From a list of 107 nominees, the following 16 students have been named as semifinalists for the 2021 Artist of the Year in instrumental music. The students were chosen by a panel of teachers based on written statements, performance videos and artistic résumés.
Included are links to their work, the specialty in which they were nominated, and quotes about how they relate to their craft.
Instrumental musicians have been nominated in the specialties of piano and strings, winds and percussion, jazz music, and commercial and world/cultural music.
During the final round of adjudication, students participate in a virtual interview this year to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. They submitted additional samples of their work and recorded answers to interview questions which were viewed and evaluated by a panel of distinguished artistic professionals and faculty members from Southern California universities as well as a few representative high school teachers.
One finalist in each specialty will be named and from those finalists, one Artist of the Year in each of the seven disciplines – theater, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, film, handcrafted visual arts and computer-assisted visual arts – will then be named a 2021 Artist of the Year.
The Artists of the Year will be announced on May 2.
This program is generously sponsored by the Chapman University College of Performing Arts. Additional support is provided by the Laguna College of Art + Design and the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University.
If you would like to become a sponsor for the Artist of the Year program, contact Heide Janssen at ocartistoftheyear@gmail.com.
Stephanie Chung, senior, Crean Lutheran High School
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Viola
“My ultimate goal as an artist and an individual is to bring therapy and healing for the mental wellness of the world. Through my experience working as an assistant art therapist for the past four years at my local health clinic, I realized and witnessed the therapeutic power of art. Teaching violin to students with non-communicative autism and Down syndrome, I witnessed their growth in expressing by seeing their smiles and laughing while playing the violin.”
Aaron Jin, senior, Crean Lutheran High School
Specialty: Winds and percussion
Primary instrument: Oboe
“Art is a mirror that reflects the soul of an artist. An artist portrays himself in a manner in which dry, perfunctory academics simply cannot. I am a student as much as I am an artist. Yet, academics do not — and cannot — allow me to express my soul; music does. Through the oboe, I craft my own sound, texture, and story. Through the oboe, I have a voice that reaches out to a crowd.”
Esther Kim, junior, Woodbridge High School
Specialty: Winds and percussion
Primary instrument: Clarinet
“I’m not a person that is good with words and speeches. However, music is a way for me to express myself. It allows me to bring up the stories of my life and express them through the pieces. Although I may not be a good storyteller by words, I can share my story with people through my music.”
Irene Lee, junior, Northwood High School
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Cello
“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen patiently as composers speak, every note manifesting realms I never dared to imagine could exist. This is reflective of how every musician sees music and thus the world through different eyes. We don’t linger on these differences because they don’t matter too much in our day to day lives, but thanks to music, I’ve come to understand people better.”
Brian Lin, senior, Orange County School of the Arts
Specialty: Winds and percussion
Primary instrument: Alto saxophone
“I think my life without music would feel incomplete. I find music a way to express my emotions; whenever I’m feeling down or having a bad day, I always resort back to my saxophone as my way of venting my frustrations out for the day.”
Esther Liu, senior, Fullerton Union High School
Specialty: Winds and percussion
Primary instrument: Oboe
“My work in instrumental music has significantly impacted my journey in the fine arts. In addition to playing the oboe, I am an artist and designer who specializes in dry media and graphic designs. My curiosity to discover new composers sparked my commitment to experiment with a variety of media.”
Sarah Liu, junior, Crean Lutheran High School
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Violin
“Music is meant to be shared, and my favorite experiences as a musician are always when I play with other people. One of my favorite memories is when I toured Costa Rica with the Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings. At our last concert, I met a young lady who said she drove nearly nine hours to hear us perform. Nonetheless, she was certain that it was all worth it. Her passion and love for music made me realize that being a musician is about giving a part of my soul to the audience, sharing one of the most wonderful gifts of humanity.”
