SDSO names winners in Young Musician Concerto Competition

SIOUX FALLS, SD – Maestro Delta David Gier and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra are pleased to announce the winners of the Young Musician Concerto Competition held on March 18 & 19, 2017. First place was awarded to Naomi Powers, violin; second place to Robert Hwang, violin; third place to Sarah Tindall, cello; and the Henry Charles Smith Award for Spirit and Enthusiasm was awarded to Angelina Gibson, piano.

The Young Musician Concerto Competition is an annual state and regional competition which is open to instrumental music students through their senior year in high school. It is designed to promote the growth of instrumental music in South Dakota and the region. The winner of the competition may have the opportunity to perform their selection with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra during the 2017-18 season. This competition is sponsored by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra League.

About the winners

Naomi Powers, violin
Naomi Powers is a junior at Mitchell High School in Mitchell, SD. She has been studying violin since the age of four. She is currently a student of SDSO Concertmaster, Doosook Kim. She is a member of the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra and attended Interlochen Arts Camp (2011, 2012) and Meadowmount School of Music (summers of 2014 and 2015). She recently came in 1st place in the South Dakota MTNA Junior Division. During the summer of 2016 Naomi was a member of NYO2, a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute which brings together outstanding young American instrumentalists ages 14–17. Naomi performed a movement from the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K219 and the second movement of Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D minor.

Robert Hwang, violin

Robert Hwang is a junior at North High School in Sioux City, IA.  He is the student of Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was the concertmaster of the 2015 Iowa All-State Orchestra, Siouxland Youth Symphony, Northwest Iowa Honor Orchestra, and the ISTA high school honor orchestra. In 2015, Robert was the recipient of the Schubert Club scholarship in Minneapolis, in the junior strings category. Besides his love for music, he enjoys science and math in school. Robert designed an experiment, which was chosen by NASA to be conducted by the astronauts at the International Space Station in 2016.  Robert performed the first movement of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, Opus 41 and Zapateado by Pablo de Sarasate.

Sarah Tindall, cello

A freshman at Sioux City High School, Sarah Tindall’s passion for music began when she was five years old and continues to develop as she grows as a young cellist. She is the student of Marie-Elaine Gagnon, associate professor of cello at the University of South Dakota.  She has participated in a variety of competitions and in January 2016, represented South Dakota in the MTNA West Central Regional Competition where she was awarded first alternate to the national competition. Sarah enjoys running, science, and sharing her love of music with others.  Sarah currently serves as the section leader in the South Dakota Symphony Youth Orchestra (SDSYO) and is a member of the Youth Orchestra Quartet.  Sarah performed the first movement of Elgar’s Cello concerto in E minor, Opus 85 and Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4.

Angelina Gibson, piano

Angelina Gibson is a pianist and teacher who currently resides in Sioux Falls, SD.  She studies piano with Dr. Rick Andrews (Augustana College) and voice with Mrs. Deb Vogel (Dordt College).  She is active as a chamber musician in the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts (DAPA) and has been selected as young artist in the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival for several years. Angelina has represented South Dakota twice at the West Central Division Regional competition as the Junior Piano winner and the Senior Piano winner. She was also declared the first place winner in the 2012 Kearney Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition and was also a winner in the 2011 Cherokee Symphony Concerto Competition. Angelina performed Scherzo No. 1, Opus 20 by Frederick Chopin and the first movement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concert No. 2 in F major, Opus 102.

The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (SDSO) is a dynamic regional orchestra of 86 professional musicians that performs in the 1800-seat, acoustically superb Mary W. Sommervold Hall of the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The orchestra’s season consists of 7 Classical concerts, 4 Pops concerts, 5 Chamber concerts, family and educational concerts, special programs (Lakota Music Project and Music as Medicine), and regional tours. The SDSO enjoys a growing audience and numerous sold-out performances.  Recent and upcoming artists include Yo-Yo Ma, Emmanuel Ax, Dawn Upshaw, Emanuele Arciuli, Martin Kuuskmann, and Dan Zhu.  In 2016, the SDSO was awarded the Bush Prize for Community Innovation for visionary leadership and commitment to service.  In addition, the SDSO and composer Jerod Tate have been selected as one of only five composer and orchestra pairs to participate in Music Alive, a national three-year composer-orchestra residency program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA through the 2018-19 season.  SDSO concerts are broadcasted on South Dakota Public Radio.  For more information, visit www.sdsymphony.org.

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