Pianist wins Seven Year Nat’l Award
Memorized 10 pieces each year
Savannah Brister, 14, daughter of Lowell and Laura Brister of Lakeland, earned the Seven Year National Award from the National Guild of Piano Teachers.
She performed 10 memorized pieces each year for seven years in Germantown’s Piano Guild Auditions, where she earned ratings of superior to superior plus.
She received the Guild’s seven-year pin and a porcelain bust of Bach from her teacher, Benita Pepper, of Lakeland.
Savannah completed the eighth grade at Macon Road Baptist School, where she was on the A/B Honor Roll and the junior varsity cross country team.
She has studied piano for seven years, dance for five years and voice for one year. She sang in the “Star of the Fair” talent show at the Delta Fair last year and will perform there again this fall. She just returned from a weeklong masterstudy program in New York City with her vocal coach, Bob Westbrook. Savannah also participated in Broadway Bootcamp for “Motown the Musical” at the Memphis Orpheum Theater in July.
Her hobbies include reading, sewing and quilting. She is a member of Hope Presbyterian Church, where she performed mission work with the youth group this summer.
After high school, she plans to obtain a degree in music, possibly in New York City. Savannah is planning a career in music, to include playing piano and singing.