Contest hits chord for youths worldwide

Only the best try out for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.

Sara Vujadinovic, a 17-year-old from Serbia, is one of them.

This year, 250 people auditioned in eight different countries for the competition. And only 30 competitors were accepted for each age group, according to Chase Kimball, a Gina Bachauer board member.

Vujadinovic has competed this week in the youth category, ages 14 to 18.

Vujadinovic likes the intense environment of piano competitions even more than performances.

"You have the stage," Vujadinovic said, "and the jurors are looking at you from above."

She knows it well. This is her third time competing in Gina Bachauer.

"She's the only one who's done that," Kimball said.

Because of a change in scheduling the competitions, the younger competitors now compete every other year. So Vujadinovic was able to make it one more year.

Vujadinovic is staying at Kimball's house, where she has stayed previously. This year, her piano teacher, Ninoslav Zivkovic, came too.

In the two years he has been her teacher, Zivkovic has seen Vujadinovic's competitive side in another activity that requires speed and agility.

"I hold the world record in texting," Vujadinovic said.

That's right, Vujadinovic won a competition in Serbia a few months ago for texting 150 words in 39 seconds. She said other countries held similar competitions — and her time was the fastest.

"If you make one mistake," Vujadinovic said, "you are out."

She enjoys the pressure.

"What's crazy," Zivkovic said, as Vujadinovic demonstrated her texting ability, "is she doesn't practice this at all."

Her fingers flew as she typed on her phone, similar to when she played a song of her favorite composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Her competitive nature started Vujadinovic playing the piano. When she was 6 years old, she would listen to her 15-year-old sister play the piano.

"I was jealous," Vujadinovic said. "Very much. I wanted to play like she did."

Now, she said she plays the piano better than her sister.