Thirteen musicians, ranging in age from 13 through 18, competed in the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition on January 4, 2014. These exceptionally talented students represented violin, viola, cello, piano, flute, clarinet and horn. Our three judges hailed from NYC, Boulder, CO and Boise, ID.
These musicians performed an entire concerto by memory — a feat many musicians do not accomplish until well into their college careers. Out of the 13 musicians, the three who rose to the top were:
Third place: James Cooper, cello. James is a senior at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) and performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor.
Second place: Adam Sadberry, flute. Adam is a senior at Montgomery High School (in Montgomery ISD) and impressed the judges by performing Martin’s Ballade.
First place: Jasper Snow, viola. Jasper is a senior at HSPVA. The judges were so moved after hearing Jasper’s performance of Walton’s Viola Concerto that they wanted to hear him perform this piece as a soloist with the Houston Symphony. A native of Houston, Jasper began playing viola at the age of 4 at the University of Houston’s Preparatory School Suzuki Methods program. He currently studies with James Dunham at Rice University. Jasper is eager to begin his college career to follow his passion for music and work towards his goal of “becoming fully liberated from technical deficiencies so that my musical ideas may reign over every note I play.” Jasper goes on to say, “I also hope to more finely tune these ideas to bring something original and personal to pieces of standard repertoire that would make me worth listening to.” Jasper will perform with the Houston Symphony in the spring of 2015 at the annual Salute to Educators Concert.
Oh, and if you need to get in contact with any of these winners or judges, make sure you schedule a meeting well in advance. These folks are extremely busy, as you can see here:
