Lima, OH (April 24, 2023) – The Friends of the Symphonywill host the 61st Lima Symphony Orchestra Annual National Young Artists’ Competition on Saturday, April 29th at Yoder Recital Hall on the campus of Bluffton University (1 University Drive, Bluffton, OH 45817). The competition this year features piano, winds, and brass. The evening concert will begin at 7:30 PM and is free and open to the public.

Including both a Junior and Senior Division, these competitors represent the finest Universities and Conservatories in the country. Judges for the competition are top artists in their fields. This year the Friends of the Symphony welcome judges Da Eun Choi (piano), Michele Gingras (clarinet), Stephen Campbell(trumpet), and Hamilton Tescarollo (piano). The winners of this renowned competition will receive cash prizes. First-place winners, upon recommendation of the Lima Symphony Orchestra Music Director, may appear as featured soloists with the Lima Symphony Orchestra at a future date. The junior division is for competitors ages 17-21 enrolled in a college or conservatory degree program. The senior division is for competitors ages 22-26 enrolled in a college or conservatory degree program.

Information on the Friends of the Symphony, Young Artists’ Competition, and other educational programs and opportunities can be found on the symphony website at: www.limasymphony.com

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For more information about the Lima Symphony Orchestra or for tickets, please contact the Lima Symphony at 419-222-5701 or www.limasymphony.com

Da Eun Choi

A native of South Korea, pianist Da Eun Choi is an avid soloist and chamber musician. By playing music, she wants to expand the audience base of the instrument, hoping that will lead to more people learning and enjoying music.

She began piano at age 4, and at 15, she gave her debut public solo recital in Korea and later graduated with top honors from Daejeon Arts High School. Choi was selected as a semifinalist at the 2014 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy and a finalist at the 2011 Harrison L. Winter Piano Competition in the United States, and has won several competitions in Korea. Her recent performances have included solo recitals and chamber concerts in Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Italy, and Korea.

She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas at Austin as a recipient of the Sidney M. Wright Endowed Presidential Scholarship, under the tutelage of Gregory Allen. She also received both Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Alexander Shtarkman and served as Music Theory Graduate Assistant for Dr. Vern C. Falby. Choi earned her Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude from Hanyang University in Korea with Young In Lee and Min Sook Kim.

Currently, Dr. Choi is a piano faculty and staff pianist at Bluffton University, and a rehearsal accompanist for the Lima Symphony Chorus. Recently, she was newly appointed as the Principal Pianist of the Lima Symphony Orchestra for the 2023-2024 concert season. In addition, since 2020 Choi has been a music columnist for Classic J, a classical magazine.

Michele Gingras

Michele Gingras joined the Butler faculty as Instructor of Clarinet in the fall of 2017. 

Previously, Gingras was Distinguished Professor of Clarinet at Miami University in Ohio, where she was named Crossen Hays Curry Distinguished Educator and Distinguished Scholar of the Graduate Faculty. She is the author of Clarinet Secrets, 2nd edition, she performed and taught masterclasses worldwide, released over a dozen CDs, and wrote 200 articles and reviews for numerous international publications. She performed with the Cincinnati Klezmer Project for 20 years and concertized with Duo2go and Miami3 throughout the US.

Gingras is Past-Secretary of the International Clarinet Association and is an Artist Clinician for Buffet Crampon and Légère Reeds. She earned a Premier prix from the Quebec Music Conservatory in Montreal and a M.M. in clarinet performance at Northwestern University. Previously, she was Principal Clarinet with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra in Chile.

Stephen Campbell

Stephen Campbell is Assistant Professor of Music (Trumpet) at Ball State University. Prior to his appointment, Stephen was a professional musician based in Cincinnati, OH since 2005. After finishing undergraduate and graduate studies at Stephen F. Austin State University, Stephen moved to Cincinnati to do post graduate work at the University of Cincinnati, College, Conservatory of Music.

Stephen is the principal trumpeter of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Lexington, KY; associate principal trumpet of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Charleston, WV; and principal trumpet of the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Muncie, IN. In addition to his duties in these orchestras, Stephen is often called upon to perform as an additional or substitute musician with ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, and the Blue Ash Montgomery Orchestra, among others. Stephen also participates in chamber music with various ensembles.

In addition to his active role as a professional musician, Stephen was previously visiting professor of music at Ball State University, Muncie, IN; Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX; and adjunct instructor at Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH. Stephen also served as a private instructor for the Bellbrook Public Schools, Bellbrook, OH, and Scott County Schools, Scott County, KY. Several of his private students have experienced success in state competition, solo contests, and have performed with him in professional orchestras.

Hamilton Tescarollo

Since his debut with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), pianist Hamilton Tescarollo has performed as both soloist and collaborative artist in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South America. Recent performances have taken him to concert venues in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and multiple US states. He has appeared in international music festivals such as Orford (Canada), Eleazar de Carvalho (Fortaleza, Brazil), Cascais (Portugal), Saarburg (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), and Ljubljana Old Town (Slovenia).  In March 2016, he performed George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Purdue Fort Wayne Symphonic Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall’s Isaac Stern Auditorium. A versatile musician who performs both the mainstream and the avant-garde repertory, he frequently includes the music of Brazil and other Latin-American countries in his programs.

Also an active recording artist, he is featured in three published CD’s. With clarinetist Jorge Montilla (Professor of Clarinet at The University of Iowa and former Principal Clarinet of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela), he recorded the CD “La Revoltosa,” featuring contemporary works by composers of both North and South America for clarinet and piano (Clarinet Classics). He also appears in two CDs with former Purdue Fort Wayne colleague Farrell Vernon (Centaur Records), containing works for sopranino saxophone and piano as well as larger ensembles involving these two instruments.

Tescarollo was awarded the top prizes at the OSESP Young Soloists’ National Competition and the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo’s piano competition and was one of three finalists at the 1991 National Mozart Competition in Brazil. Other distinctions include sponsorships by the Secretary of Culture of the State of São Paulo, the Vitae Foundation, the Arizona Community Foundation, and Arizona State University. A dedicated teacher, he received “Teacher of the Year” awards from the Indiana Music Teachers Association (2015) and the Schimmel-AZ Piano Young Artist Piano Competition (2001), as well as the “Top Music Teacher” award from Steinway & Sons (2016 and 2017). His students have been prizewinners of many piano contests, including the Phoenix Symphony Guild Concerto Competition, Indianapolis Symphony Young Musicians Competition, Sewannee Summer Music Center Concerto Competition, Indiana Hoosier Auditions, and MTNA Competitions, among others. They also have been awarded numerous scholarships and grants to attend summer programs, such as Interlochen, Brevard, Idylwild, Adamant, Sewannee, and Saarburg (Germany), and have been accepted for graduate study at prestigious institutions such as the Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute, and the University of Michigan.

Tescarollo serves as Professor of Music and Director of Keyboard Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne. In this capacity, he teaches applied piano and piano-related courses and coordinates the keyboard area. He also teaches both young and professional pianists through the PFW Community Arts Academy and serves as piano faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer. He has previously held teaching positions at Faculdade Santa Marcelina, The Municipal School of Music of São Paulo, and Arizona State University, and has also taught at the Saarburg Serenaden International Music Festival in Germany. In addition, he directs the Gene Marcus Piano Competition and Gene Marcus Piano Camp and Festival, presents piano master classes both nationally and internationally, and is a frequent lecturer and competition adjudicator.

Dr. Tescarollo holds Piano Performance degrees from Arizona State University (D.M.A. and M.M.), Faculdade Santa Marcelina (B.M.), and Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo (Diploma). His main teachers were Gilberto Tinetti (a pupil of Tagliaferro, Cortot, and Wuehrer) and Caio Pagano (also a pupil of Tagliaferro, as well as of Conrad Hansen, and Carl Engel). He also has studied with Robert Hamilton, Sandra Abrão and Paulo Bergamo, and has coached with Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda, Lazar Berman, Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, and Maria João Pires, among others.

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