SIFFERMAN PLACES SECOND IN NATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION

An assistant professor of music at Southeast Missouri State University placed second in the Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition at Memphis State University in Memphis May 11-12.

The professor, James Sifferman, competed against approximately 45 pianists from across the nation. Jacob Smullyan of Newark, N.J., was the first-place winner.

Sifferman played Beethoven's Piano Sanata in C Minor, Opus 111, in the competition.

The competition is sponsored by the Beethoven Club of Memphis, which promotes music and the arts. It was the fourth annual competition held by the club.

Sifferman has been a member of the Southeast faculty since 1987. He conducts workshops, master classes and performs recitals. He performed a solo recital in Carnegie Hall in New York in 1988.

He plans a concert tour of China, Japan and Korea this year.