Hannah Sto. Niño
Photo by: Beau Ledesma ©️ 2024 Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra
Hannah Sto. Niño’s piano studies began at the age of five in her hometown in South Texas, where she took lessons with a private teacher. Her earliest performances were at her home church. Since then, with the encouragement of her parents, she continued to pursue music endeavors, joining choral, strings, wind, and even handbell ensembles all throughout her academic years, from preschool all the way through college.
Her first brush with Guam’s music community at large was during the 2022 production of Miss Saigon, a musical for which she played keyboard. It was through this production that she met Max Ronquillo, music director of the Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra, an ensemble which she joined shortly after Miss Saigon’s production run ended. She has played with them ever since and has been a part of other major projects as well, such as the Guam Symphony’s Young Artist Competition and Guam’s 2023 production of Beauty and the Beast. Her work as a collaborative pianist has led to several of her students earning awards in Guam’s Young Artist Competition (2023, 2024) and the Tumon Bay Music Festival (2024). Additionally, she won Gold and Command Performance during TBMF 2024 for her piano solo.
Hannah’s love for music, especially as part of an ensemble, has brought her to many parts of the globe, including to countries such as Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, and in July, to Austria, with some of the musicians who will be performing with her this evening. Today, however, she is blessed to have found a home here in Guam, where she is surrounded by loving family and friends who have helped her to grow in many aspects of her life - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and of course, musically. She is delighted to have the opportunity to share this evening of music with her friends, and with all of you.
Prelude Etude, Op. 40 No. 1 - Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020)
Nikolai Kapustin was a pianist during the 1950s and 1960s who described himself as “a classical composer who happens to work in a jazz idiom.” His Prelude Etude pushes the boundaries of traditional classical piano harmony and rhythm and exudes a lot of the playful yet daring nature characteristic of much of his work.
Performer notes: This piece was the first of its kind I have ever done. It has challenged my sense of rhythm, hand independence, chord voicing abilities, and dexterity. However, despite all of these things (or, perhaps, because of them) I had a really fun time learning this piece - one which took me almost two whole years to learn and memorize. As a piece which I first performed on my birthday last year to a room of the musicians from the Beauty and the Beast production, it holds a very special place in my heart. Enjoy!
How Great is Our God - Chris Tomlin, arr. Hannah Sto. Niño
Arranger notes: As the vision for this recital slowly came into focus, I realized I wanted to include an important opportunity for everyone in the room to “be a part of the Conversation.” Having grown up in the church, praise music and the God for whom we sing and play have always inspired me and fueled my love for music. In the past, I’ve made several hymn and praise song arrangements for beginner to intermediate musicians, so arranging this version of How Great is Our God for my fellow TBYO members was a fun challenge to undertake! To all listening and singing along, may you be blessed, and may God be glorified!
Photo by: Beau Ledesma ©️ 2024 Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra
Hannah Sto. Niño’s piano studies began at the age of five in her hometown in South Texas, where she took lessons with a private teacher. Her earliest performances were at her home church. Since then, with the encouragement of her parents, she continued to pursue music endeavors, joining choral, strings, wind, and even handbell ensembles all throughout her academic years, from preschool all the way through college.
Her first brush with Guam’s music community at large was during the 2022 production of Miss Saigon, a musical for which she played keyboard. It was through this production that she met Max Ronquillo, music director of the Tumon Bay Youth Orchestra, an ensemble which she joined shortly after Miss Saigon’s production run ended. She has played with them ever since and has been a part of other major projects as well, such as the Guam Symphony’s Young Artist Competition and Guam’s 2023 production of Beauty and the Beast. Her work as a collaborative pianist has led to several of her students earning awards in Guam’s Young Artist Competition (2023, 2024) and the Tumon Bay Music Festival (2024). Additionally, she won Gold and Command Performance during TBMF 2024 for her piano solo.
Hannah’s love for music, especially as part of an ensemble, has brought her to many parts of the globe, including to countries such as Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, and in July, to Austria, with some of the musicians who will be performing with her this evening. Today, however, she is blessed to have found a home here in Guam, where she is surrounded by loving family and friends who have helped her to grow in many aspects of her life - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and of course, musically. She is delighted to have the opportunity to share this evening of music with her friends, and with all of you.
Prelude Etude, Op. 40 No. 1 - Nikolai Kapustin (1937-2020)
Nikolai Kapustin was a pianist during the 1950s and 1960s who described himself as “a classical composer who happens to work in a jazz idiom.” His Prelude Etude pushes the boundaries of traditional classical piano harmony and rhythm and exudes a lot of the playful yet daring nature characteristic of much of his work.
Performer notes: This piece was the first of its kind I have ever done. It has challenged my sense of rhythm, hand independence, chord voicing abilities, and dexterity. However, despite all of these things (or, perhaps, because of them) I had a really fun time learning this piece - one which took me almost two whole years to learn and memorize. As a piece which I first performed on my birthday last year to a room of the musicians from the Beauty and the Beast production, it holds a very special place in my heart. Enjoy!
How Great is Our God - Chris Tomlin, arr. Hannah Sto. Niño
Arranger notes: As the vision for this recital slowly came into focus, I realized I wanted to include an important opportunity for everyone in the room to “be a part of the Conversation.” Having grown up in the church, praise music and the God for whom we sing and play have always inspired me and fueled my love for music. In the past, I’ve made several hymn and praise song arrangements for beginner to intermediate musicians, so arranging this version of How Great is Our God for my fellow TBYO members was a fun challenge to undertake! To all listening and singing along, may you be blessed, and may God be glorified!