Fourteen-year-old Hot Springs Village resident Thomas Sinclair wins another competition!
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild annually presents the Stella Boyle Smith Trust Young Artist Competition, a statewide classical concerto competition for young musicians between the ages of 12 and 18, with musical categories of piano, strings, woodwinds, and brass.
Ms. Camille Williams is the Chair and Director of the Competition, and Ms. Beth Robison is the Director of Education and Community Engagement for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, brobison@arkansassymphony.org
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild awards the following cash prizes: a Grand Prize of $1000 for the overall winner and $250 for the winner in each instrumental category. The grand prize winner is also invited to play with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra sometime in the next year.
Twenty-six video entries from around the State were submitted for review by the judges early in the year. Ten finalists were chosen for participation in the live competition final on April 13 in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall at UALR. The list of competition judges included three members of the ASO, all acclaimed musicians in their own right, plus one Professor Emerita retired from Ouachita Baptist University.
After about 90 minutes of some of the best young musicians in Arkansas performing their concerto pieces, it was 14-year-old Hot Springs Village resident Thomas Sinclair who won the judge’s final vote for overall Grand Prize winner. His winning piece was a near-perfect performance of Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, Mvmt 1. Thomas’s concerto performance was preceded by his 2nd place finish at the MTNA National Junior Piano Competition last month in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was one of seven national division winners vying for the national title.
What comes next for the young classical pianist will be up to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild, the major sponsor of the annual competition. As mentioned earlier, Thomas will be invited to play with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra sometime next year, something he’s definitely been looking forward to doing for a long time. But first, he’ll be attending a five-week intensive Music Festival this summer in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he’ll explore his love for classical music with over 250 other participants from around the Nation.
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