The Young Performers Competition
The Young Performers Competition was an annual competition for the purpose of providing local youth between the ages of 15 - 20 the opportunity to further develop and showcase their musical talents, and to encourage and promote the love and continued performance of live classical music in the Southern Tier. We saw vocal or instrumental solos and ensembles over the past several years.
Winners have included singers, flutists, oboists, violinists, pianists and a marimba player. Music performed by the winners have been written by a wide variety of composers from several different time periods and countries. We don't judge based on the composer or even the apparent difficulty of the piece but rather by the musicality, technique and poise of the performer.
Past Recipients of the Young Performers Competition
2017 - Rocco Scarselletta, Piano, Fantaisie Impromptu, Frederic Chopin. Teacher: Dr. Daniel LaBar
2016 - Jonathon Fenwick, violin, Violin Concerto #2 in D minor - 1st movement, Prokofiev. Teacher: Cal Wiersma and Peter Rovit
2015 - Emilie Guermeur, violin, Brahms' Concerto for violin, 2nd movement. Teacher: Augusto Diemecke
2014 - David Fenwick, cello, Suite No 3 for solo cello, Ernest Bloch, Teacher: Elizabeth Simkin
2013 - (co-winners) Kate Nicole Hoffman, soprano, Je Veux Vivre, Gounod; Jeremy Koob, piano, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13, F. Liszt
2012 - Ben Pawlak, piano, La Campanella, F. Liszt
2011 – Amelia Rosetti, violin, Concerto in G minor Summer, A. Vivaldi
2010 – Jacob Carpenter, piano, Fantasie Impromptu, Chopin
2009 – (co-winners) Jared Bean, piano, Prelude C-sharp minor Op. 3, No. 2, Rachmaninoff; Gabrielle Cornish, marimba, Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra, Movement 4, Ney Rosauro
2008 – Mark Sophia, oboe, Concerto k.314 Movement I , Mozart
2007 – Ethan Chaffee, pianist, Ondine (From Gaspar de la nuit) by Maurice Ravel
2006 – (co-winners) Zachary Wolfe, piano, Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor - Franz Liszt; Mark Sophia, oboe Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in C Major - Haydn
2005 -Zachary Wolfe, piano, Piano Concerto in A Minor Grieg
2004 –Jing Wen, piano, Grand Sonate Pathetique, Op 13, Beethoven
2003 – (co-winners) Rebecca Winkler, piano, Fantasie Impromptu, Op. 66 – Frederick Chopin; Melissa Bravo, flute, Concerto No. 1 in G Major, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1st movement (K. 313)
2002 – (co-winners) Amy Pratt, soprano, Schafe können sicher weiden (From the Hunt Cantata) (BWV 208) Jessica Brown, piano, – Concerto in D minor (BWV 1052 or 1059)
2001 – (co-winners) Kathryn Wickham, soprano, aria Seufzer, Thränen, Kummer, Noth; (From Cantata 21 Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis). Accompanied by Anna Herforth, oboe; Dr. William Cowdry, harpsichord; and Eric Johnson, cello; Jessica Brown, piano, Italian Concerto, 1st Movement