Pianist deserves some recognition for award

For 19 years, the International Piano Competition has gone on in Paris, France, with no real interest to the people of Howard County, much less Ellicott City. But this year's winner and last year's runner up is Dr. Christopher Shih, of Ellicott City. Dr. Shih was not happy that he was "only" the runner up last year, so he tried out again this year and won the competition as well as the Audience and the Press Award. His choice of music was Frederic Chopin's "Barcarolle"(1846) and Franz Liszt "Totentanz"(1849, 59) both very challenging pieces.

The International Piano Competition is probably the closest to the world competition for amateurs, and the word amateur should be read in the correct sense, a person who engages in the activity for fun and not for money. As they write on the www. pianoamateurs.com Web site: "the musicians have had to make a choice, a difficult one, between their love of music and living of it."

I would encourage anybody to go on YouTube and type in "Christopher Shih." It is a fabulous performance. Maybe we could have him perform here in Howard County, since it is far to go across the Atlantic to Paris every year. I would not be surprised if Dr. Shih were to win the International Piano Van Cliburn Competition for Amateurs in 2011, of which he took part in 1997 and got to the first stage as a very young professional musician. It is sad that such as talent cannot be heard where he lives.

He works, among other places, right here in Howard County and in Dr. Shih's case he is lucky to have his wife supportive of interest, she herself on the faculty of Peabody Preparatory.

Dr. Christopher Shih should be congratulated most heartily on winning this prestigious competition.

Eva Granzow, Ellicott City

Ellicott City needs new beat for Main Street

No! The Patapsco River did not overflow its banks nor did an underground geyser erupt on Main Street, in Ellicott City. Howard County is drowning in something else -- it is drowning in a "sea of sameness." What I am referring to is the sameness of background music in public places. No matter where you go whether it is the corner gas station, shopping mall, home center, or a grocery store -- the background music is pretty much the same.

Even some doctor's offices are not exempt. It appears that everyplace is tuned in to the same pop-music satellite subscription service. The lyrics are very melancholy filled with sadness and despair. The music is always vocal as if instrumental music did not exist. There is a great deal of moaning, crying, wailing, screaming and weeping as if trying to forget about the miserable unfulfilled daily lives. For lack of a better definition, I would call this type of music "country howling."

The singing is generally accompanied by a truly irritating sound: the steady monotonous beat of a drum that sounds like tapping a metal trash can with a wooden stick. A trash can that is filled with scrap metal -- that kind of "noise" is very depressing and not uplifting at all. Some other characteristics of this type of music are: women have to sound as if they were prepubescent teens, and men's voices have to have a slight lisp and a nasal sound. One public radio personality described "country howling" as 7/11 music -- seven notes repeated 11 times over and over ad nauseam.

I often wonder why is the background music designed to induce such stress, sadness and depression. One theory is the old fashioned reverse psychology thinking from the 1960s that a sad, or depressed person will buy more in order to lift oneself out of depression. The marketing gurus that push this convoluted thinking appear to be stuck in a time warp, perhaps they have things sized up wrong.

Actually, Howard County is not an exception to this malaise. I travel extensively in the US, large cities, small towns and rural areas, and that "country howling" phenomenon is omnipresent. What is interesting to note that even in Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, that "country howling" background music has infiltrated even the most upscale casino-hotels.

A little variety in background music would be like a breath of fresh air -- perhaps some instrumental music: soft jazz, a lively Latin beat or even some classical music like Rossini to lift ones spirits. Maybe a time will come when we escape from the "Sea of Sameness" and enter the world of saneness. Variety is the spice of life we deserve it.

Edward Sakalauskas, Ellicott City

---

user comments (0)