Our annual Young Artists' Concert features 4 soloists to perform their concerto movement with Bellevue Symphony.
Bellevue Symphony is a professional orchestra comprised of 50+ professional musicians, led by internationally renown conductor & artistic director, Maestro Brian Davenport.
PERFORMANCE DATE: March, 2025
NO PERFORMANCE PRIZE, but winners will be honored onstage at the Meydenbauer Theater concerto concert.
Application period: September 1st, 2024 to December 1st, 2024. ELIGIBILITY: Open to residents of Washington, Idaho and Oregon, ages 8 to 18.
For 2024, our internationally acclaimed panel of judges will consist of one piano judge and two non-piano judges.
CONCERTO COMPETITION DIRECTOR:
Dr. Renato Fabbro
APPLICATION PERIOD:
September 1st, 2024 to December 1st, 2024.
Video submission deadline: December 1st, 2024.
Judging period: December 1st, 2024 to December 8th, 2024.
Announcement of winners: December 9th, 2024.
Playlist of all applicants will be provided on December 9th, 2024.
VIDEO SUBMISSION ONLY. No in-person auditions. Winners are required to perform IN-PERSON at either the Bellevue Symphony Winter Concert in MARCH 2025.
APPLICATION FEE:
$90 for up to 15 minutes of video footage.
INSTRUMENTS:
Acceptable instruments: Piano, strings, woodwinds, brass.
ELIGIBLE MUSICIANS:
Applicant must be a resident from one of these three Pacific NW states: Washington, Idaho, Oregon. Our focus is showcasing the youth of the great Pacific NW. Former winners of Bellevue Symphony Concerto Competition are eligible to enter, but must use a different selection or movement. All winners must provide their own transportation, expenses, lodging etc.
AGES:
Applicant must be between the ages of 8 to 18 as of December 1st, 2024.
REPERTOIRE:
One movement of a standard concerto for solo instrument and orchestra. Music must be available for rental. Certain composers exceed our annual budget for music rental, namely: Gershwin, Shostakovich, Kabalevsky and several other 20th century composers. Financial contribution from the artist's family to offset exorbitant rental fees may be requested, should he or she gets selected by the adjudicator as a Platinum winner.
SELECTION PROCESS:
Our judges will review the submitted video file and offer feedback/comment sheet for each applicant. All video files are ANONYMOUS and will not show the name of the applicant or their teachers. Judges will select 4 PLATINUM winners to perform with Bellevue Symphony Winter Concert. Additional prizes for exceptional performances: Silver, Bronze and Honorable Mention. Trophies, medals, certificates will be awarded only at the Bellevue Symphony Winter Concert.
VIDEO FORMAT:
After registration, applicants will receive a DROPBOX folder link, where they will UPLOAD their video file. Only mp4, MOV and QuickTime video files will be accepted. All entrants' video will be uploaded to a our Bellevue Symphony Concerto Competition YouTube Channel playlist. This playlist will be provided to the adjudicator.
IMPORTANT VIDEO FILE RULES:
We recommend that you submit high quality recordings.
Accompaniment is REQUIRED for all instruments. No solo performance of the concerto movement permitted.
Accompanist's face MUST be hidden, blurred or concealed in the video. We recommend that you position the camera angle so that the accompanist is not visible.
No cuts, edits or modifications in the movement permitted, except by the accompanist.
If the submitted concerto movement is longer than 15 minutes, adjudicator may freely scrub, fast forward, etc to hear specific sections past the 15 minute mark. Adjudicator is required to review up to 15 minutes per applicant. Please note: "Attacca" is not permitted as a single movement. You cannot send multiple movements. Only ONE movement.
WINNERS CONCERT:
4 PLATINUM WINNERS will perform with Bellevue Symphony at Meydenbauer Theater on Sunday, March 2nd, 2025 at 3 pm.
Prizes of Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals will be awarded to other high quality performances, chosen freely by the adjudicator. There is no orchestra prize but Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be presented to the winners on stage at the Meydenbauer concert.
Praised worldwide as one of the most versatile pianists of her generation, Rajung Yang has won several top prizes in national and international competitions including the IBLA Grand Prize and Bartok- Kabalevsky-Prokofiev Competition in Italy in 2005, William Byrd International Competition and the University of Michigan Concerto Competition in 2007. Subsequent performances included her debut recital at New York Carnegie Hall, New York University, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, and other majors venues Italy and France. In 2011, Rajung won the first prize in Frances Walton Young Artist Competition in Seattle, and her solo and collaborative performances have been broadcast on public radio in Seattle.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Rajung began her piano and violin studies at the age of four. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano from Seoul National University, and her second Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan, under the tutelage of Arthur Greene and Logan Skelton. Additional studies include collaborative piano with Martin Katz, and harpsichord with Edward Parmentier.
As a dedicated advocate for the 20th and 21st centuries’ music, Rajung has performed and premiered new works as either a soloist or collaborator in numerous festivals and conferences in the United States and Europe. However, her interest in music is not limited to the modern era. With her background in early keyboard music, she played harpsichord in Idaho Bach Festival for many years, and also performed fortepiano at the University of Michigan Early Keyboard Institute.
Dr. Yang currently teaches class piano, applied piano and works as a collaborative pianist at Baylor University. Before moving to Waco in 2018, she was Associate Professor of Piano and also served as Head of Keyboard Area at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music.
Brian Davenport began his interest in music at the age of four. After obtaining his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from Harvard, he spent three years in Paris, France, studying music under the famous Nadia Boulanger, and conducting in Monte Carlo under the tutelage of Igor Markevitch. He has conducted orchestras in countries throughout the world, including China, Scandanavia, Germany, and Ukraine. In 1990, he conducted the Federal Way Symphony in the opening sellout performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for the Goodwill Games. He also conducted the world premiere of Handel's Messiah in Russian in the city of Kazan.
Allan Park has enjoyed a successful career as both a performer and as an educator. As a piano teacher, he runs a successful piano studio of 50 students who have gained national and international recognition and awards. His students have appeared on King FM, Cliburn, Ten Grands and Carnegie Hall. His students have performed with many orchestras throughout the Northwest. His music education stems from Indiana University and University of Washington.
Mr. Park is also an accomplished cellist since age 6 and studied with renown pedagogue and cellist, Eugene Bondi. He was also a cellist in the Bloomington Orchestra for several years.
He is currently the President of Pacific Competitions, President of Bellevue Symphony, President of Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle, Past President for Chopin Foundation of the United States, NW Council and serves as Music Advisory Panel Member for Seattle Young Artist Music Festival. As an adjudicator and clinician, he has recently judged Geneva International Music Competition, San Francisco Chopin Competition and UW School of Music Concerto Competition and has given various lectures on technique and artistry for Kansas State University School of Music, EMTA, SCMTA, WSMTA and Seattle Piano Institute.
We look forward to your entry. Please bookmark this website address.
Questions? Please contact us by emailing allan@bellevuesymphony.org.