Winners of Young Texas Artists Music Competition announced

CONROE, Texas – Celebrating its 32nd year, the Young Texas Artists Music Competition’s Finalists’ Concert & Awards was held on Saturday, March 12, at downtown Conroe’s Crighton Theatre.

Open to musicians ages 18 to 32 who are Texas residents or enrolled in a Texas college, university or music school, the competition awards prizes in the following categories: Voice; Piano; Strings; and Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar. This year’s three-day competition leading up to the Finalists’ Concert saw 60 musicians representing 13 countries performing with a goal of reaching the finals and an opportunity to receive cash prizes and performance opportunities.

The Finalists’ Concert & Awards followed the highly successful Bach, Beethoven & Barbecue gala, which was co-chaired in an encore performance by Shana and Tim Arthur, and received major support from community sponsors including Streater-Smith Honda Nissan, Carol and Doug Aycock and the City of Conroe.

Returning as master of ceremonies was St. John Flynn, arts and culture director of Houston Public Media. Also returning to the competition as a special guest to lend a hand with the competition was best-selling author, Jade Simmons, who interviewed the finalists on-stage and announced her further affiliation with YTA as a career coach.

Simmons told the audience that she will share her strategies with the finalists on how to build a sustainable career in the arts; something of which she’s had considerable success as an acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist, and recently having been tapped to star in a new musical and feature film called “Lillette’s Rhythm Club,” the story about the life of legendary Jazz Concert Pianist Lillette Harris.

Susie Pokorski, chair and executive director of YTA, also took the stage to recognize the many volunteers whose help is invaluable in the success of the competition, as well as the Arthurs and the honorees of this year’s competition, Guy Martin and the late J. Ross Martin III.

“Jay had a passion for helping young singers and songwriters and a special affection for classical artists,” she said, adding that the brothers have been major community contributors for many years, extending a legacy of civic and cultural leadership in Montgomery County, each representing a unique devotion to fostering excellence in promising musical talent.

“Guy was actually a ‘young artist of Texas,’ ” she said, “not with this organization, but as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and flutist here and in California where he also cut a few records and experienced the many challenges and opportunities facing young musicians.”

Xuesha Hu took home the competition’s Grand Prize as well as the Gold Medal in the Piano Division for her performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15.” Hu lives in Fort Worth and earned her bachelor’s in piano performance from Texas Christian University.

The Gold medal in the Strings Division was awarded to cellist Katherine Audas, whose performance of “Variations on a Rococo Theme for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 33” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, also gained her the evening’s Audience Choice Award. Audas is presently pursuing an undergraduate degree in cello performance at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

Harpist Rachel Knight, a student at the University of Arizona who is studying for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree, received the Gold Medal in the Winds, Brass, Percussion, Harp and Guitar Division with Alberto Ginastera’s “Harp Concerto, Op. 25.”

Mezzo soprano Stephanie Sanchez, a student at Rice University, was awarded the Gold Medal in the Voice Division for her performance of Georges Bizet’s “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from Carmen, and Gioachino Rossini’s “Cruda sorte!” from L’italiana in Algeri.

Receiving Silver Medals at the competition were Peng Wang on double bass, soprano Lisa Borik and pianist Robert Levinger.

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 2016 YTA Grand Prize winner receives an additional $3,000. Invitations will be extended to several finalists for performances with other Texas arts organizations, including the Conroe Symphony, the Montgomery County Choral Society and The Woodlands Symphony.

Tasked with selecting the winners, as well as providing valuable, written critique to the competitors – unique to the competition – was a panel of esteemed judges composed of: Kay Stern, concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra; William Wellborn, from the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory; Erik Finley, vice president of artistic administration at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra; Richard Giangiulio, music director of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra; and Eric Mitchko, general director of the North Carolina Opera.

For more information about the Young Texas Artists Music Competition, visit youngtexasartists.org. For information about sponsorship opportunities for future events, contact Susie Pokorski at susiepokorski@gmail.com or 936-756-7017.