Music Matters!. .................................................................................... Concerto Competition Names Winners The Houston Symphony held its 64th annual Concerto Competition at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music on January 8. The field of competitors, with 18 finalists, was narrowed to three winners: • 1st – Reshena Liao, violin; senior at St. John’s School; performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major • 2nd – Elijah Baik, cello; junior at Taylor High School; performed Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme • 3rd – Erik Wheeler, cello; junior at The High School for Performing and Visual Arts; performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto
^ The competition winners and judges; front row from left: Reshena Liao, Elijan Baik and Erik Wheeler; back row, from left: Robert Franz, Felicia Maye and Andrew Trechak
Gold medalist Reshena Liao was awarded $1000 and will perform with the Houston Symphony at next season’s Spec’s Charitable Foundation Salute to Educators Concert on January 26, 2012. Silver medalist Elijah Baik received $500 and will perform at the Houston Symphony League luncheon in May. Third place winner Erik Wheeler was awarded $250.
The contestants’ performances were judged by: • Felicia Moye – violin, Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition winner (1985); professor of violin, University of Wisconsin • Andrew Trechak – piano, Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition winner (1976); associate professor of piano, Wichita State University • Robert Franz – associate conductor, Houston Symphony Countless volunteers from the Houston Symphony League and the Houston Symphony League – Bay Area served as greeters, escorts, music runners, timekeepers and monitors. They also provided breakfast and lunch for the participants.
Biographies continued from page 22....................................................................... School of Music (1985—2001), teaching both solo and orchestral repertoire. His former students perform in the New World, Charlotte, Richmond and Detroit Symphonies; the Hong Kong Philharmonic; and the Chiara, Arianna and Borromeo quartets.
Brinton Averil Smith, cello
Houston Symphony principal cellist Brinton 24 www.houstonsymphony.org
Smith
Brooks In 1995, Brooks gave the Houston premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Viola Concerto with Christoph Eschenbach. In 2001, he performed Frank Martin’s rarely heard Ballade for Viola and Orchestra with Larry Rachleff (Shepherd School Chamber Orchestra). Solo appearances with the Houston Symphony include Berlioz’ Harold in Italy, with Christoph Eschenbach, and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, with associate concertmaster Eric Halen.
Averil Smith has won rave reviews throughout the United States and in Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and New Zealand. North American engagements have included collaborations with esteemed chamber ensembles; at the Marlboro, Brevard, Mainly Mozart, Texas and Aspen Music Festivals, among others; and concerti with orchestras in Detroit, San Diego, New Jersey, Fort Worth, San Jose, Las Vegas, Tucson and Phoenix.
His recordings of Miklos Rozsa’s Cello Concerto, Fauré’s Piano Trio and Après un Rêve, and the chamber music of Steven Gerber have received widespread critical acclaim and recognition by Gramophone Magazine, BBC Music Magazine, the American Record Guide and Strings Magazine. His performances have been broadcast on CBS Sunday Morning and on radio, including NPR’s Performance Today.
Before joining the Houston Symphony in 2005, Smith was a member of the New York Philharmonic and principal cellist of the San Diego and Fort Worth Symphony orchestras. He is a faculty member at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and co-founder and artistic director of Restoration Chamber Music, a festival that pairs historic Galveston buildings with relevant classical concerts to benefit the island’s preservation efforts. Smith was a prize-winner in the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition, and in several consecutive Juilliard and Aspen Music Festival concerto competitions. He received the Melini Award for excellence in performance and was invited to perform at the American Cello Congress. The son of a mathematician and a pianist, Smith began his musical studies at age 5. At 10, he was admitted to Arizona State University and completed a B.A. in mathematics at 17. Smith completed his M.A. in mathematics at 19 (USC), while a scholarship student of Eleonore Schoenfeld, and then studied with cellist Zara Nelsova at The Juilliard School where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He and his wife, pianist Evelyn Chen, have one daughter, Calista. www.houstonsymphony.org