Schedule of events for the 2008 Klein Competition
2007 Klein Competition:Winner Announced
New Commissioned Works
by Frank Stemper
Where Are They Now:What Past Competition Winners Are Doing
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2007 Irving M. Klein Competition Winner Announced
Last June at San Francisco State University's McKenna Theater, Bay Area audiences were treated to exceptional performances by some of the world's brightest young string artists. Over the course of three days, nine semifinalists from the United States, South Korea, and Canada vied for placement in Sunday's Final Round with Orchestra, at which the crème de la crème played with the Marin Symphony conducted by Alasdair Neale. The event was met with critical accolades and standing ovations as the weekend showcased unusually gifted artists.
The 2007 Semifinalists of the Klein Competition represent the top tier of young musicians. They were selected from a pool of 67 young applicants who represented 15 countries and ranged from 15 to 23 years of age. The First Prize Winner of the 22nd Irving M. Klein International String Competition is violinist JING WANG, age 22, from Guilin, China, who studies with Sally Thomas at The Juilliard School. Wang has been awarded The Maurice Kursh Memorial Award in the amount of $11,000 plus solo appearances with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Symphonies, recitals in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), the Noontime Concerts Series (California), and a benefit concert and other performances to be announced. Earlier in the competition, Wang was awarded The Allen R. Weiss Memorial Prize for best performance of the commissioned work by Joel Hoffman.
The Second Prize Winner (The William M. Bloomfield Memorial Award of $5,000) was violinist DAVID MCCARROLL, age 21, from Santa Rosa, California, who studies with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory of Music. The Third Prize winner (The Alice Ann Roberts Memorial Award of $2,500) was awarded to cellist MADELEINE KABAT, age 20, from Cleveland, Ohio, who studies with Norman Fischer at Rice University. There were two winners in fourth place. The Lena and Jules P. Flock Memorial Award of $1,500 was awarded to violinist LYDIA HONG, age 19, from Chicago, Illinois, who studies with Itzhak Perlman and Donald Weilerstein at The Juilliard School. The Thomas and Lavilla Barry Award of $1,500 was awarded to cellist ALICE YOO, age 22, from Syosset, New York, who is a student of Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory of Music. The other four Semifinalists in this year's competition (in alphabetical order) were: PAUL DWYER, cellist (awarded $1,000), age 23, from Munster, Indiana, who studies with (former Klein Competition Prizewinner) Amir Eldan at Oberlin Conservatory; SIWOO KIM, violinist (awarded $1,000), age 17, from Wonju, South Korea, who studies with Roland and Amita Vamos and attends Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio; SO JIN KIM, violinist (awarded $1,000), age 21, from South Korea, who studies with Cho Liang Lin and Naoko Tanaka at The Juilliard School; ANDREA SEGAR, violinist (awarded $1,000), age 20, from Berkeley, California, who studies with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory of Music.
First Prize Winner, Violinist Jing Wang
Congratulations to twenty-two-year-old Chinese-born violinist Jing Wang. Jing amazed audiences throughout the competition week with his powerful and spirited interpretations of the Mendelssohn Concerto in e minor, and the Brahms Sonata No. 2 in A Major.
Jing was born in China and began to study the violin at the age of three and a half. He made his first public appearance at the age of six in Marseilles, France. Two years later he arrived in Canada where he enrolled as a student in the Quebec Conservatory. First Prizewinner of the Canadian Music Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, and the Concertino Prague, Jing was also nominated as “Le Titre de Jeune Soliste” (Young Soloist Award) of French Public Radio.
Jing has performed and toured extensively in Canada, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Russia, and the United States, and is completing his studies at the Juilliard School this spring. He plays an 1844 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin lent to him by the Julliard School Rare String Instruments Collection.
As part of his Klein Competition First Prize, Jing will perform the Mendelssohn Concerto in e minor with the Peninsula Symphony this May, as well as performing a recital as part of the Noontime Concerts series in San Francisco. He will also be featured with the Santa Cruz Symphony in November. Bravo!