2019 Walgreens Competition Winners Announced
Over 200 exceptional young musicians from all corners of the country, competed in Midwest Young Artists Conservatory’s 2019 Walgreens National Concerto Competition from December 28 to December 30 at Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall and the MYAC Center at Fort Sheridan in Highwood, IL.
Students from elementary through 12th grades competed for more than $20,000 in scholarships and cash prizes in the MYAC Division and the Open Division, which were both further divided into the Junior Level (up to 8th grade) and the Senior Level (9th through 12th graders).
A panel of distinguished judges selected the winners and delivered individual comments on each performance. These young musicians will also have the chance to perform their winning pieces with MYAC’s full orchestras, and on the prestigious “From the Top” nationally syndicated radio program. Walgreens Corporation’s annual sponsorship enables MYAC to provide students with preeminent artist-educator judges, a video recording of their performance, written performance evaluations, and an inviting and nurturing environment in which to participate.
Overall winners will perform at the February 23, 2020 MYAC concert at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University. Category winners are chosen to perform at a Winners Recital at Bennett-Gordon Hall at Ravinia Festival campus in Highland Park. Winning soloists may also be selected for performance opportunities with area professional and community orchestras.
2019 Walgreens National Concerto Competition Winners List
OVERALL OPEN DIVISION GRAND WINNER: Masha Lakisova, violin (The Overall Open Division Grand Winner is decided between the Open Junior and Open Senior Division winners.)
JUNIOR OPEN DIVISION
OVERALL WINNER: Noah Kim, piano
Strings Winner: Madeline Cha, violin
Strings Honorable Mentions: Bianca Ciubancan, violin; Aiden Yu, violin; Jan Vargas Nedvetsky, cello; Joshua Wolford, violin
Piano Winner: Noah Kim, piano
Piano Honorable Mentions: Jeremy Liu, piano; Vivian Zhu, piano; Shixun Song, piano
Early Music Winner: Esme Arias-Kim, viola
Early Music Honorable Mention: Matthew Hahn, piano
Other Instruments Winner: Anna Huelke, flute
Voice Winner: Jaiden Hsu, voice
SENIOR OPEN DIVISION
OVERALL WINNER: Masha Lakisova, violin (Bartok)
Strings Winner: Masha Lakisova, violin (Bartok)
Strings Honorable Mentions: Loa Cho, cello; William Tan, cello; Manou Magdalena Chakravorty, cello; Zechariah Mo, viola; Celina Bethoux, violin
Piano Winner: Regina Lin, piano
Piano Honorable Mentions: Perren-Luc Thiessen, piano; Frank Gao, piano; Ashley Kim, piano
Early Music Winner: Jack Thompson, oboe
Early Music Honorable Mention: Simon Cheng, oboe
Other Instruments Winner: Abby Grace, flute
Other Instruments Honorable Mention: Gabriel Hsieh, percussion
Voice Winner: Alanna Beilke, voice (Handel)
SENIOR MYAC ORCHESTRA DIVISION
OVERALL WINNER: Ella Saputra, violin
Strings Winner: Ella Saputra, violin
Strings Honorable Mentions: Liam Diethrich, violin; Samuel Du, cello; Emma Foreman, cello; Bella Kim, viola (Walton); Ruth Kim, violin (Khachaturian); Ian King, bass; Grace Mockus, cello; Beatrice Park, violin; Haoming Song, cello
Piano Winner: None
Piano Honorable Mention: Jenny Zhu, piano
Early Music Winner: Bella Kim, viola (Hoffmeister)
Early Music Honorable Mention: Ruth Kim, violin (Vitali)
Other Instruments Winner: Eric Butler, clarinet
Other Instruments Honorable Mentions: Sophia Katsma, flute; Timothy Zhang, oboe
Voice Winner: None
JUNIOR MYAC ORCHESTRA DIVISION
OVERALL WINNER: Momo Frederickson, violin
Strings Winner: Momo Frederickson, violin
Strings Honorable Mentions: Javier Irizarry, violin; Eshaan Mahajan, cello
Piano winner: Jocelyn Gao, piano
Piano Honorable Mention: Elizabeth Romanyuk, piano
Early Music Winner: Jocelyn Gao, piano
Other Instruments Winner: Tabitha Mo, flute