The Irving M. Klein International String Competition, open to musicians aged between 15 and 23, has revealed the winners as the competition has recently ended.
The competition aired live on The Violin Channel at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Sol Joseph Recital Hall.
Pearl de la Motte, a 20-year-old violist from New York, won the grand prize, which included $5,000 cash, funded this year by the MOCA Foundation.
She also received performance contracts with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Symphonies, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Gualala Arts Chamber Series, and Music in the Vineyards. The total prize package is valued at $15,000.
Amelia Zitoun, an 18-year-old Wisconsin cellist, received the second prize with $3,500 cash provided by Ruth Short in honor of Elaine H. Klein. It is valued at $5,500 with a performance with the San José Chamber Orchestra.
The third prize went to Francis Tsai, an 18-year-old Alabama violinist who earned $2,500 cash from Judith and David Anderson in memory of Milton Preves.
Two fourth prizes of $1,500 each were given to Hannah Jeong, a 17-year-old Texas cellist, in memory of Jerry Lee Klein, and one to Yeji Lim, a 23-year-old Korean violinist.
Furthermore, de la Motte won the $500 prize for best performance of the John Wineglass commissioned work. Tsai won the $500 prize for the best performance of a solo Bach piece.
Wanxinyi Huang on viola, Christian Luevano on bass, and Evelyn Joung on cello were the semi-finalists who did not earn a named prize but received $1,000.
Barbara Day Turner, Daniel Stewart, Ian Swensen, John Wineglass, Mark Kosower, Paul Yarbrough, and Hal Robinson will be on the jury.
This year, violinist Alina Kobialka, the 2016 Klein third prize winner, served as one of the competition's mentors and co-hosted the event alongside Klein Artistic Director Mitchell Sardou Klein.
Previous Klein award winners include Alban Gerhardt, Francesca dePasquale, Frank Huang, Jennifer Frautschi, Jennifer Koh, Vadim Gluzman, Mark Kosower, and VC Artists Nikki Chooi, Tessa Lark, and Zlatomir Fung.
