Young artists page





	Young Artist Competition

Since 1988, we have sponsored a Young Artist Competition annually for North Carolina music students of ages 10 through 18. Beginning with the 2006 competition pianists will be invited on alternating years. The 2007 competition was for pianists only, so the 2008 competition is open to other instrumentalists and vocalists.

The winner performs with the orchestra at one of the season concerts as well as receiving a $250 scholarship. The date of the next audition is May 3, 2008. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, will host the competition.

Applications must be postmarked by April 3, 2008.
Applcations must be accompanied by a $25 non-refundable fee.
The contestant will be responsibile for providing his/her own accompanist for the audition.
Memorization is strongly encouraged, but not required.
The contestant must provide three copies of the music for the judges: either a piano score or a copy of the soloist's music. Measures must be numbered.
Each contestant will be assigned a specific audition time.
Judges' decision will be final.
There shall be no repeat scholarship winners.
The competition in 2008 will not include PIANISTS.

Registration forms will be mailed out in March 2008 to those on the mailing list. If you are not on the TROC mailing list and would like to receive a registration form, contact the webmaster. You may also click here for a form you can print and mail in.

2007 Competition Winner

Eliana Fishbeyn, an eleven-year-old pianist, is a seventh grader at B’nai Shalom Day School in Greensboro. She a student of John Ruggero, who has inspired, cultivated, and developed Eliana’s musical pursuit. She also studies violin with John Fadial. She has extensive musical interests, and enjoys playing both solo and chamber music as well as writing her own compositions. She has been playing the piano for six years, and the violin for four years. At the age of nine, Eliana won the Winston-Salem Youth competition and played the first movement of Mozart’s Concerto #19 with the Winston-Salem orchestra. She attended the Interlocken summer program in 2005 and the NCSA Chamber Institute’s summer program in 2007.

She also composes music. This past year, her trio in three movements won first place in a national music student competition.

2006 Competition Winner

Gentry Lasater, a senior at New Bern High School, began playing the violin at age three. Her early violin studies began with Katherine Jenkins and continued with Joanne Bath. At age seven, she placed third in her first competition sponsored by the Winston-Salem Symphony. She was chosen for the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) Youth Orchestra in Chicago, IL and the SAA Youth Orchestra in Cincinnati, OH. In the summer of 2004, Gentry was a soloist with I Solisti Vivaldi, a group from the North Carolina School of the Arts that performed in the Winston-Salem area and at Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, SC. She has served as concertmaster of both the Eastern Regional All-State Orchestra and the NC State High School Honors Orchestra. Last fall, she was a guest soloist with the Durham Symphony as a 2005 Young Artists Competition winner. In 2006, she was a soloist with the Raleigh Symphony as a Benjamin Kilgore Gibbs Award winner and was selected as one of four finalists in the NC Symphony Youth Concerto Competition. Gentry participated in the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Session for three summers, and this past summer she attended the Yellow Barn Young Artists Program in Amherst, MA. She currently studies with Ara Gregorian, the professor of violin performance at East Carolina University. (Photo by Jess Isaiah Levin).

2005 Competition Winner

Aliyah Sanders-Walberg, a 16-year old sophomore at Emerson Waldorf High School in Chapel Hill, began studying piano at the age of 7 with Julie Harris. She started taking lessons from Greg McCallum in Carrboro a year ago. Since then she has received an honorable mention in the Chapel Hill Philharmonia Concerto Competition and superiors and an excellent in local and statewide competitions.

2005 Competition Runner-Up

Thirteen-year-old violinist Orin Laursen lives in Durham, North Carolina. He began violin at the age of three and piano at the age of six. He currently studies violin with Joseph Genualdi at the NC School for the Arts in Winston-Salem and piano with Greg McCallum in Carrboro, North Carolina. Orin was the Senior Division winner of the 2005 Peter Peret Youth Talent Search Competition and will be appearing with the Winston-Salem Symphony this season. Orin placed first in the 2003 Junior Division of the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Talent Search and Concerto Competition and appeared with the Winston-Salem Symphony eight times in the following season. This past October Orin placed second in the North Carolina MTNA Junior Performance Piano Competition. In the summer of 2004 Orin attended the Cleveland Institute of Music Encore strings program where he studied violin with Rossitza Jekova-Goza, member of the Fulbright Trio. In 2003 Orin attended Interlochen Arts Camp where he received the Fine Arts Award for outstanding achievement on the violin. Orin is a founding member of GOAT String Quartet where he plays both violin and viola. He is a first violin in the Durham Youth Orchestra as well as the Durham Youth Chamber Ensemble and has been a featured soloist with both ensembles several times. Orin’s younger brother Colin also plays violin and the two of them can occasionally be seen at Celtic fiddle sessions throughout the Triangle. In addition to music Orin enjoys tennis, swimming, puzzles, art and games of strategy.

2004 Competition Winner

Alan Toda-Ambaras was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1991, and began studying the cello at age four. A student of Leonid Zilper since 2001, Alan has participated in master classes and taken lessons with internationally renowned cellists and chamber artists including Bernard Greenhouse, Joel Krosnick, Paul Katz, Matt Haimovitz, Norman Fischer, Marcy Rosen, Wendy Warner, Peter Howard, Hidemi Suzuki, Laurent Pidoux (of the Paris National Conservatory), Stefan Popov (of the Guildhall School in London), Yeesun Kim (of the Borromeo Quartet), the Miro Quartet, Triple Helix, Bonnie Thron, Darrett Adkins, and Amit Peled.

