Past Festivals - 2017
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Lisa Lantz
Artistic Director
MostArts Festival
1 Saxon Drive
Alfred, NY 14802
607-871-2569
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Award Winners
- 1st Prize and $10,000 was awarded to Alice Zhang, 15 years old from Vernon Hills, IL.
- 2nd Prize and $5,000 was awarded to Raymond Feng, 15 years old from Pittsford, NY.
- 3rd Prize and $1,500 was awarded to Scarlett Zheng, 17, Cranford, NJ.
The Audience Favorite Awards for the most moving Mozart Concerto performance:
- Thursday evening's $500 award goes to Scarlett Zheng.
- Friday evening's $500 award goes to Aliya Alsafa, 13, Chicago, IL.
In addition to these prizes, the Judges Discretionary Award of $1,000 went to two 16-year-olds: Siyu Yang of Syosset, NY, and William Yang of Lexington, MA, for their brilliant solo recital performances. Other Merit Certificates were award to 17-year-old David Godar of Cincinnati, Ohio and Christian Chiu of Pittsburgh, PA.
Meet the 2017 International Young Pianist Competition Finalists
Aliya Alsafa

Thirteen year old Aliya Alsafa began studying piano at the age of four at the Music Institute of Chicago. She was the first prize winner of the Emilio Del Rosario Concerto Competition, the Chopin Youth Competition in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Walgreens National Concerto Early Music Division Competition. Aliya has played at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Ravinia Bennett Gordon Hall, and Symphony Center for the “Keys to the City” festival hosted by Emanuel Ax. She was also selected for the inaugural Allianz Junior Music Camp through the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. Aliya currently studies piano with Matti Raekallio and Sueanne Metz. Soon after she began playing piano, Aliya took an interest in composition. In 2015, she won first prize in state and regional contests and second place nationally in MTNA for composition. Aliya is a Davidson Young Scholar and attends the Whitney Young Academic Center in Chicago, IL.
Christian Chiu

Christian Chiu, fourteen, is completing eighth grader at Fort Couch Middle School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of ten, he made his orchestral debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has been a first prize winner of the solo division at the Duquesne Young Artist National Competition and of the Pittsburgh Concert Society Young Artist Competition, and he has been selected to perform at Weill Recital Hall as winner of the Pittsburgh International Piano Competition. Additionally, he was selected as a finalist for NPR's From The Top auditions. Christian has appeared as a guest pianist with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, and he participated in the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition and the Southeastern Piano Festival (SEPF) in 2016. He likes playing music from all different periods, and especially enjoys performing the works of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Outside of his musical pursuits, Christian’s favorite activities include playing soccer, chess, ping pong, and golf, and watching hockey games. He currently studies privately with Professor Natasha Snitkovsky of Duquesne University.
Raymond Feng

Fifteen-year-old Raymond Feng is a sophomore at Sutherland High School in Pittsford, NY. A pupil of Elier Suárez since age five, Raymond has been a top prizewinner of international and national competitions. He has appeared on NPR’s From the Top with the Rochester Philharmonic under the baton of Ward Stare and was selected as a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation in 2016. Major concert venues Raymond has performed at include Eastman Kodak Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall in NYC, Sanders Theatre at Harvard, and Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago.
Raymond is deeply engaged in giving back to the community. The founded the “Music for Love” project in 2015, which brings music performances to local nursing homes, hospitals, cancer centers, and organizes concerts to raise money for Golisano Children's Hospital. Aside from music, Raymond is an accomplished mathlete, enjoys composing music, and playing tennis.
David Godar

David Godar is seventeen years old, from Cincinnati, OH, and is a junior at Sycamore High School. He started to play piano at age three, and has competed since the age of seven. David won the Pre-College Buckeye Auditions, received Honorable Mention at the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC, and won the Blue Ash Young Artist Concerto Competition. David was a finalist in the Overture Awards in Cincinnati, and he is a recipient of the Cincinnati Symphony Club Scholarship, the Gino DiMario Scholarship, and the Clifton Music Club Piano Competition Scholarship. At age thirteen he made his orchestral debut with the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and one year later he played as a soloist with the Middletown Symphony Orchestra. He also returned to perform the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto with the Blue Ash Orchestra in 2015. He is a recipient of the National YoungArts Foundation Merit Award, and he also won the Paducah Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition along with the College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Piano Competition. David is a student of Hitomi Koyama.
Siyu Yang

Before moving to the USA, Siyu Yang studied with Ming-Duo Li at the Shanghai Music College and competed extensively in China. Most recently he was in the Young Classical Virtuoso of Tomorrow Competition. His solo recitals and chamber music performances venues include the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, NY, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Jacobs Music Steinway 164th Anniversary Concert. The sixteen year old is a student at Syosset High School, NY where he is the pianist for their jazz ensemble, performing in the District Jazz Festival as well as in pit orchestra for a variety of musicals. Siyu studies with Amy Yang, a professor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
William Yang

