7th YOUNG ARTISTS CONCERTO COMPETITION 2014

Chairperson: Wendy Wu
Co-Chairperson: Ellen Fisher-Deerberg

The 7th Young Artists Concerto Competition was held on March 2, 2014 at the Schare Recital Hall at Rutgers University. There were 54 magnificent contestants, including 26 pianists, 13 violinists, 2 violist, 4 cellists, 5 flutists, 1 Oboist, 1 Bassoonist, 1 Marimba Artist, and 1 harpist. The judges were Chiu-Tze Lin, Anna Meyer, Ning Mu and Amy Yang. The level of the performances was extremely high, and the following winners were chosen.

(All winners are listed in alphabetical order)

Gold Prize Winners (3)
Crystal Chiu, 13, Piano - Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 - 1st mvt.
Matthew Eng, 15, Piano - Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor- 1st mvt.
Katie Liu, 15, Violin - Sibelius Violin Concerto - 1st mvt.

West Windsor Award Winner (1)
Martin Long, 12, Piano - Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 - 1st mvt.

Silver Medalist (4)
Jordan Hendy, 17, Violin - Dvorak Concerto in A minor - 1st mvt.
Reina Hoshino, 17, Flute - Reinecke Concerto in D major- 1st mvt.
Holly Kim, 14, Cello - Lalo Cello Concerto - 1st mvt.
Zoe Lonsinger, 8, Violin - Mendelsohn Concerto in E minor - 1st mvt.

Bronze Medalist (5)
Tiffaney Hsia, 15, Violin - Wieniawski Violin Concerto No. 2 - 3rd mvt.
Tess Jacobson, 16, Viola - Hindemith Der Schwanendreher - 1st mvt.
Katherine Lin, 18, Flute - Taffanel Fantasie Sur Le Freischutz
Christian Verfenstein, 14, Piano - Mozart Piano Concerto in A major K488 - 3rd mvt.
Max Wang, 9, Piano - Haydn Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major - 1st mvt.

2014 Young Artists Concerto Competition Judges

Chiu-Tze Lin, music director and conductor of the award-winning Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, is a versatile and multifaceted musician - conductor, pianist, and teacher. She had served as the conductor of the Manalapan Battleground Symphony, and received the 2004 Victor Grossinger Award for Innovative Programming. Ms. Lin was selected as a “Hottest Artist in New Jersey” in 2001 by the Asbury Park Press. As a concert pianist, Ms. Lin has been acclaimed by the New York Times for her “strong technique, a hearty tone that sounded big and unforced [which] provides the greatest musical pleasure.” She is a Steinway Artist who has performed in Asia, Europe, and across the United States. Ms. Lin has appeared as a touring soloist with the Chicago Symphony, and was a soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony. Her second CD featuring works of J. S. Bach for solo piano has been described by New York Concert Review magazine as a ".... most satisfying performance .... with eloquence and sensitivity." Her recordings have been broadcast from stations across the country. Ms. Lin was a director and faculty member of the 2004 Beijing Music Festival, the first international summer music festival sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Ms. Lin also conducted the Shanghai Musicians Chamber Orchestra at the Sino-American Cultural Exchange Concert. The performance was broadcast on the Chinese Central Television English Channel that transmits across China and around the world.

Anna Meyer holds a Master of Music in Flute Performance from the Peabody Institute where she studied with Marina Piccinini, and a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Bradley Garner, Randy Bowman, and Jack Wellbaum. She was a graduate of the International Meisterkurse fur Musik Zurich in 2003 and 2004. In 1999 and 2000, Mrs. Meyer was a winner of the National Flute Association’s Master Class Performer’s Competition. At 16, Mrs. Meyer won the United States Air Force Band’s Colonel George S. Howard Young Artist Competition and performed as a soloist in concert with the legendary Maestro Frederick Fennell and Miss America, Tara Dawn Holland (1997). While living in Erie (PA), she founded and directed Flauto Musicale, an annual flute clinic for all ages. She has served as principal flutist of the Erie Chamber Orchestra and Second Flutist with the Canton (OH) Symphony.  Collaborating often with organist and husband Erik Meyer, Anna freelances in the greater Philadelphia area as well as maintaining an active private studio as a teacher with over 20 years’ experience. For more information, please visit www.aemeyer.com.

Ning Mu, principal violist of the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, is an experienced soloist and chamber and orchestral musician. He has received numerous awards for musical excellence in China and the US. He has performed in chamber music concerts in Carnegie Weill Recital Hall and Alice Tully Hall, including appearing with the Guarneri String Quartet. He recently gave a highly acclaimed performance of the “Butterfly Lovers" Concerto at the Ware Center in Lancaster, PA. Mr. Mu began studying violin with his father at 8 years old. He graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing with a Bachelor’s degree, and received a Master’s degree at Rutgers University under Michael Tree. Mr. Mu taught violin and viola at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music in Lancaster, and conducted its Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a viola professor at Franklin and Marshall College. Mr. Mu is the founder and Artistic Director of the International Festival and School in Colombia, South America. He has given master classes and chamber music recitals at the National Center for the Performing Arts and the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. 

ailed by The New York Concert Review as “a magnificent artist and poet,” pianist Amy Yang is a seasoned soloist and chamber musician. Her more than 70 concerts last year included performances with the Mansfield Symphony and the Shenyang Conservatory Philharmonic. She also appeared in Merkin Concert Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Turkish Embassy in Washington DC, and Kravis Center. Ms. Yang won 1st prize in the International Corpus Christi Young Artists' Competition and Kosciuszko National Chopin Piano Competition. She has soloed with the Houston Symphony, Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Great Hall Chamber Orchestra, Mansfield Symphony, Shenyang Conservatory Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony, and Richardson Symphony. She was a quarterfinalist in the 13th International Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Ms. Yang has collaborated with such artists as Richard Goode, David Soyer, Peter Wiley, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, Ida and Ani Kavafian, David Shifrin, Tara O’Connor, Miriam Fried, Joseph Silverstein, Philip Setzer, Fred Sherry, Paul Neubauer, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Kim Kashkashian.  Ms. Yang is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and The Yale School of Music, where she received the Parisot Prize for an Outstanding Pianist and the Alumni Association Prize. She is the Program Director and on the piano faculty for the 2014 Summerfest programs at Curtis.