Performance by the Winners of the 41st High School Competitions in Piano, Strings, and Winds.

Each year in early January, the Musical Club of Hartford holds a scholarship competition for high school students living or studying music in Connecticut. This is the 41st year of the competition. On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 2 pm at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford, CT 06107, a concert presenting the winners of this competition will take place. The concert is free and open to the public, but concert-goers are urged to arrive early as seating may be limited.

The first, second and third place winners in the categories of Piano, Strings, and Winds will receive the prizes at the concert. Scholarship prizes for brass/woodwind and strings are awarded by the Musical Club Gifts and Scholarships Fund, which also supports many other musical activities in the Hartford area. The Piano Competition is funded by the Musical Club's Evelyn Bonar Storrs Fund, established with a bequest from Mrs. Storrs for support for talented and advanced students of piano.

Winners of the Piano Division of the 2017 Musical Club of Hartford Competition:

• Julius Shieh (1st Place) performing Sonata in E minor, Hob.XVI:34: I. Presto by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), is a ninth grade student at Avon High School and a student of Stanford Online High School. Since 2016 he has studied piano with Margreet Francis at the Hartt School Community Division, selected there to perform in the Piano Department’s Honors Recital. Awarded the Watson Morrison Scholarship at Hartt, he was a 2016 winner of the Virtuoso Pianists Competition, The Hartford Music Teachers Alliance.  

• Saomai Nguyen (second place), performing Danzas Argentinas by Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983), is a junior at Hall High School in West Hartford. Saomai is both a pianist and clarinetist. She has studied piano with Tamila Azadaliyeva at the Hartt School Community Division (HCD) since the third grade and clarinet with Dawn Matthews since fifth grade. Last year she also joined Curt Blood’s clarinet studio. Saomai has placed multiple times in the CSMTA Select Student and Audrey Thayer piano competitions.  She has also performed in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. With clarinet, Saomai has been active in honors ensembles such as the CMEA northern Regional and All-State bands and orchestras. This year she will participate in the NAFME All-Eastern festival.

• Rachel Li (third place), performing Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3, Allegro by Ludwig van Beethoven, (1770-1827), is a sophomore at Brookfield High School. Rachel started piano lessons with Felicia Zhang, then became a pupil of Margarita Nuller in 2013.  By age 12, Rachel passed the Royal Conservatory Achievement Program level 7 and 8 for both piano performance and music theory with Excellence Awards. In 2014, she won 1st Place in the 7th grade section of the 35th Audrey Thayer Piano Competition, and in 2015, Rachel was awarded 1st Place in the Elementary/Middle School section of the 38th Renee Fisher Piano Competition. She also attended the MNTA junior piano competition and was awarded 3rd place in the Connecticut state competition.  

• Honorable Mentions were awarded to Caroline Ma, Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT, Grade 10, (Teacher: Margreet Francis, Hartt Community Division) and to Noah Yoon, Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT, Grade 11, (Teacher: Malgosia Lis, Hartt Community Division) 

Winners of the Strings Division of the 2017 Musical Club of Hartford Competition:

• Kayla Bryan (First Place: violin), Grade 11, will perform Partita No. 3 in E Major, 3rd Movement (Gavotte en Rondeau) by J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and Bael Schen: II Nigun, Adagio non Troppo by Ernest Bloch (1880-1959). Kayla Bryan is a junior at Guilford High School and a violin student of Donna Agai at the Hartt School Community Division. She is a member of the Connecticut Youth Symphony where she won the 2016 Concerto Competition. She was also the recipient of awards in the Hamden Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the David Einfeldt Chamber Music Seminar Concerto Competition. She attended the Preludio program at Ithaca College in 2015 and the Greenwood Chamber Music Camp this past summer. Kayla took part in the Hartt Honors Recitals from 2012-2016, receiving the Senior Honors Recital Underclassman Award in 2016.

