RALEIGH, N.C.—Saxophone is not an instrument traditionally heard at a North Carolina Symphony concert, but that doesn't mean the Symphony can't recognize a good sound when it hears one. For the first time, a saxophonist has won the North Carolina Symphony's Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition.
Winston-Salem native Steven Banks, 17, took home top senior division honors for his performance of the third movement from Creston's Concerto for Saxophone. He was the only woodwind player to advance into this year's nine-person final.
“He is just incredible," says North Carolina Symphony Education Manager Jessica Nalbone, who organized this year's competition. She notes that one of Banks's prizes for winning the senior division is the opportunity to perform as a featured soloist during a future North Carolina Symphony concert.
“When you hear him," she says, “you're going to be blown away."
A high school senior at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studies with Taimur Sullivan, Banks also recently won the Durham Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists Competition. He will go on to attend Indiana University as a Jacobs Scholar to study saxophone performance with Dr. Otis Murphy.
His strong showing comes within a competition described by the judges—North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry—as among the very best ever.
Violin Caroline Elizabeth Cox, 18, of Southern Pines, N.C., earned second place in the senior division for her performance of the first movement from Sibelius's Violin Concerto. First prize in the junior division was awarded to pianist Michael Zijing Gao, 14, of Chapel Hill, N.C., who performed the first movement of Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto. Second prize in the junior division went to Aria Cheregosha, 15, of Durham, for her interpretation of the first movement from Forsyth's Viola Concerto.
The annual Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition is open to instrumentalists between ten and 21 years of age and provides an opportunity for young artists to gain recognition and perform alongside the finest musicians in the state. Applicants ages 16 to 21 compete in the senior division, ten to 15 in the junior division. All participants must be North Carolina residents or students enrolled full-time in a North Carolina school.
More than 50 students took part in this year's competition, coming from Wilmington, Asheville and communities in between. The preliminary rounds were held at the Wainwright Music Building at Meredith College in Raleigh on Saturday, April 16. Soloists were asked to perform from memory one movement from any concerto of their choosing.
Nine performers advanced to the final round, held in the Brown-McPherson Music Building at Peace College in Raleigh on Saturday, April 30. Cash prizes are awarded to each first- and second-place honoree, with the winner of the senior division invited to perform with the Symphony.
The Youth Concerto Competition receives support from the Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Fund, created in 1971 to support North Carolina Symphony initiatives that promote young artists in their quest to become professional musicians.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children. The orchestra travels extensively throughout the state to venues in over 50 North Carolina counties. Under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians.
Based in downtown Raleigh's spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It also holds concerts in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, Wilmington and many other North Carolina communities throughout the year.
For tickets, program notes, podcasts—or just to get to know your Symphony's musicians—visit the North Carolina Symphony Web site at ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724. The State of North Carolina has issued your Symphony an $8 million challenge.
Winston-Salem native Steven Banks, 17, took home top senior division honors for his performance of the third movement from Creston's Concerto for Saxophone. He was the only woodwind player to advance into this year's nine-person final.
“He is just incredible," says North Carolina Symphony Education Manager Jessica Nalbone, who organized this year's competition. She notes that one of Banks's prizes for winning the senior division is the opportunity to perform as a featured soloist during a future North Carolina Symphony concert.
“When you hear him," she says, “you're going to be blown away."
A high school senior at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studies with Taimur Sullivan, Banks also recently won the Durham Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists Competition. He will go on to attend Indiana University as a Jacobs Scholar to study saxophone performance with Dr. Otis Murphy.
His strong showing comes within a competition described by the judges—North Carolina Symphony Music Director Grant Llewellyn and Resident Conductor William Henry Curry—as among the very best ever.
Violin Caroline Elizabeth Cox, 18, of Southern Pines, N.C., earned second place in the senior division for her performance of the first movement from Sibelius's Violin Concerto. First prize in the junior division was awarded to pianist Michael Zijing Gao, 14, of Chapel Hill, N.C., who performed the first movement of Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto. Second prize in the junior division went to Aria Cheregosha, 15, of Durham, for her interpretation of the first movement from Forsyth's Viola Concerto.
The annual Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition is open to instrumentalists between ten and 21 years of age and provides an opportunity for young artists to gain recognition and perform alongside the finest musicians in the state. Applicants ages 16 to 21 compete in the senior division, ten to 15 in the junior division. All participants must be North Carolina residents or students enrolled full-time in a North Carolina school.
More than 50 students took part in this year's competition, coming from Wilmington, Asheville and communities in between. The preliminary rounds were held at the Wainwright Music Building at Meredith College in Raleigh on Saturday, April 16. Soloists were asked to perform from memory one movement from any concerto of their choosing.
Nine performers advanced to the final round, held in the Brown-McPherson Music Building at Peace College in Raleigh on Saturday, April 30. Cash prizes are awarded to each first- and second-place honoree, with the winner of the senior division invited to perform with the Symphony.
The Youth Concerto Competition receives support from the Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Fund, created in 1971 to support North Carolina Symphony initiatives that promote young artists in their quest to become professional musicians.
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony performs over 175 concerts annually to adults and school children. The orchestra travels extensively throughout the state to venues in over 50 North Carolina counties. Under the artistic leadership of Music Director and Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Resident Conductor William Henry Curry and Associate Conductor Sarah Hicks, the orchestra employs 67 professional musicians.
Based in downtown Raleigh's spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts and an outdoor summer venue at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C., the Symphony performs about 60 concerts annually in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary metropolitan area. It also holds concerts in Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, Wilmington and many other North Carolina communities throughout the year.
For tickets, program notes, podcasts—or just to get to know your Symphony's musicians—visit the North Carolina Symphony Web site at ncsymphony.org. Call North Carolina Symphony Audience Services at 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724. The State of North Carolina has issued your Symphony an $8 million challenge.
