Irene Longacre-Whiteside

Irene Longacre-Whiteside, USA (Executive Assistant, DFW International Airport)
Concerto: Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (III. Presto)

Irene was born in Calgary, Alberta, where she started playing piano at age 4. In her formative years, Irene studied piano formally at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, the University of Calgary, and the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In 1999 she retired from teaching and moved to the United States where she worked as a political lobbyist in California for 10 years, and then moved to Texas. After a 17-year absence from piano, Irene rekindled her love of playing, and was chosen as one of the 39 competitors for the Cliburn International Amateur Competition in October 2022. Recently, Irene has won First place in 2 international piano competitions in both Milan Italy and Washington DC. She was also awarded special prizes for her Mozart Sonata from both the Washington International Piano Artists Competition (WIPAC) and the San Diego International competition. She was awarded Honorary Mention at the Chopin International Amateur competition in Warsaw Poland, and also the San Diego International piano competition. In 2022, she performed the Saint Saens 2nd piano Concerto with the PianoLink Orchestra in Milan Italy where she was awarded the Audience Award. Irene currently works as an Executive Assistant at DFW International Airport.