57th Annual Competition – $5,000 in prizes

On Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 1:30 pm, a large audience joined Friends of Chamber Music for the 57th annual Young Musicians Chamber Music Competition in the Koerner Recital Hall at the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. The Friends were pleased again to foster young musicians’ interest in such wonderful music through a FREE public concert featuring the finalists selected from play-down auditions in February 2011. As always, this is also a great way for people of all ages to come out and hear chamber music from the classical, Romantic and modern periods, whether for the first time or after decades of enjoyment. And the 2011 edition of the event was no exception. The quality of the music-making was very high, as it is each year!

And for the second time, there were Audience Prizes awarded to a junior and senior ensemble. A Friends of Chamber Music board member again made this possible. The Audience Prize winners were announced before the adjudicator’s decision, and yet the prizes went to the groups that received the adjudicator’s first prizes in the junior and senior categories.

The adjudicator, Dale Barltrop, VSO concertmaster and chamber musician, decided to award two junior prizes and one senior prize.

First Prize, Junior Category (the Koerner Prize, in memory of Mr. Fred Koerner) winners:

Smetana – Piano Trio in G minor, Opus 15 (Audience Prize winners)
Moderato assai
Emma Woo, piano
Esther Hwang, violin
David Shin, cello

Second Prize, Junior Category winners:

Martinu – Sonata for 2 Violins & Piano
Allegro poco moderato
Andante – allegro
Jimmy Wang, piano
Nelson Moneo, violin
Rochelle Sumampong, violin

First Prize, Senior Category (the Chan Prize, donated by Bonita and Tom Chan) winners:

Villa-Lobos – Bachianas Brasileiras (Audience Prize winners)
Introduction; Embolada
Minjee Yoon, cello
David Shin, cello
Nicholas Epperson, cello
Peter Hwang, cello
Min Kim, cello
Diane Yeo, cello
Austin Chao, cello
Emily Cha, cello

Honourable mention, Junior category:

Haydn – String Quartet in D minor, Opus 76 No. 2
Allegro
Winnie Liao, violin
Hee-Soo Yoon, violin
Henry Liao, viola
Diane Yeo, cello

Mendelssohn – Piano Trio in D minor, Opus 49
Molto Allegro Agitato
Ben Su, piano
Stephen Li, violin
Trisha Doo, cello

Schumann – Fantasy Pieces, Opus 88
Romance
Humoresque
Josiah Schweitzer, piano
Madeline Hocking, violin
Eli Schweitzer, cello

Honourable mention, Senior category:

Brahms – Piano Quartet in G minor, Opus 25 No. 1
Allegro
Valerie Chong, piano
Enoch Ng, violin
On You Lee, viola
Minjee Yoon, cello

Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Opus 110
Allegro molto
Allegretto
Peter Weinkam, violin
Carl Fung, violin
Sasha Poon, viola
Bronte Wagar, cello

Congratulations to all the musicians, their teachers and coaches and to the audience members who joined us for an entertaining and musically exciting afternoon!