Youth Concerto Competition Results

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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.

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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 Mention	Kaveh Waddell, piano	Saint-Saëns - Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor
Honorable Mention	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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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2005 Results

The finals of the competition were held on January 9, 2005 at the Eastlake Performing Arts Center. The results were: