Meadowmount will be very well represented at the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition. The competition begins in Moscow on June 10, 2015.

Among the 48 cellists chosen to participate are Brannon Cho, John-Henry Crawford, Sihao He, all current students of Hans Jørgen Jensen and Tavi Ungerlieder (MMT 06-07). The audition round for cellists begins June 13 in Moscow, moving to St. Petersburg for the remaining rounds.

Violinist James Ehnes (MMT 89-92) will be on the jury of the violin competition. Cellists Myung-Wha Chung (MMT 61-62, 64, 68) and Lynn Harrell (MMT 59-61) will be on the jury of the cello competition. Distinguished pianist Menahem Pressler, a member of the Meadowmount Director’s Board of Advisors, will return to Moscow to join the piano competition jury.

For more information on the competition: http://tchaikovskycompetition.com/en/#10-6
To follow the competition live, live streaming information is found at: http://tch15.medici.tv/en/

Cellist John Henry Crawford was the Grand Prize winner of the 2015 ASTA National Solo Competition held in Salt Lake City last March. John Henry is a student of Hans Jørgen Jensen at Meadowmount and in Chicago.

The Grand Prize winners of the 1998, 2009, 2011 and 2013 ASTA National Solo Competitions were Mark Gibbs, Deanna Talens, Brannon Cho and Sihao He, all students of Mr. Jensen.

Meadowmount is proud to announce that two of our students were winners of the 2015 MTNA National Competition. Violinist Phoenix Avalon was the second place winner in the Junior Performance Division and violinist Kiarra Saito-Beckman was the first place winner in the Senior Performance Division. Both Phoenix and Kiarra are students of Jan Mark Sloman.

Cellist Brannon Cho, student of Hans Jørgen Jensen at both Meadowmount and Northwestern University Beinen School of Music, was awarded first prize at the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition on May 31, 2015. In addition to a cash prize, Brannon will debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in their 2015-2016 season.

Internationally acclaimed violinist James Ehnes (MMT 89-92) has joined the Board of Directors of the Society for Strings, Inc.

Meadowmount faculty member Jan Mark Sloman (MMT 60 – 71) has been appointed to the violin faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music beginning fall, 2015. Mr. Sloman will join fellow Meadowmount faculty Ivan Zenaty and Meadowmount alum, Jaime Laredo (MMT 54-59) on this distinguished faculty.

James Ehnes, Violinist
James Ehnes began violin studies at the age of four, and at age nine became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and from 1993 to 1997 at The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation.

Anne Epperson, Professor of Collaborative Piano, Butler School of Music, Austin, TX, will offer classes and workshops at Meadowmount from July 7 - 12.

Jonathan Koh, will join the staff of the Meadowmount School of Music for the 2015 season as Cello Faculty. He has established himself as one of the most exciting musical entrepreneurs and teachers of his generation. A passionate and dedicated teacher who is in extreme high demand, Jonathan’s students have won top prizes in numerous competitions and performed all over the globe.