Competitions: 2022 Young Artist Competition
May 4: Junior instrumental division
May 5: Senior instrumental division
Virtual: Vocal competition
Please join us for the 2022 Young Artist Competition. While the vocal competition will take place vitrually for 2022, the middle school instrumental will take place on May 4th and high school instrumental division will be May 5th, both at WPI.
This annual family of competitions awards thousands of dollars in prizes to Worcester area young musicians. The instrumental competitions are comprised of middle school and high school divisions, and are open to Worcester County residents. The vocal competition is open to singers ranging from juniors in high school to undergraduate college students. Instrumental students perform classical repertoire; vocal students perform classical songs & arias or Broadway show tunes/musical theater selections.
Donate to the Young Artist Competition
Please consider making a donation to help us continue the competitions. For more details email heather@musicworcester.org.
The Young Artist Competition is sponsored, in part, by the Sylvia Gafvert Stubblebine Fund of Greater Worcester Community Foundation.
Junior Instrumental Division
Open to middle school students who reside in Worcester County, the Junior Instrumental Division requires students perform classical repertoire on any standard orchestra or band instrument. Sonata movements, concerto movements, etudes, and similar works are all acceptable. Please ask about repertoire if you have any questions!
The top prize of the Junior Division is the Midge Blue Hamilton Prize, name for a former staff member who worked at Music Worcester from 2006 – 2020. This award celebrates her dedication and service to the organization. For over ten years, Midge was Director of Marketing and then moved into a part-time role as the Community & Education Liaison, which included overseeing the Young Artist Competition! Midge is also a musician herself–involved in choral arts and even a bit of a violinist!
Senior Instrumental Division
Similar to the Junior Division, the Senior Instrumental Division is open to any high school instrumentalist residing in Worcester County. Concerto movements, sonata movements, etudes, and other similar works are all appropriate repertoire. Please ask if you have a piece in mind and aren’t sure!
The top award of the Young Artist Competition is the Stasia B. Hovenesian Prize of the Music Guild of Music Worcester. The prize honors Music Worcester’s long-time executive director, who led the organization for more than 38 years and stepped down in 2012. The first Hovenesian Prize was awarded in 2018.
Vocal Division (high school & college)
The Vocal Division is open to high school juniors and seniors, as well as undergraduate college students. There is no geographic restriction. Opera arias, concert arias, art songs, Broadway songbook, and musical theater selections are all accepted repertoire for the Vocal Division.
The top prize of the Vocal Division is named for Dr. Paul E. Shannon (1932-2016), who was a long-time supporter of Music Worcester and the former Opera Worcester. He regularly delivered pre-concert talks for Music Worcester’s Mechanics Hall events and gave lectures series for the Music Guild of Music Worcester. When the Vocal Division was formerly run by Opera Worcester, Paul served as a judge for many years.
Dr. Gerald R. Mack Award
To Further the Understanding of Music
The Worcester Chorus of Music Worcester, Inc. announces the 2022 Dr. Gerald R. Mack Music Award of $1000 to be given to a qualified, graduating high school senior from the greater Worcester area, who plans to major in music in college in the fall of 2022.
Dr. Mack was the esteemed conductor of Worcester Chorus for 28 years, and was director of choral activities at the Hartt School of Music, at the University of Hartford, CT. The award was named in his honor upon his retirement in 2008 from Worcester Chorus.
Please fill out the Mack Scholarship Google Form to apply.
If there are any questions, please contact Patsy Cecil at: pcecil380@gmail.com
Competition Sponsors
Prizes are funded through the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, the Music Guild’s Hovenesian Prize, and donations made to Music Worcester to support the Young Artist Competition.
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Senior Division Instrumental
1st Prize, Stasia B. Hovenesian Prize of The Music Guild of Music Worcester (tie)
- Ethan Chaves, (Charlton, Homeschool, student of Joel Smirnoff)
- Justin Wang (Northborough, Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, Helena Vesterman)
2nd Prize
- Plamen Fung (Westborough, Whitmore Online High School, student of Anne Howarth)
3rd Prize
- Selena Shen (Shrewsbury, Worcester Academy, student of Faina Kofman)
Honorable Mention
- Mateo Vidali (Holden, Wachusett Regional High School, student of Emmanuel Feldman)
Vocal Division — Collegiate
1st Prize, Dr. Paul E. Shannon Memorial Prize
- Kerrigan Bigalow (North Andover, The Juilliard School, student of Cynthia Hoffmann)
2nd Prize (tie)
- Sara Hargrave (Westborough, University of Cincinnati, student of Amy Johnson)
- Matthew Shifrin (Newton, New England Conservatory, student of Michael Meraw)
3nd Prize
- Katherine Platte (Hartford, University of Hartford, student of Deborah Lifton)
Judges Encouragement Award
- Tyreese Kadle (Cambridge, Longy School of Music, student of Jeffrey Matsey)
Junior Division Instrumental
1st Prize, Midge Blue Hamilton Prize
- Vivian Shen (Shrewsbury, Sherwood Middle School, student of) Faina Kofman
2nd Prize
- Samantha Wang (Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Helena Vesterman, Nicki Payne)
3rd Prize
- Alexander Hernández-Williams (Holden, Homeschool, student of Liana Zaretsky)
