasha Otenti from South Portland, Me., in the Youth I Division (amateurs 13 and under).

Monastero played an arrangement of Chick Corea’s “Spain.” Otenti, who turned 13 Saturday, played a transcription of the coronation scene from Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov.” They received $2,000 each.

Nine judges chose the three winners from among 11 finalists (none of whom was from Southern California). Each of the other finalists received $300. All 11 received music scholarships from the company.

The finalists were chosen from 119 semifinalists, who remained from an original pool of about 900 Yamaha keyboard players nationwide. The competition, first held in the United States in 1971, was created to promote Yamaha’s keyboard instrument. Yamaha maintains corporate headquarters in Buena Park.

Senior division-winner Eckert plans to major in music education at Ithaca College in New York.

Danny Brown, the master of ceremonies Saturday, asked her why she prefered music education to a career as a performer. “I decided I didn’t want to starve,” she replied.

Monastero, a high school senior who works part-time as a custodian in a music store, hopes to attend the Eastman School of Music in New York.

Otenti, a shy teen-ager whose rendition of Mussorgsky’s music drew wild applause and whistles from the audience, has also studied karate and gymnastics for five years.