Sixteen-year-old William Yang of Lexington, MA has been honored at numerous competitions, including second prize at the Midwest International Piano Competition and Festival in 2014, and winner of the special Bach Prize at the 2015 Young Artists Cleveland International Piano Competition. Most recently he was a semifinalist in the 2016 Cooper International Piano Competition. William has performed since the age of seven, and in 2010 he was the featured soloist in NPR’s From the Top. His orchestral performances include Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of Animals with the Minnesota Orchestra in 2010 and Edvard Grieg’s Concerto in A Minor with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra in 2012.
William is a student at Lexington High School and at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, where he studies piano with Alexander Korsantia. He loves chamber music, swimming, and table tennis.
Alice Zhang

Alice Zhang, fifteen, is a sophomore at Vernon Hills High School. Born in Vernon Hills, Alice started studying piano at age four with Brenda Huang. She also takes additional lessons with Professor Eduardus Halim and Dr. Matthew Hagle. Her piano performances have been broadcasted many times in 98.7 WFMT’s Introductions radio program, including solo recital, chamber music, piano duet, and piano concerto performances. This year, she placed third in the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) national piano duet competition in Baltimore, MD. In 2014, she won second prize in the Junior Division of the Emilio del Rosario (EDR) General Piano Concerto Competition, and was named as the Overall Winner of the MYA Junior Division of the National Walgreens Concerto Competition held at Ravinia. The following year, Alice was the youngest of seven finalists in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth Auditions and performed at the Chicago Symphony's Orchestra Hall.
An accomplished chamber musician, Alice's group, the Odysseus Trio, advanced to the semifinals of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In the local community, she is an active performer in many senior facilities and community clubs in the greater Chicago area. She is also a violinist and participates in the Symphony Orchestra of Midwest Young Artists Conservatory.
Scarlett (Xinyue) Zheng

