Last weekend 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. In his review of the Final Round with Orchestra, Huewell Tircuit (sfcv.org) declared the virtuosos to be “Young and Inspiring…As long as young musicians like violinists David McCarroll and Jing Wang or cellist Madeleine Kabat keep turning up, music’s moving along, better than ever.”
Keith Kreitman remarked in the San Mateo Times/ANG that the 22nd Annual “Klein String Competition is among the best musical events I have reviewed this season, and I believe we will be hearing about all three of these finalists in future years.”
The 2007 Semifinalists of the Klein Competition represent the top tier of young musicians. They were selected from a pool of 67 young musicians 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 Ralston 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.
In his review of the Finals, Keith Kreitman described Wang as having “world-class stature…he has an exquisite, ingratiating tone and stunning command of the nuances of personal expression.” (San Mateo Times/ANG)
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 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.
All of the cash prizes are to be applied toward future educational and vocational training expenses for the winners. The awards carry the prestige that has helped many top soloists gain prominence in the competitive world of classical music.
The notable jury of the 22nd annual Klein Competition includes members of the Alexander String Quartet, members of the Cypress String Quartet, Peter Gelfand, Marc Gottlieb, Alan Grishman, Joel Hoffman, Byung-Woo Kim, Patricia Taylor Lee, Melvin Margolis, Donna Mudge, and Margaret Tait.
Since its inception in 1985, the Klein Competition has earned a distinguished reputation as one of the leading string competitions in the world and the place to discover great artists. This year raised the bar and introduced us to a group of musicians whom we will continue to hear from in the future. The next International Klein String Competition will take place in June 2008.