Winners announced for 2015 Young Texas Artists Music Competition

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - The 31st annual Young Texas Artists Music Competition (YTA), held its Finalists' Concert & Awards Saturday evening, March 14 at the Crighton Theatre in Conroe. Eight finalists, out of 70 applicants accepted to compete, battled it out for cash prizes and performance opportunities.

The Bach, Beethoven & Barbecue gala, chaired by Shana and Tim Arthur, kicked off the celebration with the competition's most successful gala yet. Attendees at the sell-out event enjoyed a barbecue dinner, live auction and entertainment by Bill Mock and the Texas Fiddlers in an elegant tent just outside the theater. After the gala, the crowd filled nearly all 500+ seats in the theater.

The three-day event is open to musicians between the ages of 18 and 32 who are Texas residents or students enrolled in a Texas college, university or music school. The musicians compete in one of four divisions: Voice; Piano; Strings; and Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar.

The competition is the only one of its kind in Texas and one of the few in the country to offer all categories of classical music annually.

Susie Pokorski, chair and executive director of YTA, and a dedicated staff and team of volunteers work all year to make this important event happen for these deserving young musicians.

Master of ceremonies St. John Flynn, arts and culture director with Houston Public Media (KUHA Classical 91.7 FM), opened the competition. Gala co-chairs Shana and Tim Arthur took a few minutes to recognize of this year's honorees, long-time YTA supporters Shirley and Lee Pruitt.

Returning to the competition this year, pianist Jade Simmons, touring and recording artist and webcast host for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, entertained the audience with her insightful interviews of the Young Texas Artists finalists.

Top winner of the evening was pianist Yurie Farnsworth, who captured the Gold Medal in the Piano Division and the 2015 YTA Grand Prize for her performance of "Concerto No. 1 for Piano in B-flat minor, Op. 23" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Farnsworth is currently working toward a degree in piano performance at Rice University.

Violinist Jihyun Kim, who is studying for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The University of Texas at Austin, won the Gold in the Strings Division with her interpretation of Jean Sibelius' "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 61."

Harpist Grace Browning won the Gold Medal in the Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar Division with her performance of "Scintillation" by Carlos Salzedo. Browning has a Master of Music from The Juilliard School and is currently principal harp for the Dallas Opera.

Tenor Galeano Salas won the Gold Medal in the Voice Division with his performance of "Che Gelida Manina" from Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème and "Ah, Lève-toi, Soleil!" from Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. A hit with the audience, Salas also garnered the Audience Choice Award. He holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from Yale University.

Silver Medalists were pianist Yibing Zhang, cellist Mingyao Zhao, soprano Megan Gryga, and Adam Gingery on the euphonium.

Each silver medalist receives $1,000, each gold medalist receives $3,000 and the winner of the Audience Choice award receives an additional $1,000. The 2015 YTA Grand Prize winner receives an additional $3,000 plus an invitation for a solo performance with the Allen Philharmonic, near Dallas. Invitations will be extended to additional finalists for performances with other Texas arts organizations, including the Conroe Symphony and the Montgomery County Choral Society.

Esteemed jurists selected for the competition by YTA artistic director Emelyne Bingham were Becky Brown, artistic and general administrator, Da Camera Chamber Music and Jazz; Roger Pines, dramaturg, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Daniel Cataneo, pianist, faculty at the Dalcroze Institute at The Juilliard School; Larry Hutchinson, bassist, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; and John Ellis, pianist, director of graduate studies in piano pedagogy, University of Michigan. Unique to the competition, the jurists provide valuable, written critique to all competitors.

Young Texas Artists Music Competition, designated as an official music competition of the State of Texas, was created in 1983 by the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society to encourage excellence in young musicians and to further artistic growth throughout Texas. For more information, visit www.youngtexasartists.org.

For sponsorship opportunities in next year's event or membership in the YTA Circle, contact Susie Pokorski at susiepokorski@gmail.com or 936-756-7017.