Press Release: Fedor Amosov (cello) Wins 1st Prize in WAMSO Young Artist Competition

For Immediate Release

Media Contacts: Annette Conklin, 6514501607, ACConklin@comcast.net

Eloise Breikjern, WAMSO Executive Director, 6123715694, wamso@mnorch.org

Winners of the 52nd annual WAMSO Young Artist Competition were announced on Sunday, January 20 after their performances at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

The competition’s first prize was awarded to Fedor Amosov, cellist. The 19 year old native of Moscow is currently in the Artist Diploma program at Michigan State University, studying with Suren Bagratuni. His earlier studies were at the Moscow Conservatory’s Central Music College, which he entered at age six. Mr. Amosov received $7,500 in WAMSO awards, plus the $500 Vincent R. Bastien Memorial Cello Award. He has earned a performance with the Minnesota Orchestra and a solo recital performance with the Schubert Club of St. Paul, as well as a taped performance on McGraw Hill’s Young Artist Showcase, WQXR in New York City. He also was the recipient of a $5,000 scholarship to the Aspen Music School in Aspen, Colorado.

Second prize was awarded to tubist Aubrey Foard. Foard, 25, a native of Brookfield, Wisconsin, is currently a Professional Studies Certificate candidate at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, working with Norm Pearson. He holds a master’s degree from Rice University and a bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. The second prize includes a $4,000 award from WAMSO plus a taped performance on radio WQXR in New York City.

The $2,000 Third prize went to Ksenia Leletkina, piano, 24, who recently completed her master’s degrees in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Anita Pontremoli. A native of Vladivostok, Russia, she graduated at age 18 from the Vladivostok Music College. Ms. Leletkina also received the $500 Mary Winston Smail Memorial Piano Award.

Cheng Chen, 25, piano, Artist Diploma Candidate at Hamline University, won a

performance with the St. Paul Civic Symphony. Jennise Hwang, 21, violin, a senior at

Northwestern University, was awarded the $1,000 Twin Cities Musicians Union prize. Emma Steele, 17, a home-schooled student from Chicago, Illinois won the $1,000 Elaine Lagerstrom Memorial Violin Award as well as a scholarship to the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. And semifinalist, pianist Lindsay Garritson, 20, a senior at Principia College, Elsah, Illinois, won a scholarship to the Madeline Island Music Camp.

Judges for the Final Round of the competition were Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vänskä; Thomas Turner, Principal Viola with the Minnesota Orchestra; and Evans Mirageas, Artistic Planning Director of the Atlanta Symphony and Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Opera.

The Young Artist Competition is a collaborative effort between WAMSO – Minnesota Orchestra Volunteer Association and the Minnesota Orchestra. Musicians under the age of 26 years compete for more than $15,000 in cash prizes, scholarships, performance opportunities, and summer program scholarships. This year’s finalists were drawn from an original field of 58 applicants who submitted audition CDs for the preliminary. Fourteen contestants advanced to the semifinals held at Macalester College in St. Paul.

Started in 1956, the competition now draws talented young musicians to the Twin Cities from all over the world who are legal residents of or enrolled in schools in eleven Midwestern states or the provinces of Manitoba or Ontario, Canada. WAMSO is in its 57th year of providing support for the Minnesota Orchestra and promoting music education throughout Minnesota.

2008 WAMSO YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION Winners:

FIRST PRIZE:             Fedor Amosov, 19, cello, Michigan State University

SECOND PRIZE:        Aubrey Foard, 25, tuba, The Colburn School in Los Angeles

THIRD PRIZE:            Ksenia Leletkina, 24, piano, The Cleveland Institute of Music

ELAINE LOUISE LAGERSTROM VIOLIN AWARD:

Emma Steele, 17, violin, Chicago, Illinois

VINCENT R. BASTIEN MEMORIAL CELLO SCHOLARSHIP AWARD:

Fedor Amosov, 19, cello, Michigan State University

MARY WINSTON SMAIL MEMORIAL PIANO AWARD

Ksenia Leletkina, 24, piano, The Cleveland Institute of Music

TWIN CITIES MUSICIANS UNION AWARD

Jennise Hwang, 21, violin, Northwestern University

PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES:

The Schubert Club of St. Paul – Fedor Amosov, 19, cello, Michigan State University

St. Paul Civic Symphony – Cheng Chen, 25, piano, Hamline University

SUMMER PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIPS:

Aspen Music School – Fedor Amosov, 19, cello, Michigan State University

Madeline Island Music Camp – Lindsay Garritson, 20, Principia College, Elsah, Illinois

Interlochen Summer Arts Camp – Emma Steele, 17, violin, Chicago, Illinois