Collin County Young Artist Competition

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS 1985 - 2015

1985 - James Wester (French horn, UT Austin

French horn performance degree, played in Air Force Band & Dallas Winds, plays tuba in Metropolitan Winds & Christ U.M. Church,

works in the IT field)

1985 - Brian Thornton (cello, studied at SMU,

USC, Northwestern U. & Cleveland Institute, in his 17th season with the Cleveland Symphony,

has taken part in premiering over 100 new works of music, participates in concerts that

benefit special causes), Keith Durington (piano, passed away in 1992)

1986 - Heidi Pankratz (cello, MM

New England Conservatory, Prin. Cellist for Cleveland Chamber

Symphony, Asst. Prin. Cellist for Opera Cleveland, teaches cello at

College of Wooster, founded & performs with the cello quartet

Pizzicato4 ), Greg Riley (saxophone, BM

Michigan State Univ., MM at SMU, was Adjunct Assoc. Prof. of Saxophone at SMU, played with

Dallas & Texas Wind Symphonies, is a School Services Rep at Music & Arts in Lewisville),

Cheryl Rubin (piano)

1987 - Michael Buckles (violin - BA

Tulane U., MM Cleveland Institute, DMA Louisiana State U., Chair of Music Dept. at McNeese State U., concertmaster of

Lake Charles Symphony, Dir. of Lake Charles area youth orchestra, has taught

violin at Dillard U., Xavier U., & Univ. of New Orleans),

James Chan (piano)

1988 - Chris Crans (piano -

vocal coach at Manhattan School of Music, has degrees in

piano, accompanying & conducting from Brigham

Young Univ., joined music staff of the National Theater in

Germany), Gladys Harrington (sponsor),

Samuel Fischer (violin), Andrea Hurt (flute)

1989 - Gregory Murray (piano –

attended TCU & Interlochen Arts Academy, former Music Dir. at St. Eliz. Seton Catholic Church,

Dir. of Music & Liturgy at Church of St. Patrick, age 18 - on a TV

episode of “Barney & Friends”), Soo Jin Kim (piano),

Nina Lee (violin - not pictured)

1990 - Cali McKasson (piano - BM &

MM in harp at Cleveland Institute of Music, is principal harpist of Tacoma

Symphony, performs Celtic music with her brother in a band called The McKassons, released 2 albums),

Audrey Mei (cello - BM in cello at New England Conservatory, Bachelor in Biological Psychology/Pre-Med at

Tufts Univ., Fulbright scholar for cello performance at Sibelius Academy in

Finland, is an advanced certified Rolfer massage therapist in

San Francisco )

1991 - Eugene Hwang (piano - D.O. from Des

Moines Univ. - College of Osteopathic Medicine, specializes in Emergency and

Internal Medicine, works in the Dallas area), Grace Kim (violin),

Hilary Demske (piano -BM Peabody Conservatory of Music, MM Julliard,

Doctorate of Performance - U. of Michigan, is Asst. Prof. & Dir. of Piano Studies at Utah Valley Univ., a Steinway Artist since 2010)

1992 - Angela Chan (piano -

freelance pianist in Las Vegas, keyboardist on

national tours of Musical Theater shows),

Dawn Hui (violin - BM Violin Performance at Julliard, violinist in Hong Kong

Philharmonic for 1 year, MD at UT Southwestern Medical School, is a cardiac surgeon at St. Louis Univ. Hospital),

Victoria Hurt (cello - BM Curtis School of Music, was on the faculty of Settlement

& Nelly Music Schools)

1993 - Chris Hong (violin),

Alice Demske (piano - BM & MM at Royal Academy of Music in

London, DMA Univ. of Missouri in Kansas City, passed away in 2012),

Maxine Kuo (violin - BM & MM from Julliard, 6 time full

scholarship recipient at Aspen Music Festival & School, is assistant concertmaster of

Louisville Orchestra)

1994 - Theresa Chung (cello), Gennie Yi (piano - BM at

Julliard, BBA from Parsons School of Design, Columbia U.

