Kyle Chauvin never expected to become a prodigy when his parents made him take his first piano lesson seven years ago, when he was 8.

“I got pushed into it, and I didn’t think I’d like it,” he said. “But I liked it from the start.”

Chauvin, a student at Free State High School, still loves playing. He’s one of 40 young pianists, among the top in the world, who are participating in the annual International Institute for Young Musicians music academy this month at Kansas University.

“I play music for music’s sake,” Chauvin said. “They talk about the benefits of discipline and organization, but I do it for the music.”

For the pianists, ages 13 through 19, music is a big chunk of their lives. They generally rehearse with a private instructor — either a college professor or professional performer — once a week for an hour or hour and a half. They practice anywhere from an hour a day to three or four hours when they’re preparing for competitions.

While at the academy — which began Monday and runs through July 25 — students learn from top piano instructors based at the Juilliard School in New York City, Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. They take master classes, studio classes and courses in sight reading, music theory, accompanying, opera and music business.

Popular composers among the group include Bach, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Liszt.

Some of the young pianists want to pursue a career in music; others see piano-playing as a long-term hobby.

Joy Chen, foreground, works her way into the piano's low notes as, in background, instructor Elizabeth Pridonoff guides Hilary Finucane. Chen, of Irvine, Calif., and Finucane, of Columbia, Md., are among top youth pianists at Kansas University for the International Piano Academy. The three practiced Thursday at Murphy Hall.

Joy Chen, 17, is among those who want to pursue music as a career, probably as a college professor. This fall, she’ll attend the University of Southern California, near her hometown of Irvine, Calif.

She said the academy was a way to gauge her music progress compared with her peers.

“Every time we walk past a practice room, we get intimidated,” she said. “I’m motivated to practice more.”

Joe Shippee, 18, of Des Moines, Iowa, said he started playing piano at age 5.

“My mom put me in lessons,” he said. “She was in lessons as a kid and stopped, and she regretted it.”

While many of his friends play in the school band, Shippee is at home, practicing the piano.

“When you play an individual instrument, like a sax or a violin, you’re one of 10 in a band,” he said. “With the piano, you’re your own orchestra.”

Charles Hung of Irvine, Calif., general manager for the KU camp, said the academy let students see what the professional world is like for musicians — all music, without the distractions of high school.

“This provides a saturated environment,” he said. “A lot of the time, people don’t understand how you can practice that hard. When they come here, you realize how you can find the time.”

The academy typically has an international flair. But the 20 international students who were scheduled to come to KU were asked not to come by academy staff because they came from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, all areas infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome.

This is the second year KU has been a site for the academy, and it will continue for the next three years. The academy’s director, Scott McBride Smith, is a 1976 KU graduate.

“It’s wonderful,” said Jack Winerock, KU music professor. “It’s very prestigious for the university.”

¢More about the IIYM program