Alan has given recitals in Tokyo, in England, and at venues throughout North Carolina. He has been invited on several occasions by the North Carolina Symphony to give prélude performances at Meymandi Hall; has been a featured performer in the Wilmington Chamber Music Society's "Focus on the Future" series; and was an invited recitalist at the American Music Festival. He performed J. S. Bach's complete 6 suites for solo cello in one recital at age 11, and repeats this program each year. Already at age 10, he caught the attention of Matt Haimovitz, who wrote that he "has such a mature understanding of Bach." In March, 2004, Alan was the youngest performer in the Silva Centennial Celebration at the UNC Greensboro School of Music.

Alan's performances have gained enthusiastic reviews. "Alan's intonation, technique and musicianship -- and stage presence -- were nothing short of amazing," wrote one critic. And a reviewer in Classical Voice North Carolina stated that Alan's playing "proved remarkable by any standard. . . . Toda-Ambaras is worth seeking out and hearing."

2004 Competition Runner-Up

Nathan heath is a twelve-year old pianist and violinist who currently resides in Chatham County. Nathan began piano studies shortly before his fifth birthday and his violin studies two years later. Since then, he has received recognition both locally and regionally for his piano and violin achievements.

For the past two years he has studied piano with Victor Recondo in Chapel Hill. In addition to playing piano and violin, Nathan also enjoys singing with local choral groups and composing.

2003 Competition Winner Pianist Audrey Low was born in Vancouver, Canada. At the age of 6 she started winning awards in the Canadian National Music Competition, the Canadian Royal Conservatory of Music, the Kiwanis Festival, and she performed in prestigious concerts and on television. When Audrey was 9, her family moved to Tennessee, where she became the state winner of the elementary and junior high concerto competitions. She also won the Nashville Area Young Artists Achievement Award. Currently a student of John Ruggero in Raleigh, Audrey has won numerous regional awards. At the age of 13 in March 2003, she presented her debut as soloist with the Durham Symphony Orchestra. She also won first place with the 2003 Winston-Salem Symphony Talent Search.
2003 Competition Runner-Up Flutist Megan Blice is a college freshman attending East Carolina University as a music performance major. She participated with the Eastern All-District Honors Band for the past three years, and in 2003 she had the distinction of sitting first chair flute in the Eastern District band. She also attended All-State Honors Band in 2001. This competition is Megan's first, and she is very excited to perform with the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra.
2002 Competition Winner Vivian Cheng is an eleven-year-old pianist who currently resides in Cary, North Carolina. Playing piano since the age of five and currently studying with John Ruggero, she has won many competitions and performed twice as soloist with orchestras. She performed her first full solo recital at the age of ten; this recital at Peace College in Raleigh featured works by Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and other composers. In the spring of 2002 Vivian won 2nd place in the 22nd International Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev Competition in the Level Five category.

2001 Competition Winner

Sergiy Komirenko was born in Kiev in 1985. At six he won second prize in the Kiev Mozart Competition and was enrolled at the Lysenko Music School. In 1994 he won first prize at the Seventh International Steinway-Paris Piano Competition, and in 1997 he won awards at the Fourth International Krainev Piano Competition.

After Sergiy moved to Raleigh he has played solos with symphonies in Durham, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem. A student of John Ruggero, he was the second-place winner of the North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition in 1999. Last summer he attended the renowned James Giles Piano Institute at the Las Vegas Music Festival.

2001 Competition Winner

Olena Komirenko was born in 1987 in Kiev, Ukraine. At the age of 8 she switched from study of piano to violin. In 1997, after only two years of study, she and her brother Sergiy won Third Prize in the All-Russia Open Chamber Ensemble Competition.

After moving to Raleigh in 1998, she began to play concerts in the area. Included have been performances at Aversboro Baptist Church, Ravenscroft School, and the NC Museum of Art. Recently Olena was First Place winner in the Winston-Salem Symphony Talent Search. She is a member of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic and studies with Brian Reagin, concertmaster to the North Carolina Symphony.

2001 HONORABLE MENTION WINNERS

Cheng Vivian Cheng

Vivian is 10 years old and lives in Cary. Her talents as pianist have brought her numerous awards from the NC Federation of Music Teachers, the NC Music Teachers and the Raleigh Piano Teachers Association. Recently she was a winner of the Winston-Salem Talent Search and was awarded the opportunity to solo with the orchestra this season. Last June, she presented her debut solo piano recital at Peace College in Raleigh. She studies with John Ruggero.

Yen Grace Yen

Grace,currently a freshman at Yale University, is an accomplished pianist and violinist. She won awards in many local and state competitions, including the NC Federation of Music Teachers, the "2000 Queen of Music" State Award, and various Raleigh Piano Teachers Association competitions. As pianist, she soloed with the symphony orchestras of Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina. As violinist she played a solo with the North American Elite Chinese Youth Orchestra. She toured Asia with the Chinese Orchestra and was founder and director of a local Chinese Youth Chamber Music Ensemble.

Johnson Wesley Johnson

Wesley has grown up in a musical family; both parents graduated from Eastman School of Music. His father plays piano, and his mother plays the violin. Wesley started studying the piano at the age of six. Currently he studies with Marilyn Brown, who happens to be his father's high school piano teacher!

Analise Kukelhan

Analise Kukelhan is a 13-year old violinist who has been playing violin for 8 years. She currently takes violin lessons from Eric Pritchard, principal violinist of the Ciompi Quartet. Analise has been a member of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic for the past five years and has been associate concertmaster for the past two years.

In 1998, Analise won first place in the Junior Division of the Raleigh String Teachers Competition. In 1999, she won the Winston-Salem Young Artist competition and performed two solos with the Winston-Salem Symphony. In 2000, she played with the Chapel Hill Village Orchestra, and in 2001 she won the NCASTA with NSOA competition.