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| Lorin Hollander |
(This listing was updated 8/22/23 with the addition of a finalist honorable mention. —DK)
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts, David (Volosin) Katz, founder and chief judge, is honored to announce the winners and runners-up of The American Prize in Piano Performance (concerto), 2023—The Lorin Hollander Award. Congratulations!
Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competitions may be found elsewhere on this blog. Please use the chronological tool in the right-hand column to find specific results.
Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com
The American Prize LORIN HOLLANDER AWARD celebrates the artistry of one of the greatest pianists of his generation. Lorin Hollander has appeared as guest soloist with virtually every major symphony orchestra in the world and is a veteran of over 2,500 performances across the globe. The American Prize is delighted to share the legacy of this legendary artist through the re-naming of the award for Piano Concerto Performance in his honor. For more about the extraordinary life and career of Lorin Hollander, please visit http://lorinhollander.com/
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. Now in its thirteenth year, The American Prize was founded in 2010 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. Thousands of artists from all fifty states have derived benefit from their participation in the contests of The American Prize, representing literally hundreds of communities and arts organizations across the nation. Information about the 2023-24 season of contests is now available and applications are being accepted, with extensions available by email request. (http://theamericanprize.org)
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Pianist Sergei Kvitko has captured the attention of music critics with his “masterful, intuitive playing… arresting artistry… an iconoclastic sense for rubato rhythm and phrasing” (Fanfare Magazine), and has been praised for his “luminous touch… warm, round sound… plenty of brilliance” as well as “a natural, appealing musicality and sensual understanding of piano tone” (The Chronicle-Herald). American Record Guide proclaimed his recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as “among the best ever made” and placed on its Critics’ Choice List. In spring of 2013 Mr. Kvitko embarked on a 14-city solo concert tour, which climaxed with his New York City debut at Carnegie Hall that “was met with rousing applause, bravos, and a standing ovation” (New York Concert Review). In 2018 Sergei Kvitko performed solo recitals in the United States and Austria, and came back to Carnegie Hall accompanying famous Russian flutist Maxim Rubtsov. 2019-2020 season brings more solo concerts as well as performances with orchestra in the US as well as Madrid, Spain; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Innsbruck and Salzburg, Austria; Kiev and Odessa, Ukraine.
Johan Botes is known for his extraordinary versatility as a soloist, collaborative musician, and teacher; a career which has brought him recognition in concerts around the world. A native of South Africa, Botes showed musical promise from an early age. Among many notable awards in his native country, he was the 2007 First Prize Winner of the Third UNISA/Vodacom National Piano Competition playing Rachmaninoff’s technically demanding Third Piano Concerto to a standing ovation; a performance for which he also won the Desmond Willson Memorial Prize for best concerto in the final round. As a soloist, Botes has performed in venues worldwide. He has appeared as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, Juneau Symphony (AK), Bainbridge Symphony (WA), Auburn Symphony (WA) as well as the Texas Chamber Orchestra. He also performed in Prague with the Hadrec Kralove Orchestra and toured to Bulgaria in 2005 where he played with the Varna Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Marshall University in Huntington, WV.
The New York Times commends Robert Auler’s playing for its “extraordinary rhythmic clarity and expression.” American Record Guide cites his “elegant tone and uncanny sense of voicing.” The Charlotte Observer writes that Auler handles “technical and virtuosic concerns with aplomb.” Auler’s playing has also been described as “beautiful” (Fanfare), “superb,” (Ann Arbor News) “stunning” (LaPorte Herald-Argus), “first-rate” (Cincinnati News-Record), “truly electrifying” (Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette) and “a knockout” (Syracuse Post-Standard). Auler has won first prize in national and international piano competitions, including the Society of American Musicians and the Stravinsky Awards. Auler has performed on six continents, including performances throughout the United States, Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, China, South Africa and New Zealand. Notable venues include Carnegie Hall, Teatro Colon and Shanghai Symphony Hall.
Henry Tushman, 16, studies piano with Dr. Sandra Hebert at Rivers School Conservatory, where he won the 2022 Director’s Award. Henry is a member of the A. Ramón Rivera Senior Piano Seminar at NEC Prep and has attended Cremona International Music Academy in Italy for six summers. Henry is the current Massachusetts state winner of the MTNA Senior Piano Competition. He recently performed as a finalist in the Harvard Musical Association High School Achievement Awards as well as the Music International Grand Prix at Merkin Hall, NYC. Henry has been first prize winner of competitions including Steinway Society of Massachusetts, Society of American Musicians, Young Musicians Inspiring Change, Bradshaw & Buono, MMTA Bay State, National League of Performing Arts, and the International Franz Liszt Center Piano Competition. He has performed in Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and Ganz Hall in Chicago. Henry made his orchestral debut in 2022, performing Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor in Andover, MA, and Cremona, Italy. He soloed with orchestra again in 2023 in Italy as well as in Chicago conducted by Conner Gray Covington, Associate Conductor of the Utah Symphony. This summer, Henry will solo with orchestra in Tarnow, Poland. Henry feels lucky to have had the privilege of working with contemporary composers Andrew List, Amy Reich, and Whitman Brown and on two occasions, premiering pieces written expressly for him. He has performed in master classes for Alexander Korsantia, Roberto Plano, Victor Rosenbaum, Krystian Tkaczewski, and Phillippe Raskin. Henry has also enjoyed playing chamber music through the Cremona International Music Academy and Boston Music Institute.
