Young Artist winners to headline Vancouver Symphony concert

Xinran Shi, Diego Chapela-Perez, and Esme Arias-Kim 

The gold medal winners of the Vancouver Symphony’s Young Artists Competition will be in the spotlight this weekend, taking center stage to show their amazing talents with the orchestra. The annual competition, now in its 29th year, attracts applicants from the entire nation. The bronze medalists received $1,000. Silver medalists were awarded $3,000, and gold medalists took home $5,000 plus the opportunity to solo with the orchestra.

A top-tier panel of judges decided on the winners at the competition that was held in October. The adjudicators consisted of founding and former member of the twice Grammy-nominated woodwind quintet Imani Winds, Mariam Adam, Grammy-award winning cellist, Zuill Bailey, the artistic director of the Kaufman Music Center International Piano Competition and pianist, Dr. Igal Kesselman, virtuoso pianist and President of the Concert Artists Guild, Tanya Bannister, and VSO Associate Concertmaster, Dr. Stephen Shepherd.

The panel selected the first-prize winners for the following categories: piano, strings, and wind/brass. On January 20 and 21 at Skyview Concert Hall, concertgoers will hear pianist Xinran Shi of California perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” violinist Esme Arias-Kim of Illinois perform Ernest Chausson’s “Poeme,” and saxophonist Diego Chapela-Perez of Texas play Alexander Glazunov’s “Concerto in E flat Major for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra.”

Xinran Shi, a 14-year old from San Jose, California, is freshman at Stanford Online High School. Winner of multiple awards, Shi started playing piano at four and a half, but it wasn’t love at first sight.

“My mom took me to a piano recital where all of the students received chocolate,” said Shi via Zoom. “So I asked if I could start studying piano because I really wanted the chocolate. Early on I didn’t enjoy practicing and wanted to quit, but my mom wouldn’t allow that. Then I gradually grew to love playing and practicing.”

Shi studies with Hans Boepple and learned the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini last March. Her appearance with the Vancouver Symphony will be the first time for her to play it with an orchestra.

“The Rachmaninoff is technically very difficult,” noted Shi, “but after I learned all of the notes and got it up to tempo, I’ve found that it is very manageable. Then the hard part becomes making the piece sound natural and not technical or mechanical, especially variation 18, which is the most passionate but also has some of the Russian winter in it.

Violinist Esme Arias-Kim (age 18) grew up in Chicago and is a high school senior at the music academy program for pre-college-age students at The Colburn School in Los Angeles where her teacher is Robert Lipsett. Playing the violin runs deeply in her family because her parents are professional violinists, and she has an older sibling who plays the violin.

Winner of many awards, Arias-Kim has a special love for Chausson’s “Poeme,” and has played it with an orchestra a couple of times last year.

“I love the way it tells a story in an emotional way,” said Arias-Kim in a Zoom call. “It doesn’t have a clear plot or a particular setting. It is more of an internal dialogue within oneself. I love to explore how to bring that out that is respectful of the music and the composer and remain true to myself. That’s really rewarding.”

Arias-Kim has a special affinity for Beethoven and composers from the Romantic era. She is aiming for a career as a soloist or as a chamber musician.

Diego Chapela-Perez (age 17) lives a little north of Houston, Texas, where he is a senior at Dekaney High School and plays in multiple ensembles. He has been playing saxophone for the past seven years.

“I started on the saxophone because my teacher said that my fingers were too big for clarinet, which was my first choice,” said Chapela-Perez. “I am so glad that he put me on the saxophone.”

Comfortable playing jazz and classical music, Chapela-Perez has won the state competition in jazz and will go to a convention for classical music in February. His appearance with the Vancouver Symphony will be his debut with an orchestra.

“The Glazunov Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String is the most well-known concerto for my instrument,” said Chapela-Perez. “I started learning it a month be deadline to record for the competition. It’s a difficult piece that tests your musicality. I had to dig into the piece and decide how I wanted to express and phrase the sound and make it interesting.”

He wants to pursue music and eventually become a saxophone professor and performing artist.

“My favorite thing is chamber music,” remarked Chapela-Perez. “My school’s saxophone quartet won the bronze medal winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition last year. We lost a member to graduation, but we’ll try again this year as a trio.”

Also on the Vancouver Symphony program is Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3. (Sinfonia Espansiva). It is known for its sunny character, including a second movement that features wordless solos for soprano and baritone.

So by pairing the young artists with the “Sinfonia Expansiva,” audience members will get a healthy dose of optimism. That will be a great way to start out the year.
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For tickets (for online or in person options), go to the Vancouver Symphony website.