Young Artists Competition

Professional Standards of Performance

Sicong Chen (William)

Sicong Chen (William)

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners!

First Place

RUXI WANG

First Place Winner – the Dorothy Allen Turner Award goes to Ruxi Wang. She is in her second year of the Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance degree at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. A native of China, Ruxi received her Bachelor of Music Education-Piano Performance at South China Normal University. She received her Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri. Ruxi currently studies under Dr. Nicholas Susi, Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of South Carolina. Ruxi performed Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor by Felix Mendelssohn. Ruxi will receive a $1,500 stipend and will perform with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra at our March 19th concert “INSPIRE”. (7:30 PM, Callaway Auditorium, LaGrange, GA)

Second Place

QUANG VO

Second Place Winner – the Max Kaplan Award goes to Quang Vo. A native of Vietnam, he is freshman piano performance major at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers . Quang studies with Dr. Michael Baron, Distinguished Professor of Music, and Head of Keyboard Studies at the Bower School of Music. Quang performed Concerto No. 1 by Frank Liszt. He will receive a $1,000 stipend.

Third Place

JUNGMIN PARK

Third Place Winner – the NOTE Award goes to Jungmin Park. A native of South Korea, he is a sophomore at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University and studies under Dr. Esther Park, Assistant Professor of Piano. Jungmin performed Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. He will receive a $500 stipend.

Below is information from this past event. The 2025 competition is for Winds, and information for it will be posted later in 2024.

The 2024 Young Artists Competition for Piano will be held February 3, 2024.

Below are links for the 2024 application and the 2024 official poster for the 28th annual Young Artists Competition. Deadline for submission of all materials is December 14, 2023.

2024 Application

2024 Poster

For young musical artists, this yearly competition organized by the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, is traditionally held in early February at CALLAWAY AUDITORIUM. Callaway Auditorium is located on the campus of LaGrange College, in LaGrange, Georgia.

The 2024 competition is for piano, 2025 is for winds, and 2026 is for strings.

The LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Kaplan, began the Young Artists Competition (YAC) in 1996 to encourage professional standards of performance among young musicians. Originally formed to serve residents or resident students within a 50 mile radius of LaGrange, the competition now serves talented young musicians from six southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Each year the contestants perform before nationally and internationally recognized judges. The first place winner is invited to perform with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra later in the concert season.

Participants in the Young Artists Competition compete for three awards:

First Place: Dorothy Allen Turner Award – $1,500

This award honors the memory of Dorothy Allen Turner, longtime LaGrange resident, devoted supporter of music in the community, and widow of the late Dr. Render Turner. Dot’s daughter Isabelle Knight is a former member of the LSO and her granddaughter Callie Knight Hammond is the current assistant concert master of the LSO. Her son in law, Charles Knight, is a past President of the Symphony board. The Cash award of $1,500 includes the opportunity to perform as guest soloist with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra. 1st place winner appears with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra in Callaway Auditorium.

Second Place: Max Kaplan Award – $1,000

The second place award honors the memory of Dr. Max Kaplan. Dr. Kaplan, a university professor, author and lecturer, was a sociologist, violinist and member of the LSO board from 1992 to 1998. A resident of Meriwether County, he was deeply involved in LaGrange’s cultural life. His wide experience with orchestras as concertmaster and conductor, and as co-organizer of the famed Boston Youth Symphony, made him invaluable to the LSO board.

Third Place: NOTE Award – $500

This award was named by the donor, Eunice Connally Carr. The NOTE acronym designates an award which meets a Need, provides an Opportunity for young people, recognizes Talent, and rewards significant Effort on the part of the young performer. Contestant must be under the age of 26 on the date of the competition and must be a resident or resident student of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina or Tennessee.