2008 Winner...Joyce Xi!

The 35th Young Artists’ Competition took place on Sunday, January 20th, with seven finalists from as close to home as Williamsport and as far afield as Altoona. For the first time in recent memory, no violinists were among the final seven; nevertheless, the quality of performances was extremely high. The competition judges were Reuben Councill, Rebecca Ciabattari, David Steinau, and Nancy Boston.

The competition’s prize was awarded to 14-year-old Joyce Xi of State College. She performed the first movement of Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto, and will reprise her performance--this time with full symphony orchestra--at the WSO’s Free Family Concert on Saturday, February 23rd, 2:00 pm, at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport. The adjudicators were unanimous in their assessment that Joyce played with “exceptional musicianship, delicacy, and had a thorough knowledge of the piece." Her teacher, Cecilia Dunoyer, accompanied her. Joyce has won the Ithaca College Piano Competition, has been placed third in the Triolo Competition, and has received honorable mention at the PMTA competition.

There were two runners up. In alphabetical order, they were Anthony Cornet, 18, of Altoona, and Brian Mextorf, 17, of Williamsport. Anthony (piano) performed the last movement of Ginastera’s Piano Concerto #1 opus 28, 4th movement—Toccata Concertata. He is a senior at Altoona High School and is a student of Steven Smith. He has won numerous awards and competitions, including the Triolo, PSU Summer Camp Honors, the Eyer Award, the Scurfield Hess Award, and the Robert Wright Scholarship. He gained honorable mention in the PMTA Baldwin Piano Competition and was chosen for the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts.

Brian Mextorf (voice) sang a recitative: "Let The Waters," followed by the aria, "Rolling Foaming Billows," from Haydn’s Creation. Brian is from Williamsport and is taught by Richard Kennedy. He has already embarked on a solo career, appearing locally as a soloist, and has won awards from the PMEA.

Both runners up have been asked to perform their solos at the spring concert of the Williamsport Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Other finalists were pianists Michael Lewis (15, Lewisburg), who played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and David Liu (14, State College),  who played the third movement of Beethoven’s Concerto #2 in Bb Major. Elisabeth Shafer (17, State College), who has been a former runner-up in this competition as a pianist, this year entered on trombone and played Guilmant’s Morceau Symphonique. Elisabeth will return to the piano as part of the WSO’s Free Family Concert on February 23rd, playing one of the piano parts in Saint Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, along with her teacher and father, Timothy Shafer. Evangeline Krajewski  (15, Liberty) played the flute, with a performance of Doppler’s (arranged Moyse) Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise.

The Young Artists' Competition is supported through an endowment of Koppers Inc., and is sponsored by Friends of the Symphony.