The concert which is open to the public, is scheduled for 8 p.m. in Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd St. Jonathan Shames will conduct. Dr. Eldon Matlick is coordinator of the competition.
Winners of the undergraduate division are Peter Folkins, oboist, and Ian Jett, violinist, both from Tulsa, OK.
Folkins is a music senior majoring in music performances with an emphasis on oboe; he is studying with Dan Schwartz, assistant professor of music (oboe). He will play the last movement of Mullikin’s Oboe Concerto.
Jett is a senior majoring in music performance with emphasis on violin performance; he is studying under Professor Hal Grossman, associate professor of music (violin), and will play the first movement of the Violin Concerto No. 4 in d minor by Henri Vieuxtemps.
In the graduate division, Ruirui Ouyang and Chris Madden, two students in the piano area, won this year’s competition.
Ouyang, a native of Tianjin, China, is continuing her work towards a DMA in piano performance with Jeongwon Ham, professor of music (piano). Ouyang will play the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Her piano teaching in Macau, Tianjin and Zhuhai, China led to several teaching awards, including the Liszt Memorial Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition.
Madden is a 3rd year DMA candidate piano performance and pedagogy from Hollidaysburg, PA studying with Stephen Beus, assistant professor of music (piano). He will perform the first movement of Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major.
Honorable mention goes to Kevin Cantu in the undergraduate division, studying clarinet; and in the graduate division David Cook, studying clarinet.
“The Concerto Gala features some of our most ambitious students, and the opportunity it offers them to gain experience as orchestral soloists is invaluable,” said Shames. “We look forward eagerly to the concert."
Advance purchase tickets are $9 adults, $5 students, senior adults, OU faculty/staff and military, and $10 at the door. Tickets may be purchased by phone or in person at the OU Fine Arts Box Office (405) 325-4101, 500 W. Boyd Street in the Catlett Music Center.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Shames at jshames@ou.edu. Please visit music.ou.edu/ for a full calendar of events. For accommodations on the basis of disability, please call the OU Fine Arts Box Office at (405) 325 4101.
Photo: Winners of the 2015 Concerto Competition are OU School of Music students (back) Chris Madden, Ian Jett, (front) Peter Folkins and Ruirui Ouyang.
