|
|
Details about the 2013 Competition will be announced in this space in August 2012.
 Adam Jackson winner of the 2004 Entergy Young Texas Artists Competition, is currently studying with David Korevaar, Chair of the keyboard department at CU-Boulder. Recently he was a finalist in CU's Ekstrand Solo Competition, won CU’s Honor’s Concerto competition, and performed Totentanz with the CU symphony orchestra. Adam has also won prizes in competitions sponsored by Music Teachers National Association, Hellam National Piano Competition, TMTA Student Affiliate, Texas Christian University Concerto Competition, Baylor University, Dallas Music Teachers, Ft. Worth Music Teachers, and Mountainview College. He has performed in master classes given by Jerome Lowenthal, Jose Feghali, Nelita True, Miyoko Lotto, Russell Sherman, Aviram Reichert, as well as others. Among the many music festivals Adam has attended are The Music Academy of the West, and the Piano Texas Festival, formerly known as the Van Cliburn Piano Institute. He has appeared as soloist with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra, TCU Symphony Orchestra, and Conroe Symphony Orchestras. Mr. Jackson currently holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Texas Christian University, where he studied with John Owings. |
 6th Prize - DoHaeng Jung , a native Korean pianist, received her Bachelor of Music from the Seoul National University (graduate with honors) and Master of Music from CCM. She won many prizes in various competitions in Korea. Also, she had many recitals as well as chamber concerts in Korea. In 2005, she came to the United States to continue her studying and she is pursuing doctoral degree in Piano Performance at College -Conservatory of Music (CCM), University of Cincinnati, where she has been serving a Graduate Assistant. She was unanimously chosen as the winner in CCM Concerto Competition twice. She performed as a soloist with CCM Concert Orchestra as well as CCM Philharmonic Orchestra and was favorably commented upon. Also, in 2007, she won the third prize in Musica Aeterna International Piano Competition in Belgium and had the winner’s concert. Besides her solo performance, she has been active as a chamber player including winning the second prize in Chamber Music Competition in CCM. She has been participating in Master Class of many renowned pianists including John O’Conner, Andre Watts. She is studying with Prof. Eugene Pridonoff and Elizabeth Pridonoff in CCM. |
 1st Prize A native of Korea, Kyung-Ah Kim has won numerous competition awards including the Leos Janacek International Competition, the Sorantin International Competition, St. Charles International Competition, the Sanremo International Competition, and the Korean Times National Competition. Since her debut at age 11 with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Kim has been a featured soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romance Philharmonic Orchestra, the BU Symphony Orchestra, and the NEC Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2010, she was appeared as a soloist with maestro, John Williams with Boston Pops Orchestra in Boston Symphony Hall. Her international career includes performances in prestigious concert venues such as Petit Palau Concert Hall (Barcelona), Auditorium Gilles de la Rocque (Courchevel, Paris), Theater De Vest, Kunstenaarscentrum (Netherlands), Claudio Monteverdi Hall (Bolzano, Italy), Théâtre de Vevey (Switzerland), and Besedni Dum Concert Hall (Czech Republic). This season, she has concert engagements in Boston Tanglewood, Chicago, Washington, DC, Florida, Korea, and Prague, Czech Republic.Suburban Chicago News referred to her as "a part of the wave of new pianists with an ability to act the part of a star.” The recipient of the BM and MM degrees and Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman, Ms. Kim was awarded the Sugarman Scholarship and the John. F. & Robert W. Cartwright Endowed Scholarship. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Boston University College of Fine Arts’ School of Music, studying with Boaz Sharon.
