Our card girl, Samantha Simpson, entertains the crowd during a judging break with Chopin's "Revolutionary" Etude.

Program: Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 I. Mit Lebhaftigkeit und durchaus mit Empfindung und Ausdruck (0:28-5:34) II. Nicht zu geschwind und sehr singbar vorgetragen (5:36-12:33) Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 23 (13:30-21:24) – Intermission – (21:45-32:15) Clara Schumann, Drei Romanzen, Op. 21 I. Andante (32:40-38:20) II. Allegretto (38:25-39:33) III. Agitato (39:36-44:18) Claude Debussy, Pour le piano, L. 95 I. Prelude (45:38-49:47) II. Sarabande (49:53-54:30) III. Toccata (54:35-58:55) About the performer: Samantha Simpson began studying piano at the age of five with a concentration in classical performance and went on to have multiple teachers until she studied under Ian Hominick starting in high school. She won Mississippi Music Teachers’ Association competitions in solo, sonata, concerto, and ensemble categories, and competed at the World Championship Old-Time Piano Festival in Oxford, Mississippi. She was also awarded the Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy’s Mary Donnelly Haskell Scholarship, Mary Courtney Anderson Piano Scholarship, Brown-Ellis Piano Scholarship, and Music Excellence Scholarship to attend the University of Mississippi to study piano at the age of eighteen. Samantha Simpson went on to start teaching private piano lessons in 2019 and joined Oxford Music Teachers’ Association during her time in her native Mississippi. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BM Piano Performance degree at the University of Mississippi in August 2022 and joined Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda. She was recognized as the University of Mississippi’s Outstanding Undergraduate Pianist of the Year in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and performed in piano masterclasses for Bruce Levingston, Adrienne Park, and Andreas Klein. She also accompanied many local churches’ congregations and choirs in the Corinth and Oxford areas of Mississippi, accompanied Lakeshore Choral Camp in Norton, Mississippi; assisted as an understudy pianist and assistant for Ole Miss’s Youth Music Theatre Workshop, and worked with Living Music Resource in collaboration with UM Department of Writing and Rhetoric and AmeriCorps Vista Project to create curriculum and instruct a 2-week elementary and middle school music education program in the North Panola School District of Mississippi. During her final year of her bachelor’s degree, she was awarded an undergraduate assistantship in Music Office Administration. In addition to her extensive piano study, she also enjoys the choral community. She performed Alto 2 in Beethoven’s 9th symphony with the Ole Miss University Chorus and Memphis Symphony Orchestra and traveled with the UM Concert Singers to Raleigh, NC to perform Alto 2 for ACDA in the spring of 2022. Samantha Simpson studied under Yevgeny Yontov in the MM Piano Performance program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she also was awarded a quarter-time assistantship to teach class piano. She continued choral involvement through BGSU’s University Choral Society and continues teaching classical piano through Toledo School of the Arts in Toledo, OH. She joined her local chapter of MTNA in September of 2022, and continues to teach and perform in Bowling Green, OH after graduating in 2024.

Samantha Simpson performs for Anthony Bonamici in a masterclass at Bowling Green State University’s Bryan Hall on November 14th, 2022. 🎶 Samantha Simpson began studying classical piano at the age of five and went on to have multiple teachers until she studied under Ian Hominick starting in high school. She won Mississippi Music Teachers’ Association competitions in solo, sonata, concerto, and ensemble categories, and competed at the World Championship Old-Time Piano Festival in Oxford, Mississippi. She joined Oxford Music Teachers’ Association during her time in her native Mississippi, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BM Piano Performance degree at the University of Mississippi in August 2022. She was recognized as the University of Mississippi’s Outstanding Undergraduate Pianist of the Year in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and performed in piano masterclasses for Bruce Levingston, Adrienne Park, and Andreas Klein. She also accompanied many local churches’ congregations and choirs in Mississippi, accompanied Lakeshore Choral Camp in Norton, Mississippi; assisted as an understudy pianist and assistant for Ole Miss’s Youth Music Theatre Workshop, and worked with Living Music Resource in collaboration with UM Department of Writing and Rhetoric and AmeriCorps Vista Project to create curriculum and instruct a 2-week elementary and middle school music education program in the North Panola School District of Mississippi. Simpson currently studies under Yevgeny Yontov in the Master of Music Piano Performance program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she also was awarded a quarter-time assistantship to teach class piano. She continues teaching classical piano privately, and joined her local chapter of MTNA in September of 2022.

Samantha Simpson performs for Bowling Green State University's College Recital in Bryan Hall on April 7th, 2023. ~ Samantha Simpson began studying classical piano at the age of five and went on the have multiple teachers until she studied under Ian Hominick starting in high school. She won Mississippi Music Teachers' Association competitions in solo, sonata, concerto, and ensemble categories, and competed at the World Championship Old-Time Piano Festival in Oxford, Mississippi. She joined Oxford Music Teachers' Association during her time in her native Mississippi, where she graduate Summa Cum Laude with a BM Piano Performance degree at the University of Mississippi in August 2022. She was recognized as the University of Mississippi's Outstanding Undergraduate Pianist of the Year in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and performed in piano masterclasses for Bruce Levingston, Adrienne Park, and Andreas Klein. She also accompanied many local churches' congregations and choirs in Mississippi, accompanied Lakeshore Choral Camp in Norton, Mississippi; assisted as an understudy pianist and assistant for Ole Miss's Youth Music Theatre Workshop, and worked with Living Music Resource in collaboration with UM Department of Writing and Rhetoric and AmeriCorps Vista Project to create curriculum and instruct a 2-week elementary and middle school music education program in the North Panola School District of Mississippi. Simpson currently studies under Yevgeny Yontov in the Master of Music Piano Performance program at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she also was awarded a quarter-time assistantship to teach class piano and performed in a masterclass with Anthony Bonamici. She continues teaching classical piano privately, and has joined her local chapter of MTNA in September of 2022.