From left: Cellist Jocelyn Hartley, harpist Clara Warford, violinist Maggie Kasinger, hornist Shawn Zheng and pianist Kazuki Takizawa
The Nashville Symphony has announced the winners of the 2016 Curb Concerto Competition, one of the state’s most elite musical competitions, which annually recognizes students between the ages of 14 and 18 and distributes thousands of dollars in prize money.
Brass, string and piano students from across Tennessee entered the competition, with the winners being selected following adjudicated performances at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 5 and 6.
Cellist Jocelyn Hartley, a ninth-grader at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, earned top honors for her performance of the first movement of Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1. Currently a student of Professor Felix Wang at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, Hartley has played in the Curb Youth Symphony since 2013. In addition to numerous solo, chamber and ensemble performances, Hartley has also participated in master classes with Zuill Bailey, the Eastman School of Music’s David Ying and Wesley Baldwin at the University of Tennessee.
As the 2016 Curb Concerto Competition Grand Prize winner, Hartley will receive $2,500 and two full subscriptions to the Nashville Symphony’s Aegis Sciences Classical Series. She will also perform her winning selection as the featured soloist at the Nashville Symphony’s Side-by-Side Concert with the Curb Youth Symphony on May 19.
First runner-up in the competition was awarded to harpist Clara Warford, a 17-year-old home-school student from Nashville, who will receive $1,000 and two partial subscriptions to the Aegis Sciences Classical Series. Ninth-grade violinist Maggie Kasinger from Springfield was named second runner-up and earned $500 and a pair of tickets to an Aegis Sciences Classical Series performance. Kazuki Takizawa (piano) and Shawn Zheng (horn), both from Murfreesboro, shared third runner-up honors.
One of 20 Nashville Symphony education and community engagement programs that reach and engage more than 80,000 Middle Tennessee children and adults every year, the Curb Concerto Competition is a key component of the organization’s mission to promote and support young musicians statewide.
“Aimed at developing the next generation of fine musicians, the Curb Concerto Competition is a great source of pride for everyone in this organization,” said Nashville Symphony director of education and community engagement Walter Bitner. “This year’s participants in particular displayed incredible talent, determination and commitment, which ensures a very bright future for classical music here in Nashville and beyond.”
For more information on Nashville Symphony performances and programs, visit nashvillesymphony.org.
