All first prize winners of the 25th Annual Music Festival in Honor of Confucius Competition are invited to perform at the Winners Concert, held on Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 3:00 pm at the historic Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, Chicago. As always, this concert, presented by the Chinese Fine Arts Society is free and open to the public. Parents and family, as well as the public, get the chance to hear and enjoy various musical pieces, originating from both the East and West.

This year’s winners are: Garrett Chou, cello; Jonathan Cruz, piano; Amanda Fan, piano; Yoan Ganev, piano; Kevin Hu, violin; Thomas Huang, piano; Ryan Jannak-Huang, piano; Adele Lee, violin; Chloe Lee, violin; Claire Lee, cello; Tabitha Oh, violin; Frank Wu, piano; Josiah Yoo, cello: Joshua Zhu, piano

The Virginia G. Behrendt Scholarship this year goes to the “Eastern Sea Quartet” – Ari Barack Fisher, violin, James Gan Stinehart, cello, Mengsha Gong, viola, Mimi Liu, piano.

The concert also features a guest performance from the Chinese Instrument Category: Angelina Cheng, guzheng.

Program:

• Fighting the Typhoon by Wang Chan Yuan, performed by Angelina Cheng, guzheng
• Embroidering a Silk Banner, Arr. by Jiang Chong Wang, performed by Thomas Huang, piano
• The Cat and the Mouse, by Aaron Copland, Joshua Zhu, piano
• Peony Lullaby by Frank K. Leung, performed by Claire Lee, cello
• Shepherdess, by Kuo Chuen Lee, performed by Adele Lee, violin
• Dance of the Gnomes, by Franz Liszt, performed by Amanda Fan, piano
• The Spring of Sharaba, Chinese Folk Song, performed by Jonathan Cruz, piano
• Hungarian Rhapsody, Op. 68, by David Popper, performed by Josiah Yoo, cello
• Blissful Night by Tien Hwa Liu, performed Chloe Lee, violin
• Sonata No. 3, A minor, Op. 28, by Sergei Prokofiev, performed by Ryan Jannak-Huang, piano
• Reeds in the Wind, by Chu Chiang Wu, performed by Yoan Ganev, piano
• Tzigane by Maurice Ravel, performed by Tabitha Oh, violin
• Field by Ba Hai Tu, performed by Garrett Chou, cello
• Gaspard de la Nuit (selection) by Maurice Ravel, performed by Frank Wu, piano
• Violin Concerto No. 1 (selections) by Dmitri Shostakovich, performed by Kevin Hu, violin
• To the Eastern Sea Quartet by Michael Djupstrom, performed by the Eastern Sea Quartet

Held every year in late October, at the time of the birthday of the legendary Chinese philosopher, hundreds of young musicians compete in the annual Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, where they perform selected Chinese music, as well as a western piece of their choosing, for a panel of judges. In celebration of our 25th Anniversary, the Chinese Fine Arts Society was pleased this year to introduce a new Chinese Instruments Category within the Festival.

Founded by the late Barbara Tiao in 1984, the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius introduces participants to the rich heritage of Chinese music through competitions and scholarships. An exciting required repertoire reflects the beauty and breadth of the Chinese musical tradition and proves to be challenging and inspiring for the contestants. It exposes students and their teachers to a wider world of music and styles. Participants perform selected pieces divided by instrument and age.

According to Chinese Fine Arts Society Board President Julie Tiao Ma, daughter of late founder Barbara Tiao, “The Music Festival is an event that reflects some of the best and most admirable desires that we all share: peace, harmony and a mutual appreciation for beauty and art. The diverse ethnicities of the participants from our past years shows that despite being from different cultural backgrounds, we are by no means separated by those differences.”

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Chinese Fine Arts Society is a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago.  In Chicago’s culturally diverse society, CFAS provides programs and activities that promote the understanding of Chinese culture through music and other fine arts. In addition to the annual Music Festival in Honor of Confucius (MFHC), twice a decade CFAS also sponsors an International Music Composition Competition. For these competitions, they solicit new music compositions, inspired by a Chinese cultural theme, from composers worldwide. The winning compositions are premiered in a Chicago-area venue, performed by top-notch professional musicians. Through their Outreach program, CFAS presents cultural programming in nursing homes, schools, libraries, and underserved communities, as well as large scale events for locals and tourists in highly visible locations throughout the greater Chicago area, often engaging young participants from the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius to perform at these events.   In July 2009 CFAS was engaged by the City of Chicago to create several highly acclaimed special events held throughout Millennium Park and Navy Pier as part of Chinese Cultural Week in Chicago.

For further information about the Chinese Fine Arts Society or the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, contact 312-369-3197 or [email protected].