January 23, 2012

Congratulations to Young Artists!


The Young Artist Competition last Saturday was very successful.  Audience members, staff, and judges alike were privileged listen to the music made by seventeen young artists. There were seven competitors in the Junior Division and ten competitors in the Senior Division.


Junior Division

Rob Lorch, French Horn
     Accompanist: Liz Seidel
     Horn Concerto No. 3 in E Flat Major K. 447, Wolfgang Mozart
            1st  movement

Edward Shou, piano
     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel
 Concerto in G minor, Op. 25, F. Mendelssohn
          Molto allegro con fuoco

Rowan Squire-Willey, Piano
     Accompanist: Olga Lukantsov
     Concerto in D Major,  Haydn - Hob XVIII #11
            1st  movement

Zhixi (Jessy) Tang, Flute
     Accompanist:
     Andante in C Major, Mozart

Christina Yang, Piano
     Accompanist: Jami Scott
     Concerto in F minor, S. 1056, J. S. Bach

Phillip  Shou, piano
     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel
     Concerto No. 23, A major, K488, Mozart
           Presto

Lydia Rhea, cello
     Accompanist: Matthew Rhea
 Concerto No. 1 in A minor Op. 33, C. Saint-Saens
          Allegro

The Ladonna Dingledine Junior Divison was won by Rowan Squire-Willey, piano. She performed the 1st movement of Concerto in D Major,  by Haydn - Hob XVIII #11.  The level of musicianship was very high this year.  Three Junior Division competitors’ outstanding performances were acknowledged during the awards ceremony.  


Senior Divison

Adrian Kothman, flute
     Accompanist: Philip Blane
       Poem for Flute and Orchestra, Charles Griffes

Cameron Keenan, bassoon
     Accompanist: Adrea Hughes
     Concerto in F Major Op. 75, Carl Maria von Weber
           1st movement  

Ari Brown, Piano
     Accompanist: Haruka Ostojic
     Piano Concerto No. 1 in C maj. Op. 15, Beethoven
          1st  movement

Clara Abel, Cello
     Accompanist: Kathleen Strutz
     Concerto in D Minor, Edouard Lalo
          Lento Allegro maestoso

Isabella Hu, Piano
     Accompanist:  Haruka Ostojic
      Concerto no. 1 in E minor op. 11, Frederic Chopin
           1st movement

Carolyn Ronning, Cello
     Accompanist: Anna Briscoe
     Concerto in D minor, op. 33, Lalo
          1st  movement

Jiayi (Joey) Wu, piano
     Accompanist: Haruka Ostojic
     Concerto No. III in C minor Op. 37, Beethoven
           1st movement

Oliver Shou, piano
     Accompanist: Sophia Kim Tetel
     Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin

Austin Huntington, cello
     Accompanist: Daniel Schlosberg
     Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, op. 125, Sergei Prokofiev
           Andante con moto

Benjamin Abel, violin
     Accompanist: Kathleen Strutz
     Concerto in e minor, op. 64, Mendelssohn
          3rd  movement


Austin Huntington, cello, won The Steve Dingledine Senior Division with his extrordinary performance of the Andante con moto of Sinfonia Concertante in E minor, op. 125 by Sergei Prokofiev.  Austin's bio is below. 



Prism Video recorded all the performances and soon will deliver DVDs of each competitor’s performance for the Muncie Symphony to send to each individual.  The public performance of each winner is not yet scheduled. I will make every effort to post  the dates and times.  I have no doubt you will be pleased to hear both talented young musicians!

AUSTIN HUNTINGTON, student of Richard Hirschl, made his solo orchestral debut at age 10 and has performed as guest soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and LaPorte Symphony to name a few. Austin recently made his Orchestra Hall debut with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra performing the Sinfonia Concertante by Prokofiev. He will make his solo debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony, the Northwest Symphony (Chicago), and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra this season. He has performed in Italy, France, Germany, throughout the United States, and celebrated his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 2009. He has been awarded numerous Grand and First Prize awards on the National and International level. Austin has been selected to compete in the 2012 Johansen International String Competition, to be held this March in Washington, D.C.

Austin was awarded the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition Burdick-Thorne Gold Medal, and Bach Award for the best performance of a Bach solo work. He was declared the 2009 National First Place Winner of the Music Teachers National Association Solo String Performance Competition held in Atlanta, Georgia. Austin was selected as one of six cellists representing the United States invited to compete in the 2009 Rostropovich International Cello Competition held in Paris, France. Austin has performed in Masterclass for numerous master clinicians, and has collaborated with such highly esteemed concert artists as Misha Amory, James Dunham, and Itzhak Perlman.

Austin has appeared on NPR's From the Top on their 2011-2012 National Tour taped live at the Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey, on stage for a large audience, and was broadcast nationally November 2011. He is the Principal Cellist of the award-winning Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and Encore, CYSO's premiere performing ensemble. During the summer Austin studies cello at the prestigious Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island, New York, and during the winter at the Perlman Music Program winter residency in Sarasota, Florida. He plays a cello made by Francesco Ruggeri of Cremona, ca. 1690, and a fine cello bow made by Eugene Sartory, ca. 1930. Austin is seventeen years old and a senior with High Honors at Saint Joseph's High School in South Bend, Indiana. 


The event was made possible by the generous contributions of 

    Prism Video
   701 W. McGalliard Rd. 
 Muncie, IN



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