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The Jefferson Symphony proudly announces the winners of its
2008 Young Artists Competition, which took place on January 12 at The King
Center, Auraria Campus, Denver. Twelve instrumental (non-piano) finalists, who
had been chosen in October based on their submitted recordings, competed live
that day before three professional musicians who served as judges. The top three
winners performed in a public recital that evening.
First-place winner is 20-year-old Kyung-Jun Kim (see photos below), a
second-year student at the Yale University School of Music (New Haven, CT), who
played Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in g minor. Born in
Korea, he attended the Juilliard Pre-college from 2002-2006 as a
full-scholarship student. His major awards and honors date from 1995 and include
first prize in the Korean Music Journal Competition, The Promising Young
Musician Award, winning the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra Young Soloists’
Audition (2001), the New Jersey Symphony Young Artists Audition Judith Nachion
Award (2004), the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award (2006), the Salon de
Virtuosi Grant (2006), and the Samsung Foundation of Culture and The Stradivari
Society recipient (2006).
First-place winner Kyung-Jun Kim
Note: Click on Kyung-Jun Kim's name to see his
biography.
Kim, who has studied with Hyo Kang since 2002, has
performed as soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Jersey
Symphony Orchestra, the Great Mountains Music Festival Chamber Orchestra, and
the Wonju (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as giving solo recitals,
chamber music performances, and orchestra ensemble performances in the Lincoln
Center’s Paul Hall, Morse Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Peter Jay Sharp Theater,
Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Time Warner Building,
Steinway Hall, the Florence Gould Hall and Zankel Hall, and in Canada. He
performed on NPR’s “From the Top” in 2006 and will appear on Robert
Sherman’s WQXR Young Artist Showcase.
Of the first-place winner, violist and judge Jeanne Chin said, “Mr. Kyung-Jun
Kim gave a commanding performance of the Prokofiev Violin Concerto in g minor.
From the opening statement to the very last note, Mr. Kim was poised, graceful,
lyrical and engaging. He has impeccable technique and a beautiful bow arm. His
musicality and sweet tone was refreshing. It was a joy for me to listen to this
fine young musician.”
Second place winner is flutist Aaron Perdue, 21, a junior in Music
Performance at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA). Born in Lamar,
Colorado, he graduated from Cheyenne Mountain High School (Colorado Springs) in
2005. He participated in the non-competitive division of the Jefferson Symphony
Young Artists Competition eight years ago at age 13, and competed in 2004 as
well. He won the Pikes Peak Philharmonic Concerto Competition in 2002 and the
Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Concerto Competition in both 2003 and 2004 –
the only person to win it twice. He studied at the Music Academy of the West
Summer Festival 2007. Perdue soloed with the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble as a
freshman in 2006. He has toured Spain, Chile, Costa Rica, and Italy as a soloist
or ensemble member. He plays in the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra and
is a substitute for the New World Symphony. He has been a member of the Vivace
Flute Quartet and The Point Chamber Orchestra. He played Nielsen’s Concerto
for Flute and Orchestra for the competition.
Third place winner Daniel Pate, 23, of San Diego, CA, is currently the
percussion instructor for Valle Halla High School. Winner of numerous previous
competitions, he performs newly commissioned works and standard repertoire in
concerts throughout the United States. He is a founding member of the
“Duplexx” percussion duo. He received his master’s degree in Percussion
Performance from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the
instruction of Eduardo Leandro in 2007, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in
Percussion Performance from San Diego State University in 2005. For the
competition, he played Keiko Abe’s Prism Rhapsody for Marimba.
Back row: second-place winner Aaron
Perdue, third-place winner
Daniel Pate. Front row: first-place winner Kyung-Jun Kim
Note: Click on the performers' names to see their
biographies!
The judges awarded an Honorable Mention to Derek
Fenstermacher, 21, a senior at the University of Alabama majoring in tuba
performance. He played James Barnes’s Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra.