Business School, is Assoc. Buyer at Saks Fifth Ave.),

Lolly Boyd (violin - is a music teacher and performed as a PSO musician, entered a student in

the 2001 CCYAC who won a 1st Place)

1995 - Daniel Hui (violin - studied violin

& computer science at Amherst College, international affairs at John Hopkins,

works at JP Morgan in Singapore), Genevieve Briggs (BM at UNT, MM Yale

Univ., in the Army Band for 4 years, is 2nd flutist with the Columbus Symphony),

Lauren Highsmith (piano - BM at Univ. of Colorado, has a Culinary Arts degree)

1996 - Kristen Hargett (piano -

BS Chemistry at Boston Univ.), Michael Mirbaba (viola) - Harvard College AB magna cum laude in Romance Languages &

Literature, MA from Universite de Paris VIII in French Literature & Psychoanalysis, MD/PhD from Harvard Medical School; is currently a

psychiatrist in Los Angeles; played viola in college/medical school in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Lowell House Opera, Dunster House

Opera Society, & the Longwood Symphony;

Andrea Tomas (piano - graduate of Texas Tech, is a realtor in Portland, OR.); with Gladys Harrington (sponsor)

1997 - David McDonald (piano –

full scholarship to TCU for Piano Performance, UTD accounting degree,

is a CPA & lives in Richardson), Maestro Hector Guzman,

Anil Iyengar (alto sax), Jun Iwasaki (violin - BM & MM

Cleveland Institute of Music, has been concertmaster of Canton, Oregon, &

Nashville Symphonies, is adjunct Prof. of Violin at Vanderbilt University.

1998 - Gene Lee (violin),

Gladys Chan (Competition Chair), Patrick Chen (oboe),

Gladys Harrington (sponsor), Carol Larson (piano)

1999 - Lauren Hanson (cello - majored

in cello, was a former PSO musician), Jeffery King (violin - violinist in Omaha Symphony, attended SMU, Manhattan School of Music, & Creighton Univ., in the Air Force for 5 yrs., is a founding member of the Kronberg Ensemble), Joey Zhou (piano - MIT Masters in Engineering & Emerson Fellow in piano, active pianist in the MIT

Chamber Music Society, is a consultant at Exeter Group in Boston area)

with Gladys Harrington (sponsor)

2000 - Melanie Chan (marimba -

Communications degree from UT Austin, is a business

development manager in an oil consulting business),

Carol Li (piano), Cherry Kim (cello - attended Royal Conservatory of Music, Rice Univ., & Boston Univ., was a cellist in the

Atlantic Symphony & Boston Philharmonic, is now in the

Vermont Symphony).

2001 - Chloe Trevor (violin - BM

Cleveland Institute of Music, MM Rice Univ., won many competitions, performed with many orchestras),

Thomas Saadeh (alto sax - Baylor U. College of Medicine, is a Diagnostic

Radiologist in Houston), Vincent Kuo (piano - UT Austin

School of Music, UT Southwestern Med. School, is an internal medicine

doctor at Baylor Univ. Medical Center in Dallas),

Michael Viscardi (piano - graduated summa cum laude in math in a 5 yr. Harvard/New England Conservatory

AB/MM joint program in violin performance, working on PhD in

math at MIT )

2002 - Anna Kyung Mi Lee (cello - BM

New England Conservatory of Music, working on an MM at Yale Univ.),

Maestro Hector Guzman, Maud Laforest (guitar - BM & MM in guitar performance at Peabody Conservatory, has won prizes in

many international competitions, performs in US & Europe,

has recorded several CDs), Anna Zhang (piano)

2003 - Michael Li (violin, age 12),

Robert Klieger (marimba - BM from SMU, graduate work at Cleveland

Institute, percussionist with Milwaukee Symphony (Asst. Principal), Santa Fe Opera (Principal), formerly with West

Virginia & Canton Symphonies), Miyoun Jang (piano, BM & MM New

England Conservatory, Artist certificate at SMU, working on DMA at UNT) with Gladys Harrington (sponsor)

2004 - Eric Yang (piano - attended

UT Austin, Co-founder of Topaz Labs in 2008, is General Manager of

Topaz Labs in Austin), Journey Son (cello - MM at Univ. of Cincinnati, is a professional cellist), Eric & Journey were 2004 GPWs at the Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake

