About

The Second G.Gershwin International Music Competition 2015 took place at the gorgeous
Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn Heights, New York. Organized on the large-scale international level, George Gershwin Competition 2015 attracted instrumentalists and vocalists from 33 countries around the globe. In the United States, competition participants represented 18 States from California to New York. The Live Preliminary Round Auditions took place in three States, spanning across New York (3 auditions), New Jersey, and Illinois (Chicago). Jury 2015 was comprised from musicians of international importance from The United States, Russia, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, China, South Korea, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia.
American as well as international Media and Internet channels covered the competition rounds.
Over 2,000 audience members attended the competition.
The competition esteemed invited guests included politicians, businessmen, investors, celebrities, and media representatives.

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Winners 2015

PIANO

Yinfei Wang made his first public appearance at the age of seven in the Shanghai Concert Hall.
Since winning the Second G.Gershwin International Music Competition 2015, he has appeared in solo recitals and chamber music concerts throughout China, Singapore, Spain and the USA.

He has performed in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center, and concert halls in Alaska, Anhui, Boston, Hangzhou, Santander, Shanghai and Tempe.
In 2009, he made his orchestral debut as soloist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic under the baton of Vladimir Feltsman.

He is currently in the Doctoral Program at the Manhattan School of Music in a studio of Philip Kawin.

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Multitalented pianist Clayton Stephenson is setting the bar high for young musicians to follow. The New York native’s gift for composing classical music was discovered when he was eight-years-old. He’s been recognized nationally with countless accolades ever since.
Upon winning the Second G.Gershwin International Music Competition 2015, Stephenson was a finalist in the 2016 Cooper International Piano Competition, the proud recipient of the Jury Discretionary Award at the 2015 Van Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship and Young Scholars of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

The talented musician has also had the pleasure of performing for the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the Morningside Music Bridge Festival in Canada, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Midwest Young Artists Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, Chicago & Millennium Park Pritzker Pavilion and more.
Recently Stephenson debuted with the Chicago Simfonietta, performing I got Rhythm Variations.

READ THE INTERVIEW BY LAUREN MARTINEZ

Gershwin Competition Winner 2015, Mariami Karkarashvili studies piano with the professor Nino Tchirakadze. She actively participates in the school and city concerts, including contests organized by national conservatory and city government

Mariami took part in seasonal concerts and competitions, organized by Tbilisi Conservatory:

• Ministry of Culture and Monument protection of Georgia Musical Art Center- Sixth Tbilisi International Young Pianists' Contest 02.05- 08.05.2014 of 1st Prize Winner
• The Second Wiener-Klassik Wettbewerb, Wien/Mauerbach 25.6.2013- 1 Grand Prix; Diploma -Best Interpretation J.S.Bach: Franzosische Suite Nr.3 in H-Moll
• “Art Academy”- National Music Competion, 2013 Tbilisi 5.12.06 – 1 Prize Laureate
• “Renaissance” Fifth International Contest-Festival of The Musician Performers, Gyumri,Armenia
  4.9.2013 – 1st Prize

STRING INSTRUMENTS

A recipient of “Outstanding Musician” awards from the Arts Critic Association and the Gangwon Talent Support Foundation in Korea, Violinist Yezu (Elizabeth) Woo attended the Heifetz Institute in 2014, and returned in 2015 to join the inaugural program of the Ashkenasi/Kirshbaum Chamber Music Seminar.
At her 2004 debut at Carnegie Hall, Yezu became the youngest performer ever to play all 24 of Niccolo Paganini’s notoriously difficulty Caprices for solo violin.

