Outstanding Young Artist 2010, Thomas Pfefer, classical guitar

Thomas Pfefer is fifth grader at Lehigh Valley Academy, Bethlehem. He started studying classical guitar at the age of six, at first with the Suzuki guitar teacher Carol Tileston and then, for the past two years, with John Arnold, the guitar instructor at Moravian College.

Playing an instrument was his mother's idea. Thomas guesses she thought that would be a good way to enrich his life and express himself. She let him choose between the violin and the guitar, two instruments that could be easily carried on planes during their summer trips to France, where his family is from. He picked the guitar that seemed to him very cool to play. As far as he remembers, Spanish music has always moved him. However, he was inspired to study classical guitar when he heard, at a recital, James Schultheis, one of John Arnold's students, play this beautiful piece composed by Francisco Tarrega, "Capricho Arabe". Since then, John Arnold has made him discover many other great composers, amazing pieces of music, and many famous guitarists. Thomas says Mr. Arnold encourages him to produce the best tone and phrasing that make a piece beautiful to hear. The more he studies classical guitar the more he likes it. Thomas would like to pursue a career in music.

Thomas also started learning to play the saxophone in school this year and is part of the school's band. He enjoys the band but the guitar is still his favorite instrument.

Outstanding Young Artist 2010, Sarah Biroth, saxaphone

Sarah Biroth was born in 1993 and has been playing the Saxophone since she is 11. As an exchange student from Germany she is attending her Junior Year of High School at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts in Bethlehem. Sarah plays the Saxophone in its Concert Band and Jazz Band. She also played in this years District Band and Jazz Band.

In 2006, Sarah performed in the largest competition for young musicians in Germany where she received second prize in the second round where young musicians from her region participated. In 2009, she performed again, and she got a second prize in the last round where people from all over Germany participated. As a result of this accomplishment she was qualified to participate in her region's TouthWindBand.

Also in 2009, Sarah decided to go to America for one year to experience a new culture. Of course, as a musician, she is very interested in the musical differences between Germany and America. Returning to Germany, she will finish High School and is planning attend college to study music.

Outstanding Young Artist 2009, Adam Stoltz, piano

Adam Stoltz is a senior at Liberty High School, Bethlehem. He has studied piano with Herbert E. Heffner since he was seven. This year he obtained his fourth Gold Cup in the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) auditions. Adam was twice a Gold Medalist in the Dorothy Sutton Festival piano competitions and he received a Plaque of Honor from the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association for achieving five consecutive superior ratings. He has performed several years for Bethlehem's Musikfest.

Adam is a member of the orchestra and band at Liberty High School where he plays first chair euphonium. He performed with the band in the 2009 Rose Bowl Parade. He was selected for District and All State Band during his senior year. A member of the National Honor Society, Adam consistently has been on the honor roll during his high school years. He was honored with the "silver cord" for community service. Adam will attend Temple University next year where he will major in piano performance and conducting.

Runner-Up,Outstanding Young Artist 2009, Taylor Aretz, piano

Taylor Aretz, a senior at Parkland High School, South Whitehall Township, has studied piano for over twelve years with Darlene Ziegler of Allentown. She consistently has earned Superior or Superior Plus ratings in the local and state Dorothy Sutton Performance Festival, the LV-PMTA Achievement Award Auditions, Junior Festival and National Piano Guild Auditions, and has participated in various PMTA Recitals and Festivals. Last summer she attended Kinhaven Music School, Weston, VT, where she studied with Adrienne Kim and Mimi Solomon. She was a keyboardist for Parklands 2008 spring production of Les Miserables and pre-recorded electronic music for this year's production of Godspell. She sings in the Youth Choir at First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, and serves as occasional pianist for the Arabic language worship service.

Taylor plays viola in the Parkland High School Orchestra, Honors Orchestra and Serenata Strolling Strings, and is a member of the Young People's Philharmonic Orchestra of the Lehigh Valley. She is president of her school orchestra and a member of the National Honor Society. Taylor will attend Ithaca College next year to study piano performance in preparation for a career in music.

Outstanding Young Artist 2008, Miles Salerni, marimba

Miles Salerni is a senior at Liberty High School in Bethlehem. He studies percussion with Jonathan Haas, Greg Gianascoli, and Jeff Milarsky at the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School of Music. A member of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, Miles is also the principal percussionist of the Young People's Philharmonic of the Lehigh Valley. Miles recently won the YPP's Concerto Competition and will be playing Paul Creston's Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra with them in April. In March, Miles played his solo graduation recital at Juilliard Pre-College, and on that program, premiered a duo for marimba and violin written by his father, Paul Salerni, for his violinist brother, Dominic and himself. (n.b., Dominic Salerni was the OYA winner in 2003, making this the first time FoM has had two brothers win the Outstanding Young Artist Competition.) During the summer, Miles studies percussion at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont. At Liberty High School, Miles has been a member of the band and orchestra and was the soloist in the world premiere of Walter Dworakivsky's Timpani Concerto with the Liberty High School orchestra last year. He is a member of the National Honor Society and played as a goalie on Liberty's Varsity Soccer Team for the last three years. Miles would love to spend his life as the timpanist in a symphony orchestra and is hoping to enroll at a music conservatory in the fall.

