Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition

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, and is one of the most prestigious competitions for young musicians in the world. 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

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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

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Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition

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Year 1st prize 2nd prize 3rd prize 4th prize 5th prize 6th prize
2010 (piano)   George Li   John Chen   Kate Liu   Sahun Hong   Anna Han   Tristan Teo
2011 (violin)   Sirena Huang   Alexandra Switala   Laura Park   Mayumi Kanagawa   Gergana Haralampieva   Kelly Talim
2012 (piano)   Leonardo Colafelice   Xiaoyu Liu   Micah McLaurin   Sahun Hong
  Annie Zhou
not awarded   Sarina Zhang
2013 (violin)   Ching-Yi Wei
  Kyumin Park
  Ming Liu not awarded   Gallia Kastner   Jieming Tang   Angela Wee
2014 (piano)   Tony Yike Yang   Zitong Wang   SaeYoon Chon   Gyu Tae Ha   Evren Ozel   Min Jun Lee
2015 (violin)   Gallia Kastner

  Belle Ting

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

  Qing Yu Chen

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

Oberlin International Piano Competition

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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

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  1. ^ a b "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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