Scarlett (Xinyue) Zheng is from Nanjing, China. Now a seventeen-year-old junior at Union Catholic High School in New Jersey, she won First Prize at the 8th International Nice Côte d'Azur Piano Competition. That competition grew her confidence, and she loves to perform and share music with other people. Earlier, she gave three recitals in Xiamen at the Wuyuan Concert Hall, and a solo recital in Nanjing at the Nanyi Concert hall. In China she studied with Shuren Sun and Xianjie Zhu, and now she studies with Susan Starr.
7:30 Grand Opening Festival Concert
MostArts Festival Orchestra
Featuring the 2017 Young Pianist Competition Grand Prize Winner, Derek Chung.
Yuval Zaliouk, Conductor
Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1
Dvorak Symphony No. 8
Reception: $10 Donation at the Door
12:00 Chamber Music Series
"Sound Bites Sampler" # 1
Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 59. No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven Sextet for Winds Op. 71
Antonin Dvorak Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81
7:30 Evening Concert Series
Featuring the MostArts Festival Orchestra with Grammy Award winning pianist, Angelin Chang and trumpet soloist, Bruno Lourensetto
Yuval Zaliouk, conductor
Shostakovitch Piano Concerto No. 1 for Trumpet and Strings
Bizet Symphony No. 1 in C major
12:00 Chamber Music Series
"Sound Bites Sampler" # 2
Maurice Ravel Piano Trio in A minor
Andre Jolivet Sonatine
Alexander Borodin String Quartet No. 2 in D minor
Mikhail Glinka Grand Sextet in E flat major
6:30 Carillon Recital
7:30 Evening Concert Series
MostArts Festival Orchestra featuring German Concert Pianist, Andreas Klein
Yuval Zaliouk, Conductor
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
12:00 Chamber Music Series
"Sound Bites Sampler" # 3
Piotr Illich Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70
Ludwig van Beethoven Sextet for Winds Op. 71
Maurice Ravel Ma mere L’Oye for piano 4 hands
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44
2:00 Recital
“Young Pianist Competition” Finalists
Bach
Prelude & Fugue in B flat major, BWV 866, (WTC 1)
Mozart
Sonata No. 18 in D major, K. 576
Allegro
Chopin
Etude in A flat major, Op. 25, No. 1
Etude in C major, Op. 10, No. 7
Chopin
Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57
Fazil Say
Paganini Jazz
Raymond Feng 15 years old from Pittsford, NY
Beethoven
Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Op. 81a “Les Adieux”
Das Lebewohl (The Farewell): Adagio-Allegro
Chopin
Etude in F flat major, Op. 10, No. 8
Chopin
Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44
Stravinsky
Trois mouvements de Petrouchka: Danse russe
William Yang 16 years old from Lexington, MA
Bach
Prelude & Fugue in B minor, BWV 869 (WTC 1)
Chopin
Etude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5
Chopin
Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
Alice Zhang 16 years old from Vernon Hills, IL
Ravel
Oiseaux Tristes from Miroirs
Liszt
La Leggierezza, from Trois Etudes de Concert, S. 144
Liszt
Tarantella, from Deuxième année: Italie
4:00 Recital
“Young Pianist Competition” Finalists
Mozart
Sonata No. 13 in B flat major, K. 333
Allegro
Liszt
Waldesrauschen (Forest Murmurs), S. 145/1
Chopin
Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20 No. 1
David Godar 17 years old from Cincinnati, OH
Bach
Prelude & Fugue in E flat minor, BWV 853 (WTC 1)
Rachmaninoff
Etude Tableau in A minor, Op. 39 No. 6
Toru Takemitsu
Litany: Adagio
Brahms
Piano Sonata No 1 in C major, Op 1
Allegro
Scarlett (Xinyue) Zheng 16 years old from Cranford, NJ
Bach
Prelude & Fugue in D minor, BWV 875 (WTC I1)
Beethoven
Sonata No. 11 in B flat major, Op. 22
Allegro con brio
Liszt
Transcendental Etude No. 5, Feux Follets Shostakovich
Prelude & Fugue No. 15 in D flat major
Siyu Yang 16 years old from Syosset, NY
Bach
Chromatic Fantasy, BWV 903
Chopin
Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11
Chopin
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
6:00 Music Under The Stars
Delicious Food, Music and Art
12:00 Chamber Music Series
"Sound Bites Sampler" # 4
Johannes Brahms Horn Trio Op. 40
Franz Schubert Fantasie in F minor, Op. 103
Pablo Sarasate Navarra for Two Violins
7:30 Evening Concert Series
MostArts Festival Orchestra
Steve Thomas, Conductor
Featuring Finalists of the Piano Competition
Mozart Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271
Andantino
Rondo: Presto
David Godar 17 years old from Cincinnati, OH
Mozart Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491
Larghetto
Allegretto
Scarlett (Xinyue) Zheng 16 years old from Cranford, NJ
Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Romanze
Allegro assai
Raymond Feng 15 years old from Pittsford, NY
Mozart Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
Andante
Allegretto-Presto
12:00 Chamber Music Series
"Sound Bites Sampler" # 5
Wallingford Riegger Concerto for Piano and Woodwind Quintet, Op. 53
Johannes Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
1:30-2:30 “What’s Hot at the AU Hot Shop?”
Glassblowing Demonstration with Angus Powers
7:30 Evening Concert Series
MostArts Festival Orchestra
Featuring Finalists of the Piano Competition
Steve Thomas, Conductor
Mozart Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
Andante
Allegro vivace assai
Siyu Yang 16 years old from Syosset, NY
Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466
Romanze
Allegro assai
Aliya Alsafa 13 years old from Chicago, IL
Mozart Concerto No. 18 in B flat major, K. 456
Andante
Allegro vivace
Alice Zhang 16 years old from Vernon Hills, IL
Mozart Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271
Andantino
Rondo: Presto
11:00am-2:00pm Raku Extravaganza with Wayne Higby
Weather Permitting
7:30 Gala Concert: Festival Orchestra
The MostArts Festival Orchestra featuring Clarinetist, Camila Barrientos Ossio
Yuval Zaliouk, Conductor
Lisa Lantz, Conductor
Weber Clarinet Concertino Op. 26
Beethoven Symphony No. 3
The MostArts Festival Orchestra is an exquisite Mozart-sized orchestra comprised of first class musicians from around the world. Our FREE noon hour Sound Bite Sampler Chamber Music Series showcase our musicians performing gems of the chamber music repertoire as the audience enjoys lunch or dessert.
The Evening Concert Series features renowned soloists performing with the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Yuval Zaliouk, Steven Thomas and Lisa Lantz, in the magnificent Miller Theater. Then, top off the evening with a glass of wine at our Meet and Greet the Artists Reception following each concert.
1st Violin
Ricardo Amador
Augusto Diemecke
Blanca Cecilia González
Sho Omagari
Curtis Stewart
Amanda Lo
Yuan Yuan
Lisa Lantz
2nd Violin
Debrah Devine
Noemi Miloradovic
Yulin Liu
Jeffery King
Margot Mezvinsky
Luis Enrique Casal
Viola
Samuel Marchan
Steven Thomas
Kristin Gomez
Cello
Bryan Eckenrode
Rintaro Wada
Zachary Sweet
Bass
Kathleen Horvath
Spencer Phillips
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Camila Barrientos Ossio
Georgiy Borisov
Bassoon
Horn
Jessica Santiago
Terry Martens
Claire McKenney
Heidi Oros
Tuba
Trombone
Trumpet
Bruno Lourensetto
Christopher Foster
Timpani
Jerome Neuhoff
Emily Ickes Jackson