|
 Born in North Carolina, Jonathan Levin made his debut with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra when he was fifteen years old. Subsequent engagements included performances with the Durham Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony and a returning guest performance with the Raleigh Symphony as well as appearances at the NC Governor’s Mansion and the NC Museum of Art. In addition Jonathan has been awarded top prizes on the regional and national levels including the Eastern Music Festival Scholarship and the National Stillman-Kelly Prize. He attended Manhattan School of Music in New York City and holds a Masters Degree from Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music where he was chosen to perform in the 2nd Annual Presidents Concert, hosted by Sopranos star Steve Schirripa which was televised throughout NYC. An individual of broad musical interests, Jonathan was a member of an a Capella ensemble devoted mostly to early music called Parallel Motion acting both as a vocalist and accompanist from 2004 to 2006. Jonathan has also worked with Paul Sperry as a vocal accompanist and coach and has been on the faculty of Remarkable Theater Brigade’s Summer Young Artists Program for vocalists. In the summer of 2010 he was the Musical director of Natchez Festival of Music's Educational Outreach Program. Other recent collaborative engagements have included appearances on the Vox Novus/RTB Composers Voice Concert Series at Jan Hus Church and a chamber music concert at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan. Recent solo performances have included recitals in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida, appearances at Steinway Hall, Brooklyn Public Library, the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland and the Kosciusko Foundation in Manhattan. Jonathan regularly presents lecture concerts as an alternative to the standard recital format, in order to garner a closer connection with audiences. He is part of an ongoing series of lecture concerts in collaboration with fellow pianists Matthew Harrison and Vlada Yaneva at the Polish American Heritage Museum in Port Washington, NY presenting several concerts each season. |
 Miroslava Mintcheva has appeared in numerous recitals in major cities throughout the U.S. (New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver) and abroad, including performances in Italy (Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival), Bulgaria (International Music Festival "Hopes, Masters, Talents”), the Czech Republic (Prague International Piano Masterclasses), and Canada (The Banff Center). In 2009 Mira Mintcheva was selected as the winner of the 12th Simone Belsky National Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut and also gave her New York debut at Merkin Concert Hall in the Kaufmann Center, as the second prizewinner of the 2009 American Protégé International Piano Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2009 International Web Concert Hall Music Competition and received an Honorable Mention at the 2007 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in New York. Mira Mintcheva was recently awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A highly dedicated teacher, she has taught classes at the University of Colorado-Boulder and Colorado State University. She was the recipient of the prestigious 2011 StAR Studio Teacher Fellowship Award, which is granted in recognition of excellence in teaching by the Music Teachers National Association.In addition, Dr. Mintcheva has presented research and lecture-recitals at the national College Music Society conference in 2008, as well as regional CMS and MTNA conventions in 2008 and 2009. She currently serves on the music faculty at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she teaches piano and music history. |
 Born in Japan, Masafumi Nakatani received his music degree from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and has a B.M. and M.M from the Indiana University. After winning many national piano competitions in Japan, he was selected as a finalist from the 22nd international piano competition “Citta di Marsala” (Italy) and received the First Prize from the 8th “Albert Roussel” Sofia International Piano Competition (Bulgaria). He frequently appeared as a soloist in Japan and has performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 with the Osaka Century Orchestra and Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber pianist, he was trained under cellist Janos Starker and violinist Alexander Kerr at Indiana University. As result, he was recommended to perform a concert with the distinguished cellist Marc Coppey, professor of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He has participated in numerous masterclasses including in the Hamamatsu Piano Academy in Japan, in the international piano master classes of Obidos and San Daniele international piano conference (Italy) where he also received Chopin prize for his final concert. His teachers include Yu Kakuno, Shinzi Ohno, Konstantin Ganev and Shigeo Neriki. He received a full scholarship for the doctoral program at the University of Miami where he will study piano with Prof. Santiango Rodrigues.
|
 2nd Prize - Igor Pancevski A native of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, Igor Pancevski started playing the piano when he was 8 years old. Early in his studies, he was admitted to the special piano program for talented young pianists at the National Music School of Macedonia. He pursued further education at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan with Stephen Perry and Yoshikazu Nagai, and received his Bachelor's Degree from Oberlin College where he studied with Angela Cheng. In addition to being a recipient of the Fresno Musical Club's Susan Torres Award for Pianists and the Sturm-Page Piano Scholarship, Igor has also won several prizes at national and international competitions including a 2nd prize at the Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition and a 3rd prizes at the Carmel Music Society Piano Competition. Igor is currently pursuing his Master's Degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he is studying with Yoshikazu Nagai. |
|  Miki Sawada, from Japan, is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music with Natalya Antonova. She received her Bachelor of Music with departmental honors at Northwestern University under the tutelage of James Giles. Highlights of the 2010-2011 season include a 10-week residency at the Banff Centre in Canada and participations in the Aurora Chamber Music Festival in Sweden and Pianofest in the Hamptons. Recent awards include first prizes at Concours International de Piano du Moulin d'Andé in France, Northwestern University's Thaviu-Isaak Endowed Piano Scholarship Competition, and Northwestern University's Concerto Competition. Her performance in 2010 of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto with Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Victor Yampolsky was broadcast nationally on cable television as well as on Chicago's WFMT radio station. Master class experiences include those with Lang Lang, Richard Goode, Stephen Hough, Menahem Pressler, the Juilliard String Quartet, and André Laplante.