• Matthew Hill (Second Place: violin), will be performing Praeludium and Allegro in the Style of Pagnani by Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) and Partita No. 3 in E Major (Preludio) by J. S. Bach (1685-1750) accompanies by Frank Viola. Matthew Hill is a freshman at Conard High School in West Hartford. He studies violin with Teri Einfeldt at the Hartt School Community Division, is Concertmaster of the Opus 89 Orchestra, and an active chamber musician. He is a member of I Giovanni Solisti string orchestra in the West Hartford Public Schools, and was the featured soloist with Northwinds Symphonic Band on Long Island in November 2016. He performed in the Junior Honors Recital at Hartt for the past three years, was Concertmaster of the 2016 Northern Regional Middle School Orchestra, and will be a member of the Northern Regional High School Orchestra in 2017.

• Abigail Sunde (Third Place: violin), will be performing Sonata No. 1in G minor by J. S. Bach (1685-1750) and Praeludium and Allegro in the Style of Pagnani by Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) accompanied by Frank Viola. Abigail Sunde is a ninth grader at Miss Porter's School in Farmington. She studies violin with Teri Einfeldt and has studied piano with Malgosia Lis since age 4 at the Hartt School Community Division. She participates in chamber music, orchestra, and currently the Connecticut Youth Orchestra. Since age 9, she has performed in the international biennial orchestra and masterclasses for violin and piano through the Suzuki Association Americas. Abigail participated in middle school regional competitions, and was a Connecticut representative for the Music Teachers National Association Junior Strings Division.

Honorable Mention was awarded to Sofia Gilchenok (viola), Grade 9, from Columbia; Lillian Yim (cello), Grade 9, from Unionville; and Elliott Davis (violin), Grade 10, from Avon, CT

Winners of the Winds Division of the 2017 Musical Club of Hartford Competition

• Hazel Wang (First Place, flute) performing Sonata for Flute and Piano by Pierre Sancan (1946), accompanied by Gaylien Chun. Hazel is a sophomore at the Ethel Walker School, in Simsbury, Ct. In China, Hazel studied with Daming Zhang, Bile Zhang, Jeffrey Khaner. In Connecticuty she studied with Gonzalo Cortes, and currently studies with Minta White. In her native China, she has won the CCTV National Talent Competition twice, won 2nd prize in the China Flute Association Competitions twice, and won first prize in the International Orchestra Competition in Singapore. She also participated in master classes with the principal flutists of the Singapore Symphony, as well as the China National Symphony. Here in Connecticut, Hazel has been accepted by audition into the Northern Region Orchestra for the past 3 years, as well as being principal flute in CT All State Band last year.

• Seohyun Hong (Second Place, flute) performing Sonatina for Flute and Piano (second and third Movments) by Eldin Burton (1948), accompanied by Adrienne Greenbaum, is a junior at Staples High School in Westport, CT. She studies with Adrienne Greenbaum. In the past two years, she has been accepted into the CT Western Region Band and Orchestra and CT All State Band. Seohyun won the American Chamber Orchestra’s Concerto competition in 2016, and performed with them as soloist. She has been performing with the Norwalk Youth Symphony Orchestra for 8 years, being Principal flute in 2013, Assistant 2nd Flute and Piccolo, 2014/15, and 2nd Principal Flute in 2016.

• Yoseph Kim (Third Place, clarinet) performing Solo de Concours by A. Messager, (1899), accompanied by Gaylien Chun, is a senior at the Hopkins School in New Haven. He studies with Julie Levine at the Neighborhood School. Joseph has participated in the Hopkins School Orchestra for the past 5 years, and has been Principal clarinet for 3 years. He has also participated in the Neighborhood Music Youth School Orchestra, as well as the NMS Wind Quartet for the past 4 years. Joseph was selected by audition for the Southern Region Orchestra for 4 years, and participated in CT All State in 2011, and in 2010 as Principal Clarinet of the Band.

Honorable Mention was awarded to Saomai Nguyen, a junior at Hall High School in West Hartford, CT who studies with Dawn Matthews and Curt Blood and who was also the 2nd Prize Winner in the Musical Club’s Piano Competition.

Free Admission.