Winners of the 2021 Marianne Liberatore Instrumental Competition
First prize; James Toomey-Wilson, guitar
Second prize: Sasha Maskoff, piano
Third prize: Tyler Ngai, cello
First prize; James Toomey-Wilson, guitar
Second prize: Sasha Maskoff, piano
Third prize: Tyler Ngai, cello
Music for Youth announces the winners of the 2021 Marianne Liberatore Instrumental Competition
First prize; James Toomey-Wilson, guitar
Second prize: Sasha Maskoff, piano
Third prize: Tyler Ngai, cello
Music for Youth was the creation of Marianne Liberatore and friends with the goal of bringing classical music, professionally performed, into the lives of young people in Fairfield County. This competition is in honor of Marianne and the gift of music she gave to our community through the Free Young Persons’ Concerts and school residency and exchange programs.
James Toomey-Wilson, first prize winner, was awarded $1,000. Sasha Mascoff received the Karl Koss second Memorial Prize of $500 and Tyler Ngai won third prize and $350. The top finalist(s) will be offered an opportunity to present a solo concert in the Emerging Artists Series at Pequot Library.
About the winners
First Prize: James Toomey-Wilson
James Toomey-Wilson, 16, became devoted to playing classical guitar at the age of 5 when he began studying at what is now the Connecticut Suzuki Guitar Academy in Norwalk. He has performed solo and in ensemble at the World Trade Center, Carnegie Hall, Mannes School of Music, and SubCulture in New York City, as well as the Conservatorio Profesional de Música in Segovia, Spain and the Morse Recital Hall at Yale. Solo awards include an honorable mention for the 2020 Mid-Maryland Virtual Guitar Competition, highly commended at the 2020 Rising Stars Competition, and first prize at the New Horizons Guitar Competition in 2018. James is a junior at the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon where he plays cello in the Principal Orchestra.
Second Prize: Sasha) Maskoff
Alexandra (Sasha) Maskoff, 16 years old, began her studies of the piano at the age of 5, under the guidance of Tatiana Pikayzen. She has performed in numerous venues, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Baruch Performing Arts Center. Alexandra has also participated in a variety of masterclasses with Curtis and Juilliard faculty; this past summer, she participated in the Young Artist Summer Program at the Curtis Institute of Music. She was the winner of the Rondo Young Artist Vanguard Competition in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019, the winner of the American Protege Competition in 2014 and 2017, and an alternate winner of the Connecticut state MTNA competition of 2017. She was also the Grand Prix winner of the Concert Festival Concerto Competition and performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto #2 with the Concert Festival Orchestra in 2016. Furthermore, in 2020, Alexandra won the American Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, and, as such, will play Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Concerto with the ACO in the spring of 2021. Alexandra has participated in several trios and small ensembles with Chamber Music Central and is currently a junior at Staples High School in Westport, CT. Additionally, she is a member of Orphenians, an a capella group in which she has the opportunity to enjoy her other passion: singing.
Third Prize: Tyler Ngai
Tyler Ngai has studied cello for the past eleven years through the Suzuki Program at the Hartt Community School with Carlynn Savot, Katie Kennedy, and Nancy Hair, and is currently studying with Blake Brasch. For several years he has attended the the Hartt Suzuki Institute and the Ogontz Suzuki Institute, as
well as the Ithaca Suzuki Institute Advanced Cello Program. As a participant in the Cincinnati Young Artists Summer Cello Academy, the International Cello Institute, he performed in masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Julie Albers, Colin Carr, Pablo Ferrández, Hans Jorgen Jensen and Brant Taylor. In the 2020 Connecticut Bach Festival he placed first in the Youth Division for Strings, and he was also co-winner in the 2020 Connecticut Youth Symphony concerto competition. He has been a regular member of the Hartt Community School Suzuki orchestras and chamber music program, and is presently a member of the Connecticut Youth Symphony as well as I Giovani Solisiti. Currently, Tyler is a sophomore at Conard High School in West Hartford, CT.
About the Judges
Miki Aoki, piano
Pianist Miki Aoki is widely recognized for her diverse abilities as pianist and as a collaborative artist. A frequent guest artist of prestigious concert series and festivals around the world, Ms. Aoki has performed on the stages of St. Martin-in-the Fields, the Royal Festival Hall and the Purcell, the Barbican centre, Blackheath Halls (UK), Laeizhalle Hamburg, Gasteig München, Philharmonie Essen, Beethovenssal Hannover (Germany), Philia Hall, Munetsugu Hall (Japan), Wiener-Saal (Austria), St-Petersburg Philharmonic Hall (Russia) as well as in festivals throughout the world.
