The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition (also known simply as the Cooper International Competition) is a piano and violin competition held annually at the Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It is sponsored by Thomas and Evon Cooper and is presented jointly by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra.[1] The competition is for young musicians 13–18 years of age and awards more than $35,000 in prize money, with a first prize of $20,000. The competition gives three finalists the opportunity to play a complete concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. The competition debuted in the summer of 2010 with a piano competition, followed by a violin competition in 2011, and the competition alternates annually between both instruments.[2] George Li won the first prize in the first piano competition[1] and Sirena Huang won first in the first violin competition.[3]

History

The competition originated as the Oberlin International Festival, first organized by Emeritus Professor Joseph Schwartz in 1985. In 1995, Professor Robert Shannon became the director and the first annual Oberlin International Piano Competition was launched. In 1999, Yeol Eum Son won 1st prize. By the time of its final edition, it gave the winners opportunities to perform with leading orchestras in China, such as the Shanghai Philharmonic.[4] In 2009, the competition was not held due to renovations of the concert hall. In 2010, a new competition named after sponsors Thomas and Evon Cooper replaced it. Since then, the competition holds its final rounds with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall.[5] In 2016, the competition doubled its prizes to a $20,000 first prize.[6]

Prize winners

Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition

Year1st prize2nd prize3rd prize4th prize5th prize6th prize
2010 (piano) United States George LiUnited States John ChenUnited States Kate LiuUnited States Sahun HongUnited States Anna HanCanada Tristan Teo
2011 (violin) United States Sirena HuangUnited States Alexandra SwitalaUnited States Laura ParkJapan Mayumi KanagawaBulgaria Gergana HaralampievaJapan Kelly Talim
2012 (piano) Italy Leonardo ColafeliceCanada Xiaoyu LiuUnited States Micah McLaurinUnited States Sahun Hong
Canada Annie Zhou		not awardedUnited States Sarina Zhang
2013 (violin) Taiwan Ching-Yi Wei
South Korea Kyumin Park		China Ming Liunot awardedUnited States Gallia KastnerChina Jieming TangUnited States Angela Wee
2014 (piano) Canada Tony Yike YangChina Zitong WangSouth Korea SaeYoon ChonSouth Korea Gyu Tae HaUnited States Evren OzelSouth Korea Min Jun Lee
2015 (violin) United States Gallia Kastner

Taiwan Belle Ting

 United States Joshua Brown not awarded United States Karisa Chiu Canada Alice Lee United States Maya Buchanan
2016 (piano) Japan Ryota Yamazaki United States Evren Ozel United States Nathan H. Lee South Korea Chaewon Kim United States Andrew Li United States Clayton Stephenson
2017 (violin) Sweden Johan Dalene United States Christina Jihee Nam

United States Qing Yu Chen

 not awarded United States Zachary Brandon United States Maya Anjali Buchanan United States Kiarra Saito-Beckman
2018 (piano) Canada Tony Siqi Yun Taiwan Kai-Min Chang South Korea Yunchan Lim Canada Ryan Zhu United States William Chen United States William Yang
2019 (violin) United States Eric Charles Chen China Shihan Wang United States Isabella Brown China Jin Yucheng China Yiyang Hou United StatesCanada Enrique Rodrigues

Oberlin International Piano Competition

Year 1st Prize 2nd Prize 3rd Prize 4th Prize 5th Prize 6th Prize
1995 Gloria Chien
1996
1997
1998 Hyo-Sun Lim
1999 Yeol Eum Son Marko Pavlovic
2000 Ying Li Tian Tian Esther Park
2001 Darret Zusko Eun Taek Kim

Ji Yeon Shin
2002 Jung Lim Kim Jeanette Fang Martin Leung
2003 Rachel Naomi Kudo Kevin Kordi Ye Jin Lee Sarah Oh Kei Neidra
2004 Wang Da Sejoon Park Sun-A Park Kei Neidra

Hyo Kyun Shin

 Ying Cheng Yang
2005 Ruoyu Huang Sun-A Park Fangzhou Feng Hanmo Qian Vicki Ning Wang
2006 Rui (Ellen) Wang
2007 Yuqing Meng Minsoo Hong Yunqing Zhou Xiao Pei Xu Chai Yu Jen John Choi
2008 Junle Li George Fu Wanting Zhao Eunjin Bang Jae Young Kim Dong June Kim

References

  1. 1 2 "NEC Preparatory School Pianist George Li, 14, Wins Inaugural Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition". NEC News. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "The 5th Annual Cooper International Competition for Piano Takes Place at Oberlin Conservatory". LorainCounty.com. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "Cooper Competition". www.oberlin.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  4. ↑ "Behind the Scenes at the Piano Competition and Festival – The Source – Oberlin College". oncampus.oberlin.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  5. ↑ "AAF - News". www.alink-argerich.org. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  6. ↑ "Cash Prizes Doubled for Oberlin's 2016 Cooper Competition July 16-22". 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
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