Honorable Mention
- Aditi Pathak (Shrewsbury, Oak Middle School, student of Myoung Han)
- April Zhang (Westborough, Sarah W. Gibbons Middle School, student of Anna Korsunsky)
Judges Encouragement Award
- Sofia Hernández-Williams (Holden, Homeschool, student of Tim Terranella)
Vocal Division — High School
1st Prize
- Lydia Rommel (Lexington, Lexington High School, student of D’Anna Fortunato)
2nd Prize
- Sachi Badola (Chelmsford, Chelmsford High School, student of Rob Woodin)
Judges Encouragement Award
- Avery Woods Weber (West Hartford, Hall High School, student of Janelle Robinson)
Senior Division Instrumental
1st Prize, Stasia B. Hovenesian Prize of The Music Guild of Music Worcester
- Hailey Meng, piano (Westborough, Westborough High School, student of Olga Rogach)
2nd Prize
- Justin Wang, piano (Northborough, Algonquin High School, student of Helena Vesterman)
3rd Prize
- Karthik Seetharaman, piano (Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury High School, student of Eleanor McLaughlin)
Vocal Division
1st Prize, Dr. Paul E. Shannon Memorial Prize (tie)
- Megan Cumming, soprano (Princeton, McGill University, student of Joanne Kolomyjec)
- Ivan Schwieger, baritone (Nantucket, Walnut HIll School for the Arts, student of Angela Gooch)
- Danielle Bavli, soprano (New York, Boston Conservatory, student of Kathryn Wright)
2nd Prize (tie)
- Darren Tucker, tenor (St. Louis, Boston Conservatory, student of Dr. Rebecca Folsom)
- Jingyi Huang, soprano (Boston, Longy School of Music, student of Dana Varga)
- Blair Jia, soprano (Natick, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, student of Matthew Anderson)
Junior Division Instrumental
1st Prize (tie)
- Madeline Jiang, piano (Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Lu Lu)
- Andrew Kim, cello (Grafton, Grafton Middle School, student of Ronald Lowry)
2nd Prize
- John Qiu, violin (Shrewsbury, Oak Middle School, student of Yulia Zhuravleva)
3rd Prize
- Plamen Fung, French horn (Westborough, Gibbons Middle School, student of Anne Howarth)
Honorable Mention
- Isabelle Zhao, piano (Shrewsbury, Oak Middle School, student of Olga Rogach)
- April Zhang, violin (Westborough, Mill Pond School, student of Anna Korsunsky)
Senior Division Instrumental
1st Prize, Stasia B. Hovenesian Prize of The Music Guild of Music Worcester
- Ashley Kim, violin (Grafton, Grafton High School, student of Peter Zazofsky)
2nd Prize
- Alyssa Guo, piano (Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury High School, student of Faina Kofman)
3rd Prize
- Hailey Meng, piano (Westborough, Westborough High School, student of Olga Rogach)
4th Prize
- Alyssa Goins, clarinet (Worcester, South High Community School, student of Nancy Ackerman)
Vocal Division
1st Prize, Dr. Paul E. Shannon Memorial Prize
- Kerrigan Bigelow, soprano (North Andover, North Andover High School, student of D’Anna Fortunato)
2nd Prize
- Megan Cumming, soprano (Princeton, McGill University, student of Joanne Kolomyjec)
Honorable Mention
- Julia James, vocalist (Southborough, Algonquin Regional High School, student of Sharon Erman)
Junior Division Instrumental
1st Prize (tie)
- Madeline Jiang, piano (Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Lu Lu)
- Justin Wang, piano (Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Helena Vesterman)
2nd Prize (tie)
- John Qiu, violin (Shrewsbury, Oak Middle School, student of Yulia Zhuravleva)
- Mateo Vidali, cello (Holden, Montview Middle School, student of Emmanuel Feldman)
3rd Prize, (tie)
- Maxwell Huang, piano (Shrewsbury, St. Bernadette School, student of Faina Kofman)
- Karthik Seetharaman, piano (Shrewsbury, Oak Middle School, student of Eleanor McLaughlin)
- Isabelle Zhao, piano (Shrewsbury, Sherwood Middle School, student of Olga Rogach)
Honorable Mention
- Isaac Brito, piano (South Lancaster, South Lancaster Academy, student of Connie Drexler)
- Plamen Fung, French horn (Westborough, Sarah Gibbons Middle School, student of Anne Howarth)
Senior Division Instrumental
1st place (tie, no other places awarded)
Sophie Chen, piano, Shrewsbury High School, student of Faina Kofman
Lazi Danga, piano, Worcester, Bancroft School, student of Olga Rogach
Kaede Ishidate, cello, Holden, Wachusett Regional, student of Ning Tien
Honorable Mention
Hailey Meng, piano, Westborough High School, student of Olga Rogach
Vocalists Division
1st place
Melody Qiao, Natick, Walnut Hill, student of Beth Canterbury
2nd place
Megan Cumming, Princeton, Wachusett Regional, student of Jane Shivick
3rd place
Sarah Hargrave, Hopkinton, Walnut Hill, student of Teresa Winner Blume
4th place
Zoe Langsdale, Amherst, Smith College, student of Karen Smith-Emerson
Special Encouragement Award
Weijhu Shao,Natick, Walnut Hill, student of Teresa Winner Blume
Junior Division Instrumental
1st place
Andrew Kim, cello, Grafton, Millbury Street Elementary, student of Ronald Lowry
2nd place (tie)
Jessie Liu, piano, Westborough, Sarah Gibbons Middle School, student of Faina Kofman
Justin Wang, piano, Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Helena Vesterman
3rd place (tie)
Madeline Jiang, piano, Northborough, Melican Middle School, student of Lu Lu
Vivian Liu, paino, Harvard, Bromfield School, student of Janet Ainsworth
Honorable Mention
Plamen Fung, French horn, Westborough, student of Anne Howarth
John Qiu, violin, Shrewsbury, student of Yulia Zhuravleva
From Adrien Finlay ...
Music Worcester donors feel so privileged to support area youth through the Young Artist Competitions. Judges in all divisions are unanimous in praising participants for their high skill levels and passion for their arts. Music Worcester extends a special note of thanks to instructors and teachers of all participants for encouraging them to pursue their musical studies with such success.