Ms. Aoki has performed as soloist with National Symphony, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Hamburg Camerata, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Washington Sinfonietta and Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México. As a collaborative pianist Ms. Aoki has been invited by the Heifetz International Music Institute, International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg, and Kronberg. Ms. Aoki regularly plays for lessons and master classes of internationally renowned musicians including Yuri Bashmet, Christoph Eschenbach, Christian Tetzlaff, Maxim Vengerov and Tabea Zimmermann. She holds degrees from Indiana University and Yale University. Ms. Aoki obtained a distinction in the Konzertexamen degree at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.(Mit Auszeichnung). Currently based in New York City, Ms. Aoki is a Doctorate Candidate at SUNY Stony Brook, is a teaching assistant under Gilbert Kalish and works at the Juilliard School as studio pianist for Professor Carol Rodland. Ms. Aoki is recording exclusively for German Label Hänssler Profil.
Jordan Dodson, guitar
Performance Today describes classical guitarist Jordan Dodson as “one of the top young guitarists of his generation.” A winner of Astral's 2013 National Auditions, he is an active soloist and chamber musician based in New York and Philadelphia. He has also received awards from the 2011 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, the 2010 Indiana International Guitar Competition, and the 2008 American String Teachers Association Competition. In 2013, he was a Young Artist in Residence on American Public Media’s Performance Today.
Mr. Dodson’s recent performance and teaching schedule has taken him across the U.S. and abroad to venues such as (Le) Poisson Rouge (New York City), Roulette (Brooklyn), the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Philadelphia), and the Museo Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá), and to such music festivals as the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Festival Daniou (France).
An advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Dodson has commissioned and premiered dozens of pieces internationally, including works by Lewis Nielson, Elliot Cole, Robert Sirota, and Gabriella Smith. He performs in several New York City chamber ensembles including Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and Contemporaneous, and he recently collaborated with such acclaimed artists as the International Contemporary Ensemble, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Ransom Wilson. He can be heard on the album Subject on Tzadik Records.
In the fall of 2011, Mr. Dodson was one of two students selected to inaugurate the Curtis Institute of Music’s classical guitar studio, bringing to the school not only a new instrument, but also new repertoire and new possibilities for music-making. Curtis Dean John Mangan said Dodson fulfilled the school’s need for “ambassadors for the instrument and its repertoire who could create interest among their peers, along with a desire to collaborate.” Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Jordan Dodson started playing music at a young age. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music, and his teachers have included Clare Callahan, David Starobin, and Jason Vieaux. He plays a Gary Lee guitar.
Allison Eldredge, cello
Concert Cellist and Recording Artist, Allison Eldredge has been performing in the world's premiere Concert Halls for more than 30 years. She is a recipient of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, a National Grant awarded to American musicians demonstrating exceptional ability. Musical America, the world’s premiere performing arts resource, named Allison Eldredge “Young Artist of the Year”. Following the Ms. Eldredge's release of Saint-Saens and Lalo Concerti with the Royal Philharmonic and conductor Hans Vonk, American Record Guide wrote, “ Hers is virtuosity wholly at the service of the music.”
Allison Eldredge gained national attention when, Conductor Daniel Barenboim, invited the Artist to make her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing the Elgar Cello Concerto. The performances marked Daniel Barenboim’s first public performances of the Elgar Concerto since performing the piece with his late wife, celebrated-cellist Jacqueline Du Pre, who had brought the Elgar Concerto to prominence. The Artist performed on Jacqueline Du Pre's 1972 Sergiu Peresson cello for the performances and was heralded as “a cellist afraid of nothing..” by the Chicago Sun Times and "a musician of remarkable gifts" by the Chicago Tribune. In America, Allison Eldredge has been guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Louis Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Westchester Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Utah Symphony, Vermont Symphony, San Diego Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and regional symphonies throughout the United States.
A passionate leader of music education, Allison Eldredge gives masterclasses regularly throughout her travels. She has visited more than 100 public schools promoting music education throughout the U.S. and internationally. In 2011, she Founded the Foulger International Music Festival, an inclusive modern summer music camp in New Jersey promoting intensive music education, performance and career development for young musicians with video-streamed concerts and masterclasses, supported by the Sid and Mary Foulger Family Foundation.
In 2014, she Co-Founded the Westport Chamber Music Workshop in Connecticut and she served as Artistic Director of the Killington Music Festival in Vermont for seven seasons (2004-2011). She has served on the Faculty of Harvard University from 2008-2011 and is currently on the cello faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She maintains a private teaching studio in Boston and in Connecticut. She studied at the Pre-College and College of the Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Harvey Shapiro, Eleanore Schoenfeld, Felix Galimir, Ardyth Alton, Joan Lunde, Mstislav Rostropovich and Yo-Yo Ma.
