2010 WINNERS

PIANO


VOICE

2010 Piano Winners

1ST PLACE WINNER

Stanislav Khristenko| Age 25 | Ukraine

Born in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1984, Stanislav Khristenko's early education was at the Children’s Musical School in Kharkov, Ukraine and the Moscow Chopin College. A 2008 graduate of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Vera Gornostaeva, he is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Sergei Babayan.
Khristenko’s international honors include first prizes in competitions in Italy, Slovakia, Greece and the United States (Wideman in Shreveport, LA, Bosendorfer in Tempe, AZ, 2009 and Virginia Waring in Palm Desert, CA in Solo Division). He won 2nd Prize in the Tongyeong International Competition in South Korea in 2008, the Takamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan in 2006 and 3rd Prize in the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2005.
Khristenko has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra “Mihail Jora” in Romania, Berliner Musikfreunde Orchestra, Takamatsu Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Conservatory Orchestra, South Arkansas Symphony, Northwest Florida Symphony and many others.
He has given concerts in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Hall in October 2009.

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SPANISH PRIZE WINNER

Anastasia Markina| Age 31 | Russia

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Anastasia Markina started playing piano when she was four winning her first competition six years later. Her first teacher, Tatyana Shrago, led her to win her first international piano competition in Marsala, Italy in 1992. In 1994, she entered the Rimsky-Korsakov College of Music where she studied for four years in the studio of Mary Guseva, student of Pavel Serebryakov. She won 1st prizes at the 1st International Maria Yudina Piano Competition, Beach of Hope International Music Festival and Competition in Dobrich-Albena, Bulgaria, and Peter the Great Music Festival in Groningen, Holland in 1997. In 1999, she entered the University of North Texas in the studio of Prof. Vladimir Viardo. While studying at UNT, she won 1st prize at the San Angelo Sorantin International Music competition, 1st prize at the First Boesendorfer International Piano Competition, 1st and Grand prize at the Young Texas Artist Music Competition, and 2nd prize at the First Jose Iturbi Music Competition. She has played with the San Angelo Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and Jalisco Philharmonic. She has performed at the Barge Music Series, Vetta Chamber Music Festival, collaborated with Eugene Osadchy, Emmanuel Borok, James Gallway, Joe Alessi and others. CD with Eugene Osadchy has been released in 2010.

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AMERICAN PRIZE WINNER

Goran Filipec| Age 28 | Croatia

Goran Filipec, one of the most distinguished Croatian pianists, born in 1981 in Rijeka, obtained his primary and secondary musical education at the School of Music, “Ivan Matetich Ronigov”. From 1997-2001 he studied piano with Marina Ambokadze and musicology at the Music Academy “Ino Mirkovich” in Lovran, under the license of the Moscow State Conservatory “P.I.Chaikovsky”. He did postgraduate studies at Hochschule für Musik Köln with Arbo Valdma (2003-2004), Schola Cantorum in Paris with Eugen Indijic (2003-2006), and Zagreb Music Academy with Evgeny Zarafiants (2006-2007). He was the 1st Prize-winner in the Gabala International Piano Competition in Azerbaijan in 2009 and also the 2nd Prize-winner in the José Iturbi International Music Competition in 2009. He has played concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Salle Alfred Cortot in Paris and concert halls in Switzerland, Holland, Argentina, Brazil, USA and Croatia. He has performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, Ushuaia Philharmonic Orchestra, Rijeka Opera Symphony Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Croation Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jorge Uliarte, Vjekoslav Sutej, Leonid Nikolaev and Pavle Despalj. His performances have been recorded and broadcast by Croatian National Television and Radio, Radio Suisse Romande and several Argentinian television and radio stations.

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PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

Vladimir Khomiakov| Age 25 | USSR

Vladimir Khomiakov, born into a musician’s family, began his musical studies at the age of four. He is a graduate of St.Petersburg Conservatory, piano class of Professor Alexander Sandler. He is currently a post-graduate student at Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory, piano class of Professor Yury Martynov, and an Artist-diploma student at USC Thornton School of Music, piano class of Professor Daniel Pollack.
He supplemented his studies in masterclasses with great pedagogues such as Dmitry Bashkirov, Mikhail Voskresenskiy, Lily Dorfman etc.
Mr.Khomiakov was the First Prize winner of St.Petersburg Open Piano Competition (St.Petersburg, Russia, 2000), the Third Prize and Audience Prize winner of Anton G.Rubinstein International Piano Competition (Dresden, Germany, 2005), a Diploma recipient of Emil Gilels 90th Anniversary International Piano Competition (Odessa, Ukraine, 2006), the First Prize winner of ISAM International Piano Competition (Michelstadt, Germany, 2008), a Diploma recipient of “Maria Canals” Internetional Piano Competition (Barcelona, Spain, 2009), the President’s Prize and Audience Prize winner of “Jose Iturbi” International Piano Competition (Los Angeles, CA, 2009), and the Medalist of Hilton Head International Piano Competition (Hilton Head, SC, 2010).
He performs recitals in Russia, United States, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy and Sweden. He has been recorded on CD and has performed on radio and television.

