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ENLARGE
Merrill Yesslith, a 1991 CCHS graduate, entered the Van Cliburn Foundation's YouTube Contest for amateur classical pianists. Viewers can watch all 58 video entries on YouTube and vote for their favorite pianist by Nov. 24 at the Van Cliburn Foundation's website.
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ENLARGE
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Merrill Yesslith, a 1991 Churchill County High School graduate, is one of 58 competitors in an international amateur piano competition — and he could use some help to win.
The second Van Cliburn YouTube Contest is held yearly for amateur classical pianists with the winner receiving automatic entry into the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs to be held in Texas in 2011. The Cliburn competition requires that competitors are over the age of 35 and cannot have music as their principal source of income.
Yesslith uploaded his video entry to the YouTube contest on the last day of entries and — like all the contestants — hopes to receive enough votes to win. Viewers can watch all 58 videos and vote online for their favorite performer.
Yesslith, a member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, grew up in Fallon and began piano lessons “reluctantly” at age 10. Reluctantly, he said, because he thought it was a “girl thing” and had visions of hours of boring practice time inside. However, this quiet young man found his voice at the piano.
His first teacher, Frances Hooper, taught him how to play church hymns but soon recommended he seek further training from Pat Ricks, a piano teacher in town. Money was tight, and Yesslith said his mother worried about being able to afford lessons from Ricks, but the teacher generously taught him for the price of pulling weeds after she realized the young man's talent. She was also spurred to foster Yesslith's talent after someone's chance remark that she was wasting her time with him.
“I just saw in him something very special,” Ricks said. “Someone said he'll probably never amount to anything. That just rubbed me the wrong way and I thought, ‘I'll show you what he can do.'”
During his childhood, Yesslith often accompanied his grandmother to the home of Carl and Bette Dodge where she was the housekeeper. After hearing Mrs. Dodge play music, Yesslith invited the couple to his solo recitals — which they always attended. The young man was surprised when the couple gifted him an upright grand piano with intricate carvings, a piano he honed his skills through his teen years.
Under Ricks' tutelage, Yesslith competed in several University of Nevada, Reno piano festivals, and he once earned high enough marks to progress to the festival's Command Performance. Ricks also guided him to apply for the Della Moser Pennington Foundation scholarship, a music scholarship Yesslith used when he majored in piano performance at Brigham Young University Idaho.
The young man had strong ties to his Native American history and grew up dancing in pow wows and attended the Native American Church.
Although he is still reluctant to boast about himself, Ricks noted Yesslith traveled the country and even overseas with the Laminite Generation, a BYU dancing group featuring dances from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Yesslith left the music program, however, after three semester because he thought music wouldn't be lucrative enough to support a family. He earned a degree in psychology and went on to earn a law degree. He now works at a law firm in Provo, Utah. He may have moved away from music academically and professionally, but Yesslith never lost his love for piano and performance.
“I've kept close contact with my piano major friends in Salt Lake City and we have planned recitals. I really love it,” he said. “I graduated law school, now work at a law firm and I'm really busy, but I still try to make time for music and my family.”
The 36-year-old practiced his piece – J.S. Bach's Prelude, English Suite No. 2 in A minor – for two months before submitting his entry into the YouTube competition. He said it's hard to predict his chances because the competition is a lot like “American Idol” because some contestants may have a lot of friends or receive more publicity.
“I do think I have a lot of good stuff going for me,” Yesslith said. “Bach is a good piece to perform – it has rhythm, texture and coloring.”
The Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs is held every four years, and Yesslith said he will still enter the 2011 competition even if he doesn't take the YouTube contest title. Voting will continue until Nov. 24 and can be done online. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.
Watch the video entries, uploaded in alphabetical order by last name, on the Van Cliburn Foundation's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/VanCliburnFoundation .
Vote online by signing the guestbook to receive a ballot on the Cliburn Foundation's Web site. Follow the links to the amateur competition: www.cliburn.org.
The second Van Cliburn YouTube Contest is held yearly for amateur classical pianists with the winner receiving automatic entry into the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs to be held in Texas in 2011. The Cliburn competition requires that competitors are over the age of 35 and cannot have music as their principal source of income.
Yesslith uploaded his video entry to the YouTube contest on the last day of entries and — like all the contestants — hopes to receive enough votes to win. Viewers can watch all 58 videos and vote online for their favorite performer.
Yesslith, a member of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, grew up in Fallon and began piano lessons “reluctantly” at age 10. Reluctantly, he said, because he thought it was a “girl thing” and had visions of hours of boring practice time inside. However, this quiet young man found his voice at the piano.
His first teacher, Frances Hooper, taught him how to play church hymns but soon recommended he seek further training from Pat Ricks, a piano teacher in town. Money was tight, and Yesslith said his mother worried about being able to afford lessons from Ricks, but the teacher generously taught him for the price of pulling weeds after she realized the young man's talent. She was also spurred to foster Yesslith's talent after someone's chance remark that she was wasting her time with him.
“I just saw in him something very special,” Ricks said. “Someone said he'll probably never amount to anything. That just rubbed me the wrong way and I thought, ‘I'll show you what he can do.'”
During his childhood, Yesslith often accompanied his grandmother to the home of Carl and Bette Dodge where she was the housekeeper. After hearing Mrs. Dodge play music, Yesslith invited the couple to his solo recitals — which they always attended. The young man was surprised when the couple gifted him an upright grand piano with intricate carvings, a piano he honed his skills through his teen years.
Under Ricks' tutelage, Yesslith competed in several University of Nevada, Reno piano festivals, and he once earned high enough marks to progress to the festival's Command Performance. Ricks also guided him to apply for the Della Moser Pennington Foundation scholarship, a music scholarship Yesslith used when he majored in piano performance at Brigham Young University Idaho.
The young man had strong ties to his Native American history and grew up dancing in pow wows and attended the Native American Church.
Although he is still reluctant to boast about himself, Ricks noted Yesslith traveled the country and even overseas with the Laminite Generation, a BYU dancing group featuring dances from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Yesslith left the music program, however, after three semester because he thought music wouldn't be lucrative enough to support a family. He earned a degree in psychology and went on to earn a law degree. He now works at a law firm in Provo, Utah. He may have moved away from music academically and professionally, but Yesslith never lost his love for piano and performance.
“I've kept close contact with my piano major friends in Salt Lake City and we have planned recitals. I really love it,” he said. “I graduated law school, now work at a law firm and I'm really busy, but I still try to make time for music and my family.”
The 36-year-old practiced his piece – J.S. Bach's Prelude, English Suite No. 2 in A minor – for two months before submitting his entry into the YouTube competition. He said it's hard to predict his chances because the competition is a lot like “American Idol” because some contestants may have a lot of friends or receive more publicity.
“I do think I have a lot of good stuff going for me,” Yesslith said. “Bach is a good piece to perform – it has rhythm, texture and coloring.”
The Cliburn International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs is held every four years, and Yesslith said he will still enter the 2011 competition even if he doesn't take the YouTube contest title. Voting will continue until Nov. 24 and can be done online. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.
Watch the video entries, uploaded in alphabetical order by last name, on the Van Cliburn Foundation's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/VanCliburnFoundation .
Vote online by signing the guestbook to receive a ballot on the Cliburn Foundation's Web site. Follow the links to the amateur competition: www.cliburn.org.
