Announcing the Winners of the 2015 Yvonne La Mothe Schwager Harp Competition
The third bi-annual Yvonne La Mothe Schwager Harp Competition took place Sunday, May 24, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Twenty-two harp students, from seven different teachers, performed beautiful and challenging repertoire in order to hone their performance skills and receive valuable feedback from a panel of judges, comprised of top harp professionals in California. Cash prizes and an opportunity to perform in the winners recital on Sunday, June 7, were awarded to the following students:
Preliminary level
Gold: Charis Woo, student of of Doug Rioth and Jessica Siegel
Silver: Hannah Chen, student of Jessica Siegel
Bronze: Hailey Tan, student of Kristal Barlaan Schwartz
Special MusicWorks-Harp Editions Prize: Charis Woo
Level 1
Gold: Naomi Sun, student of Linda Wood Rollo
Silver: Hannah Ewell, student of Kristal Barlaan Schwartz
Bronze: Phoebe Lin, student of Sonya Yu
Special MusicWorks-Harp Editions Prize: Naomi Sun
Special Harpiana Prize: Hannah Ewell
Level 2 and Level 3
Gold: Tiffany Wong, student of Linda Wood Rollo
Silver: Danielle Nam, student of Sonya Yu
Bronze: Elizabeth Vo-Phamhi, student of Doug Rioth
Special MusicWorks-Harp Editions Prize: Tiffany Wong
Special Harpiana Prize: Shannon Zheng, student of Dominique Piana
Gold (level 3): Jenny Vo-Phamhi, student of Doug Rioth
The judges were Alexandra Perdew, Claudia Valsi, and Celia Chan Valerio.
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make the day a success: Mitch Landy, Daphanie Lin, Doug Rioth, Suki Russack, Gaylene Suganuma, Teri Vo and Sonya Yu. The competiton committee was comprised of Chairperson Dominique Piana, Jessica Siegel, Susie Spiwak and Alice Yothers.
Recital Winners
The Winners’ Recital was held Sunday, June 7, at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton. The students performed to a full auditorium of supporters who came to enjoy and encourage their continued harp endeavors.
Front Row L-R: Jenny Vo-Phamhi, Charis Woo, Hannah Chen, Hailey Tan, Arielle Herman
Back Row L-R: Phoebe Lin, Danielle Nam, Elizabeth Vo-Phamhi, Hannah Ewell, Naomi Sun, Shannon Zeng, Tiffany Wong