The Monmouth Symphony Orchestra held the Final Round of Auditions on February 28, and we are proud to announce the 2016 Concerto Competition Winners!

Pictured from left to right are Richard Sachs (Competition Manager), Second Place Winner Caleb Woo, Third Place Winner Joshua Park, and First Place Winner Lawrence Chiang.

For more information on these talented young musicians, please see their musical biographies below!

Lawrence Chiang - First Place

Lawrence Chiang, 16, from Fort Lee, is an 11th grader at Dwight-Englewood High School in Englewood, NJ. He has studied the violin for 10 years, currently with Ms. Naoko Tanaka. He is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and participates in the chamber music program there. He has won first place in the National League of Performing Arts Music Competition, third place in the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented International Competition, and a special prize in the Alexander & Buono International String Competition. For our concerto competition finals, Lawrence performed the first movement and cadenza of the Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No. 5. As First Place winner, he will have the opportunity to perform  as soloist with the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra in our 2016-2017 Concert Season.

Caleb Woo - Second Place

Caleb Woo, 16, from Basking Ridge, is a 10th grader at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, and has studied the saxophone for 6 years. His teachers include Geoff Landman, Kenneth Radnofsky, Jason Wexler and Joseph D'Auguste. He has performed with the NJ All State Band, NAfME Concert Band Honor Ensemble, Region Jazz Band, Boston University Tanglewood Institute Saxophone Workshop and Young Artists Wind Ensemble, and has participated in Master Class performances taught by Roger Ingram, Paul Cohen, Pavel Vinnitsky, Julian Bliss, and Kenneth Radnofsky. He was a First Prize Winner at the NY International Music Concours and the East Coast International Competition, and a Silver Prize Winner at the International Virtuoso Competition. For our concerto competition finals, Caleb performed the Concertino da Camera of Jacques Ibert.

Joshua Park - Third Place

Joshua Park is a freshman at Millburn High School. A resident of Short Hills, he has studied marimba for 4 of his 14 years with Greg Giannascoli. He is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble, as well as the Millburn High School Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. He has won numerous competitions, including the NJMEA Piano competition and the Piano Teachers Society of America competition. Last summer, Joshua participated in percussion masterclasses at Tanglewood. For our concerto competition finals, Joshua performed the Concertino for Marimba by Paul Creston.