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Grace Christian Academy junior Hannah Friedman has been playing the piano on and off for six years. On Friday, her years of hard work paid off when she won the state title in literary for piano.

Friedman, the daughter of Dr. Wayne and Tara Friedman, said her parents are huge supporters of the fine arts and both artistic themselves.

“My dad plays the piano and is amazing, so I decided to try it out and I never thought I would love it as much as I did,” Friedman said. “It’s honestly just an escape.”

While playing the piano was a hobby at first, Friedman became seriously interested in it approximately four years ago, when she started taking lessons from Vickie Cox.

During her time playing for Cox, Friedman joined the Literary Team at GCA, where she went on to win Region earlier this year.

“I wasn’t expecting to place 1st when I won at Region,” Freidman said. “I was so thankful and so surprised.”

Friedman then turned her attention to State.

Cox assigned her two pieces to play: a Baroque piece and a romantic piece.

Both pieces proved to be challenging, as Baroque music is a style of Western classical music, dating back to the 1600’s.

“I practiced every day for four-five months,” Freidman said. “They were very challenging pieces and I didn’t want to mess up.”

Upon perfecting her pieces, Friedman went to compete against seven other students in Macon, where she won.

Friedman said the students ranged in grade year, and while some may have been more experienced, Friedman came out victorious, winning a medal.

“I’m just so thankful for my teacher and everything she has taught me,” Friedman said of her win.

With a region and state title now under her belt, Friedman has begun to seriously consider a future in music.

“I’m thinking about majoring in piano or music, but I’m undecided on where I’m going to school,” she said.

Friedman hopes her win and future aspirations to play piano will encourage others to take up the instrument, saying there is no better way to get started in music than playing the piano.