Local 12-Year-Old Piano Prodigy Earns Several Accolades

Katerina Reich of Hampton Bays and her family and friends have a lot to be proud of lately. The 12-year-old pianist, who was awarded the inaugural Ranny Reeve Memorial Scholarship by East End Arts, recently took home top honors at several prestigious events.

She won the Grand Prix prize at the International Concert Festival Competition, and in early March, she achieved a feat that many only dream about; playing at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. “Katerina is one of our top performing students, creative, hard-working, bright and talented,” expressed Diane Giardi, Education Director at East End Arts. “She has an amazing musical resume at her young age. Tatiana Balepina is a wonderful, dedicated instructor who puts time, energy and deep caring into her teaching.”

Reich also recently won Gold at the 2016 National Young Musicians Showcase Competition and will once again be welcomed back at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall to perform on Sunday, April 24th at 5:30 p.m. In addition, the rising star was awarded Super Bronze in the Golden Key Festival Competition, earning her the honor of taking part in a concert at Lincoln Center at the Frederick P. Rose Hall on Sunday, May 15th. And to top it all off, she took home First Place in the late intermediate division of the Suffolk Piano Teachers Foundation’s Piano Competition and will be performing at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts on Thursday, June 2nd.

The talented musician started her studies at just 4-years-old, and has been a student of Tatiana Balepina of East End Arts School in Riverhead since 2009. “Katerina is a very talented and dedicated student… with a very bright future,” added Balepina. Along with Carnegie Hall, Katerina has performed at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Center, Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, and Peter Norton Symphony Space Hall, and participated in piano competitions such as Concert Festival, Golden Key Festival Competition, National Young Musicians Showcase Competition, held by the National League of Performing Arts and the Suffolk Piano Teacher Foundation’s Annual Competition.

While it may seem like pursuing a career in music is a no-brainer, she plans to keep her options open in the future. “Something to do with math and science and, of course, something to do with music,” Katerina said.

Last December, Katerina was presented with East End Arts’ first annual Ranny Reeve Memorial Scholarship Award. “When choosing a student for a memorial scholarship in the name of a musician and educator of excellence you want to get it right and East End Arts definitely got it right when piano student Katerina Reich was selected for the Ranny Reeve Memorial Scholarship Award,” said Giardi. “Ranny touched the lives of so many people through music,” added East End Arts Executive Director Pat Snyder. “It was always a pleasure to watch him encourage students, often by placing them side-by-side with professionals. It is fitting to honor him with a scholarship.”

For more information about East End Arts, visit www.eastendarts.org.