TAMPA – For a three-week span every summer, the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival welcomes some of the best collegiate piano players worldwide to Tampa to train with some of the top instructors from around the world.

“I’ve met numerous amazing professors, had lessons with them, very informative, very knowledgeable, I’ve learned a lot from them,” Jiuen Park said.

The 25-year-old currently studies at Yale. She says she can’t imagine life without piano. Two of her colleagues feel the same way.

“I love to, like, tell the story, like give the audience my experience, my emotions,” Feitai Zhao said.

Zhao, 21, is visiting from Shanghai, China. She says she thinks about love and her parents while playing.

The pair were joined by 22-year-old Nayeon Gu, from Seoul, South Korea, for a showcase concert at the Steinway Piano Gallery over the weekend. The trio performed for around an hour. In addition to master classes and one-on-one lessons, these performances are the backbone of the festival.

“I don’t have, like, a specific agenda, but I hope that everyone can feel something from their inside emotions,” Park said. “You just get into the moment when you’re playing. There’s no other feeling like playing what you want, what you like, what you love.”

Forty pianists were selected from a pool of 250 applicants for the tuition-free program. The faculty consists of 25 instructors. They call USF home during their time here. Organizers say the pianists get a semester’s worth of lessons during the weeks. Concerts are held all over the Tampa Bay area. The non-profit was founded in 2013.

For more information on the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, click here.

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