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Congratulations to the winners of the Fall Concerto Competition, which was held Wednesday, October 24, 2018, in Kulas Hall.

Violinists Shannon Lee and Ann Yu (who both study with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman) and pianist Sara Daneshpour (Babayan) were all selected to perform with the xxxx��Ƶ Orchestra in the spring semester, under the direction of a guest conductor. Conor McAvinue (Irvine) and Siyao Li (Paik) were awarded honorable mentions and will each perform on a conducting recital.

“I'm really looking forward to performing with the xxxx��Ƶ orchestra next semester,” says Lee. “I love the Walton Concerto and am excited to play with the different layers and colors in the full orchestration of this piece.”

Yu says: “I am so thrilled and honored for the opportunity to perform with the xxxx��Ƶ Orchestra in the spring and I couldn't have done it without the love, support and inspiration from my family, friends and my incredible teachers Mr. Laredo and Mr. Sloman! It has always been a dream of mine to perform the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with orchestra because of it's beautiful lyricism and virtuosity.”

“Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2 is a work I have the deepest love for and to have an opportunity to perform this piece with my friends and colleagues in the Spring is an experience I am greatly looking forward to,” explains Daneshpour. “I would like to express my immense gratitude to my teacher, Sergei Babayan, whose genius is a ever-flowing source of inspiration and energy for me.”

The judges were Olga Kaler, Dina Kuznetsova, Jerrod Price, Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Brian Sweigart.