The MATTEO GIAMMARIO CONCERTO COMPETITION

Concerto Competiti​on Information

• The Matteo Giammario is open to all members of the GPYO ensembles.
• Participants can compete on any instrument.
• The winner of the competition will perform as a soloist with the GPYO Symphonic Orchestra at the Spring Concert at Richardson Auditorium.
• Concerto selections should be around 10 minutes in length. 5 minutes is the minimum, 15 minutes is the maximum. Students may combine two or more shorter concerto movements. “Ensemble passages” in long single movements may be omitted during the competition.
• Repertoire must be suitable for performance with the GPYO Symphonic Orchestra, both in terms of difficulty and instrumentation (at the discretion of the conductor). Repertoire must be published and “in print”/available.
• Memorization is optional.
• The repertoire performed in the Preliminary Round video must be the same as the Final Round.
• A piano accompanist is optional for the Preliminary Round video, however, it is required for competing in the Final Round Live Competition. Students are responsible for finding and scheduling their own accompanist.
• There is no charge to compete in the Concerto Competition.
• Past winners of the GPYO Concerto Competition are not eligible to compete again.
• The preliminary round submission should demonstrate your ability and command of the piece at the current time. This does not have to be perfect! It also does not have to be your full 10 minute performance. At minimum, please make your video 3 minutes and a maximum 7-10 minutes depending on if you want to submit your whole piece. If you have any questions on length or want to ask for an exception, please email [email protected].

​

---

Preliminary Round Submission

Please use the form below to submit your prescreen video by NOVEMBER 11TH. Videos received after the 11th will not be reviewed. 

If you have a question about your repertoire selection, please email [email protected]. 

Submit Your Video Here

---

2023-2024 Concerto Competition Winner

Alexia Fang, Piano
Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Op.18​
I.  Moderato​

​Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)​

Alexia  Fang is a junior at Montgomery High School.  She said “I’ve always loved the Rachmaninoff concerto.  I prepared by practicing with my teacher as the accompaniment and listening to the piece a lot.”  
My highlights of each year are always the last concert. I love playing alongside talented soloists and also enjoying the community itself. Rehearsals are also fun, and I’m always excited to be able to show people how hard we have worked and how talented we all are.
Alexia thanks her Mom, her French teacher Ms. Kotok for introducing her to this piece,  her piano teachers, Hanbo Liu and Helen Huang, for guiding me in this journey and helping me grow, Mr. Kawika Kahalehoe, her orchestra teacher at Montgomery High School and former GPYO Music Director, and Dr. Jiannan Cheng.  Her performance represents the culmination of  years of work, practice, and study by Alexia with the support of her family, colleagues and teachers.

---

2022-2023 Concerto Competition Winner

Heidi Gubser, Flute
Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
III. Allegro scherzando

​Jacques Ibert (1890 - 1962)​

​Heidi Gubser is a senior at Princeton High School and a flutist in the Princeton High School Orchestra.  This was her second season with the GPYO.
​
“My favorite part of GPYO is probably being able to play such amazing repertoire like Beethoven 6 and Brahms 2.  Out of all the pieces I've played with GPYO, my favorite by far is Brahms 2. Brahms is actually one of my favorite composers of all time, so being able to play one of his undoubtedly best works has been a great experience.”
​
She has been studying flute with Kevin Willois since 6th grade and joined GPYO in the fall of her junior year.  She adds “Playing the 3rd movement of the Ibert Concerto with GPYO has been a wonderful experience for me since it is always so much fun to play a concerto with an orchestra. The Ibert is also a very special piece to me because I've spent so much time working on it, so finally being able to play it with an orchestra is a dream come true for me.”

Heidi is passionate about math and physics and plans to major in astrophysics at Princeton University, where she will be attending in the fall.  At Princeton, she will continue to study flute and plans to complete the Music Performance Certificate.

---

---

2021-2022 Concerto Competiti​on Winners

​​Elise Hwang, violin

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
III. Finale: Allegro energico

Max Bruch (1838 - 1920)

Elise Hwang has been studying violin since the age of 4. She started her studies with Urška Haule Feguš and the Westminster Conservatory of Music Suzuki Program. She has been studying with Nancy Wilson for the past five years. Elise has been in the GPYO for seven years, starting in the Concert Orchestra in the third grade. Her favorite memories of her time with us include performing at the Kimmel Center “and making many amazing friends.”