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2010 Voice Winners

1ST PLACE WINNER AND AMERICAN PRIZE

Sasha Cooke| Age 27 | Mezzo-soprano | USA

Radiant American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke caused a sensation as Kitty Oppenheimer in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. She was praised in The New Yorker for her “fresh, vital portrayal, bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keen sense of verbal nuance, and a flair for seduction.” The 2009-10 season includes her debuts with the symphonies of Milwaukee, Hong Kong, Dallas, Colorado, Seattle, Kansas City, San Diego, Chicago, and the Aspen Festival. Ms. Cooke also performs two engagements with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony—Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and Berlioz’s Les nuits d’Été. A dedicated recitalist, Ms. Cooke appears with the New York Festival of Song at Merkin Concert Hall, at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre and at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. On the opera stage, she makes her Seattle Opera debut as Meg Page in Falstaff and sings the tragic Medea in Cavalli’s seldom-performed Giasone at Chicago Opera Theater. A graduate of Rice University and the Juilliard School, Ms. Cooke completed the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera in 2009. She will sing with Music@Menlo this July and August.

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SPANISH PRIZE WINNER

Elaine Alvarez| Age 29 | Soprano| USA

Opera highlights include Mimi in La Bohème at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro Carlo Felice, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Leipzig and Arizona Opera; Violetta in La Traviata at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Leipzig and Theater St Gallen; Magda di Civry in La Rondine at Oper Frankfurt/Alte Oper and Oper Leipzig; Micaela in Carmen at Florida Grand Opera; Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera Cleveland; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Oper Leipzig; Comtesse de Breville in The Greater Good by Stephen Hartke at Glimmerglass Opera, now commercially available on Naxos Records. Major concert appearances include soprano soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater on tour with Maestro Riccardo Muti and the Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Ravenna, Mazara del Vallo and Athens; Soprano soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Hong Kong; Recital appearances at Carnegie Hall for the 2010 Marilyn Horne Foundation Annual Recital and a solo recital debut for the Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center. Highlights of future seasons include Micaela at the Lyric Opera of Chiacgo and Contessa Almaviva at the Saito Kinen Festival in Tokyo, Carnegie Hall and Theatre des Champs-Elysees under Seiji Ozawa.

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PRESIDENT PRIZE WINNER

Rodell Rosel| Age 34 | Tenor | Philippines

Grammy-nominated tenor Rodell Rosel recently made a successful Metropolitan Opera debut as Valzacchi in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and later as Nathanaël in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, both broadcast live in HD in theaters nationwide, under the batons of Edo de Waart and James Levine, respectively. He sang featured roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Florentine Opera and Wolf Trap Opera Company. He originated the role of Ong Chi Seng in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Letter at Santa Fe Opera. He returns to Houston Grand Opera as Goro/Madama Butterfly and Tanzmeister/Ariadne auf Naxos for the 2010-2011 season.
An alumnus of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, the Manila native studied at Santa Monica College, and the University of California in Los Angeles. In addition to the Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Prize, Mr. Rosel has received top awards from the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition and the Lotte Lenya Vocal Competition, including the People’s Choice Award from the Jose Iturbi International Music Competition in 2008. He is the recipient of scholarships from, among others, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Opera Buffs Career Achievement Award.

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PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD

Aundi Marie Moore| Age 29 | Soprano | USA

Aundi Marie Moore is quickly establishing herself as one of America's leading young sopranos. The Washington Post hails her as possessing a voice of “clarion beauty.” The 2009-10 season included Nedda in Pagliacci with Sarasota Opera and Serena in Porgy and Bess with Virginia Opera. Also during the 2009-10 season, Ms. Moore appeared as a featured soloist in Mozambique, Africa, Buck Hill-Skytop Music Festival, Pennsylvania and at the Baltimore Orioles versus the Boston Red Sox baseball game. In addition to her successes as an opera and concert artist, Ms. Moore has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards from Operalia, the National Opera Association, the Bel Canto Vocal Competition, the Rocca della Macie International Voice Competition, the Florida Grand Voice Competition, and the Leontyne Price Vocal Competition. Ms. Moore completed her Masters of Music degree at the University of Michigan and her Bachelor’s of Music degree at George Mason University. She participated in the first season of the Salzburg Music Festival Young Artist Program in 2008 and covered the roles of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and the title role in Rusalka with the Salzburg Music Festival. She is increasingly recognized as an emerging artist of great distinction.

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