A great opportunity for young musicians.
Young Artists Festival Adjudication and Concerto Competition
The Norwalk Symphony Young Artist Festival held the Junior and Senior competition, as well as Festival I & II Level Adjudication opportunities for students on January 24th, 2026. These events, designed to be an encouraging opportunity for students to test themselves in a manner that is traditionally available to music students studying everywhere, enable the students to perform for our judges and get professional feedback to support their future learning and playing.
The 14th Annual Concerto Competition was also held with nine talented students, offering a more rigorous opportunity for young musicians under 18 years of age to test their musicianship with peers from the Fairfield County region of Southwestern Connecticut.
Additional detailed information for the Young Artists Festival (Level's I&II, Junior and Senior competitions) can be found HERE and for the Concerto Competition, HERE.
Festival I & II Students
Festival Level I & II events are designed to be an encouraging opportunity for students to test themselves in a manner that is traditionally available to music students studying everywhere. Learning how to perform and compete are important elements of the performing arts, and we hope that this event serves our young musicians in this manner.
Junior and Senior level winners
Junior and Senior Competition Students
Congratulations to all the students who participated in these events. The Junior Competition saw Maximillian Lele (piano) as the winner, with Julie McNamara was the Senior Competition winner.
Young Artists Concerto Competition
Congratulations to Harry Tao, cellist, as our Concerto Competition winner for 2026! He performed the Cello Concerto in B Minor Op. 104 Mvt 1 by Dvorak.
Harry will perform his winning piece with the full Norwalk Symphony Orchestra on our March 22, 2026 “Music for All Ages” concert.
Past Winners:
2024-2025: Lina Elwood, piano - Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18
2023-2024 - Gina Lin, violin - Korngold Concerto in D major, op. 35, I − Moderato nobile
2022-2023 - Beatrice Low, violin - Wieniawski Concerto No. 2 in D minor, op. 22, 1st Movement
2021-2022 - Caleb Sharp, cello - Elgar Concerto in E Minor, op. 85, 1st movement – Adagio
2020-2021 - Sadie Goodman, flute - Hüe Fantaisie pour flûte
2019-2020 - Avery Duer, piano - Rachmaninoff Concerto #2, 1st Movement
2018-2019 - Hudson Ragins, piano - Beethoven Piano Concerto #1 in C Major, 3rd Movement
2017-2018 - Mark Xu, violin - Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major, 1st movement
2016-2017 - Kate Wegener, oboe - Mozart Oboe Concerto, 1st Movement
2015-2016 - Cameron Chase, violin - Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto #5
2014-2015 - Jingye Yang, flute - Chaminade Concertino
2013-2014 - Madison Howard, cello - Lalo Cello Concerto in D Minor, 1st Movement
2012-2013 - Gita Abhiraman, piano - Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Andante sostenuto