First Place:
Violinist Brian Kim, a freshman at Marriotts Ridge High School in Howard County, began studying the violin at the age of six. He has studied with Sangha Kim and Mia Choi, and currently, he studies with Peabody Preparatory faculty member Matthew Horwitz-Lee and is a member of the Pre-Conservatory Violin Program under the direction of Ms. Rebecca Henry. Brian has many years of orchestra and ensemble experience. He has participated in the Howard County Gifted and Talented Orchestra since third grade, under the batons of Patrick Walls, Annette Szawan, Andrea Aldrich, Rosemary Lather, and Alan Leung. He has also participated in the Maryland All-State Junior Orchestra for the last three years, as well as the Peabody Chamber Orchestra (2004), the Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra (2005), and the Peabody Violin Choir (2006, 2007). Currently, he is a member of the Peabody Preparatory Sinfonietta, in which he has played for the past two years. Brian also plays the saxophone and has participated in the jazz bands at his schools since the fourth grade. He is a member of the Marriotts Ridge High School jazz band and a saxophone quartet.
Brian has performed frequently in recitals at Peabody and in the greater Baltimore area. He was the winner of the junior division of the Columbia Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition in 2005 and debuted as a soloist with the orchestra, playing Henri Wieniawski’s second violin concerto. He was featured as a soloist with the Howard County GT Orchestra in 2007. He was also twice a winner of the Winter Honors Competition (2007, 2008) and a qualifier for the Vella Silver Recital (2008) at the Peabody Preparatory. Recently, he was the first place winner of the Marriotts Ridge High School Concerto Competition and the second place winner of the JCC Concerto Competition and will have the opportunity to perform as soloist with these orchestras in April and May, respectively. In March, he was also selected as a finalist for the U.S. Army Orchestra Young Artists Competition and placed third among eight finalists. He was invited to perform with the U.S. Army Orchestra on May 4th at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. He has performed in violin master classes for Mimi Zweig, Klara Bahcall, and Edmund Sprunger.
Besides music, Brian also has a passion for math. Combining his two favorite subjects, he came up with a science project entitled “Fractal Dimension, Power Spectra, and the Classification of Music” and won first place in the High School Division of the Howard County Math, Science, and Technology Fair this March. He also enjoys running track and being members of the FBLA, math team, and computer programming team in his school.
Alan Zhang, a 12-year-old 7th grader, was born in Baltimore. He attends Patapsco Middle School in Ellicott City and is in the Gifted & Talented Program. Alan has been taking violin lessons for 7 years at the Peabody Preparatory and is currently studying violin with Rebecca Henry. Alan performed the Vivaldi Violin Concerto with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore and the Meyerhoff in February 2005, when he was 9 years old. He has won many awards and competitions, including the Peabody Preparatory Dean’s Recognition Awards, the Peabody Junior Concerto Competition, second place winner of Asian American Music Society International Competition, and winner of 2008 Columbia Orchestra Young Artist Competition. He has given numerous recitals on many occasions including Signature Recitals, Vella Silver Recitals, Part-Recitals at Peabody, and at his schools. He has also played in the Howard County Elementary School Enrichment Orchestra, the Peabody YPSP Violin Choir, and is currently concertmaster of Patapsco Middle School Orchestra. His hobbies include basketball, computer games, listening to classical music, and traveling. He is an avid reader and very interested in music and biology.
