Hampton Bays 12-Year-Old Pianist Katerina Reich To Play At Carnegie Hall

Katerina Reich—who will perform at Carnegie Hall for the second time this weekend—was only 3 years old when she played her first song on the piano.She was fascinated by the keyboard that her father, Robert Reich, kept on a coffee table at their Forest Hills house, so he started to teach her some simple tunes. Although Katerina was only a toddler, she was determined to perfect her craft. On most days, Mr. Reich said, Katerina would get up at 5 a.m. to start playing and wouldn’t stop until she nailed the song she was learning that day.

Her devotion to the keyboard prompted Mr. Reich and his wife, Rosemary, to sign Katerina up for piano lessons. There was just one problem: Katerina’s age.

At 3 years old, Katerina was too hyper to sit for a piano lesson—despite her eagerness to learn. Her parents were persistent and eventually found a piano teacher who would hold Katerina’s legs down so she wouldn’t move from the piano bench.

Today, at 12 years old, Katerina is grateful for that strict teacher who never gave up on her. As a result of that experience, Katerina prefers to have a rigorous teacher who will fix any mistake, no matter how minor, so she continues to grow.

Her current teacher at East End Arts in Riverhead, Tatiana Balepina, has a similar teaching style. Ms. Balepina became Katerina’s teacher in 2010, shortly after the Reiches moved to Hampton Bays. Katerina said she likes her teacher because she pushes her to be her best at every lesson. “She kind of drills it in to me,” Katerina said. “And I think that’s what makes me prosper. ... She’s strict so if I mess up she makes me play it again and that’s how I remember how to play.”

“I wouldn’t even say ‘strict,’” added Ms. Reich. “[Ms. Balepina] takes it seriously and she takes her job seriously.”

Katerina also credits Ms. Balepina for helping her win several awards for playing the piano, including the grand prix at the International Concert Festival Competition and the gold at the 2016 National Young Musicians Showcase Competition last month. She also recently won the Ranny Reeve Memorial Scholarship Award, which covers about a year and a half of piano lessons at East End Arts.

The late Ranny Reeve was a longtime teacher at East End Arts. He was a renowned jazz pianist and an inspirational music educator. The scholarship award in his name was created for East End Arts students in December 2015.

“He was caring,” Katerina said of Mr. Reeve. “He would care about everyone and he would teach them everything they could be [taught] in his own special way. They chose me because they thought I could be the best representation of him.”

Katerina and her parents are particularly excited that she will play at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall for the second time this Sunday, April 24, at 5:30 p.m. “We’re very proud,” Ms. Reich said.

Katerina will perform Russian composer Iosif Genishta’s “Sonata F Minor,” which she has been practicing since September. Katerina is excited to play the piano sonata at the hall, which seats more than 250 people, in the 2016 National Young Musicians Showcase Competition winners recital.

“It’s kind of very dramatic,” Katerina said, noting that this sonata is her favorite piece. “There’s a lot of dynamics, so it’s not like the same thing over and over again. Then there’s a first section that’s kind of more upbeat ... Both sections are in minor but I would say the second section [has] a darker feeling to it. ... I like the second part better because it’s getting to the end and then it’s so soft. The softest it could be.”

Her favorite pieces to play usually have varying beats because they tell a story, she explained. Whenever she hears a piece she likes—often playing in the background of a cartoon—she searches for the sheet music online so she can teach it to herself on her baby grand piano. Sometimes, she will learn the lyrics to songs and sing while she plays.

Katerina’s parents surprised her with the baby grand about five years ago. “I kind of just walked in and I started freaking out,” Katerina recalled.

“I was just starting with Tatiana, so she gave me all of these songs and I would be so excited because I got to play on it for the first time.”

When Katerina isn’t practicing on her own piano, she can usually be found playing or singing with one of the many musical groups at Hampton Bays Middle School, including jazz band, harmonizers, concert band, honors band and chorus.

She plays the xylophone and drums in the concert and honors bands. In the jazz band, she plays the piano, keyboard and vibraphone—a xylophone with a pedal. She said it was easy to pick up the xylophone because the keys are similar to those on the piano.

“Everyone’s like, ‘How do you know what to do?’” Katerina said of her classmates. “The [xylophone] keys are metal ... And they’re like the same set-up as a piano. But it’s just sticks, basically. So that was easier.

“Some of the kids, they’ve never done anything like that before, so I had to teach them but they’re in the same grade as me,” she added.