The competition was divided into two divisions: piano and instrumental. The winner of the piano division was Kevin Wang, of Brentwood, TN, who performed the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, Op. 18. Kevin is a student of Amy Dorfman. The winner of the instrumental division was violinist Eric Xiong, of Lexington, KY, who performed the first movement of Henryk Wieniawski’s Second Violin Concerto, Op. 22. Eric is a student of Daniel Mason. Both winners will receive a $1,000 cash prize and an MSU music scholarship.
Founded in 1987 by former MSU professor Richard Scott, the purpose of the Young Artist Concerto Competition is to showcase the best high school musicians from the region and to give them an incentive to hone their special talents as a soloist with a symphony orchestra.
The Paducah Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, provides operating support to the Paducah Symphony Orchestra with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.