WILLIAMSBURG — Senah Drazdowski, a rising junior at Jamestown High School, recently received the Paderewski Gold Medal from the American College of Musicians, National Piano Guild for 10 years of successful auditions.
The auditions require the memorization and performance of 10 pieces of music each year, and receiving a score that meets or exceeds superior ratings at the Guild auditions. The memorized music is age group appropriate, and the remainder are scales, chords, sight reading, ear training or arpeggios.
Drazdowski’s involvement with the piano is a family tradition spanning multiple generations. Her grandmother and aunt played, then her mother and uncles, as well. Drazdowski started when she was just six years old with the same family teacher in Pennsylvania until they moved to Virginia seven years ago.
In Virginia, her teacher is Cathy Combs. Combs wasn’t accepting students when Drazdowski moved to the area, but took her on anyway, and she and her family are grateful for her teaching and mentorship.
“It’s a big accomplishment because multiple people in my family have been playing piano, and none of them have gotten this far, so it’s an honor to be the first in my family to have gotten this,” said Drazdowski about what it means to have received the award.
