Committed to offering career-launching pathways for all of its Summer School and Music Festival fellows, the Music Academy of the West this year awarded some $50,000 in prizes for auditions and competitions to 20 fellows at the conclusion of the festival.
Instrumental fellows could audition to participate in the 2022 Keston MAX Exchange with the London Symphony Orchestra. Each of the 12 winners received a cash award of $1,500. Five principal London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) musicians, Edward Vanderspar, Colin Paris, Daniel Jemison, Paul Milner,and Neil Percy, gave more than 30 private lessons remotely to Music Academy fellows.
They were joined by LSO colleagues Carmine Lauri, David Alberman, Rebecca Gilliver, Gareth Thomas, Juliana Koch, Chi-Yu Mo, Tim Jones, Neall Keatley, Ben Thomson, Nigel Thomas and Sam Walton to provide audition coaching and adjudicate the final audition round.
The 2022 Keston MAX winners are Rodion Belousov, oboe; Aaron Blick, bass; Keoni Bolding, viola; Elissa Brown, flute; Cristina Cutts Dougherty, tuba; Carlos Jiménez Fernández, trombone; Sean Juhl, viola; Kipras Mazeika, bassoon; Emma Lee, cello; Ka Long Lee, cello; Javier Morales-Martinez, clarinet; and Jonathan Wisner, percussion.
Lead sponsors of the London Symphony Orchestra partnership are Linda and Michael Keston and Mary Lynn and Warren Staley. Additional support has been provided in remembrance of Léni Fé Bland.
Instrumentalists and singers also could opt to take part in up to three of four competitions: Solo Piano, Duo, Marilyn Horne Song, and Digital Challenge. Each of the six winners received a $5,000 cash award. Winners of the Solo Piano, Duo, and Marilyn Horne Song Competitions will also have a work from a composer commissioned on their behalf.
For 2021, those commissioned artists are Tyshawn Sorey, Conrad Tao and Carlos Simon, respectively. The winners will premiere the commissions in recital in the Music Academy’s Hahn Hall in the spring. They may also use up to $1,000 as an additional award to produce and present their recitals in new ways, including the use of technology for sound, lighting, streaming or recording.
Nine finalists shared ideas for new ventures in the Fast Pitch Awards, of which three were awarded $1,500 to encourage their innovation and creativity. They will receive additional training when they attend Music Academy’s 2022 Innovation Residential.
2021 Competition Winners
Solo Piano Competition: Hsin-Hao Yang
Duo Competition: Keoni Bolding,viola; Melivia Raharjo, piano
Marilyn Horne Song Competition: Shawn Roth, tenor;
Alexander Soloway, piano
Digital Challenge: Gabrielle Pho, horn
Fast Pitch Awards: Anush Avetisyan, soprano; Rachel Martin, double bass; Byron J. Mayes, baritone
2021 Competition Jurors
Solo Piano Competition: John Churchwell, Gloria Cheng,
Andrew von Oeyen
Duo Competition: Richard Beene, Nadia Sirota, Conrad Tao
Marilyn Horne Song Competition: Marilyn Horne, Carlos Simon,
Conor Hanick, Karen Slack
Digital Challenge: Joyce Kwon, Clara Lyon, Pamela Strobel
Fast Pitch Awards: Clive Chang, Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Brenda Patterson
This year’s Festival took place from June 28-Aug. 7 for 110 full scholarship fellows with 77 public events for thousands of audience members on its Miraflores Campus and at the Lobero and Granada theatres in Santa Barbara, with more than 13,000 tickets sold. The 2022 Summer Festival is planned for June 13-Aug. 6.