The top winners receive $1,500 in scholarship monies
Published: March 1, 2024
In the Lois Pickard Concerto Competition, six young musicians proved their top talents in the areas of piano, strings, and brass-woodwinds. The top winners receive $1,500 in scholarship monies with second place receiving $750. The public will be serenaded by their musical talents at a luncheon on February 29, 2024, at the Vestavia Country Club. The winners will perform short pieces and musical interpretations of classical works.
The Symphony Volunteer Council (SVC), in conjunction with the Alabama Symphonic Association (ASO), sponsors the Lois Pickard Scholarship competition and luncheon. Since 1998 this event has raised over $210,000 in awards for the competition winners and for scholarships to high school students studying at summer music programs. Tickets are available through the SVC.
The competition took place January 20th at Birmingham-Southern College where 19 students participated in the competition. They played for judges:
- Overall – Clay McCollum – ASO, Director of Artistic Development
- Brass/Woodwinds – Lisa Wienhold – ASO, Principal Flute
- Strings – Christopher Lowry – ASO, Principal Viola
- Piano – Dr. Beth McGinnis – Samford University, Assistant Professor of Musicology
The winners include:
Brass/Woodwinds
- First Place – Catherine Cheng – Flute, Age 16, Memphis, TN, White Station High School
- Second Place – Wesley Lim – Flute, Age 17, Germantown, TN, Houston High School
- Honorable Mention – Jasmine Young – Clarinet, Age 17, Homewood, AL, Alabama School of Fine Arts
Strings
- First Place – Cuewon Kim – Viola, Age 16, Vestavia Hills, AL, Vestavia Hills High School
- Second Place – Lauren Kang – Violin, Age 13, Vestavia Hills, AL – Prince of Peace Catholic School
Piano
- First Place – Daniel Bae, Age 14 – Pike Road, AL – Montgomery Academy
- Second Place – Luke Blackstone, Age 16, Homewood, AL, Evangel High School
The program began in 1951 when a group of ladies, led by Pickard, resurrected what was then called the Birmingham Civic Orchestra. Leading the Women’s Committee of the Orchestra, Pickard, helped create what then-Music Director, Arthur Bennet Lipkin called “a Festival of Contemporary Music.”
The Symphony Volunteer Council is proud to recognize the vision and efforts of Mrs. Pickard with scholarships to talented young artists, including the Lois Pickard Summer Music Camp Scholarship. This support is a fitting anniversary tribute to the one person whose name some 73 years ago, was synonymous with the symphony in Birmingham.
About the Symphony Volunteer Council
The SVC was formed to support the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and its mission to provide music performances and education. Programs, including monetary scholarships to talented youth, that Lois Pickard envisioned many years ago, are vital to the Council’s mission of musical education across the state of Alabama. The SVC provides volunteers for symphony programs and sponsors events to support the mission. In the past, the SVC sponsored the Decorators’ Show House in Birmingham. More information at: alabamasymphony.org/symphony-volunteer-council.