The winners and runners-up from Bremerton WestSound Symphony's 2021 Young Artists Competition.
All donations from this concert will benefit CK Food Backpacks 4 Kids
Central Kitsap Food Backpacks 4 Kids (CKFB4K) provides supplemental meals each weekend during the school year to students and families of the CK School District who are at risk of weekend hunger.
This organization sends home over 6,000 supplemental meals to these families during a school year. They help in 13 elementary schools and 3 middle schools by sending home approximately 300 bags to 215 families. In lieu of donations to the Bremerton WestSound Symphony for Rising Stars, please donate to this worthy community organization.
PROGRAM
Junior Division
Sergei Prokofiev | Romeo and Juliet Opus 75 The Montagues and Capulets
Johann Sebastian Bach | Prelude and fugue in G minor BWV 861
Claude Debussy | Etude No. 11 Pour les Arpèges Composés
Isaac Albéniz | Iberia, Suite for Piano, Book 1: II. El Puerto
Sergei Prokofiev | Etude Op. 2:, No. 3 in C minor
Frédéric Chopin | Ballade No. 2 in F major, Op. 38
Senior Division
Frédéric Chopin | Prelude in C# Minor
Niccolò Paganini | Caprice No. 24 in A minor
Ludwig van Beethoven | Piano Sonata in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3
Bohuslav Martinu | Cello Concerto No. 1 in D Major, 1st mvmnt
Maurice Ravel | Jeux d’eau
MEET THE MUSICIANS
Damaris Harvey
Junior Division, 1st Place Winner (tied)
Damaris is thankful for the opportunity to learn to play the piano. She has been taking piano lessons for almost 8 years, of which the last 3 1/2 years have been with Dr. Irene Bowling. She is homeschooled and also enjoys playing the violin.
Alec Rodriguez
Junior Division, 1st Place Winner (tied)
Alec is a Poulsbo native, born in 2008, and began learning piano at the age of five on a $50 Goodwill piano. That ignited a spark that has continued over seven years as a, now 12-year-old, student of Dr. Irene Bowling. Alec now practices on his “new” 1924 Mason & Hamlin and loves the challenge of listening to new music and learning to recreate the dynamics and nuances that can be brought out in each piece. As a 7th grade student at Poulsbo Middle School, he enjoys studying his favorite subject math and is looking forward to his pre-engineering class next year. For fun, Alec can always be found folding pretty amazing origami pieces and is a member of OrigamiUSA and OrigaMIT.
Cyrus Yan
Junior Division, 1st Runner Up
Cyrus Yan is twelve years old from Bainbridge Island. He has been learning the piano since he was five. Cyrus feels very fortunate that he has been taught by great piano teachers such as Alexandra Tsirkel, Dr. Irene Bowling and Dr. Jennifer Hammill, who help him transcend hitting the keys to express music. In 2020, Cyrus received a Gold Medal in the Seattle Bach Festival and a Bronze Medal in the Russian Chamber Music Festival in Seattle. In addition to playing the piano, Cyrus enjoys playing soccer, Minecraft and sailing. Cyrus would like to thank his parents, piano teachers and Bremerton WestSound Symphony for the opportunities to perform.
Ian Letson
Junior Division, 2nd Runner Up
Ian Letson is a 12 year old pianist from Bainbridge Island. He was born in Silverdale, Washington in 2009 and lived in Guam when he was 2-4 years old. He began learning piano at the age of four and currently takes lessons from Anastasia Solomatina in Bellevue. Ian is a 6th grade student at Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School on Bainbridge Island and is a member of Bainbridge Island Swim Club. His other interest include science, computer programming, Lego and video games.
Hanna Inoue
Senior Division, 1st Place Winner
Hanna was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2003. She began learning piano at the age of six and moved to Silverdale, Washington, when she was fourteen years old. She has participated in various competitions and events both in Indiana and Washington. Hanna is currently a 12th grade Senior at Central Kitsap High School and takes piano lessons from Dr. Irene Bowling. She believes that learning music requires much concentration and time, yet in the end, music gives a rewarding sense of accomplishment. During her spare time, she listens to different genres of music, especially classical and bossa nova music. Hanna’s other interests include travelling, sailing, and walking her pet dog, Fido.
Anya Letson
Senior Division, 2nd Place Winner (tied)
Anya Letson is a violinist from Bainbridge Island who enjoys playing classical & Jazz music. She was born in Columbus, Ohio in 2005 and moved to Washington State in 2007.She began learning violin at the age of four with Katherine Davies on Bainbridge Island and currently takes lessons from The UW Professor, Ronald Patterson. She has been a member of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) since 2014 and was Concert Master of the SYSO Junior Orchestra and advanced to the SYSO Youth Orchestra in 2019.Anya is currently in 10th grade at Bainbridge High School and enjoys listening to many genres of music. Her other interests include cheerleading, traveling, and fashion business.
Daniel Stein
Senior Division, 2nd Place Winner (tied)
Daniel Stein, 18, is in his 13th year of playing the cello. He began his cello studies at the Hochstein School in Rochester, NY, but has since taken lessons from a number of teachers internationally, and currently studies with Rajan Krishnaswami in Seattle. This fall, he will be attending the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University to study with Richard Aaron, Julie Albers, and Leo Singer. Daniel plays on a 1933 Marc Laberte cello generously loaned to him by the Carlsen Cello Foundation. When not practicing, he can be found playing chess or reading Wikipedia history articles.
Collin Niles
Senior Division, Runner Up
Collin started taking piano lessons from Ms. Sharon Jones when he was in second grade and is now taking lessons from Dr. Irene Bowling. Collin is currently a junior at North Kitsap High School. He also is in the running start program at Olympic College. Collin enjoys playing romantic period music, mostly Chopin. He also enjoys watching basketball and football and is a die-hard Seahawks fan.
Adrian King
2020 Senior Division, 1st Place Winner
Adrian King is a student of Dr. Peter Mack of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and Dr. Dainius Vaicekonis of Seattle Pacific University. Adrian will be attending Eastman School of Music this fall.
Adrian has been a prize winner at many international competitions in both piano solo, concerto, and duet categories. He was the winner of the 2019 Seattle International Piano Competition. Adrian received 1st prize at the 2018 Aloha International Piano Competition. He was a National YoungArtswinner in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Adrian and his sister, Mya, received 2nd place in the 2016-17 NationalMTNA Competition in Baltimore, Senior Duet Division. Adrian won the concerto competition at the2017 Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota and performed Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto with the NLMF orchestra under conductor, Gavriel Heine. He has also performed concerti with orchestras in both Washington and Hawaii.