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UMass Music Holds 2nd Annual Young Artist Awards
Friday, June 3, 2022
Friday, June 3, 2022
Massachusetts high school musicians earned cash prizes, feedback from UMass faculty
See the Young Artist Awards webpage for the full list of 2022 winners!
The Department of Music & Dance was pleased to host the 2022 UMass Young Artist Awards, open to high school students who are residents of, or attend school in Massachusetts. With performance opportunities so limited by the pandemic, the UMass music faculty launched this effort last year to provide younger artists with opportunities to perform, compete, and receive professional feedback while furthering their classical music studies. The competition was once again conducted entirely via video recordings submitted by the entrants.
The competition offered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place cash awards of up to $1,000 in each of four categories: Voice - High School Division 1 (for 9th/10th graders); Voice - High School Division 2 (for 11th/12th graders); Winds/Brass/Percussion, and Strings. (There was no Piano category this year.) In addition, valuable Honorable Mention awards were offered by several sponsors of the event, including Stamell Stringed Instruments, Virtuosity Musical Instruments, David French Music and Gerry’s Music Shop. All entrants to the competition received written feedback on their recorded performances by UMass music faculty and guest jurors.
2022 First Place winners:
Voice (9th & 10th grade): Abigail Bancroft
Voice (11th & 12th grade): Fangzhen Wang
Strings: Ethan Fisher-Chavez, violin
Winds/Brass/Percussion: Chloe Zhong, flute
Applications, including video recording submissions, were due on May 1, 2022. Interested students, parents and teachers can find more information, including awards, repertoire requirements and guidelines for recording applicant performances, at www.umass.edu/music/umass-young-artist-awards-2022. Previous 1st place winners are not eligible for future prizes in their winning category. Winners were announced on June 1, 2022.
The competition is one of many such efforts hosted by the department to encourage and support talented young instrumentalists and vocalists while providing them with a glimpse of the college music experience. These events include the High School Honor Band, High School Jazz Festival, and numerous day-long instruction-based events hosted by the wind, choral, operatic and string faculty.
