Along with bringing a wealth of fine performances to the Valley each winter, the Arizona Musicfest also encourages local young artists to reach for the stars, with the annual Arizona Musicfest Scholarship program.
The 2014/2015 recipient of The Arizona Musicfest Scholarship is Anna Han, pianist, from Chandler, Arizona. Anna will attend The Juilliard School in New York City. Anna Han is the recent First Place winner of the 2014 Arizona Musicfest Young Musician’s Competition (Division Three, Grades 11 & 12). She has previously performed as a soloist with the Chandler Symphony, West Valley Symphony, Verde Valley Sinfonietta, MusicaNova Symphony Orchestra, as well as twice with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. Performances outside Arizona include appearances at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., SubCulture New York, New World Center in Miami and the Lied Center of Kansas. She has given solo performances at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago and for PianoWorks in New London, Connecticut. An alumnus of the National Public Radio show, From the Top, she was also awarded a 2013 Silver Award by the National YoungArts Foundation.
Pianist Evan Pensis, 2012/2013 AZ Musicfest Scholarship recipient, continues to make impressive strides in his artistic studies. Evan was recently lauded as a Grand Prize Winner of the 2014 Kennedy Center VSA International Young Soloists Competition, which culminates in a Winners Recital, June 1, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Other accolades include 2nd place at the 2014 Susan Torres International Competition in Fresno, California and the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the 2014 Siegfried Weishaupt International Competition in Bad Württemberg, Germany. In addition, Evan, along with past Arizona Musicfest scholarship recipients bassoonist Dana Brink, violinist Jeanelle Brierley and pianist Karen Nguyen, was honored with an Musicfest renewal scholarship for the upcoming year.
The Arizona Musicfest Scholarship of $2,500 is awarded annually in May to highly qualified young musicians who excel at their instrument and are pursuing a college-level education with the goal of establishing a full or part-time career in classical music performance. Information on The Arizona Musicfest Scholarship 2015/2016 will be available in January 2015. Details and the Application Form will be posted on the Arizona Musicfest website at www.azmusicfest.org.
-Special Thanks to Arizona Musicfest
