La Sierra piano student lands Coachella Valley Symphony performance

The 20-year-old La Sierra University piano performance major had spent months practicing one of classical music’s best-known and longest concertos in preparation for the competition Nov. 8 in Palm Desert. The hard work paid off. His performance of the first movement of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23” won him first place. As part of his prize, he will perform the movement on Feb. 2 with the Coachella Valley Symphony.

“For me, and probably for almost every musician, it is absolutely nerve-wracking waiting for the results of a competition, no matter how big or small the competition is. The three of us from La Sierra University kept constantly checking our emails and asking each other if the results were posted yet,” Mamora said. Two fellow La Sierra music students also competed in the Steinway event but did not place.

Mamora began studying piano at age 4 and has performed in competitions throughout his life. He began entering higher-profile events while in junior high school after joining the studio of La Sierra’s music department Chair Elvin Rodriguez, music professor and piano teacher.

Mamora’s latest award caps a slate of top wins over the past couple of years including first prize for the Music Teacher’s Association of California Concerto Competition in July 2015, and the $3,000 Marcia Specht Guy Memorial Prize for La Sierra University’s annual concerto competition in April 2014. For those events he performed another notoriously difficult work, the “Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Other wins include second prize at the IIYM International Piano Competition, Platinum Prize in the Glendale Piano Competition, and first prize in the Redlands Bowl Young Artists Piano Competition. He has also been a prizewinner in the International Russian Music Piano Competition, the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, and the Bronislaw Kaper Awards Competition.

Like most classical musicians, Mamora counts among his musical influences the great musicians and composers of the past. However he cites Rodriguez as the chief influence in his present career. “Working with him has been an extreme honor. He has continued to push me in exploring different ways to interpret and effectively express music, and I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher,” Mamora said.

For Mamora, competition is not just an opportunity to receive public commendation for his effort and skill. “Competitions offer me the chance to give justice to the music and the composer,” Mamora said. “When one spends hours upon hours studying and analyzing the music and even the life of the composer, they begin to develop a greater appreciation for the work of art that was composed, and to be able to play it at the highest level, such as competitions, is a great honor.”

Additionally, as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, competing provides Mamora a venue in which to share his faith and serve his God. “When we recognize the significance of music and the ability to communicate with it, we realize the power and potential to use it for the glory of the Lord,” he said. “So when I enter these competitions, it is also an avenue for me to share the talents that God has given me and to bring people closer to Christ through music.”