UAB piano student Mira Walker wins national award

Piano student Mira Walker at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was awarded first place in the National Federation of Music Clubs Student/Collegiate Competition Finals, Piano Division.

She received a $3,000 cash award, and her photo will be published in the group’s national magazine.

Walker, who just completed her freshman year at UAB, is a student of artist-in-residence and Professor of Piano Yakov Kasman, DMA, in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music. Walker, of Birmingham, has been studying with Kasman since 2014. She is in the Honors College’s University Honors program and is an applied music major, focusing on piano performance. Walker is also in the UAB Concert Choir.

Two years ago, Aleksandra Kasman, who graduated in April and is headed to graduate school at The Juilliard School, won the award.

Walker submitted for the competition Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B Major, WTC I; Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 31, No. 3, in E-flat major, Mvt. 1; Brahms’ Klavierstucke Op. 76, Nos. 1 and 2; Chopin’s Etude Op. 10, No. 5; and Liebermann’s Nocturne No. 10, Op. 99.

In March, student pianists Walker and Jacob Skiles performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerti Nos. 1 and 2, with Kasman playing the orchestra reduction, as part of the Department of Music’s performance season. In early April, Walker won first place in the Alabama Federation of Music Clubs competition, winning a $1,000 cash award.