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Written by Dan England
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Friday, 28 September 2007 |
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 On her long drive to work, pregnant with Katiana, Ana Uyemura used to crank Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”
She heard music was good for babies. Perhaps she was right.
When Katiana was just a tot, she would sit on her father Mark’s lap while he played piano. As a toddler, she would climb up Mark’s old piano, a piano his mother bought with extra money she earned selling vegetables from her backyard garden, and bang out songs. And finally, at age 4, she wanted lessons from her father.
Just a few years later, at age 10, Katiana is so proficient at piano that she’ll be one of the youngest soloists in the 27-year history of the Greeley Chamber Orchestra when she plays Mozart’s “Concerto No. 1 in F Major.”
 When musical director Dan Frantz offered the concert to her last year, her feet still didn’t touch the pedals when she wasn’t on her adjustable bench at home. They do now. Barely.
“When I was little, I thought it sounded nice,” Katiana said without a trace of irony. “I still love how unique it is. When you play with an orchestra, there’s all these violins, but there’s only one piano. It still makes me feel good to hear it and play it.”
Mark, who took lessons from Sallie Johnson of Greeley, a pianist who had her own solo at a Greeley chamber concert last year, played often enough to spark Katiana’s interest. Or maybe it was hearing “Moonlight Sonata” in the womb. She’s still not sure what drew her to it.
But once she started, she didn’t want to stop. To the delight of her parents, Johnson accepted Katiana as a student when she turned 7. Mark didn’t think he could help her anymore.
“I liked the lessons,” Katiana said of her new teacher. “You never get good just sitting there.”
Instead, Katiana got better, and then she got a lot better. One of the first times her parents thought she might be special was at a state competition she entered in the youngest division, a level that was really designed to be more of an exhibition. Her parents were blown away by all the great players in the older, more competitive division. Katiana came back the next year and not only competed in the older division, she won it. She’s since won many competitions and played with the Niwot Timberline Symphony in February.
She enjoys her time playing piano, even if she works an hour a day. She’s putting in at least that to get ready for the Oct. 5 concert, the first time she’ll ever play a complete concerto. She absolves her folks of being stage parents almost right away.
“It’s my choice to do that,” Katiana said. “My parents don’t make me.”
In fact, her parents were a little worried about putting too much pressure on her, in between the dancing and swimming and tennis, and so they asked her if she wanted to stop. Katiana was so adamant about her wishes to keep playing, she cried.
Johnson remains impressed by Katiana’s maturity and ability at her age, although she also credits Mark, her former student, and Ana for their involvement. Ana home-schools Katiana while Mark works as a dentist, but Mark takes her to Johnson’s home and takes notes during each lesson.
“I treat her just like I treat my seniors in high school,” Johnson said. “I don’t treat her like a child. There’s a lot of discipline from the parents too. He takes notes and goes to every lesson, and that doesn’t happen very often.”
Katiana is still just a kid. Sure, a highly intelligent, precocious kid who plays better than just about anyone, but she’s still 10. Her favorite movie is “Return of the Jedi.” She plays kids’ songs on the piano occasionally, and she also bangs out a Billy Joel tune every once in a while.
So Katiana doesn’t know what she wants to do for a career. She just knows she wants to keep playing.
Who knows where it will take her? After all, the piece she’s playing was written by Mozart. And he was the same age Katiana is now when he wrote it some 240 years ago.
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THE SHOW
Greeley Chamber Orchestra, first concert of the season
7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, Trinity Episcopal Church,
3800 20th St., Greeley.
In addition to Katiana Uyemura’s performance of Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Major,” the concert will open with Boyce’s “Symphony No. 1 in F Major” and will conclude with “Symphony No. 1 in C Major” by von Weber. $10 at the door. Grades K-12 are admitted free. Go to www.thegco.org. | Only registered users can write comments.
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