Thirteen finalists – chosen from among a talented pool of 72 applicants from across the United States and six other countries – have been designated finalists for the live final round of the 2021 Claudette Sorel Piano Competition to be held on Sunday, Nov. 7, at SUNY Fredonia.
The finalists, all between the ages of 15 and 17, include: Ian Cannon, from Texas; Celine Chen, California; Julian Frank, state of Washington State; Matan Gur Nelson, Israel; Anthony Lee, Massachusetts; Sammi Li, New Jersey; Angelina Ning, Florida; Hyeonuk Park, Massachusetts; Emma Tio, California; Kevin Wang, Canada; Yuka Yang, Tennessee; Maria Adele Zampa, Switzerland; and Jonathan Zheng, state of Washington.
“Now in its 6th year, we have intentionally designed our competition to be a uniquely positive and welcoming experience, creating a space for participants to present their creative passion and vision in a nurturing environment,” said Assistant Professor of Piano Eliran Avni, who is also the competition director.
Serving as competition judges are Professor Fr. Sean Duggan and Dr. Avni, along with guest judges Brian Preston and Beverly Smoker.
The live round, which is free and open to the public, will be held at noon in Rosch Recital Hall. It will also be streamed live online. For more information about the competition and Fellows program, visit online.
The competition is named after SUNY Distinguished Professor Claudette Sorel, a former member of the Fredonia School of Music faculty, who made more than 2,000 concert, recital, and festival appearances and played with 200 major orchestras that include the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, NBC Symphony and London Philharmonic.
Now in its third year, the annual Piano Fellows Program takes place in conjunction with the competition and will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6 and 7. Invited fellows will attend both online and in-person lessons, master classes and workshops, and also present a Fellows recital and gain behind-the-scenes access to the competition.
The Fellows Program is designed for talented pianists (ages 15 to 18) who are serious about their craft and are looking for an intensive musical experience, but who may not yet be ready for the competition circuit. It is tuition-free for those invited to participate.
Artists selected as Fellows include:
Sergio Acelas, 17 (Fla.); Brody Ajemian, 16 (N.Y.); Andrew Allen, 15 (Okla.); Elías Betancourt Taborda, 17 (Colombia); Samuel Burnitz, 16 (Fla.); Jose Manuel Carrera Grammatikos, 18 (México); Matthew Chen, 16 (N.Y.); Mehana Ellis, 16 (Calif.); Ellen Foreman, 16 (Texas); Isaac Goldstein, 14 (Wash.); Nelyam Gutierrez Mustelier, 17 (Spain); Tristen Guzman, 16 (Ill.); Gabrielle Hrung, 17 (N.J.); Anna Hsu, 16 (N.Y.); Mia Ionov, 15 (Calif.); Anirudh Iyer, 16 (Calif.); Sean Li, 17 (N.Y.); Rohan Malik, 16 (N.Y.); Spencer McKee, 16 (Fla.); Inez Meraz-Lerma, 17 (Calif.); Liam Noronha, 16 (Canada); Giselle Pedraza, 17 (Texas); Alexander Pepi, 15 (Texas); Makayla Press, 17 (N.Y); Owen Reyda, 15 (N.Y.); Zev Roytburd-Sharlot, 15 (N.J.); Johnathan Sun, 17 (Md.); Alvin Wang, 15 (Calif.); Salem Wang, 16 (Mich.); Kate Wexell, 17 (Ill.) and Mofei Zhu, 14 (N.Y.)
