Concerto Competition

Each fall, usually in early November, the Music Department holds a competition to select one student soloist to appear with the Orchestra later in the academic year.  In some cases, depending on the Orchestra鈥檚 overall programming considerations, two winners may be featured.

To be eligible for the concerto competition, the participant must be:

  • a full-time student at one of the Claremont Colleges, beyond the freshman year
  • taking lessons for credit through the Pomona Music Department on the instrument (or voice) on which they are competing 鈥 for example, if someone plays both violin and piano and wants to enter as a pianist, they must be taking piano lessons
  • a regular member in an appropriate Pomona Music Department curricular ensemble, although not necessarily on the same instrument as for the competition performance 鈥 for example, a pianist could satisfy their ensemble eligibility requirement by singing in the Choir

Students enter the concerto competition by emailing Professor Eric Lindholm, the orchestra conductor.  Additional rules and considerations:

  • Repertoire must be approved by the conductor.  The minimum duration is ten minutes.  Vocalists may assemble a suite of arias if no individual selection meets the length requirement.
  • An accompanist will be provided, and a modest amount of rehearsal time in the competition space will be available.
  • The competition is open to friends and family of the performers, but it is not considered a public event.
  • Memorization is not required, but the judges may, at their discretion, consider memorization to be an aspect of stage presence.
  • Generally, full pieces are expected, but a student may enter with a single movement if that movement is artistically viable on its own.
  • The participant must, for the competition, perform the entire piece that would potentially be performed with the orchestra 鈥 for example, if the student aspires to perform all three movements of a concerto, then all three movements must be prepared and performed for the competition.
  • If selected as a winner, the student must continue their lessons and their ensemble participation during the semester of the performance.

Previous Winners

YearWinners
2023Ethan Lee 鈥24, violin (Wieniawski 鈥 Violin Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor)
2022Hannah Caris 鈥23, flute (Mozart 鈥 Flute Concerto No. 2 in D major)
2021Megan Chang 鈥23, violin (Sibelius 鈥 Violin Concerto in D minor)
2020not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019Andrew Acs 鈥20, euphonium (Horovitz 鈥 Euphonium Concerto)
Hana Burgess SCR 鈥21, violin (Wieniawski 鈥 Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor)
2018Oliver Dubon 鈥20, tuba (Vaughan Williams 鈥 Tuba Concerto)
2017Briana Grether 鈥18, soprano (Barber 鈥 Knoxville: Summer of 1915)
2016Katherine Tseung SCR 鈥19, cello (Haydn 鈥 Cello Concerto No. 2 in D)
2015Gloria Liou 鈥18, violin (Chausson 鈥 Po猫me)
2014Peter Mellinger 鈥18, violin (Mendelssohn 鈥 Violin Concerto in E minor)
2013Johnny Wang 鈥17, piano (Liszt 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat)
2012Ryan Luo 鈥16, violin (Brahms 鈥 Violin Concerto in D)
2011Roger Sheu 鈥14, piano (Beethoven 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, 鈥淓mperor鈥)
2010Eddie Sayles 鈥11, tenor (Britten 鈥 Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings)
Sonya Ursell 鈥11, piano (Rachmaninoff 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor)
2009Anatolia Evarkiou-Kaku 鈥14, flute (H眉e 鈥 Fantaisie)
2008Elisha Nuchi 鈥09, piano (Chopin 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor)
2007Yoon-Chan Kim 鈥10, flute (Mozart 鈥 Flute Concerto No. 1 in G)
2006Lucie McGee 鈥07, clarinet (Weber 鈥 Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-flat)
2005Megan Kaes 鈥08, piano (Grieg 鈥 Piano Concerto in A minor)
2004Victoria Brown 鈥07, piano (Saint-Sa毛ns 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor)
2003Charles Hummel 鈥06, violin (Prokofiev 鈥 Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor)
Angela Nierman 鈥06, horn (Strauss 鈥 Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat)
2002Ethan Bodnaruk HMC 鈥04, euphonium (Mozart 鈥 Bassoon Concerto in B-flat)
2001Wendy Iskenderian 鈥04, piano (Beethoven 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor)
2000Arielle Cooley 鈥01, clarinet (Mozart 鈥 Clarinet Concerto in A)
Jennifer Milicent Lindsay HMC 鈥02, soprano (Verdi 鈥 鈥淐aro nome鈥 from Rigoletto)
1999Susan Chen 鈥02 and Peter Chang 鈥01, pianos (Poulenc 鈥 Concerto for Two Pianos)
1998Martha Kate Lind 鈥99, soprano (Dvo艡谩k 鈥 鈥淪ong to the Moon鈥 from Rusalka)
Helen Wong 鈥99, piano (Grieg 鈥 Piano Concerto in A minor)
1997Ting Chou 鈥98, piano (Beethoven 鈥 Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat)
1996Andrew Glazier 鈥97, cello (Elgar 鈥 Cello Concerto in E minor)
Phoebe Harvey 鈥97, flute (Mozart 鈥 Flute Concerto No. 1 in G)
1995Neva Kerbeshian 鈥96, clarinet (Rossini 鈥 Introduction, Theme and Variations)
Jeannette Lin 鈥99, cello (Boccherini 鈥 Cello Concerto in B-flat)