Thursday’s (2/4) San Jose Mercury News (California) reports, “The Fremont Symphony announced the winners of its 44th Annual Young Artist Competition that took place Jan. 9-10. Thirty-one students entered the competition. First prize of $1,000 and an opportunity to perform with the orchestra were awarded to 13-year-old violinist Stephen Waarts of Los Altos, who performed the Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major. An eighth-grader at the School for Independent Learners, he studies violin with Li Lin and with Alexander Barantschik, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. … Waarts will be heard on the national radio program ‘From the Top’ in February, after winning first place in KDFC’s 2009 Classical Star Search, ages 10 to 20. … Second prize of $500 went to 14-year-old violinist Stephen Kim of Cupertino, who played the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1. He attends Monta Vista High School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College program and plays in the San Francisco Youth Orchestra. … Third prize of $250 was awarded to Olena Komirenko, 22 of Cupertino, a senior at University of California at Berkeley who studies violin with Jenny Rudin.”
Posted February 5, 2010