Winning the Second G.Gershwin International Music Competition 2015, Yezu she has been invited to perform at the United Nations and traveled extensively for performances at Lincoln Center and Merkin Hall in New York, Smetana Hall in Prague, and the storied Musikverein in Vienna.
She has appeared with such orchestras as the New Jersey Symphony, North Czech Philharmonic, Slovakian Radio Symphony, Bulgarian Symphony, Romanian National Constanza Orchestra, Venezuela Philharmonic, and the Pyongyang Symphony of North Korea, as well as the Sungnam, KBS, Jeju, Mostly Philharmonic and Gangwon Provinces Orchestras of South Korea.
For the Heifetz Institute, Yezu was also a member of the Spring 2015 Heifetz On Tour troupe performing in and around Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

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The winner of the Second Gershwin International Music Competition 2015, Andrew Byun has been a guest artist at:

• The Great Mountains Music Festival
• The Mozarteum Summer Academy
• Yorkshire Festival Youth Orchestra.

He is currently a participant in From The Top’s Center for the Development of Arts Leaders, through which he works with schoolchildren at Chittick Elementary School and a member of the From The Top Community Performance Program.

Outside of music, Andrew enjoys basketball, sightseeing, and hiking.

Serin Park started playing violin at age 5, and has performed eight times at Carnegie Hall, and once at Merkin Hall. A two-time first place winner at the Gershwin International Piano Competition (@013 and 2015), she was a prize winner at the YWCA's New York Music Competition and a winner of numerous other awards.

Recently, Serin has been admitted to Juilliard's Pre-College Program.

Nabi Quane has been a violin prodigy since 5 years old. Upon Winning the Gershwin International Music Competition at the age 8, Nabi has won The 2nd CAI Music Competition among other awards.

WATCH NABI QUANE ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE

HEAR SERIN PARK PERFORM AT THE HEIFETZ INSTITUTE

WINDS & BRASS

Matvey Sherling, born on October 13, 1999, Laureate of The 1st Prix of Moscow open saxophone competition 'Selmer - to Children 2010' in two nominations - 'Classical Saxophone' and 'Jazz Saxophone', Laureate of VI Open Youth Delphic Games of the participated states of CIS (Yerevan, Armenia).

First Prize Winner at the Second G.Gershwin International Music Competition 2015, Matvey Sherling performs in concerts and festivals with the renowned ensembles and orchestras of Russia: 'Hermitage' Ensemble of Soloists under direction of Alexei Utkin, Valeri Grokhovski's Jazz trio, SSO 'New Russia' under direction of Yuri Bashmet, 'Virtuosos of Moscow' State Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov within the framework of The VIII International Festival 'Moscow meets friends', 'KREMLIN' Chamber Orchestra under direction of Misha Rakhlevsky; State Academic Grand Symphony Orchestra named after P. I. Tchaikovsky at The XI International Televised Competition of the Young Musicians 'Nutcracker'.

MATVEY SHERLING PERFORMS GLAZUNOV'S SAXOPHONE CONCERTO

MATVEY SHERLING PERFORMS "AUTUMN LEAVES" BY J.KOSMA

VOICE

The composer and young Coloratura Soprano, Daniella MASS was born on March 26th in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia.
The First Prize Winner of the Second G.Gershwin International Music competition 2016, Daniella Mass has sung with Andrea Bocelli in a private audition. She has also performed with Jose Carreras in Bogotá and the most famous quartet in the world, the Bond Girls, and in the opening of the breakout Italian youth group Ilvolo.
In 2011 she was a featured artist in the opening ceremony of the U-20 World Cup and in August 2012 she was the only Colombian artist in Ricardo Arjona’s “Metamorfosis” tour, performing in the cities of Cali, Medellin, Manzalez, Bogota, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla.
Daniella Mass is the official Voice of the 2013 Bicentenary of Barranquilla.

DANIELLA MASS PERFORMS AT THE GERSHWIN COMPETITION

DANIELLA MASS PERFORMS WITH JOSE CARERAS

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Laureates

Piano

Artists Category (18-35 years old)

II Prize - Timur Mustakimov (Russia)
Ana Kipiani (Georgia) - Special Prize for the Best Georgian Participant is Given by Diana Bagrationi Foundation
Fedor Abaza (Russia)

III Prize - Alevtyna Dobina (Ukraine/Austria)
Natalia Sokolovskaya (United Kingdom/Russia)
Alexey Pudinov (Germany)
Vlad Kosminov (Uzbekistan)

Honorable Mentions - Reed Tetzloff (United States)
Anastasiya Milovanova (Russia)
Gabrielle Chou (United States)
Mackenzie Melemed(United States)
Rachel YunKyung Choo (South Korea)
Nayoung Jeong (South Korea)
Julia Hamos (Hungary/United States)
Francisco Montero (Spain)
Sherry Kim (United States)
Semra Amiraslanova (Azerbaijan)

Junior Category (12-17 years old)

I Prize - Eric Liu (Taiwan/United States)

II Prize - Christopher M. Jessup (United States)
Alice Zheng (United States)
Marianma Sherling (Israel/Norway)

III Prize - Anastasiia Vagina (Russia)
Salome Kabosnidze (Georgia)
Giorgi Gigashvili (Georgia) - Special Prize for the Best Georgian Participant is Given by Diana Bagrationi Foundation

Honorable Mentions - DaHyun Park (United States)
Miles Bi (United States)

Talent Show Category (6-11 years old)

I Prize - Gabrielle Lim (Taiwan) and Cassandra Tong Ye (Singapore/China)

II Prize - Marion Femerling (Mexico)
Elizabeth Podvalny (United States)
Elizabeti Chogovadze (Georgia)

III Prize - Eric Valdez Marines (Mexico)
Davit Tzivtsivadze (Georgia)
Bryan Yuk (China/United States)

Strings

Artists Category (18-35 years old)

II Prize - ShengHua Hu, Violin (China) and Joost willemze, Harp (The Netherlands)

III Prize - Nune Melikian, Violin (Armenia/Canada)

Honorable Mentions - Keith Williams, Cello (United States)
William Boan, Violin (Canada)
Jiyoung Lee, Cello (South Korea)
Valeriya Nedviga, Violin (Russia/United States)

Dina Nesterenko, Violin (United States)
Haeji Kim, Violin (United States)
Charlotte Malin, Viola (United States)
Nicolette Kocsardy, Violin (United States)
Anastasiya Golenishcheva, Cello (United States)

Junior Category (12-17 years old)

II Prize - Sae Rheen Kim, Violin (United States)
Kevonna Shuford, Viola (United States)

Honorable Mention - Alexandra Calabro, Viola d'amore (United States)

Talent Show Category (6-11 years old)

I Prize - Serin Park, Violin (United States)

II Prize - Genesis Kang, Violin (United States/South Korea)

III Prize - Rachel Chang, Violin (United States)
Serene Lee, Violin (United States)

Honorable Mention - Isaiah Schrader, Violin (United States)

Talent Show Category (6-11 years old)

II Prize - Bernadette Kim, Violin (United States)
Elizabeth Ji, Guzheng (United States)

Winds & Brass

Artists Category (18-35 years old)

II Prize - Anastasiia Tonina, Flute (Russia)
Hristina Blagoeva, Flute (Bulgaria)

III Prize - Julian Zheng, French Horn (Australia/United States)
Nikoloz Matchavariani, Oboe (Georgia)

Junior Category (12-17 years old)

III Prize - Jessica Santosa, Flute (Indonesia/United States)

Honorable Mention - Lange Li, Flute (China)

Voice

Artists Category (18-35 years old)

II Prize - Shayne Dalva (United States)
Brooke Larimer (United States)

III Prize - Anastasiia Tsubina-Alexeeva (Estonia)
Anna Ganina (Estonia)

Honorable Mentions - Sergei Sorokin (Russia)
Ilona Ahearn (United States)
Lisa Bryce (United States)
Yuliya Ugay-Brown (United States/Uzbekistan)
Elizabeth Kling (United States)
Helena Lill (Estonia)

Talent Show Category (6-12 years old)

Honorable Mentions and Carnegie Hall/Merkin Hall Concerts Participation:
Elizabeth Goldengur (United States), Lily Restivo (Russia/United States)

Special Prizes

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JURY 2015