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Alain Barker
Jacobs School of Music
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Last modified: Friday, February 4, 2011

Student winners announced for Concerto Competitions in the IU Jacobs School of Music

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 4, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Jacobs School of Music today (Feb. 4, 2011) announced the student winners of recent piano, violin and double bass competitions for performances with the Chamber, Concert, Philharmonic and University orchestras. All of the following concert events, performed by competition winners, are free and open to the public.

Double bassist Daniel Perry won the J. B. Vanhal concerto competition and performed Vanhal's Concerto for Double Bass in D Major with the Chamber Orchestra (Feb 2) with Professor of Violin Jorja Fleezanis as leader. Pictures from the concert are posted here. Stephen Metcalf was chosen as alternate winner. Both students study with Professor Lawrence Hurst.

Pianist Evan Mitchell, a student of Professor Arnaldo Cohen, won the competition to perform Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major with the Concert Orchestra under the direction of Professor David Effron. The concert takes place on Sunday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. The alternate for this competition was Yejin Noh, who also studies with Professor Cohen.

Pianist George Lykogiannis, a student of Associate Professor Emile Naoumoff, won the competition to perform Franz Liszt's Totentanz (Dance of Death) in the same Concert Orchestra performance listed above (Feb 6, at 8 p.m. in the MAC). The alternate for this competition was Evan Mitchell, a student of Professor Arnaldo Cohen.

Pianist Wu Quian, a student of Professor Arnaldo Cohen, won the competition to perform the Beethoven Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 with the University Orchestra under the direction of visiting conductor Cliff Colnot. The concert takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. The alternate for this competition was Gulrukh Shakirova, a student of Distinguished Professor Menahem Pressler.

Violinist Sarah Saviet, a student of Professor Jorja Fleezanis, won the Alban Berg Violin Concerto competition and will perform as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of guest conductor Steven Smith, Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. in the Musical Arts Center. The alternate winner was Colin Sorgi, recent winner of the Latin American Music Center recording competition and a student of Professor Jaime Laredo.

For information about these and other performances in the Jacobs School of Music, visit https://music.indiana.edu/events.

BIOGRAPHIES

Double bassist Daniel Perry is currently a sophomore studying with Lawrence Hurst at the Jacobs School of Music. His musical education started at an early age with the influence of his father, Marvin Perry, principal trumpet of the Indianapolis Symphony. At age 11, Perry began his bass studies with Greg Dugan of the Indianapolis Symphony, until enrolling at Indiana University in 2009. In 2007, Perry was a winner in the ASTA National Solo Competition in Detroit, Mich. In 2009, he traveled to State College, Pa. as a finalist in the junior division of the International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. Perry has also participated in summer programs, including the Wabass Institute for the Double Bass and the MasterWorks Festival. Other musical influences include Bruce Bransby, Tom Sperl, Harold Robinson, Ranaan Meyer, Derek DeVelder and Bert Witzel.

Pianist Evan Mitchell has performed at New York's Steinway Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and in seven countries on three continents. He has appeared with the Victoria Symphony and Indiana University Philharmonic, under conductors Darryl One and Kevin Noe, and in chamber music with members of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. His honors include first prize in the Kingsville International Young Performers Competition, IU Concerto Competition (twice), and the 12th Annual Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America (sponsored by the IU Latin American Music Center and the Embassy of Spain), in which he was also awarded the Jacques Klein Prize for the Best Performance of a Brazilian Solo Piano Work. Mitchell has a bachelor's degree of music with high distinction in piano from the Jacobs School of Music with a minor in German. He is currently completing his master's of music (with an outside area in conducting) at the Jacobs School, where he is a student of Arnaldo Cohen.

Pianist George Lykogiannis made his orchestral debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Chioggia in 2000, and appeared in concert with them again in 2007 and 2009 as Prizewinner of the Festival Musica in Laguna International Concerto Competition (Chioggia, Venice, Italy). He is the prizewinner of several competitions throughout his home state of New Jersey. He attended Rowan University (Glassboro, N.J.), where he studied under Raffi Bessalyan, and graduated summa cum laude in May of 2008 with a bachelor's in music performance. Lykogiannis is pursuing his master's degree at the Jacobs School, studying under Emile Naoumoff.

As a Jacobs Scholar, Wu Qian is pursuing an artist's diploma in the Jacobs School and studies with Professor Arnaldo Cohen. Selected as the classical music bright young star for 2007 by the Independent newspaper, Qian was born in Shanghai, where she received her early training before coming to the Yehudi Menuhin School at 13. At 15, she performed as a soloist in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and again at the Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. She also played the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in St. John's, Smith Square. She has appeared in many of the U.K.'s major venues, including the Wigmore, Royal Festival, and Bridgewater Halls, and she has made her debut recital in City Hall Hong Kong. Qian's debut recording was released in April 2009 on the Dal Segno label and she has recently performed with the Brussels Philharmonic and the Munchen Symphoniker.

Indiana University Wells Scholar Sarah Saviet is a native of Washington, D.C. She is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree at the Jacobs School, where she is a student of Jorja Fleezanis. She is a prize winner of many competitions, including the MTNA National String competition, ASTA String Competition, Friday Morning Music Club Competition, NSO Young Artists Competition and the Washington Performing Arts Society's Feder Competition. She is committed to performing contemporary music and has both premiered many new works and played with the IU New Music Ensemble and the Peabody Camerata. Saviet plays on a violin generously on loan from the Washington Performing Arts Society.