Otto Montgomery is a high school junior from Berkeley, California, and has studied piano for 11 years. He has won top awards including in the US Open Music Competition, the New Star Piano Competition, the Bay Area Junior Bach Festival, and the East Bay Music Foundation Piano Competition. Otto recently won 2nd place in the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition in the advanced concerto division, and was awarded 1st place with his sister at the United States International Duo Piano Competition. Otto has completed 12 years of the National Piano Guild Auditions and the NFMC Festival where he has been selected as a soloist for the NFMC Northern California annual recital on 8 occasions. In addition to classical repertoire, Otto plays jazz piano in the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and regularly gigs in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Daniel Colaner, from Akron, Ohio captured international media attention at the age of twelve with his same-day performances on piano at Carnegie Hall and on organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His talents have been showcased on ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, The Harry (Connick Jr.) Show, and the BBC World Service Newsday. Daniel made his Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra in Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and has performed Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Euclid Symphony. He is the recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award and was named a National YoungArts Winner in Classical Music. Daniel has been featured on the NPR radio show From the Top and on PBS, performing with the American Pops Orchestra. Daniel studies piano with Sean Schulze at the Cleveland Institute of Music and organ with David Higgs of the Eastman School of Music.
Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competitions may be found elsewhere on this blog. Please use the chronological tool in the right-hand column to find specific results.
Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com
The American Prize LORIN HOLLANDER AWARD celebrates the artistry of one of the greatest pianists of his generation. Lorin Hollander has appeared as guest soloist with virtually every major symphony orchestra in the world and is a veteran of over 2,500 performances across the globe. The American Prize is delighted to share the legacy of this legendary artist through the re-naming of the award for Piano Concerto Performance in his honor. For more about the extraordinary life and career of Lorin Hollander, please visit http://lorinhollander.com/
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. Now in its thirteenth year, The American Prize was founded in 2010 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts. Thousands of artists from all fifty states have derived benefit from their participation in the contests of The American Prize, representing literally hundreds of communities and arts organizations across the nation. Information about the 2023-24 season of contests is now available and applications are being accepted, with extensions available by email request. (http://theamericanprize.org)
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The American Prize in Piano Performance (concerto)—The Lorin Hollander Award, 2023
The American Prize winner:
Sergei Kvitko
Lansing MI
Mozart D minor (K. 466)
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| Sergei Kvitko |
2nd Place:
Johan Botes
Huntington WV
Rhapsody in Blue
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| Johan Botes |
3rd Place:
Robert Auler
Summerville SC
Rhapsody in Blue
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| Robert Auler |
Finalist Honorable Mention:
Helga Scheibert
Pittsburgh PA
Liszt E flat major
Dr. Helga Scheibert began her musical training at the High School of Arts in Targu Mures, Transylvania at age 7. She has experience performing with orchestras both as a soloist and collaborator. She has performed several solo and chamber recitals in the U.S. and in Europe and had performances broadcast on Romanian National Radio, West Virginia Public Radio. She is the winner of numerous piano auditions and competitions including Duquesne University Concerto Competition, Intersection of Classical and Jazz Piano Competition, Pittsburgh Concert Society. She holds a Bachelor in Piano Performance from Gheorghe Dima Music Academy (Romania), Artist Diploma and Masters from Duquesne University (Pittsburgh), and a Doctorate in Piano Performance from West Virginia University (Morgantown). Currently she serves as faculty at Carnegie Mellon Preparatory School, and she is accompanist at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She enjoys composing, improvising, and experimenting with classical, jazz, folk, and modern music. Since 2020, she released two albums with her own compositions for piano and keyboard, called Space Christmas, and Mirror Image. For more info please visit helgapiano.com. 
Helga Scheibert
The American Prize in Piano Performance (concerto), 2023, The Lorin Hollander Award—high school division
The American Prize winner:
Henry Tushman
Wellesley MA
Schumann A minor
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| Henry Tushman |
2nd Place:
Otto Montgomery
Berkeley CA
Mozart C minor (K491)
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| Otto Montgomery |
3rd Place:
Daniel Colaner
Akron OH
Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 2
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| Daniel Colaner |
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Congratulations!
, 2023—The Lorin Hollander Award){kind=link}
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