On Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm, a large audience joined Friends of Chamber Music for the 56th annual Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition in the Koerner Recital Hall at the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. The Friends were pleased again to foster young musicians’ interest in such wonderful music through a FREE public concert featuring the finalists selected from play-down auditions in February 2010. As always, this is also a great way for people of all ages to come out and hear chamber music from the classical, Romantic and modern periods, whether for the first time or after decades of enjoyment. And the 2010 edition of the event was no exception.  The quality of the music-making was very high! 

And for the first time in the history of this competition, there were Audience Prizes awarded to a junior and senior ensemble.  Friends of Chamber Music board member Dr. Malcolm Hayes made this possible and he announced the results of the vote and named the Audience Prize-winners (marked below) from the stage after the concert.

The adjudicator, Hans-Karl Piltz, professor emeritus from the UBC School of Music, a conductor, orchestral and chamber musician, decided to award two first prizes in both the junior  and senior categories. 

First Prize, Junior Category (the Koerner Prize, in memory of Mr. Fred Koerner) co-winners:

        Mendelssohn - Piano Trio in D minor, Opus 13

Molto allegro agitato

        Natalie Lo, piano

        Jessy (J.Y.) Kim, violin

        Susie Jiwon Yoo, cello

Dvorak – Piano Trio in E minor, Opus 90 “Dumky” (Junior Audience Prize winners)

Lento maestoso – Allegro quasi doppio movimento

Poco adagio – Vivace non troppo

        Aisa Sayama, piano

        Henry Liao, violin

        Jennifer Son, cello

First Prize, Senior Category (the Chan Prize, donated by Bonita and Tom Chan) co-winners:

Carter – Woodwind Quintet

Allegretto

Allegro giocoso

        Joanna Tse, flute

        Emily Hopkins, oboe

        Connor Learmonth, clarinet

        Neil Jongbloed, horn

        Selina Kuo, bassoon

Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Opus 110 (Senior Audience Prize winners)

Largo

Allegro molto

Allegretto

        Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, violin

        Marika Constant, violin

        Newsha Khalaj, viola

        David Shin, cello

Honourable mention, Junior category:

Schubert – Piano Trio in B flat major, Opus 898

Andante un poco mosso

        Emma Woo, piano

        Esther Hwang, violin

        David Shin, cello

Mendelssohn – String Quartet in A minor, Opus 13

Presto

        Grace Takeda, violin

        Cindy Kao, violin

        Olga Makarevski, viola

        Grace Li, cello

Honourable mention, Senior category:

Brahms – Piano Trio in B major, Opus 8

Allegro con brio

        Devon Joiner, piano

        Rebecca Lin, violin

        Luke Kim, cello

Devreese – 5 Divertimenti pour quatuor de saxophones

I Introduction; allegro moderato

II Valse

III Café – concert

IV Marche – allegro molto ritmico

        Allegra Pomeroy, alto saxophone

        Sean Gormley, soprano saxophone

        Sarah Kaal, baritone saxophone

        Asa Abbott, tenor saxophone

Koetsier – Brass Quintet, Opus 65

Andantino – allegro molto

Molto vivace

        Dan Kocurek, trumpet

        Brennan Westerman, trumpet

        Nancy Mann, horn

        Jim Hopson, trombone

        Daniel Forman, bass trombone

Congratulations to all the musicians, their teachers and coaches and to the audience members who joined us for an entertaining and musically exciting evening!

ENTRY RULES AND REQUIREMENTS:

1.  There are two age categories:  Junior - for players up to age 18,

                                                   Senior - for players up to age 26.

2.  Competition ensembles must have three or more performers.

3.  Instruments may be strings, winds or piano in any combination.

4.  Selections are to be from the classical (18th - 20th century) instrumental music repertoire.

5.  Playing time will be limited to approximately 10 minutes, both at the preliminary auditions and at the final concert.

6.  Competitors may not participate in more than two groups.

7.  Preliminary auditions will be held in Vancouver, on the mornings of Saturday, February 6, 2010 for the Senior division, and on Sunday, February 7, 2010 for the Junior division.  For ensembles from outside the Lower Mainland, videotapes or DVDs may be considered for the preliminary audition.

8.  The final concert will be held on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 7:00 pm in Vancouver.

9.  The preliminary auditions and final concert will take place at the Koerner Recital Hall of the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC.

10. Entry forms must be completed and received by Monday, January 25, 2010.  Entry forms are available at a link at the bottom of this page.

2009 Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition

55th Annual Competition - $5,000 in prizes

On Sunday, March 8, 2009 at 7:00 pm, Friends of Chamber Music hosted the 55th annual Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition in the Koerner Recital Hall at the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. We were pleased again this year to foster young musicians’ interest in this wonderful music through this FREE public concert. This is also a great way for people of all ages to come out and hear chamber music from the classical, Romantic and modern periods for the first time! Year after year, the quality of the music-making is very high! Acclaimed pianist Robert Silverman was the adjudicator this year, and he awarded the prizes (with his comments) at the end of the concert.

Pianists, string and wind players from Metro Vancouver and as far afield as Bellingham, WA played together in groups to compete for cash prizes.  Each member of a “Junior” group cannot be over age 18, and each member of a “Senior” group cannot be over age 26. This year’s finals featured an interesting variety of ensembles playing music by composers ranging from Beethoven and Schubert to Villa-Lobos and Etler.  These ensembles were selected to compete from the earlier elimination play-downs.

