The public is cordially invited to the Third Annual Henry Schwab Violin Competition, which culminates in a concert on May 22, 8 p.m., at Guthrie Hall, Ventura College. Sponsored by a grant from the Schwab Family Trust, violinists from Ventura County will compete for scholarship prizes. Ticket prices are $5 for students and seniors and $10 general admission. Tickets are available at the door the evening of the performance.
At the initial competition held January 23 at Ventura College, nine violinists, all residents of Ventura County, participated. Four of these fine musicians were selected to advance to the final competition on May 22 where each contestant will play a complete concerto with the Ventura College Symphony, Dr. Burns Taft, conducting. Monetary scholarships ranging from $250 to $1,000 will be awarded. Competition judges are violinist Yue Deng and cellist Virginia Kron. Both musicians are renowned artists in concert and in recordings.
The winning artists of the initial competition come from all regions of Ventura County and will perform as follows:
Brad Boelman, Thousand Oaks, student of Melissa Phelps-Beckstead, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5
Keith Downer, Oak View, student of Amy Hagen, Friedrich Seitz’s Violin Concerto No. 3
Curtis James, Ventura, student of Moon Jun Allison, Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in g minor
Abigail Tsai, Simi Valley, student of Dianne Rammon, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 3
The Schwab Family Charitable Fund was established by Miriam Schwab in memory of Mr. Henry Schwab, virtuoso violinist, concert master, and dedicated violin teacher. His passion in life was to encourage and nurture young string players. The violin competition is held under sponsorship of the Schwab Family Charitable Fund in collaboration with the Ventura College Symphony. The public is encouraged to attend and enjoy an evening of music provided by these artists.
[Boelman and Tsai bios provided below. Photos available upon request.]
Bio: Brad Boelman
Brad Boelman, born and raised in Orange County, began playing the violin in fourth grade and started violin lessons at the age of 12 with Sonya Hammad and later with Mary Culici, former concertmaster of the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, in 2007. In addition to being concertmaster of his high school’s chamber orchestra for two years, who played at the New York Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall in 2007, Boelman has been concertmaster of various CUSD Honor Orchestras, as well as the Le Sommet Youth Orchestra in Las Flores, California. Boelman has earned several gold medals in the Certificate of Merit, Orange Coast Branch Musik Festivals. Boelman is currently a sophomore at California Lutheran University as a History major with a double minor in Violin Performance and Political Science. Boelman sits concertmaster in the CLU Symphony and sat concertmaster for CLU’s performance of Sondheim’s Into the Woods at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in 2009. He studies violin with Melissa Phelps-Beckstead, an alternate for the L.A. Philharmonic and winner of the V.O.C.E., Young Artists Guild.
Bio: Abigail Tsai
Abigail Tsai, 11, started violin lessons with Dianne Rammon at the age of five and has studied with Shuwei Liu since 2005. Attending the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra since the age of seven, Tsai currently serves as concertmaster for the Preparatory Orchestra and is a member of the Lindero Canyon Middle School Concert Orchestra and Eklektikos String Quartet (ESQ). Tsai has won numerous awards for her music performances, including first place in the Violin Qualified Classical in the 2006 Southwestern Youth Music Festival, first place in the Violin Qualified Baroque in 2007, second place in Violin Open Baroque in 2008, and second place in the Open Classical in 2009. Tsai also has been selected and invited to be a featured soloist with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic on August 6 and 8 at the Camarillo United Methodist Church and Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. In her free time, Tsai enjoys folding origami, playing cards, sports, drawing, and reading. She would like to be both an architect and a violinist in the future. |
