11 Named Organ Competition Finalists
Eleven young organists have been named finalists in the 2012 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, including six in the competition's upper division and five in the lower division.
In the lower division (Level 1), the competitors will perform on March 13 for a panel of adjudicators in the recital hall at Rodgers Organs of St. Louis/Steinway Piano Gallery of St. Louis in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Upper division (Level 2) competitors will perform on April 27 in the Georgian Room at Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Each of the competitions will culminate in a public concert by the top three finishers in their respective divisions, and the first-place finisher in Level 1 will be invited to perform at the final competition in Kutztown.
The two divisions have no specific age requirements, other than an upper limit of age 35 for all competitors. Applicants selected their own preferred competition level, with the upper division requiring more difficult repertoire typically undertaken only by more advanced students. Cash prizes in the lower division will be $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third. In the upper division, the prizes are $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second and $1,000 for third.
Originally, 12 finalists were selected but one withdrew due to a heavy academic schedule. The competition judges are Dr. Ina Slater Grapenthin, chair; Dr. Robert Tall; and Mr. Dan Miller.
The finalists are:
LEVEL 1
Jennifer Shin of Newport Beach, California, age 15
Yinying Luo of Decatur, Georgia, age 20
Joseph O'Berry of Atlanta, Georgia, age 24
HyoJin Song of Austin, Texas, age 31
Jon Brannon of Bluefield, West Virginia, age 22
LEVEL 2
Samuel Nelson of Lynn, Massachusetts, age 24
Brenda Portman of Cincinnati, Ohio, age 31
Jung Jin Kim of Austin, Texas, age 32
Josh Dumbleton of Raleigh, North Carolina, age 33
YangSun Yu of Fort Worth, Texas, age 34
Gregory Zelek of New York City, New York, age 20
Rodgers established the organ performance competition for the purpose of encouraging the development of young organists in North America. Applicants must reside in North America and be aged 35 or younger as of March 1, 2012. Each submitted an audition recording with two mandatory organ literature selections and one piece of their own choosing, and were evaluated based on a range of criteria that included technique, preparation, and the difficulty of the repertoire.
