2017 Curb Concerto Competition Finalists: (l to r) Maggie Kasinger, Kaili Wang, Chloe Harvel, Daniel Hosny ~ photos by Sally Bebawy (click to enlarge)

This past weekend we had the great pleasure of welcoming a dozen teenage musicians into the hall to compete in the annual Curb Concerto Competition. The first round of the competition took place on Saturday, Februrary 25 and the finals round occurred on Sunday afternoon, February 26, which resulted in the selection of this year’s winner, who will perform with the Nashville Symphony at the annual Side By Side Concert with Curb Youth Symphony on May 17. The 2017 Side By Side Concert will be conducted by Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero.

This year’s contestants included 6 violinists, 3 pianists, and one student each on cello, harp, and flute. Both rounds of the competition took place on the stage of Laura Turner Hall at Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

This year’s finalists are:

• Grand Prize: Kaili Wang, violin
• 1st Runner-up: Maggie Kasinger, violin
• 2nd Runners-up: Chloe Harvel, violin & Daniel Hosny, piano

Kaili Wang ~ photo by Sally Bebawy (click to enlarge)

11th grader Kaili Wang, a student at Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, earned the Grand Prize for her performance of the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 by Jean Sibelius. She will receive $2,500 and two full subscriptions to Nashville Symphony’s Aegis Sciences Classical Series, and will perform her winning selection with the Nashville Symphony as the featured soloist at our annual Side-by-Side Concert with the Curb Youth Symphony on May 17. Kaili studies violin with Carolyn Huebl at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.

Kaili is the first person to have won the Curb Concerto Competition twice, to the best of my knowledge. She was also the Grand Prize winner in the 2015 competition, for her performance of the first movement of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 61.

Maggie Kasinger ~ photo by Sally Bebawy (click to enlarge)

First runner-up was violinist Maggie Kasinger, a 10th grade homeschool student from Springfield. Maggie performed the first movement of the Violin Concerto No. 4 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She is also a student of Carolyn Huebl at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.

Maggie is a veteran of past Curb Concerto Competitions – she was also a finalist in 2015 and 2016.

The second runner-up position was a tie between two students:

Chloe Harvel ~ photo by Sally Bebawy (click to enlarge)

Chloe Harvel is a 12th grade homeschool student from Brentood, and studies violin with Stephen Miahky at Blair School of Music. She performed the first movement of the Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 by Erich Korngold.

Daniel Hosny ~ photo by Sally Bebawy (click to enlarge)

Daniel Hosny studies piano with Jerome Reed, who teaches in the Department of Music at Lipscomb University. He performed the first movement of the Concerto in D minor, Op. 40 by Felix Mendelssohn.

The annual Curb Concerto Competition is a key component of the Nashville Symphony’s mission to promote and support young musicians statewide. This year’s participants displayed remarkable talent, determination and commitment, Bravo!

Kaili, Maggie, and Chloe are all members of Curb Youth Symphony and have been participants in past years’ Curb Concerto Competitions, Side By Side Concerts, Free Day of Music performances, and other Nashville Symphony EDCE programs over the last several years. The competition was an inspiring weekend for me and the rest of the symphony EDCE staff, volunteers, and adjudicators ~ thank you to everyone who participated!

2015 Curb Concerto Competition winner Kaili Wang (age 15) rehearses with Vinay Parameswaran and the Nashville Symphony, May 20, 2015

*       *       *

Side By Side 2018

Curb Concerto Competition Finalists 2018

Side By Side 2017

Curb Concerto Competition Finalists 2017

Side By Side 2016

Curb Concerto Competition Finalists 2016

Side By Side 2015

The Contestants