Youth Concerto Competition Results
2011 Results
The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra held its annual Youth Concerto Competition on Saturday, January 29, 2011 at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. Many talented young musicians sent in applications and recordings.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Competition:
| First Place | Aaron Hall, cello
& Sarah Hall, violin | Brahms - Concerto for Violin and Cello |
| Second Place | Mina Park, violin | Shostakovich - Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor |
| Third Place | Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon | Mozart - Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major |
| Honorable Mentions | Yesol Im, Violin | Barber - Violin Concerto |
| Amelia Sie, Violin | Paganini - Violin Concerto No. 1 |
The first, second, and third place winners will perform as featured soloists with the Sammamish Symphony on Saturday, April 30, 2011.
2010 Results
The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra held its annual Youth Concerto Competition on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. Many talented young musicians sent in applications and recordings. There were 16 finalists selected.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Competition:
| First Place | Dong Won Lee, piano | Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major "Emperor" |
| Second Place | Oliver Aldort, cello | Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor |
| Third Place | Lennart Jansson, cello | Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107 |
| Honorable Mention | Natalie Dungey, trumpet | Tomasi - Concerto for Trumpet |
The first, second, and third place winners will perform as featured soloists with the Sammamish Symphony on Sunday, May 2, 2010.
2009 Results
The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra held its annual Youth Concerto Competition on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. Many talented young musicians sent in applications and recordings. There were 14 finalists selected. The breakdown by instrument was three pianos, seven violins, three cellos and one trumpet.
We were pleased to have a very distinguished judging panel: R. Joseph Scott, Music Director and Conductor of the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra; Walter Schwede, Associate Professor of Music, Western Washington University and former Associate Concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony; and Mark Salman, Concert Pianist.
Our thanks also goes out to our hard working support staff: Andy Hill, James Poirson, Isah Webb, Mark Wiseman and Dr. Linda Wiseman.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 Competition:
| First Place | Marié Rossano, violin | Korngold - Violin Concerto in D Major |
| Second Place | Jila Dabestani, piano | Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major |
| Third Place | Gloria Ferry-Brennan, violin | Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto No. 1 in E Major |
| Honorable Mentions | Kaveh Waddell, piano | Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor |
| Karissa Zadinsky, cello | Lalo - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra |
The first, second, and third place winners performed as featured soloists with the Sammamish Symphony on Sunday, May 3, 2009.
2008 Results
The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra held its annual Youth Concerto Competition on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at Music Works Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. Many talented young musicians sent in applications and recordings. There were 12 finalists selected. The breakdown by instrument was six pianos, five violins, and one voice.
We were pleased to have a very distinguished judging panel: R. Joseph Scott, Music Director and Conductor of the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra; John Pilskog, Assistant Concertmaster with Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Concertmaster with the Auburn Symphony; and Mark Salman, Concert Pianist.
Our thanks also goes out to our hard working support staff: James White, Scott Sellevold, Mark Wiseman and Dr. Linda Wiseman.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2008 Competition:
| First Place | Michael Lee, piano | Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor |
| Second Place | Jila Dabestani, piano | Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major |
| Third Place | Grace Choi, violin | Brahms - Violin Concerto in D |
The first place winner, Michael Lee, performed as a featured soloist with the Sammamish Symphony on Sunday, June 8, 2008.
2007 Results
The 2007 competition presented some unique difficulties for everyone involved. The competition was originally scheduled for January 13. A severe snow and ice storm forced Eastlake High School to close for several days and we were unable to hold the competition on that date. We tried to reschedule the competition and were not able to find a date that would work for the venue, competitors, accompanists, judges and staff.
For this year only, we used an alternate method of judging the competition. Our three judges were given recordings of the twelve finalists and based on those recordings, three winners were selected. We were pleased to have a very distinguished judging panel: Melia Watrous, Michael Jinsoo Lim, and R. Joseph Scott.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2007 Competition:
| First Place | Julian Schwarz, cello | Dvorak - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra |
| Second Place | Rhiannon Bronstein, flute | Nielsen - Concerto for Flute and Orchestra |
| Third Place | Nazila Dabestani, piano | Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor |
The first place winner, Julian Schwarz, performed as a featured soloist with the Sammamish Symphony on Sunday, April 15, 2007.
2006 Results
The Sammamish Symphony Orchestra held its annual Youth Concerto Competition on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at the Eastlake Performing Arts Center in Sammamish, Washington. Many talented young musicians, ranging in age from 6 to 18, sent in applications and recordings. There were 12 finalists selected. The breakdown by instrument was five pianos, five violins, one flute, and one double bass.
We were pleased to have a very distinguished judging panel: R. Joseph Scott, Music Director and Conductor of the Sammamish Symphony Orchestra; John Pilskog, Associate Concertmaster with Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Concertmaster with the Auburn Symphony; and Kimberly Russ, Keyboard Artist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Our thanks also goes out to our hard working support staff: Dita Hagen, James White, Scott Sellevold, Mark Wiseman, Dr. Myrl Venter and Dr. Linda Wiseman.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2006 Competition:
| First Place | Mikaela Holland, violin | Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 |
| Second Place | Helen Cho, violin | Saint-Saens - Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in
A minor |
| Third Place | Nathan Vedal, double bass | Bottesini - Concerto No. 2 in B minor |
The first place winner, Mikaela Holland, performed as a featured soloist with the Sammamish Symphony on Sunday, April 30, 2006.
2005 Results
The finals of the competition were held on January 9, 2005 at the Eastlake Performing Arts Center.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2005 Competition:
| First Place | Ismail Akmuradov, clarinet |
| Second Place | Ian Ma, violin |
| Third Place | Ari Livne, piano |