Six winning 2014 Young Concert Artists announced, including four string players

Four of the six first prize winners at the 2014 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York have been revealed as string players – 20-year-old Korean cellist Sang-Eun Lee; 14-year-old Korean violinist Soo Been Lee; 20-year-old French cellist Edgar Moreau; and 17-year-old Chinese violist Ziyu Shen. First prizes also go to 21-year-old French pianist Daniel Lebhardt and 25-year-old Japanese flutist Seiya Ueno.

This year over 300 musicians from 43 countries auditioned for the programme. Each first prize winner receives three Young Concert Artists debut performances in New York, Washington DC and Boston next season, in addition to three years of management, promotion and career development.

This year’s jury included violinists Lynn Chang and Ida Kavafian and cellist Marcy Rosen.

Founded in 1961, the Young Concert Artists organisation has discovering and launched the careers of a number of top musicians, including violinists Pinchas Zukerman and Anne Akiko Meyers, cellist Carter Brey, and pianists Emanuel Ax and Murray Perahia. Last year 17-year-old American violinist Stephen Waarts, who also won the 2014 Menuhin Competition Senior Division, was the only string player to receive first prize.

Photo: Brian D. Bumby

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