Violinist Jennifer Koh '97 and conductor and trumpet player Michael Christie '97 have each won $10,000 awards, Koh in New York and Christie in Helsinki.
Koh's award was an Avery Fisher Career Grant. These grants are designed to give professional assistance and recognition to talented instrumentalists who have potential for solo careers, and the money is made available for specific needs for furthering the instrumentalist's career. Mrs. Avery Fisher presented the award to Koh and four other recipients at Lincoln Center 10 May. Beverly Sills, chair of Lincoln Center, was one of the speakers at the ceremony.
Jennifer Koh
Photo credit: Pete Checchia and Allen Cohn
Last summer Koh--a double-degree student who is also an English major--won the top prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, shortly after winning the Concert Artists Guild competition in New York (Observer 1 September 1994). She studies with professor of violin Almita Vamos and professor of violin and viola Roland Vamos and was featured along with them last weekend on CBS News Sunday Morning. The CBS crew spent two-and-a-half days in March filming at the Vamoses' home and at Koh's recital in the Finney Chapel.
Michael Christie, the youngest of the 22 participants in the first International Sibelius Conductor's Competition (Observer 13 April 1995), won the award for "outstanding potential" and a $10,000 cash prize. There were five rounds in the competition, which was held in Helsinki two weeks ago; Christie and four others reached the final round.
A trumpet performance major and candidate for the master of music in conducting degree, Christie studies conducting with associate professors Peter Jaffe and Robert Spano and trumpet with professor Byron Pearson. Christie is the assistant conductor of the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra and choir director at the Birmingham United Methodist Church, and he has made guest conducting appearances with the Oberlin Orchestra and the Brass Guild of Oberlin. He teaches trumpet for the Cleveland School of the Arts.
