ROBERT TSAI

Robert Tsai studied under Dr. Julia Lam from fourth grade to twelfth grade. He would like to thank her for developing his musical faculty so much over this period of nine years. He gave his senior recital with his fellow students Dennis Ding and Bryan Liou on June 14, 2008, and still does chamber music in college. He played in three Sylvia and Jacob Handler Master Classes at the Tenafly JCC while in high school, the last one being in 2008 with the pianist Robert McDonald. He was awarded first prize in class I (ages 18 and under) of the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition in September 2005, won first place in the NJMTA Young Musicians Competition in the fall of 2005 and 2007, and was the winner of the Joseph Israel Bookstaber Memorial Award Competition in December 2007. Other musical experiences in high school include participation in the Music Division of the New Jersey Governor’s School of the Arts and a rendition of the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto with the Young Players Philharmonic directed by Ira Kraemer.He also studied at Murray Hill Chinese School and, after many years of effort together with his teammates, won second place in nationals at a Chinese culture Jeopardy competition in August 2008. He had graduated from regular classes in June 2005.Robert is now in his freshman year at Dartmouth College, and is thinking of a double major, one in a subject in the humanities, the other in Environmental Studies. He has studied chamber music for three quarters now (fall, winter, and spring), and pieces worked on have included the Beethoven Trio No. 4, a modern piece in 13 short movements, and a Handel flute sonata with figured bass. Other activities include attending meetings and events of the Dartmouth Outing Club, the Taiwanese Association, and the Medieval Enthusiasts.