Graduate Recital Press Release

Tham to Present Piano Recital at SC


Graduate Recital Poster

Winfield, Kan., March 19, 2004 — Pianist Gloria Tham will return to her alma mater when she presents a recital at Southwestern College Tuesday, April 13. The free concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Messenger Recital Hall of Darbeth Fine Arts Center.
Tham has chosen a varied program for the evening including Bach’s “Italian Concerto,” Beethoven’s “Pastorale Sonata,” and Grieg’s “Holberg Suite for Piano.” The recital also will explore the use of Chinese music by Western composers and Chinese music for Western instruments. Two pieces are based on the Chinese folksong “Jasmine Flower” by Percy Grainger and Anton Arensky. The recital will close with “The Moon Reflected Over Second Springs,” Chu Wanghua's piano transcription of a Chinese erhu piece by blind Chinese composer Abing.
Born in Kampar, Malaysia, Tham started piano lessons at age five. She graduated from Southwestern summa cum laude in 2002, with a degree in piano performance. Her teacher was Tim Shook. She holds the Performer's Certificate in Piano from Trinity College – London.
Following a year of graduate work at Kansas State University as a student of Virginia Houser, Tham now is a graduate teaching assistant at Wichita State University. She is pursuing a master of music degree in piano performance, studying under Andrew Trechak. Tham’s duties at WSU include teaching applied piano and class piano. She is state secretary for the Student Music Teacher's Association and is active as both accompanist and in music ministry.
In addition to her Southwestern College recital, Tham will perform at Emporia State University (lecture/performance), College Avenue United Methodist Church in Manhattan (recital), and at Cowley County Community College (lecture/performance). She will present her graduate recital April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Wiedemann Recital Hall on the campus of Wichita State University. All performances are free and open to the public.
Southwestern College is a private institution granting undergraduate and graduate degrees and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. More than 1,400 students attend classes at the main Winfield campus, professional studies sites in Winfield and Wichita, or online.

Senior Recital Press Release

Winfield, Kan., Monday, April 29, 2002 — Southwestern College students Morlin Jonatan and Gloria Tham will perform senior piano recitals at the college next week. Both recitals are open to the public without charge.
Jonatan, a music performance major with a minor in art, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, in Messenger Recital Hall. She is originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, and began playing piano at age nine.
Tham, a music performance major studying under Timothy Shook, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, in Messenger Recital Hall. A reception will follow.
From Kampar, Malaysia, Tham began playing piano at the age of five and holds the Performer’s Certificate in Piano from Trinity College, London. She will perform an arrangement of Chinese opera songs as well as pieces by Bach, Mozart, and Schubert.
An active performer in the Winfield area, Tham serves as music director at Winfield First Christian Church and accompanist for Winfield High School A Cappella Choir and Soundsations. She is listed in the 2002 edition of “Who’ s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.” Tham hopes to pursue graduate studies in the United States.

Why Learn to Play the Piano?

Why would one want to learn to play the piano? Some for fun, some to perform, some to play for church, some to start gigging, and for people like me, to learn to play and teach better. As with learning any skill, it takes effort, perseverance, persistence and dedication to master an instrument. Practice unlocks more possibilities than just natural talent.



It is easy to get a sound from the piano unlike some other instruments where playing the first note is a challenge. (Ask me about learning to play the trumpet!) On the other hand, getting a beautiful tone out of the piano takes practice, and good technique. One gets to play bass and treble at the same time. The piano can stand alone, and you probably never need to hire an accompanist (unless you play one of those wacky accompanied sonatas as a courting ritual. Will post more about this when I read up) Most of all, the piano has a wonderful and broad range of literature, and different genres. One would not be limited and there are always pieces to learn at all levels. (Every student wants to play Beethoven's Fur Elise but very few play it well.)



Playing the piano definitely builds hand and eye and feet coordination. There are 88 keys and three pedals, allowing for many possibilities and combinations. If you have a reading disorder, your piano teacher would probably pick that up. Pianists have to read not only horizontally but also vertically. There are many studies on sight-playing (more commonly referred to as sight-reading) and these experiments track eye movements while one reads music at the piano. Since the piano has both treble and bass, one would learn to be proficient in both clefs. Learning the piano will also help with understanding and applying the theory of music, and aural skills.



For the history buffs, the piano contains rich history, both in its invention and development, and of the people who are connected to piano, either as composers or performers.



So here's my two cents (for now)!

Getting Started

Hello there! Welcome to the musical musings by Gloria. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you come back often.



I have played the piano for almost 20 years now. I want to journal about my experiences with it. Hmm... adrenaline junkie, performance anxiety, recital mishaps (musical mousings), accompanying singers (can they count or can't they?), literature, technique (ugh scales!!), church music contemporary and traditional, practicing: too much or the lack of it, getting neighbours mad because I am practicing, moving pianos, dropping pianos, writing papers, researching topics, teaching piano, class piano. Well I think that is enough stuff to keep this blog going for long awhile.