Young Artist
Competition
*Programs managed by Bay Philharmonic Guild
Welcome to the Annual
Young Artist Competition
The Young Artist Competition was established in 1966 to recognize outstanding Bay Area classical music students. The competition is open to students up to 23 years of age who must perform from memory a complete concerto though students under 16 can compete for the Alvin Dockter Award performing only a single movement. Competitions alternate between strings (violin, viola, cello and bass) and all other instruments (woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano and harp).
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Awards
Phyllis Merrifield Award
First Prize: $1000
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250
Dockter Award: $150
The Alvin Dockter Award is reserved for applicants under the age of 16.
The Bay Philharmonic Annual Young Artist Competitions rotate between strings (violin, viola, cello, and bass) and all other orchestral instruments.
The 2024 competition will be for piano, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
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Regulations
Open to piano, brass, woodwinds, percussion and harp players up to 23 years of age who meet the following conditions:
Reside or attend school in one of the nine Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, or Sonoma)
Were born on or after January 1, 2001.
Are able to perform from memory an entire concerto or a single major work for solo instrument and orchestra at least 15 minutes in duration.
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Auditions
Auditions will be held on Saturday, January 6 at First United Methodist Church in Fremont. Finals will be held on January 7 and are open to the public.
Completed applications must be postmarked or received no later than Monday, December 18, 2023.
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Regulations for the Alvin Dockter Award
Applicants must have been born on or after January 1, 2008, must live in one of the nine Bay Area counties, and must be able to perform from memory a single movement of a concerto or a single work for solo instrument and orchestra selected from the standard repertoire.
Application Fees
To pay your application fee:
You may do so online (There is an additional $2.00 processing fee) or,
Mail your $50 check payable to The Guild to:
Bay Phil Guild
ATTN: Young Artist Competition
PO Box 104Fremont, CA 94537
Previous Year Winners
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2023
First Prize: Dustin Breshears (16) - Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77
Second Prize: Valery Breshears (13) and Starla Breshears (14) - Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102
Third Prize: Fiona Huang (14) - Kabalevsky Cello Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 77
Honorable Mention: Cara Wang (12) - Lalo Cello Concerto in D Minor
Alvin Dockter Award: Ava Pakiam (12) - Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 by Pablo de Sarasate
Alvin Dockter Award Honorable Mention: Colin Breshears (10) - Andante e Rondo Ongarese Op. 34 for Viola by Carl Maria von Weber
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2022
Alvin Dockter Award: Xinran Shi (12) - Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58 - 1st Movement
Alvin Dockter Award Honorable Mentions:
Sora Corro (10) - Kabalevsky Youth Concerto No. 3, Op. 50 - 3rd Movement
Katelyn Deng (12) - Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15 - 1st Movement
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2021
Results will be posted …
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2020
Competition not held.
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2019
First Place: Shota Otaguro (21) - Sarmientos Concerto for Marimba & Orchestra
Second Prize: Leyla Kabuli (19) - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2
Third Prize: Angela Tsang (15) - Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1
Nafisa Taghioff Award (under 16): Erin Yu (14) - Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, first movement
Other finalists:
Jonah Cabral (21) - Larsson Saxophone Concerto
Nnamdi Odita-Honnah (20) - Ibert Flute Concerto
Honorable Mention was awarded to the following:
Spencer Cha (14) - Schumann Piano Concerto
Oliver Corro (11) - Haydn Piano Concerto No. 11, third movement
Daniel Mah (16) - Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1
Henry Smolen (20) - Mendelssohn Piano Converto No. 1
Ryan Wang (12) - Ravel Piano Concerto in G, first movement
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2018
The 2018 Competition was for violin, viola, cello and bass and was held on January 6-7.
Phyllis Merrifield Award (First Prize): Eunha Kim (17) - Sibelius Violin Concerto
Second Prize:
Joseph Wong (17) - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Sharon Yuan (15) - Bruch's First Violin Concerto
Nafisa Taghioff Award: Grace Huh (15) - Ravel's Tzigane
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2017
Phyllis Merrifield Award (First Place): Michael Peng (21) - Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto. He also performed that work with the Fremont Symphony in the 2017-18 season.
Second Prize: Vivian Wang (11) - Bach’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Third Prize: Yuzhe Chen (19) - Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto
Nafisa Taghioff Award: Joey Zhu (15) - first movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor
Honorable Mention: Feng Yang Ju (11) - first movement of Haydn’s Oboe Concerto in C Major
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2016
Finals were held January 10, 2016 with violinist Ellie Kanayama and violist Meredith Kufchak competing for First Prize. Violinists Valery Breshears and Eunha Kim, and cellists Angeline Kiang, Jessica Kuo and Theresa Lee competed for the Nafisa Taghioff Award.
Meredith Kufchak won First Prize, Ellie Kanayama won Second Prize and Valery Breshears won the Taghioff Award.
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2014
Phyllis Merrifield Award First Prize: Alice Zhu (16) – Concerto No.1 in Em, op. 11 – Frederic Chopin
Second Prize: Hugo Kitano (18) - Concerto No.1 in Em, op. 11 – Frederic Chopin
Third Prize: Agata Sorotokin (16) - Concerto No.3 in C Maj, op. 26 – Serge Prokofiev
Honorable Mention: Misha Galant (16) - Concerto No.2 in Cm, op. 18 – Sergei Rachmaninoff
Taghioff Award: Khoi Le (10) - Allegro assai from Concerto in D, op. 21 – Franz Joseph Haydn
Taghioff Award Honorable Mentions:
Elliot Wuu (14) – 1st movement of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2
Kyle Fang (14) – 1st movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3
Judges for the 2017 competition were pianist Hélène Wickett, trumpeter Carole Klein, and percussionist Norman Peck, all of whom are musicians in the Fremont Symphony Orchestra.