First prize; James Toomey-Wilson, guitar
Second prize: Sasha Maskoff, piano
Third prize: Tyler Ngai, cello
Music for Youth was the creation of Marianne Liberatore and friends with the goal of bringing classical music, professionally performed, into the lives of young people in Fairfield County. This competition is in honor of Marianne and the gift of music she gave to our community through the Free Young Persons’ Concerts and school residency and exchange programs.
James Toomey-Wilson, first prize winner, was awarded $1,000. Sasha Mascoff received the Karl Koss second Memorial Prize of $500 and Tyler Ngai won third prize and $350. The top finalist(s) will be offered an opportunity to present a solo concert in the Emerging Artists Series at Pequot Library.
About the winners
First Prize: James Toomey-Wilson
James Toomey-Wilson, 16, became devoted to playing classical guitar at the age of 5 when he began studying at what is now the Connecticut Suzuki Guitar Academy in Norwalk. He has performed solo and in ensemble at the World Trade Center, Carnegie Hall, Mannes School of Music, and SubCulture in New York City, as well as the Conservatorio Profesional de Música in Segovia, Spain and the Morse Recital Hall at Yale. Solo awards include an honorable mention for the 2020 Mid-Maryland Virtual Guitar Competition, highly commended at the 2020 Rising Stars Competition, and first prize at the New Horizons Guitar Competition in 2018. James is a junior at the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon where he plays cello in the Principal Orchestra.
Second Prize: Sasha) Maskoff
Alexandra (Sasha) Maskoff, 16 years old, began her studies of the piano at the age of 5, under the guidance of Tatiana Pikayzen. She has performed in numerous venues, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Baruch Performing Arts Center. Alexandra has also participated in a variety of masterclasses with Curtis and Juilliard faculty; this past summer, she participated in the Young Artist Summer Program at the Curtis Institute of Music. She was the winner of the Rondo Young Artist Vanguard Competition in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019, the winner of the American Protege Competition in 2014 and 2017, and an alternate winner of the Connecticut state MTNA competition of 2017. She was also the Grand Prix winner of the Concert Festival Concerto Competition and performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto #2 with the Concert Festival Orchestra in 2016. Furthermore, in 2020, Alexandra won the American Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, and, as such, will play Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Concerto with the ACO in the spring of 2021. Alexandra has participated in several trios and small ensembles with Chamber Music Central and is currently a junior at Staples High School in Westport, CT. Additionally, she is a member of Orphenians, an a capella group in which she has the opportunity to enjoy her other passion: singing.
Third Prize: Tyler Ngai
Tyler Ngai has studied cello for the past eleven years through the Suzuki Program at the Hartt Community School with Carlynn Savot, Katie Kennedy, and Nancy Hair, and is currently studying with Blake Brasch. For several years he has attended the the Hartt Suzuki Institute and the Ogontz Suzuki Institute, as
well as the Ithaca Suzuki Institute Advanced Cello Program. As a participant in the Cincinnati Young Artists Summer Cello Academy, the International Cello Institute, he performed in masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Julie Albers, Colin Carr, Pablo Ferrández, Hans Jorgen Jensen and Brant Taylor. In the 2020 Connecticut Bach Festival he placed first in the Youth Division for Strings, and he was also co-winner in the 2020 Connecticut Youth Symphony concerto competition. He has been a regular member of the Hartt Community School Suzuki orchestras and chamber music program, and is presently a member of the Connecticut Youth Symphony as well as I Giovani Solisiti. Currently, Tyler is a sophomore at Conard High School in West Hartford, CT.
About the Judges
Miki Aoki, piano
Pianist Miki Aoki is widely recognized for her diverse abilities as pianist and as a collaborative artist. A frequent guest artist of prestigious concert series and festivals around the world, Ms. Aoki has performed on the stages of St. Martin-in-the Fields, the Royal Festival Hall and the Purcell, the Barbican centre, Blackheath Halls (UK), Laeizhalle Hamburg, Gasteig München, Philharmonie Essen, Beethovenssal Hannover (Germany), Philia Hall, Munetsugu Hall (Japan), Wiener-Saal (Austria), St-Petersburg Philharmonic Hall (Russia) as well as in festivals throughout the world.
