PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE´S INSTRUMENTAL COMPETITION OFFERS YOUNG MUSICIANS A "SHOWCASE" TO SHINE
Jenine Baines
February 13, 2008
The competition – established in 1985 for string, woodwind and brass players aged 16 to 24 years old – awarded a total of $30,000 this year. In addition to Grand Finalist Pasha Tseitlin, winners included:
Alexandra Wallin, 21, flute, 1st prize - woodwinds
Jose Gonzalez, 22, clarinet, 2nd prize - woodwinds
Carrie Schafer, 22, trumpet, 2nd prize - brass
Sam Armstrong, 18, trombone, 2nd prize - brass
Ni Tao, 23, cello, 1st prize - strings
Ryan Lee, 23, violin, 2nd prize – strings
Mason Yu, 17, violin – Jack Smith Memorial Award (Most Promising)
"The level of mastery which was on display at these auditions was truly amazing," said Head Judge Donald Green, Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. "The depth of musical ability and understanding surpassed anything one would normally expect to hear from such young players."
Joining Green as judges were Ingrid Chun, second violin, Los Angeles Philharmonic; David Garrett, cello, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Anne Gabriele, second oboe, Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gary Bovyer, clarinet, a studio musician who also performs with such orchestras as the Long Beach Symphony and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Herbert Ausman, trombone, Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Jason Gamer, a freelance trumpeter and teacher who has played with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Opera Pacific, New West Symphony and the Riverside Philharmonic.
"We´re very grateful that such an impressive panel of judges volunteered their time to work with us this year," says Susanne Abbott, chairman of the Instrumental Competition. "But what I´ve loved most was having the opportunity to get to know each of the nearly 50 young musicians who took part in the program this year. They were all such superb musicians. I´m grateful I didn´t have to make the decision. I´d have selected all of them!"
"I feel really blessed to win," says Tseitlin. "All the competitors were of high class caliber and the competition has always had such a high standard every year."
The judges for this year´s competition are not the only professional musicians impressed by Pasha Tseitlin´s artistry. A student of internationally renowned violinist and USC Professor Emerita of violin Alice Schoenfeld, Tseitlin recently placed first in the La Jolla Symphony Competition. In fact, later this month, he will appear as soloist with the La Jolla Symphony for a performance of Prokofiev´s Violin Concerto No. 1.
The young violinist – whose parents were both professional musicians and whose grandfather was the orchestra conductor of the Bolshoi Ballet – made his orchestral debut when he was only nine years old, playing Vivaldi´s Four Seasons. After graduating this year from USC, Tseitlin will attend the Juilliard School in New York City in the fall, where he will earn a masters degree as a student of MET Opera concertmaster David Chan. But before heading to New York, Tseitlin will attend the International Music Festival in Viana Do Castelo, Portugal, as a teaching assistant, chamber coach, and faculty artist.
However, Tseitlin does not limit his artistry to the classical music world. This summer, in addition to attending the music festival in Portugal and taking part in the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, the violinist will tour Europe with a jazz band led by Rick Overton, a trumpeter who is the lead professor of jazz at Tokyo College of Music.
"I'm also featured on a DVD released by Verve Records and PBS, entitled We Love Ella: A Tribute to the First Lady of Song,' adds Tseitlin. "I play along side with jazz singer Lizz Wright in a tune called Reaching for the Moon."
While every Grand Prize recipient is unique, many of Tseitlin´s fellow winners have equally flourishing careers. 2003´s winner, trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos, was invited to give a solo performance at Disney Hall. Flautist Abel Delgado, who won in 2000, performed twice with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a soloist and currently holds the position of Assistant Conductor for the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra while 1999´s Grand Prize winner, violist Richard O´Neill, was the featured soloist for the 2000 Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert and is today a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
"One of our Grand Finalists has even made a return visit to the Instrumental Competition," says Abbott. "But, this time, he came as a judge."
She is referring to cellist Jonathan Karoly who, after winning the competition in 1996, became the youngest member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 22.
Over the past 23 years since its founding, the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition has awarded nearly $400,000 in prize money. Funding for these awards is raised from the proceeds of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts´ annual benefit event, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design. This year´s house will be open to the public, from Tuesday through Sunday, April 20 through May 18, 2008. For more information or to order tickets online, visit www.pasadenashowcase.org. Tickets may also be purchased by calling (714) 442-3872.
Since 1948, Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) has awarded more than 15 million dollars in gifts and grants to support the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, other non-profit organizations and local symphonic, cultural and educational musically oriented programs for youth. In addition, PSHA supports three programs of its own: the Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert, which has introduced over 200,000 fourth grade students to classical concerts performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Music Mobile, which has shared the joy of symphonic music with over 100,000 3rd graders in classrooms at schools throughout the San Gabriel Valley; and the Instrumental Competition for aspiring musicians living or attending school in Southern California.
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