Competition, Gladys Chan (Competition Chair),

Dariel Dato-On (piano - UTD BS & MBA in accounting, works

at Ernst & Young in Dallas) with Gladys Harrington (sponsor)

2005 - Suyun Lee (violin - won the

2012 Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra Concerto Competition),

Edward Song (cello - 2006 GPW at the Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake

Competition, attended Indiana Univ. of Bloomington, has performed in several local orchestras, teaches cello privately,

is chamber conductor for the Dallas Asian American Youth Orchestra),

Jack Sun (piano - valedictorian of Plano Sr. High, graduated from Harvard,

works in NYC in the financial district)

2006 - Wyndham Tsai (cello - at

Northwestern Univ. studying cello), Jimmye Ahn (clarinet – 2006 GPW at

the Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition, Northwestern Univ. - dual degree BA English Literature,

BM clarinet performance, is a marketing associate in Chicago),

Kyle Orth (piano - BM Piano Performance at TCU, has performed with several orchestras, is working

on a graduate degree at New England Conservatory)

2007 - Alina Cho (piano),

Evan Ritter (piano, age 10, won several local piano competitions and scholarships, was chosen to

study at Centre d’Arts Orford in Quebec),

Sophia Tsai (flute - played flute at Stanford Univ. , BA in East Asian Studies, works in San Francisco for Dropbox as a Program Ops

Coordinator/Program Specialist)

2008 - Jorge Olivero (alto sax -

USC Business Entrepreneur, Accounting, Saxophone

Performance, classical saxophone recording artist),

Jason Wang (piano, Univ. of Chicago - BA in Economics &

Political Science, is a public finance analyst at Citi in Chicago),

Shira Beder (cello - working on a degree in Finance & Economics at Indiana Univ. Bloomington Kelley

School of Business)

2009 - Laura Liu (violin, 2009 GPW Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake

Competition, working on a BM in violin at New England Conservatory, has

performed with numerous orchestras), Austin Taylor (alto sax, BM in

saxophone performance at Northwestern Univ., is a Research Asst.

at Sonic Laboratory at Northwestern U.), Alison Chiang (piano, 2008 GPW Vernell

Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition, at Eastman College - BM, working on an

MM in piano)

2010 - Derek Hawkes (trombone, at

SMU for BM in Trombone Performance & BA in Orchestral Management),

Russell Houston (cello - 2010 GPW at Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake

Competition, is at Northwestern Univ. Bienan School of Music),

Charles Jin (piano - at Yale Univ. for computer science & math)

2011 - Gloria Leticia Herrera

(marimba), Jason Lin (piano, age 10, tenor in All-Region Choir,

accompanies middle school choir on piano, won some

local competitions) Brian Zhao (cello – 2011 GPW

at Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition, 3rd Place at

2014 DSO Lynn Harrell Competition)

2012 - Jonathan Gentry (oboe, 2012 GPW

at TASO Juanita Miller Competition, has won numerous awards, is at New England

Conservatory of Music studying oboe), Claire Luan Wells ( violin - 2012 GPW of

Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition, has performed internationally, also plays piano), William Chiang (piano - 2013 GPW at Vernell

Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition and has won awards in several other competitions, is in the 2014 Young Masters Program of the

Texas Cultural Trust)

2013 - Isabella Markham (viola,

recipient of Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, attends Julliard), Reid Staples (piano, age 11),

Franklin Jia (clarinet, 2013 National Youth Orchestra, Winds winner at 2014

TASO Juanita Miller Competition)

2014 - Claire Druffner (cello, age 11,

won the 2014 MTNA state competition, her ensemble group won 1st Place at

the 2014 Coltman Chamber Music Competition in the Jr. Div.),

Sooyong Lee (clarinet, age 13), Jessica Zhang (piano, age 12)

2015 - Sai Sai Ding (cello, age 13,

2015 GPW at Vernell Gregg Lewisville Lake Competition),

Ridgeway Garner (clarinet, age 16, 2015 Winds Winner at Juanita Miller

Competition) Hannah Rosen (piano, age 15)