The Kamuela Philharmonic Concerto Competition Concert “A Salute to Youth!” will be Sunday at the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea. The concert begins at 4 p.m. and features three talented youngsters in three age categories playing piano concerti accompanied by a full orchestra.
The Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by its founder, Madeline Schatz, recently celebrated 10 years of bringing the highest quality classical music to Big Island audiences. A highlight of the season is always the concerto competition, now in its fourth year. Alternate years feature string players or percussion players. This year is a percussion year, including piano, a percussion instrument. The students apply, audition and are judged by professionals. They earn a unique opportunity to perform publicly.
All three of this year’s winners have mastered difficult and inspiring pieces of music. The youngest winner this year is Carter Nakagawa, a 12-year-old pianist from Honolulu, a student of Thomas Yee. Nakagawa’s winning performance is the first movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major.” Jeremy Lee, 13, and also from Honolulu, is a piano student of Bichuan Li. Lee will perform the second movement of Frederic Chopin’s “Piano Concerto No.1 in E minor.” The third and most senior competitor is Noe Baladad, a 17-year-old piano student of Yee and also from Honolulu. Her piece is the challenging third movement of Sergie Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No. 2.” This piece requires a full orchestra of 60 musicians.
Now celebrating its fourth year, the Concerto Competition is becoming a favorite tradition of the Kamuela Philharmonic. Every year, children in three age categories, (12 and under, 13-15, and 16-18) participate in the competition. They play one movement of a piece chosen from a standard orchestra repertoire with piano accompaniment. There is a panel of three judges, and a winner is chosen for each category. The winner receives a cash prize of $300, but the real prize is that the winners get to play with the full Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra.
This year’s competition was held on Jan. 17. Twelve contestants (at least two in each category) included a flute player, a clarinet player, a French horn player and a number of pianists.
In addition to accompanying the three soloists, Kamuela Philharmonic will perform “Symphony No. 5” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchiakovsky.
Tickets are available at kahilutheatre.org/shows.
Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization.