The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami announced the student winners of the Inaugural Artist Launch Award Competition. Based on a voting process after the competition was live streamed via YouTube from UM’s Gusman Hall which had a limited capacity live audience on April 20, the winners include Deco Saxophone Quartet, Priscila Navarro (piano), Ashley Shaina (soprano) and Antek Olesik (marimba). They will perform at Carnegie Hall in NYC in early 2022.
“Congratulations to all of our finalists who participated in our Inaugural Artist Launch Award Competition,” stated Valerie Coleman, Artist Launch director, Assistant Professor Performance, Chamber Music, and Entrepreneurship “Each and every one performed exquisitely and are all winners with bright futures ahead of them. However, as in all competitions, the voters have ultimately made the decision. The winners chosen will now officially represent the Frost School as the best and brightest of our classical artists to perform at one of the most prestigious venues in the world, Carnegie Hall. The winning performaners are truly deserving of this honor and I look forward to this next milestone in their musical journey.”
Seven finalists selected from 28 applicants were chosen to compete in the competition. Each student was given a twelve-minute showcase and were critiqued by an esteemed panel of guest judges, notably: Award-winning pianist alumna Lindsay Garritson (D.M.A. ’20), renowned festival producer Charles Letourneau (Festival Napa Valley, Tokyo’s Mostly Mozart, among others), internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano and Frost School’s 2020-2021 Chamber Music Artist-In-Residence Alicia Hall Moran, and GRAMMY-winning Maestro alumnus Cristian Mãcelaru (B.M. ’03). Judges participated via zoom.
The winning performances were as follows:
Deco Saxophone Quartet
- Benjamin Morris – soprano saxophone
- Shengbo Lin – alto saxophone
- Jacob Bernat – tenor saxophone
- Noah Brisson – baritone saxophone
Concerto, talien MWV 971 Jacob Sebastian Bach
111 Presto
(Measure 187 to the End) Katsuki Tochio
Quatour pour Saxophones Alfred Desenclos
11 Calmo (Measure 1 – 11)
Dance of the Yao Tribes Yuan Mao/Tie Shan Lui/Arr. Manlong Li
Priscila Navarro (piano)
Fantasy in A Minor, BWV 904 Johann Sebastian Bach
Danza Negra Ernesto Lecvona
Embraceable You/I Got Rhythm George Gershwin/Wild
Ashley Shaina (soprano)
Accompanied by Jared Peroune, piano
Dupuis le Jour from Louise Gustave Carpenter
Tu che di gel sei cinta from Turandot Giacomo Puccini
Antek Olesik (Marimba)
Merlin for Solo Marimba Andrew Thomas
1 Beyond the Faint Edge of the World
11 Time’s Way
Danza Negra Ernesto Lecvona
Embraceable You/I Got Rhythm George Gershwin/Wild
Ashley Shaina (soprano)
Accompanied by Jared Peroune, piano
Dupuis le Jour from Louise Gustave Carpenter
Tu che di gel sei cinta from Turandot Giacomo Puccini
Antek Olesik (Marimba)
Merlin for Solo Marimba Andrew Thomas
1 Beyond the Faint Edge of the World
11 Time’s Way
