Alumni Updates

From the Top alumni are doing amazing things! This summer, it seemed like every time we fired up the old internet-machine, we saw news of another From The Top alum making waves in the world of music and beyond. In the coming weeks, we’ll be updating you on a plethora of From the Top alumni. This week, we start out with our alumni who can be found on the piano bench:
Michael Davidman (Show 234, Virginia Beach, Virginia) was awarded the following awards over the summer:

Grand Prize in the LISMA Foundation 9th International Music Competition in the 17-23 year old category at 15 years  old.
First Prize in both Solo and Concerto in the Ithaca College School of Music Piano Competition and will be performing Saint-Saens Piano Concerto in G minor, No. 2, op. 22with the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, February, 2013.
And he was awarded the Chopin Foundation of the United States Piano Scholarship! Way to go Michael!

Pianist Umi Garrett (Show 211, Santa Barbara, California) recently won the 13th Osaka International Music Competition in Osaka, Japan and also won 1st prize in the Chopin International Piano competition in Budapest, Hungary.

She said of the competitive experience in Osaka: “I know that there was a lot I should have done better, but it meant a lot for me because it was my first competition in Japan, and lots of people helped me to get to this competition. I wanted to do well to show them my appreciation.” Well done, Umi!

Kimberly Hou (Show 232, College Park, Maryland) was awarded 1st Place in the 27th IYAPC (International Young Artist Piano Competition) as well as the Chinese Performance Prize. She was also chosen as a 2012 US Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She says of this wonderful opportunity: “Having the opportunity to collaborate with artists from all different disciplines for the Kennedy Center performance was so eye-opening and inspiring!”

Brian Ge (Show 187, Boston, Massachusetts) just won another concerto competition in Aspen on July 2, 2012. He performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 with the American Academy of Conducting At Aspen Orchestra on July 10 at the music tent. Brian is one the concerto competition winners from last year and performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 with Aspen Concert Orchestra.

Congratulations to all of our outstanding alumni, and check back for more updates next week!