Cody Nakatsukasa, senior, Northwood High School
Specialty: Jazz
Primary instrument: Acoustic/electric bass
“Looking to the future, I don’t want to define myself as one thing with my career as an artist. Instead of simply becoming a performer or teacher, I want to emerge myself into the professional music industry. Instead of branding myself with one genre, I want to go where my music takes me.”
Chloe Nelson, senior, Tesoro High School
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Violin
“Throughout my first year of high school, I began participating more in small ensembles and orchestras with the violin instead of entering competitions with the piano. I performed in quartets at community events and met new people in orchestras; in doing so, I discovered a new love for the violin through interacting with others. As I connected more with my instrument, I also came to realize that I appreciate the delicate nature of the instrument; I love feeling the bow pull the strings, and I love feeling the strings vibrate underneath my fingers.”
Hannah Noh, senior, Orange County School of the Arts
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Piano
“Joining an orchestra, creating a chamber team, becoming a conductor is not the end to my goal but the beginning of a greater purpose. It is to make the world better by using my talents to bring joy to the community around me. And I look forward to the world that I will play a part in enlightening.”
Amy Palm, junior, Irvine High School
Specialty: Piano and strings
Primary instrument: Cello
“Receiving praise or awards is gratifying, but the ultimate reward of music is allowing anyone to connect together. My favorite moments as a musician (have been) spending Friday nights performing at a senior center. One evening, after I played, a senior recounted her past memories of playing the same piece. When she told me how this piece took her back to her good old days, I could imagine myself from her perspective, with a new interpretation of the piece, so similar yet so different in my mind. The pieces I perform have been played millions of times in various settings and audiences, but artistry is about making it my own narrative.”
Gianna Pedregon, senior, Orange County School of the Arts
Specialty: Jazz
Primary instrument: Violin
“I want to compose music that will inspire and make others listen. I am vocal in issues such as social justice, gender justice, and environmental causes, and I know that music can have a big impact on its listeners. I want to have my own group with so much musical diversity included within the compositions as well as a diverse personnel so that we could tour in different parts of the world, bringing our music to everyone and educating people on various important issues.”
Joseph I. Pena, senior, Irvine High School
Specialty: Jazz
Primary instrument: Drum set
“As a drummer, I like to be very active. I have recently got into running/track. Now how has this influenced me you ask? This past year I started to study the human body and learn about dieting, diseases, virus, exercise, and hygiene. So I decided to run to improve my health to prevent myself from getting sick. Like any art form there’s technique, and same with running.”
Christian P. Perez, senior, Valencia High School
Specialty: Jazz
Primary instrument: Alto saxophone
“What is an Artist? This seems like a very deep question at first glance, but I believe that it has a very simple answer: To express yourself in the most personal and intimate way that you possibly can. Some people do that through acting, art, or dance, but I knew from a very young age that music was going to be my purpose in life.”
Meg Jillian Salanga, senior, Mater Dei High School
Specialty: World/cultural and commerical music
Primary instrument: Guitar and vocals
“Today, something about change still scares me; it often makes me want to shy away from opportunity. But with music, I am not afraid to take on a challenge. I stand in front of hundreds of faces that I have never seen before, guitar in hand, and show them that I can, and will, adapt. I prove to others, and myself, that change is good, and I can turn the tides with a single chord.”
Jared Stein, senior, Tarbut V’Torah Community Day School
Specialty: World/cultural and commerical music
Primary instrument: Guitar, bass, drum, vocals
“Talking about mental health, through my songwriting, I have developed a pretty decent sense of self-awareness, and recognizing thought patterns that might not make sense or that might be self-destructive. If I’m being honest, over these last few years, I have been through a lot mentally, and have gone deep into depression and anxiety; but songwriting and making music has always been an outlet for me. First, I would just play songs by other artists to escape, but then once I started writing my own songs, I felt free to talk about what I was going through, and through that, I was able to articulate things I wouldn’t have understood about myself otherwise.”
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Artist of the Year 2021: Instrumental music semifinalists - OCRegister
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