Concerto Competition
YOCVA offers an annual concerto competition for the members of our advanced Youth Symphony orchestra.
Each year YOCVA names two winners, one in the string performance category and one in the wind & brass category.
Winners earn $300 and one performance of their concerto with the YOCVA Youth Symphony. New this year, all competitors will have an opportunity to perform their concerti on a featured recital!
2023 Competition Details
Registration is open!
- Click THIS link to registration for the 23/24 competition.
Competition Date: Saturday October 14, 2023
- Location: Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2416 Jefferson Park Ave, Charlottesville VA 22903
- 20 – minute time slots will be available from 9:00 AM – 4:00PM
Winners will perform with the Youth Sypmhony on our February 2024 and May 2024 concerts
Tips & Quick Facts for Students
- Click HERE to view the Competition regulations and guidelines
- Performances are limited to one movement or 15 minutes.
- Memorization is not required but strongly encouraged!
- Need help finding an accompanist? Contact megan.gray@yocva.org for help.
Check out last year's winners!
Strings Winner: Zander Chang
Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto Op. 35 Mvt. I
Alexander “Zander” Chang is a 14 year old freshman at Monticello High School. He is an active member of the MHS Orchestra and founder of the Wild Mustangs Chamber Music Club. Zander started playing piano under the tutelage of his mother Nicole Yang when he was four years old. When he turned five, he began violin lessons with Susan Black and has been a member of YOCVA ever since. He was recently honored to be selected First Chair in the Youth Orchestra of Central Virginia. Zander has won numerous awards with the National Guild of Piano Teachers including Early and Advanced Bach, Sonatina, and the Guild Founder’s medal. In 2018 and 2019 he won first place in the IMC Music Competition in the Young Musician Category for piano and the following year for violin. First place winners of the event were invited to play at Carnegie Hall in NYC. In 2021, Zander was awarded a junior camp scholarship with the Wednesday Music Club for piano. He is an active member of the Monticello High School student council and recently accepted into the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society. Apart from academics and music, Zander enjoys riding his mountain bike, reading, and drawing. He also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Winds Winner Cindy Liu
Mozart, Oboe Concerto K. 314 Mvt. I
Cindy Liu is a junior from Harrisonburg High School, who studies with Stephen Key of Shenandoah Conservatory. She started playing the violin at age 5, and began playing the oboe at age 11. Now, she plays in the Harrisonburg High School Symphonic Band, as well as principal oboe with the Youth Orchestra of Central VA. She has attended masterclasses held by Elaine Douvas and Katherine Needleman, including participating in Juilliard Summer Winds in 2020 and 2021. Previously, Cindy was a soloist with the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra as a winner of their concerto competition, and played in a side by side with the US Army Orchestra “Pershing’s Own” as an honorable mention in their Young Artist Competition. She then went on to attend the Interlochen Advanced Oboe Intensive in the summer. Since her freshman year, Cindy has been the principal of the South Central Senior Regional Orchestra for three consecutive years, and she played principal oboe with the All-VA Orchestra in 2022. Outside of oboe, Cindy plays on the HHS varsity tennis team and works towards her aspiration to study math in addition to oboe performance.