Sound Source: Bienen students find their rhythm in the Concerto Competition

Emerson Leger, Assistant Audio Editor

May 4, 2026

The Daily Northwestern · Sound Source: Bienen students find their rhythm in the Concerto Competition

[music from performers]

EMERSON LEGER: That was Lurdes Zapata, who performed in the final round of Bienen School of Music’s 2026 Concerto/Aria Competition on April 28. The finalists included a melody of pianists, clarinetists, flutists and cellists.

[music]

EMERSON LEGER: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Emerson Leger. This is Sound Source, a podcast about the music scene on campus and beyond.

Twelve student performers, ranging from upperclassmen undergraduates to doctorates, were finalists at the competition. Though not a required event, one winner goes on to play with the University’s orchestra.

First year Ph.D. Bienen student Gregory Martin said he has been playing the piano since he was four years old, when his mom began teaching him. For the competition, he performed songs by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Martin said he has been practicing for the performance since December, making sure he gets in sync with his music.

GREGORY MARTIN: I practice every measure. Every single thing that the composer writes in the music, I consider. And I craft every measure and go by there. There’s a lot of things that go into practicing.

[music]

EMERSON LEGER: Bienen junior Claire Kim performed songs on her flute by Jacques Ibert. Kim said she normally has pre-performance jitters, but every competition helps her get used to the pressure.

CLAIRE KIM: Well, I have really bad performance anxiety, but I think for me, it’s just more exposure. And also, I took multiple auditions this weekend, so I was already kind of in that state of, like, hyperfocus even when you’re, like, nervous. I feel like this competition wasn’t as nerve-racking as it would be normally for me.

EMERSON LEGER: During the competition, she said she has a trick to help her focus.

CLAIRE KIM: I think for me, I tried to think of an emotion or like a picture in my mind while I’m playing, so it just takes my mind off the actual physical act of playing an instrument.

[music]

EMERSON LEGER: Bienen junior Henry Lazzaro plays the clarinet and said that during the competition, no matter how hard it is to focus, keeping a clear mind is central to his process.

HENRY LAZZARO: I’m trying to stay really focused on what’s happening in the music and what I’m trying to get through. And that way, if something goes wrong or if something doesn’t happen exactly how I want it to happen, I can just return to the piece.

[music]

EMERSON LEGER: Zapata is a second-year master’s student in the soprano voice performance program. The competition marked her second time performing, and she described it as no easy feat. Zapata said the songs she performed by German composer Richard Strauss took more than two months to memorize.

[excerpt from performance]

LURDES ZAPATA: I think the misconception that people have about musicians, but specifically singers, is that they get a sheet of music and then you could technically perform it the next day, right? But there’s such a thing as it sitting in your body, which is a term that we use, where the muscle memory becomes instantaneous.

EMERSON LEGER: She said that this competition and studying at Bienen acts as a reminder of how talented her peers are. Their passion, she said, made her feel grateful to be at a music school like Bienen.

LURDES ZAPATA: And I was just thinking to myself, “Oh my gosh, isn’t it so amazing that I go to a school in an institution with so many baddies?” Like, literally so many people who put their heart and soul into music. And they give their life to this. And I want to be surrounded with people like that for the rest of my life.

[music]

EMERSON LEGER: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Emerson Leger. Thanks for listening to another episode of Sound Source. This episode was reported and produced by Emerson Leger.

The audio editor is Wallis Rogin. The multimedia managing editors are Ruby Dowling, Isabella Jacob and Matt Wasilewski. The editor in chief is Anavi Prakash.

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