Paul Taub Young Artist Competition
12th Annual Paul Taub Young Artist Competition
Sunday, April 14, 2024
1st Place $1000 | 2nd Place $500 | 3rd Place $250
Rules and Application for the 2024 Competition will be available soon.
Congratulations to the Winners of the
2023 Paul Taub Young Artist Competition!
2023 Winners
FIRST PLACE
Jarrett May, originally from Fort Worth, Texas, is currently pursuing his Masters in Flute Performance at Yale University, where he studies with Ransom Wilson and Tara Helen O’Connor. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of Bonita Boyd and Anne Harrow. As a soloist, he has been awarded first prize in the Tal Perkes Young Artist Competition; and second prize in the Philadelphia Flute Society, Rochester Flute Association, and the Donna Marie Haire Young Artist Competitions, among others. Jarrett has also been featured on NPR’s ‘From the Top,’ where he was a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Scholar. During the summers he has performed with MusicAlp France, the Texas Music Festival, Miami Opera Festival, and Carnegie Hall’s NYOUSA. This summer, he will attend the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara California to study with Tim Day and Jim Walker.
SECOND PLACE
From Seattle, Washington, Julia Pyke is the newly appointed Principal Flute of the Spokane Symphony and Adjunct Professor of Flute at Whitworth University. She was the winner of SFCM's Brass & Woodwind Concerto Competition and performed Lowell Liebermann's Flute Concerto with the SFCM Orchestra in 2021. She was also selected for several Danenberg Honors Recitals while at Oberlin, and for the 2019 Oberlin Orchestra tour at Carnegie Hall.
She has been a fellow at Aspen Music Festival as a member of the Aspen Conducting Academy, Music Academy of the West, and Texas Music Festival, and has performed with the New World Symphony as well as members of the Cleveland Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. She has appeared in performance at Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Carnegie Hall. While at Aspen, she was runner-up for the woodwind concerto competition, and while at Music Academy of the West, she was a finalist for both the Duo Competition and the Keston MAX audition in partnership with the London Symphony Orchestra. She has performed under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Marin Alsop, David Robertson, Larry Rachleff, John Adams, Hans Graf, Tim Weiss, Hugh Wolff, Markus Stenz, Andre Boreyko, and Ludovic Morlot.
Julia's primary teachers include Timothy Day and Alexa Still. She completed a Bachelor of Music at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music and Professional Studies Certificate at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
THIRD PLACE
Jeong Won Choe, a native of South Korea, started flute at age 12 and made her soloist debut with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at age 13. Most recently, Ms. Choe was awarded the William H. Grass Memorial Prize at the 43rd James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition in 2023 as well as Third Prize at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition in 2019. She also participated many prestigious festivals including the New York Summer Music Festival, Gonjiam Flute Festival and the Orford Music Academy. She had master classes with Sandrine Tilly, Linda Chesis, Michel Morageus, José-Daniel Castellon, Julien Beaudiment, Patrick Gallois, András Adorján, Marina Piccinini, Renate Greiss-Armin, Jim Walker, Denis Bouriakov, Demarre McGill, Ransom Wilson, and Robert Langevin. Ms. Choe graduated from Sunhwa Arts High school as a valedictorian and attended the Korea National University of Arts. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory as a pupil of Paula Robison and currently pursuing a Master of Music at the same school under the tutelage of Paula Robison.
2023 Adjudicators
Seth Morris is principal flutist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and previously held the same position with the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras. Seth also was a member of the New World Symphony and West Michigan Symphony and has performed with ensembles including the Houston, Detroit, and Pacific Symphonies, American Ballet Theatre, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Classical Tahoe, and at the Lakes Area Music Festival. He won first prize in the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition, Myrna W. Brown Artist Competition, and James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and has given solo performances with the Houston Symphony, Boston Chamber Symphony, and the Bay View Chamber Orchestra. As an educator, Seth has guest taught at universities and festivals around the country and currently serves as faculty and coordinator for the Hidden Valley Festival of Winds in California.
Seth is a William S. Haynes Artist and can be heard on the Met Opera’s Grammy-winning recordings of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Glass’ Akhnaten, and Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Seth holds degrees from the University of Kentucky, New England Conservatory, and the University of Michigan.
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Jeffrey Barker grew up in Seattle, attending Seattle Symphony concerts as a kid and taking lessons from Zartouhi Dombourian-Eby, now his colleague in the flute section. He joined the Seattle Symphony as Associate Principal Flute in 2015. Previously, he played as Principal Flute of the Boise Philharmonic since 2009. He has also performed with top orchestras around the country and the world, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, and the Singapore Symphony. Jeffrey is passionate about using music to connect with his community. He is a recipient of the 2018 Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service for his work with people in Seattle experiencing homelessness through the Seattle Symphony’s Simple Gifts Initiative. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music under the instruction of Bonita Boyd, and his Master of Music degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where his teachers were Jeanne Baxtresser and Alberto Almarza.
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Seattle native Christina Medawar is founder, artistic director, and flutist for The Sustain Music Project, a chamber music group started in 2018 which connects the community through classical music by creating engaging and interesting musical experiences. Each concert is presented in tandem with a different artistic medium (such as visual arts, food, and dance) and with community-serving nonprofits to link music and life.
Christina performed in the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra from 2010-2017 as acting principal flute from 2017-2018 and as second flute/piccolo from 2010-2017. She has performed with the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Opera, the Houston Ballet, and the contemporary ensemble Musiqa in Houston, TX. She can be heard on Houston Grand Opera’s recording of the world premieres of Ricky Ian Gordon’s operas A House Without a Christmas Tree and A Coffin in Egypt.
Christina is an avid supporter of music outreach and education. She was a recipient of the Sviatoslav Richter Fund for Entrepreneurial Music Outreach in 2008 from Rice University and was the coordinator for the Just-for-U Music Program (a series of outreach concerts for elementary-aged children) at Rice University for which she received a 2008 Mayor’s Volunteer Houston award. Christina also has taught flute students at Rice University and Shoreline Community College.
Christina holds her master's degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and her bachelor's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Outside of music, Christina enjoys running, cooking, spending time with her husband Stephen and her cat Nori, and chasing after her two adorable kids, Josiah and Linnéa.
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Past Winners
2022
1st Place: William Yeh
2nd Place: Daniel Fletcher
3rd Place: You Yang
2021
1st Place: Susan Kang
2nd Place: Yidi Song
3rd Place: Allison DeFrancesco
2020
1st Place: Yi Xiang
2nd Place: Jungah Yoon
3rd Place: Joyce Lee
2019
1st Place: Won Lee
2nd Place: Charles Gibb
3rd Place: Ann Green
2018
1st Place: Min Ha Kim
2nd Place: Ryan Foley
3rd Place: Douglas DeVries
2017
1st Place: Cassie Lear
2nd Place: Vivian Lee
3rd Place: Joyce Lee
2016
1st Place: Jeiran Hasan
2nd Place: Evan Pengra Sult
3rd Place: Benton Gordon
2015
1st Place: Colleen McElroy
2nd Place: Raoul Cho
2014
1st Place: Yerim Choi
2nd Place: Min Hee Kim
3rd Place: Joshua Romatowksi
2013
1st Place: Julian Rose
2nd Place: Jodie Rottle
3rd Place: Cassie Lear