Winners of Statewide Competition From Asheville, Fayetteville, Chapel Hill, and Durham
The North Carolina Symphony is pleased to announce that four talented young musicians have won top prizes in the 2015 Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition, the state’s premier competition for young instrumentalists. The finals of this rigorous, two-round audition were held in Raleigh in May. Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Symphony Associate Conductor David Glover served as judges.
First place in the competition’s senior division (16 to 21 years of age) was awarded to pianist Kiffen Loomis, 16, of Asheville. He performed Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, and received a $500 cash prize and an invitation to perform with the North Carolina Symphony at a future concert.
First place in the junior division (10 to 15 years old) went to pianist Gabriel Crist, 11, of Durham, who performed the first movement of Grieg’s Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 16. He received a $300 cash prize.
Senior division second-place honors went to pianist Jinho Kang, 16, of Chapel Hill, who performed the first movement of Grieg’s Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 16. He received a $250 cash prize.
Junior division second place went to cellist and violinist Shinae Ra, 15, of Fayetteville, who performed the first movement of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104. She received a $150 cash prize.
Kiffen Loomis
Kiffen Loomis, age 16, is from Asheville, N.C. He has studied piano with Juilliard professor Choong Mo Kang, John O’Conor, Douglas Weeks, and Suzan Fehr, his current teacher. As a solo and chamber musician, Loomis has performed on branches of NPR in North Carolina and Colorado. He has participated in master-classes with artists Veda Kaplinsky, Stephen Hough, Alon Goldstein, Ilena Vered, and Orion Weiss. Loomis has studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Southeastern Piano Festival, and Brevard Music Center. During the summer of 2015, he will participate in the Banff International Music Festival.
Loomis was the junior division Grand Prize Winner of the Charlotte Symphony Guild’s 2013 Young Artist Competition. The following year, he won the junior division of the North Carolina Symphony’s Youth Concerto Competition. During the summer of 2014, he was one of 20 pianists selected internationally to compete in the Arthur Frasier International Piano Competition. In 2015, he won the senior division of the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Peter Perret Youth Talent Search, the senior division of the Charlotte Symphony Guild’s Young Artist Competition, the Hendersonville Symphony’s Young Artist Concerto Competition, and the Asheville Symphony’s Young Artist Concerto Competition. Kiffen has performed with the Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Hendersonville, and Charlotte Youth Symphony Orchestras, and will perform with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra in 2016. In the statewide competitions hosted by the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs, he has been awarded first-prize eight times.
Gabriel Crist
Gabriel John Loesch Crist, age 11, is from Durham, N.C. His musical studies began at age five with the violin. Shortly afterward, he began studying piano and has studied with Greg McCallum since 2010. He has won top honors in piano competitions sponsored by the Chapel Hill Music Teachers Association and the North Carolina Music Teachers Association. Last spring, he was awarded third place in the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Peter Perret Youth Talent Search for his performance on the piano.
He has been a prolific composer from the age of six and currently studies composition and music theory with Stephen Jaffe. Earlier this year, one of his chamber works, Magic Numbers, was premiered at Duke University by the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet. In addition, he has studied cello performance with Leonid Zilper since he was seven years old. Crist has participated in orchestral and chamber music programs, both as a pianist and a cellist, with the Duke University String School and Mallarme Youth Chamber Orchestra. During the course of his musical studies, he has benefited from the instruction of many teachers, including Bonnie Thron, Gal Nyska, Julie Harris, and Candida Yoshikai.
Jinho Kang
Jinho Kang, age 16, is from Chapel Hill, N.C. He began playing piano at age 6 and violin at age 12. He has studied piano with Margaret O’Brien for 3.5 years and violin with Robert Rempher for 4.5 years. Kang currently attends East Chapel Hill High school as a sophomore. He has won many awards in piano competitions, such as first place for the Charles F. T. Nakarai Piano Competition in 2013, first place in the UNC School of the Arts Classical Sonata Competition in 2014, and the Eleanor Holter Award (first place) for the ECU Pre-College piano competition in 2014, among many others. For violin, he performed as 2nd chair in the NC Eastern Region Orchestra in 2014 and plays as the 1st violinist of the Epsilon Quartet. Kang will participate in the North Carolina Governor’s School this summer and in the fall will attend UNC School of the Arts as a junior.
Shinae Ra
Shinae Ra, age 15, is from Fayetteville. She began her her cello studies at the age of 8, and she has studied with Ken Ding and now studies with Emanuel Gruber who is a cello professor at East Carolina University. She was born to parents who were musicians, so she had many opportunities for musical experiences. She was involved in the academy for gifted young musicians in Germany when she was 4, and in South Korea when she was 9 years old.
She performed with the Triangle Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (TYP) in Raleigh, MYCO chamber orchestra in Chapel Hill, Middle School Youth Orchestra (MSYO) in Fayetteville and is now a current member of Fayetteville Chamber Orchestra (FCO). She attended UNCG summer music camp in 2010, Summit Music Festival, with scholarship, which was held in New York in 2013 and 2014, and MYCO summer workshop in 2014 with full scholarship.
In 2015, she won first place at a national competition called AACS (American Association of Christian schools) and at Chun University Music Competition. She won first place in Tar River Concerto Competition in 2014, first place at the North Carolina Music Teachers Association (NCMTA) junior string division, and third place in the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) Eastern State junior string division in 2013. She earned second place at in the MTNA North Carolina Junior String Division, grand prize at Kiwanis, in Fayetteville, and in the American String Teacher Association (ASTA) North Carolina Junior string division in 2012.
The annual Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition provides an opportunity for young artists of North Carolina to gain recognition and perform alongside the finest musicians in the state. Open to instrumentalists between ten and 21 years of age, the competition highlights North Carolina residents and students enrolled full-time in a North Carolina school.
The preliminary rounds were held at the Wainwright Music Building at Meredith College in Raleigh in April. Soloists were asked to perform from memory one movement from any concerto of their choosing. Seven performers advanced to the final round, held in the Brown-McPherson Music Building at William Peace University in Raleigh in May. Cash prizes are awarded to each first- and second-place honoree, with the winner of the senior division invited to perform with the Symphony.
The Youth Concerto Competition receives support from the Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Fund, created in 1971 to support North Carolina Symphony initiatives that promote young artists in their quest to become professional musicians.
For complete information on the Symphony’s education programs, including how to attend or schedule an education concert in your area, visit www.ncsymphony.org/educationprograms or contact Sarah Gilpin at sgilpin@ncsymphony.org or 919.789.5461.