The Chan Prize was given to the first prize Senior category ensemble, a wind quintet:

      Jacques Ibert - Trio Pièces Brèves

             1. Allegro

      Alvin Etler - Quintet No. 1

             Andante

             Allegro

                      Emily Hopkins, oboe

                      Joanna Tse, flute

                      Connor Learmonth, clarinet

                      Selina Kuo, bassoon

                      Neil Jongbloed, horn

The other 2009 Senior finalists were:

      Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for Soprano and Celli

            Adagio (1st movement)

                     Dora Brooks, soprano

                     Nicholas Epperson, cello

                     Ja Young Oh, cello

                     David Shin, cello

                     Ji Won Yoo, cello

                     Tung Hsin, cello

                     Peter Hwang, cello

                     Shi Un Kim, cello

                     Diane Yeo, cello

                     Caroline Chu, cello

       Antonin Dvorak - String Quartet No. 3 in E Flat Major, Opus 51

            Allegro ma non troppo (1st movement)

                     John Schindler, violin

                     Whitney Wynn, violin

                     Gentry Hill, viola

                     Samantha Gribble, cello

        Eduard Toldra - Sardana - II. Puig Nculos

        Brent Heisinger - Three Episodes

            Movement I: Allegro con spirito

            Movement II:

            Movement III: Allegro

                     Selina Kuo, bassoon

                     Silvia Tang, bassoon

                     Carrie To, bassoon

                     Min-Ho Kim, bassoon

All the 2009 Junior competing ensembles were awarded prizes.  The first prize was shared by:

        Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Trio No. 1, Opus 70

            Allegro con brio (1st movement)

                      Jessy Kim, violin

                      Ji Won Yoo, cello

                      Benjamin Woo, piano

          Franz Schubert - Piano Trio in B flat major, Opus 99

              Allegro moderato (1st movement)

                      Adora Wong, violin

                      Ja Young Oh, cello

                      Jocelyn Lai, piano

The second prize was shared by:

          Anton Arensky - Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Opus 32

               Allegro moderato

                      Esther Hwang, Violin

                      David Shin, violin

                      Emma Woo, piano

          Jaoquin Turina - Piano Trio No. 2 in B flat minor, Opus 76

               Largo (1st movement)

                      Holland Ninow, violin

                      Tung Hsin, cello

                      Benjamin Woo, piano

2008 Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition

On Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 7:00 pm, Friends of Chamber Music hosted the 54th annual Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition in the Koerner Recital Hall at the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. We are pleased to foster young musicians’ interest in this wonderful music through this free public concert.  This is also a great way for people to come out and hear chamber music for the first time!  Year after year, the quality of the music-making is very high!

Pianists, string and wind players from Vancouver and around the Lower Mainland played together in groups to compete for cash prizes before an audience of more than 100 people.  Each member of a “Junior” group cannot be over age 18, and each member of a “Senior” group cannot be over age 26. This year’s finals featured a wide variety of ensembles playing music by composers ranging from Haydn and Beethoven to Bartok, Turina, Poulenc and Hindemith.  These ensembles were selected to compete from the earlier elimination play-downs.

This year, the judge for the finals was Evan Mitchell, assistant conductor with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.  He gave insightful constructive comments to all of the musicians as well as awarding the prizes to the winning ensembles. 

The Chan Prize was given to the first prize Senior category ensemble, a violin quartet:

Grazyna Baceivicz – Quartet for 4 Violins

Allegretto

Andante tranquill

Molto allegro

Jonathan Chan, violin

Stephanie Chan, violin

Alex Sachs, violin

Jan Bislin, violin

Second prize in the Senior Category was awarded to a brass trio:

Anthony Plog – Trio for Brass

III. Allegro Moderato

IV. Adagio

V. Allegro vivace

Alexander Cannon, trumpet

Nick Anderson, horn

James Hopson, trombone

The Fred Koerner Prize was awarded to the first prize ensemble in the Junior category, a cello trio:

Ludwig van Beethoven – Trio in C major, Opus 87

Adagio cantabile, Minuetto (allegro molto scherzo)

Carol Tsai, cello

Jennifer Son, cello

Isidora Nojkovic, cello

Second prize in the Junior category was awarded to a trio of clarinet, violin and piano:

Bela Bartok – Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet & Piano, Sz 111

Last movement

Henry Liao, violin

Evan Watkins, clarinet

Michelle Lin, piano

Peter Lang offered the other finalist ensembles an opportunity to perform a paid outreach concert in the community.  The other 2008 finalists were:

Junior:

Joseph Haydn – Piano Trio in C major, Hob XV: 27

Allegro

Frank Lin, violin

Veronica Oh, cello

Valerie Chong, piano

Joaquin Turina – Piano Trio no. 2 in B minor, Opus 76 –

First movement

Kaine Newton, violin

Tunmo Kim, cello

Emma Woo, piano

Senior:

Francis Poulenc – Sextet for Winds and Piano

First movement – trés vite et emporté

Yoobin Whang, flute

Jonathan Blackman, horn

Gina So, piano

Katelin Coleman, bassoon

Rachel Lim, oboe

Michael Mah, clarinet

Paul Hindemith – Kleine Kammermusik for 5 Winds, Opus 24 no. 2

First movement

Fourth movement

Fifth movement

Joanna Tse, flute

Emily Hopkins, oboe

Jessica Burkart, clarinet

Neil Jongbloed, horn

Selina Koo, bassoon

The application for the 2010 Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition presented by the Friends of Chamber Music is available at the link found at the bottom of this page.

          Mendelssohn – Piano Trio in D minor, Opus 49