7 Win Oberlin Concerto-Competition Spots By Michael Chipman
			OCTOBER 30, 1998--In the fifth week of every fall semester, conservatory seniors and artist-diploma students compete for a few hotly contested spots on the Oberlin Orchestra's concert roster. Seven students were selected on October 10 from a pool of 23 concerto-competition finalists. This year's winners are soprano Angela Baade, a senior from Renton, Washington; oboist Zheng Huang, a senior from China; cellist Christopher Miroshnikov, a graduate student from Greece in the artist-diploma program; violinists Esther Noh, a senior from Downer's Grove, Illinois; Simon Papanas, a fifth-year student from Greece; and Claude Sim, a senior from Northbrook, Illinois; and pianist Matthew Quayle, a senior from Waterville, New York. The winners will perform with the Oberlin Orchestra during the 1998-99 year. The first performance involving a concerto-competition winner will be November 13, when Matthew Quayle will play in a concerto for piano and orchestra with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra. The other performances are February 28--Angela Baade, Alban Berg's "Seven Early Songs" with the Oberlin Orchestra, April 2--Esther Noh, Brahms's Violin Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra, April 9--Christopher Miroshnikov, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, April 25--Claude Sim, Nielsen's Violin Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra, and May 7--Zheng Huang, Pasculli's Oboe Concerto, and Simos Papanas, Paganini's Violin Concerto with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra. "There was a tremendous level of performance from all of the finalists," says Jeffrey Irvine, professor of viola and one of the concerto-competition-final judges. "It was exciting and impressive to hear how well the students played this year. Choosing the seven finalists was a difficult task." According to the rules of the competition, final decisions are made solely on the quality of the performance and whether it reflects the highest performance standards of the conservatory. "After many years of judging competitions I have found that the winners somehow stand out from the rest," says Gerald Crawford, professor of singing and a member of the jury. "It is a combination of outstanding technical ability, musicianship, and interpretation that all come together in the moment of their performance. I'm sure there were other finalists who could have performed equally well under different circumstances, but the seven winners definitely had it all in that moment. All of the judges were in consensus about all seven winners." The competition jury is composed of one faculty member from each performance division, the orchestra conductor, one faculty member from a nonperformance major, and an invited adjudicator. Teachers of finalists are not eligible to serve on the judging committee. Paul Polivnik, music director of the orchestra, determines the number of possible winners according to his choice of repertoire for the season.