Elise notes, "I've always had Bruch on my violin bucket list and my teacher finally told me that I was at the level to play it. The third movement is very tricky with a lot of double stops and fast runs, which can make it very overwhelming to start learning: start slow in small sections and learn it piece by piece so that it doesn't overwhelm you."

Her other interests in addition to violin include piano and tennis. Her next performance goals for violin include preparing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

---

---

Nikhil Sampath, French horn

Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 417
III. Rondo allegro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791)

Nikhil Sampath is enjoying his sixth and final season with the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra. He has been studying French horn for seven years with Leah Swanger. He remembers his last GPYO concert at Richardson Auditorium fondly. “Not only did the ensemble play with technical perfection, but I felt that we really captured the essence of each piece, and of music as a whole. The standing ovation from the audience following our last piece of that concert will stick with me forever.”

He began working on this Mozart concerto last year in the GPYO performance workshops and January 2021 Artists’ Showcase.

"When preparing to play it live for the first time, I focused on adding my own touch to the piece with the accompaniment to make it my own unique performance. I love the way the concerto as a whole captures a wide variety of styles and emotions. I particularly like the third movement, as it maintains a lively and joyous feel, while still exploring other musical qualities."

​Nikhil will be graduating from Montgomery High School later this month. He will enter Cornell University in the fall; he intends to pursue an engineering degree.

---

---

​​2019-2020 Concerto Competition Winner: William Thompson

William Thompson, a senior at the Pennington School, has been playing cello since fourth grade.

​Will chose to study the Saint-Saëns Concerto for Cello in A minor because he wanted to tackle a Romantic-era piece that would allow more freedom of expression than the repertoire from the Classical or Baroque eras. This is an interesting move for a self-avowed fan of Bach’s solo works and Beethoven’s symphonies! He was drawn to the challenge of working through the tempo changes of the Saint-Saëns, as well as its openness to his personal interpretation. 

The only member of his family involved in music-making, Will’s achievements reflect both commitment and curiosity. In addition to cello, he plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar and electric guitar, and enjoys the process of mixing and mastering music. He credits teachers Lou Cordas and Mimi Morris-Kim with providing him with a solid foundation in music-reading skills and technique. He has studied with Elizabeth Loughran since eighth grade, and feels that working with her has helped refine all aspects of his playing.

The Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra has been a source of motivation throughout Will's musical journey. He joined the GPYO family in 2013 as a member of the Preparatory Strings Orchestra under Dr. Arvin Gopal. Playing with the Prep Strings in the wonderful acoustics of the Kimmel Center left a lasting impression on him. The experience motivated him to dedicate energy to practicing, and Will moved up to the Concert Orchestra the following year.  He has played in the Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra’s Symphonic Orchestra throughout high school, serving as principal cello since tenth grade. This year, he is playing with our Blue Ensemble. 
​

---

Will also spent two years playing with the Central Jersey Region Orchestra. He now enjoys playing a leadership role in the Pennington School Orchestra, and can be frequently seen playing at school events, and sometimes memorial services. He plans on continuing his musical pursuits throughout his college years and beyond, and is exploring ways that he can parlay his performing skills into a way to support himself during his student years. 

Like many members of our musicians, Will has many interests outside of music. He pitches and fields for the Pennington School baseball team. He was awarded the Eagle Scout honor for a project building outdoor free libraries for a local organization that helps people in unstable financial situations. After graduation this spring, Will hopes to pursue studies in either nuclear or quantum physics, and is in the midst of the college application process. We look forward to learning what the future brings!

Previous Winners

2018-2019 Concerto Competition Winner
Michael Chau

2017-2018 Concerto Competition Winner: 
​Anju Felix

2016-2017 Concerto Competition Winner:
​ Anna Gugliotta

2015 – 2016 Concerto Competition Winner:
​Jessie Lee

2014 – 2015 Concerto Competition Winner
​ Louis Petitjean

2013 – 2014 Concerto Competition Winner:
​Kasia Dobrzycka

2012 – 2013 Concerto Competition Winner:
​Dallas Noble

Click here to see performance videos of previous winners