|
 Winner of six of the nine international competitions he has entered, the Russian-born pianist Yury Shadrin has captured the attention of the piano world in a most significant way and has already established his reputation as a virtuoso on four continents. He has captured competitive wins in Maracaibo, San Angelo, Baltimore, Rome, Novosibirsk and won a high finish in Warsaw at the most prestigious Chopin International. Mr. Shadrin has appeared as a soloist with symphony orchestras from Viet Nam to Venezuela and Argentina and from Siberia to the United States and more. He has firmly established his recital credentials as well with performances in Europe, South America and North America. The young artist’s studies with world-renowned mentors such as Eliso Virsaladze and American master Leon Fleisher among others have taken him to conservatories in Moscow and the US at Oberlin, Yale and Peabody. Among his high honors as a performer are having been selected to perform in the 25th anniversary concerts of the Caracas Symphony Orchestra, with Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, as a soloist with the Opera Orchestra in his native Perm at the age of nine and in New York at Carnegie Hall where the New York Sun called his performance, ”mature beyond his years.” This year will see him perform with the Baltimore and Miami symphony orchestras and as a recitalist for the prestigious Shriver Hall Discovery series at the Johns Hopkins University.
|
 3rd Prize - Award winning concert pianist, Julia Siciliano has been heralded as a musician with “fabulous creative power”. Ms. Siciliano has become a well-respected and anticipated rising talent on the world stage, being invited as a solo artist most recently with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. A winner of many local and international piano competitions, Julia has won prizes at the Heida Hermanns International Competition, Iowa International Competition, Eastman Concerto Competition, and University of Michigan Concerto Competition. Most recently, Ms. Siciliano was awarded the Second Prize in the young artists division at the 2010 National MTNA Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Active as a chamber musician, Julia has been invited to perform with ensembles in the 2009 Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition, and won prizes in the International Altenberg Piano Trio Competition. She most recently performed trios on Chicago classical radio station, WFMT, with violinist Yuan-Qing Yu, associate concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Barbara Haffer, assistant principal cello of the Chicago Lyric Opera. Ms. Siciliano is a recent Graduate of the Master’s degree program at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Logan Skelton. Her previous teachers include Pavlina Dokovska, from the Mannes School of Music, and Nelita True, from the Eastman School of Music, where she received her Bachelor’s degree. Other teachers and coaches include: Lori Sims, Arie Vardi, and Antonio Pompa-Bald
|
 4th Prize - Liliya Ugay received her diploma from the Uspensky’s Republican Special Music School in Uzbekistan in 2009, where she majored in both piano (with G. Ardashirova) and composition. As a student, she received prizes in several piano competitions within her school and in Russia; in 2008 she was awarded second prize at "Ostracized music" International piano competition in Germany (Schwerin) after which as a prizewinner she performed on a concert tour through Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. As a composer she has received awards in six international competitions held in Russia, Ukraine, Italy and Switzerland. She has participated in many international projects, such as the 52 Venice Biennale and International Festival for New Music in Darmstadt as both pianist and composer. She played with Omnibus ensemble of contemporary music in Uzbekistan, who also performed her works consistently during the past four years. She was nominated and awarded for prizes/awards for her music for the theater. One of her piano pieces was published by Italian music edition “Edizioni Musicali Wicky” (Milan). Ms. Ugay also appeared in duo with her sister-vocalist Yuliya in international jazz festivals in Central Asia. In 2010 Liliya won the prestigious Woodruff award – a full scholarship plus a significant stipend at Columbus State University (Georgia, USA) for studying piano performance. Ms. Ugay is currently getting her Bachelor degree; she is a freshman piano performance major in the studio of Alexander Kobrin,gold medalist of 12th Van Cliburn competition. During her studying Liliya often appears as a solo and chamber music pianist at the different concerts/recitals in the River Center of Performing Arts (at Studio Theater, Legacy Hall and 1200-sits Bill Heard Theater) in Columbus, GA. She also played for local TV stations: WTVM (ABC) and NBC news. In 2010-2011 Liliya Ugay won the national of MTNA Young Artist composition competition. In the most recent she has won the first prize at Zelpha Wells Piano Competition for Collegiate Artists in Alabama.
|
 5th Prize - An undergraduate student of Peter Takács of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Gregory Wang is a laureate of numerous competitions, including the Southeastern Piano Festival’s Arthur Fraser Concerto Competition (resulting in performances with the South Carolina Philharmonic) and the Music Teachers National Association Senior Piano Competition. In addition, Wang was chosen in 2010 to represent Oberlin in its Chopin Celebration, performing the Second Piano Concerto. He has taken lessons with Jerome Lowenthal, Valery Kuleshov, Robert McDonald, Julian Martin, Nelita True, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Douglas Humphreys, Stanislav Ioudenitch, and others. Prior to Oberlin he studied with the current MTNA President, Dr. Benjamin Caton.
|
FOUR AWARDS WILL BE PRESENTED:
1st Prize - Susie DeShazo Award $2000 and Solo Recital on the Beethoven Club upcoming Avanti Concert Series
2nd Prize - Mildred Lynn Award $1500
3rd Prize - Patti Vernor Award $1000
4th Prize - Esta Kirkley Award $500
5th Prize - Verne Tomlinson Award $200
6th Prize - Ethel Maxwell Award $150
|