Ms. Aoki has performed as soloist with National Symphony, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Hamburg Camerata, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Washington Sinfonietta and Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México. As a collaborative pianist Ms. Aoki has been invited by the Heifetz International Music Institute, International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg, and Kronberg. Ms. Aoki regularly plays for lessons and master classes of internationally renowned musicians including Yuri Bashmet, Christoph Eschenbach, Christian Tetzlaff, Maxim Vengerov and Tabea Zimmermann. She holds degrees from Indiana University and Yale University. Ms. Aoki obtained a distinction in the Konzertexamen degree at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.(Mit Auszeichnung). Currently based in New York City, Ms. Aoki is a Doctorate Candidate at SUNY Stony Brook, is a teaching assistant under Gilbert Kalish and works at the Juilliard School as studio pianist for Professor Carol Rodland. Ms. Aoki is recording exclusively for German Label Hänssler Profil.
Jordan Dodson, guitar
Performance Today describes classical guitarist Jordan Dodson as “one of the top young guitarists of his generation.” A winner of Astral's 2013 National Auditions, he is an active soloist and chamber musician based in New York and Philadelphia. He has also received awards from the 2011 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, the 2010 Indiana International Guitar Competition, and the 2008 American String Teachers Association Competition. In 2013, he was a Young Artist in Residence on American Public Media’s Performance Today.
Mr. Dodson’s recent performance and teaching schedule has taken him across the U.S. and abroad to venues such as (Le) Poisson Rouge (New York City), Roulette (Brooklyn), the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Philadelphia), and the Museo Nacional de Colombia (Bogotá), and to such music festivals as the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Festival Daniou (France).
An advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Dodson has commissioned and premiered dozens of pieces internationally, including works by Lewis Nielson, Elliot Cole, Robert Sirota, and Gabriella Smith. He performs in several New York City chamber ensembles including Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and Contemporaneous, and he recently collaborated with such acclaimed artists as the International Contemporary Ensemble, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Ransom Wilson. He can be heard on the album Subject on Tzadik Records.
In the fall of 2011, Mr. Dodson was one of two students selected to inaugurate the Curtis Institute of Music’s classical guitar studio, bringing to the school not only a new instrument, but also new repertoire and new possibilities for music-making. Curtis Dean John Mangan said Dodson fulfilled the school’s need for “ambassadors for the instrument and its repertoire who could create interest among their peers, along with a desire to collaborate.” Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Jordan Dodson started playing music at a young age. He holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music, and his teachers have included Clare Callahan, David Starobin, and Jason Vieaux. He plays a Gary Lee guitar.
Allison Eldredge, cello
Concert Cellist and Recording Artist, Allison Eldredge has been performing in the world's premiere Concert Halls for more than 30 years. She is a recipient of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, a National Grant awarded to American musicians demonstrating exceptional ability. Musical America, the world’s premiere performing arts resource, named Allison Eldredge “Young Artist of the Year”. Following the Ms. Eldredge's release of Saint-Saens and Lalo Concerti with the Royal Philharmonic and conductor Hans Vonk, American Record Guide wrote, “ Hers is virtuosity wholly at the service of the music.”
Allison Eldredge gained national attention when, Conductor Daniel Barenboim, invited the Artist to make her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing the Elgar Cello Concerto. The performances marked Daniel Barenboim’s first public performances of the Elgar Concerto since performing the piece with his late wife, celebrated-cellist Jacqueline Du Pre, who had brought the Elgar Concerto to prominence. The Artist performed on Jacqueline Du Pre's 1972 Sergiu Peresson cello for the performances and was heralded as “a cellist afraid of nothing..” by the Chicago Sun Times and "a musician of remarkable gifts" by the Chicago Tribune. In America, Allison Eldredge has been guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Pops, St. Louis Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Westchester Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Utah Symphony, Vermont Symphony, San Diego Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and regional symphonies throughout the United States.
A passionate leader of music education, Allison Eldredge gives masterclasses regularly throughout her travels. She has visited more than 100 public schools promoting music education throughout the U.S. and internationally. In 2011, she Founded the Foulger International Music Festival, an inclusive modern summer music camp in New Jersey promoting intensive music education, performance and career development for young musicians with video-streamed concerts and masterclasses, supported by the Sid and Mary Foulger Family Foundation.
In 2014, she Co-Founded the Westport Chamber Music Workshop in Connecticut and she served as Artistic Director of the Killington Music Festival in Vermont for seven seasons (2004-2011). She has served on the Faculty of Harvard University from 2008-2011 and is currently on the cello faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She maintains a private teaching studio in Boston and in Connecticut. She studied at the Pre-College and College of the Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Harvey Shapiro, Eleanore Schoenfeld, Felix Galimir, Ardyth Alton, Joan Lunde, Mstislav Rostropovich and Yo-Yo Ma.
