Pianist is 'in love with music'

Tanya Bannister grew up in Hong Kong, carries a British passport and lives in New York. But for her, home is where the piano is — particularly since she's married to another concert pianist.

Now a competitor in the 2006 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, her love affair with the piano began during childhood. "I was in love with the piano from a very early age. I was completely and utterly in love with music, and I wanted music to be my life."

When she was 4 and her mother was taking piano lessons, the young girl would listen to her mother practice, and then she'd sleep next to the piano. So her parents decided to give her lessons.

Bannister studied at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and eventually graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London. "Kids have these dreams, and they go away. But mine didn't."

After that, she went to Italy to study, and then Yale — which is where she met her husband. "He couldn't be more supportive, and the same way for me. We can listen to each other, and we understand exactly what the other person is doing."

Bannister said they play a lot of four-hands music and recently performed the Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos together. "It is quite lonely being a concert pianist and having to go everyplace on your own, so I love it when I can go with him."

She is looking forward to competing in the Bachauer this year, she says, because it's a special competition for her. When she was 9, she came to compete in the Junior Bachauer as one of the youngest competitors and took third place. She came again when she was 13 to participate in a master class. "I have great memories of that, playing in Temple Square."

If you go

What: Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, Round 1

Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South

When: today, noon-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.

How much: $15

Phone: 355-2787 or 888-451-2787

Web: www.arttix.org

---

E-mail: rcline@desnews.com