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The fifth annual Barbara Wagner Chamber Music Competition culminated in a dynamic showcase of final performances held in Cook Recital Hall on Sunday, April 4. The thrilling announcement of winners revealed Altimara, a percussion quartet, as the first-place finisher chosen by a panel of external jurors. MSU College of Music student musicians diligently prepare for this competition, and the showcase finale combines the beauty of outstanding performances with the excitement of competition. All finalists performing at the finale were chosen during a round of judging on performances shared on video. Since its inception, this chamber music competition program and concert is generously sponsored by Barbara E. Wagner.
PERFORMERS
Altamira – WINNER!
Angel Hernandez, Isaac Hinshaw, Cadence Miller, and Margaret Parker, percussion
Performed: Seven Pillars III by Andy Akiho, Omphalo Centric Lecture by Nigel Westlake, Sandbox by Viet Cuong, and VV by Juri Seo
Performed: Canzona per sonare No. by Giovanni Gabrieli (arr. Robert King), Suite Americana No. 1 for Brass Quintet by Enrique Crespo, Quintet by Michael Kamen, and selections from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (arr. Jack Gale)
Jordan 5 Brass Quintet
Natalia Vela, trumpet; Anderson Johnson, tuba; Kaley Rodriguez, trumpet; Alex Delperdang, horn; Jordan Dove, trombone
Performed: 6 KinderstOcke, Op. 72 by Felix Mendelssohn (arr. Neil Mueller), Adoration by Florence Price (arr. Alexander Delperdang), Brass Quintet, Op. 65 by Jan Koetsier, Quintet by Michael Kamen, and Sacred Geometry by David Biedenbender
Performed: Six Bagatelles by Gy6rgy Ligeti (arr. Johnny Salinas), Danza Espanola from La vida breve by Manuel de Falla (arr. David Cristobal Litago), Passepied from Suite Bergamasque, L. 75 by Claude Debussy (arr. Austin Spillman), Converging Spectrums by Kevin Day, Quartette (Allegro de Concert) by Caryl Florio, and Quatuor de Saxophones by Ida Gotkovsky
Moderno Trio
Leonid Tsoy, violin; Shaoqian Wang, clarinet; and Myungseo Kenzie Kim, piano
Performed: Suite for Violin, Clarinet, Piano, Op. 157b by Darius Milhaud, Ebbrovory by David Ott, Variations on an Original Theme by Charles Rochester Young, and Shogun Trio for Violin, Clarinet, Piano by Paul Chihara
Odigo Saxophone Quartet
Spencer Cox, soprano saxophone; Stephen Michaels, alto saxophone; Diego Chapela-Perez, tenor saxophone; Michael Keeler, baritone saxophone
Performed: The Kansas Rapture by Forrest Pierce, Elegy: A Cry from the Grave by Carlos Simon, Quatuor pour saxophones by Alfred Desenclos, Prized Possessions by Viet Cuong, and Extrovert by Karalyn Schubring
Competition Judges
MingHuan Xu
Violinist/violist, Program Director of Strings, and Assistant Teaching Professor of Violin at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts
Maury Okun
President of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, ArtOps LLC, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival; former principal trombonist of Detroit Opera (2014)
Pavel Vinnitsky
Associate Professor of Clarinet and Chair of the Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion Department at the University of Cincinnati
