As the tempo speeds up, the pianist nods her head while her fingers rapidly press each key with grace and passion.

Beatrice Rana, a 22-year-old Italian virtuoso performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Marsee Auditorium at El Camino.

Rana began her piano studies at the age of four and made her orchestral debut at the age of nine. In 2013, Rana won the Silver Medal and the Audience Award at the prestigious 14th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The performance began with a five-minute Aria with diverse variations that sounded soft, gentle, and elegant and would occasionally increase in tempo. The auditorium was silent beside the sounds coming from her fingertips as she played the piano keys.

Rana chose to play J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations because it fits her personality very well and makes her feel at home. She enjoys playing on a Steinway Grand Piano and practices every day for four hours.

“(I wanted to convey) sincerity of my feelings and emotions to the public,” Rana said. “I hope I told something very authentic from the very bottom of my heart.”

Some of EC students like Leonard Bradley, 19, economics major enjoyed the concert and attended the event to write a music report for professor Dane Teter, who also is the director of EC Symphony Orchestra.

“Overall, it was pleasant to the ear and had major tones,” Leonard said. “It had a happy, moderate pace… it was cool, I liked it.”

On the other hand, Angela Cheng, a 29-year-old student from California State University Los Angeles said that she has been taking piano lessons for the past two months from her Private Instructor Carlos Gardels,

“I liked the program very much, in today’s competition not every pianist is choosing (to perform) classical music,” Cheng said. “It was flawless, really great – I enjoyed it.”

Rana played elaborate pieces with incredibly fast tempos that she was able to carry out with such ease and passion.