Local teens shine in national piano duet competition

Special to ViewSummerlin-area residents Daren Endy, 18, left, and Sherry Kim, 17, perform a piano duet during the Music Teachers National Association Performance competition in Atlanta, March 30. Endy and Kim, both students in the Academy for Mathematics, Science and Applied Technology magnet program at Clark High School, won first place for their age group in the piano duet category at the event. Advertisement

Years of lessons. Hours of practice. It all came down to one performance, and the 88 keys didn't let them down.

Two Summerlin-area teens took top place for piano duet in their age group at the Music Teachers National Association Performance competition, held in Atlanta March 30.

Daren Endy, 18, and Sherry Kim, 17, beat out other teams from across the nation, including Beijing-born twins whose father is an internationally known pianist.

"This is the Grammy Award from music teachers," Daren's father Eric Endy said. "Well, not in those exact words."

The pair played three pieces: Sonatina IV movement one by Gyorgy Ligeti; Fantasia II in F minor by Mozart; and Mephisto Waltz No. 1 by Franz Liszt. To prepare for the event, they practiced for six hours a day, sometimes longer.

"Close to competition, it gets a little crazy," Kim said.

Being a duet is harder than playing solo, Daren Endy said. He compared it to acting in a play.

"We had to work together," he said. "I know my part, but I also have to know hers ... we roll with each other as the music is flowing."

They take private lessons under Jie Bu, who is the director of Music and Arts of Las Vegas, 5300 Spring Mountain Road, Suite 109. Daren Endy has been his student for 13 years; Kim began nine years ago. Bu said that when they started, both already were very musically talented. He put them together as a duet pair roughly two years ago.

There was, however, a period of adjustment.

"Their characters are different," he said. "Daren is an open and an exciting person. Sherry is disciplined, meticulous ... Sherry is smaller, so we had to balance the sound."

Bu told them to practice at 110 percent, as competition tends to see participants playing 10 percent below their ability.

"Music is all about the experience," he said. "The more you perform, the better you mature."

Some parts necessitated playing the same notes.

"When you close your eyes, you think it's one person," Daren's mother, Cindy Endy, said.

Both are students in the Academy for Mathematics, Science and Applied Technology magnet program at Clark High School, 4291 W. Pennwood Ave.

Darin Endy will begin at UCLA this fall, studying international economics. Kim will be a senior this fall, and has her eye on studying music at Northwestern University.

The list of winners can be seen at www.mtna.org.

But there's more news.

On the heels of the national win, the duo was selected as a First Prize Winner in the 2009 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition for the duet. The win will see them fly to New York City, where they are slated to perform at Carnegie Hall Sunday.

Contact Summerlin View and South Summerlin View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949