The first place winner receives $2,000 cash, a scholarship
worth $1,500 to attend a summer Young Artists Seminar at the Rocky Ridge Music
Center in Estes Park, a $5,000 scholarship provided he or she becomes a college
senior or graduate student within eight years of winning the competition, and an
appearance as soloist with the Jefferson Symphony. Second place winner receives
$1,500 in cash. Third place winner receives $1,000. The cash prizes are funded
by the Golden Civic Foundation, the Fine Arts Foundation, and the Wilmot
Charitable Fund. GambroCares Foundation is also a principal sponsor of the
competition.
Barbara Jackson, a cellist with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, established an
endowment eight years ago for the $5,000 winner’s scholarship. Her purpose was
to encourage and support young musicians in their careers and also to attract
contestants of outstanding caliber to the competition. She considers her
endeavors a success: The formerly regional competition has become national and
even international in scope. “As a member of the orchestra, I find that these
incredibly gifted young musicians inspire me and my colleagues to improve our
performance,” she said. “And the community gets to hear outstanding
soloists, so I feel I am ‘paying back’ my debt to society.”
Jefferson Symphony principal percussionist Sandra Fauth, who chairs the Young
Artists Competition committee that organizes the annual event, commented that
the amazing quality and level of playing reassures her that the future of
classical music is in very capable hands. This was the JSO’s 45th Young
Artists Competition. Several former prizewinners have established successful
musical careers.
The recorded round of the competition was adjudicated last October by area
musicians Don Ambler, clarinet, René Knetsch, violin, and Scott Schiesswohl,
trumpet, who selected the 12 finalists from 34 applicants. Distinguished area
music teachers and performers Jeanne Chin, principal violist with Colorado
Ballet, Gregory Dufford, clarinetist formerly with the San Francisco Opera
Orchestra, and William Hill, Colorado Symphony Orchestra principal timpanist,
judged the final round on January 12. The judges noted the remarkably high
quality of all the finalists. Dufford commented, “This group of young aspiring
artists represents the best in the nation. They are a tribute to the quality of
teaching found in our fine American music schools. The competitors’
preparation and performances were inspiring.”
Other finalists were: flutist Hilary Abigana, 23, a master’s student at the
Shepherd School of Music at Rice University; violinist Benjamin Brookstone, 18,
a senior at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA; violinist Linda (Eun Jung)
Choi, a senior at the Juilliard School; flutist Tracy Goodwin, 20, born in
Golden and now a junior at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music;
percussionist Jason Johnston, a junior at Southwestern Oklahoma State
University; cellist Patrick Laird, 22, a recent graduate of the Eastman School
of Music and the 2006 JSYAC third-place winner; trombonist Max Ripple, 20, of
Elizabeth, CO, a sophomore at the University of Colorado at Boulder; and
percussionist Kelsey Tamayo, 19, a freshman at Peabody Conservatory of the Johns
Hopkins University.
11 of the 12 finalists: left to right, Hilary
Abigana, Kelsey Tamayo,
Tracy Goodwin, Kyung-Jun Kim, Patrick Laird, Max
Ripple, Benjamin Brookstone,
Jason Johnston, Daniel Pate, Derek
Fenstermacher, and Aaron Perdue. Not
pictured: Linda Choi.
Note: Click on the performers' names to see their
biographies!
First-place winner Kim will perform with the Jefferson
Symphony Orchestra at its Sunday, March 30th concert at 3 p.m. in Golden. The
90-member volunteer orchestra, whose winter home is in Bunker Auditorium, Green
Center, on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, was founded in 1953.
Dr. William Morse conducts. For tickets to the concert or to a 6:00 reception
and dinner for $50 on March 29th to meet the winner at the Mount Vernon Country
Club, Golden, call the JSO office at 303.278.4237. Tickets
may be purchased online.
The Jefferson Symphony Young Artists Competition alternates yearly between piano
and all other orchestral instruments. The 2009 Jefferson Symphony Young Artists
Competition will be for pianists born after December 31, 1984. Applications will
be available in April. Further information about the competition is available
online.
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