Runner-up, Outstanding Young Artist 2008, Abigail La Vecchia, piano

Abby LaVecchia has studied piano for ten years, and currently is coached by Barbara Tilden Thompson of Allentown, under whose tutelage she has consistently earned Superior Plus ratings in Piano Guild and AAA competitions. Her experience in piano accompaniment includes the BCMEA County Choir, the Pennridge High School Concert Choir, and the senior college recital of her sister, Christina. As a senior at Pennridge Abby participates in the high school's chamber choir and serves as the Concert Choir President. She also studies cello with Sarah Yoon of Doylestown and is in her second year as a member of the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County, where she recently won the concerto competition. She is a member of the National Honor Society and is active in the youth music ministry of St. Agnes RCC in Sellersville. Abby plans to pursue piano studies in education and performance in college next year.

Outstanding Young Artist 2007, Krizia Nelson, voice

Krizia Nelson, a sophomore honors student at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, has studied voice with John (Jack) R. Stevenson, DJD, Director of the Bethlehem Music Settlement in Bethlehem, PA. At Freedom, she is actively involved in the Patriot Choir, Concert Choir, and Les Chanteurs. Krizia has performed in numerous recitals at Moravian College, Kirkland Village, and United Methodist Church, all sponsored by Bethlehem Music Settlement. For the past four years, she has participated in many local and state festivals sponsored by Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania Music Teachers' Association, where she has received Superior Plus ratings. She also has participated in the District 10 Chorus and the Regional 5 Chorus sponsored by Music Educators National Conference. Recently, Krizia participated with the New York City Opera Chorus and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Krizia's plans include college, with a major in Vocal Music Performance in preparation for a professional singing career. For her FOM recital, she sang songs of Vivaldi, Mozart, Viardot, Vicente Garcia, Faure, Paladihe, Bemberg, Hensel, Mendelssohn, and Kern.

Outstanding Young Artist 2007, Christine Shen, violin

Christine Shen is a junior honors student at Central Bucks East High School in Doylestown. She began playing the violin in fourth grade and has studied with Linda Kistler for seven years. In school, Christine has been involved in orchestra, string ensemble, and pit orchestra. She was a member of the Junior String Philharmonic from 2001 to 2003 and was a winner of the 2003 concerto competition. This is Christine's first year as a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. She is also currently associate concertmaster for the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County (YOBC), and she soloed with the YOBC as the winner of the 2007 Concerto Competition. In the past three years, Christine has auditioned for the Orchestra Festivals of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA). Last year she was chosen for the PMEA District XI and Region VI Orchestras and served as Principal Second in the All-State Orchestra. For her FOM recital, she played Telemann's Fantasie No.1 for solo violin in B-flat Major, Schubert's Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Minor, and two pieces by Lili Boulanger, the Nocturne for Violin and Piano and the Cortege for Violin and Piano.

Outstanding Young Artist 2006, Vivian Wang, piano

Vivian has studied piano since the age of 4, first with her grandmother and later with Yan Han Guang in New York. She has studied with Allan Birney for 5 years. Locally Vivian has performed for the Allentown Music Club and the Young Musicians Club of Allentown. She presented her first solo recital a year ago at Wesley Church. Vivian was interviewed by Jill Pasternak and recorded for broadcast at WRTI in Philadelphia in 2004. She attends Moravian Academy where she is a 7th grade honors student. The Baum School of Art awarded her a scholarship for her studies there. For the Friends of Music Concert, Miss Wang performed Prokofiev, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Tchaikowsky.

Outstanding Young Artist 2005, Jarred Antonacci, trombone

Jared is a senior from Liberty High School in Bethlehem, PA. He will present a recital, along with the winners of the small ensemble contest, The String Ensemble from the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts, on Sunday May 1, 2005, at 4pm at Wesley United Methodist Church, 2540 Center Street, Bethlehem, PA. The concert is free and open to the public and will include music by Bach, Handel, Saint-Saens, Rimsky-Korsakov and Leonard Bernstein.

Outstanding Young Artist 2004, Angela Sulzer, violin

Angela Sulzer won the 2004 Outstanding Young Artist Competition as a 16 year old junior at Parkland High School. She began playing the violin at age nine and has been studying privately with Inna Eyzerovich for over seven years. Angela is an active participant in high school orchestra ensembles, the Serenata Strolling Strings, and high school chorus. She was a member of Junior Strings and Young People's Philharmonic from 1997-2001. In 1998-2000, she attended the Kinhaven Music School in Weston, VT. Angela played in the Emerging Master's Recital Series at the Allentown Art Museum in 1999, 2000, and 2001. She has performed with the PMEA District, Region and All-Stat e Orchestras since 2000. In 2003, Angela spent her summer in Greensboro, NC at the Eastern Music Festival school. She received third place in the Allentown Symphony Association's 2004 Voorhees Concerto Competition. She has performed in master classes with Irina Murescanu, Kurt Nikkanen, Daniel Kossov, The Ying Quartet, Corey Cerovsek, and Paul Chou. Angela frequently plays chamber music with her father, Alan, a guitarist, and brother Paul, a cellist. Upon graduation from high school, she plans on attending college as a violin performance major and pursuing a career in music.

Outstanding Young Artist 2003, Domenic Salerni, violin

Domenic is a tenth-grader at Liberty High School, Bethlehem, Pa. In his own words: "... I began playing the violin at the age of three - starting violin lessons wasn't really my choice, but rather my parents. Because my Dad first learned music on an instrument where he didn't have to produce the sound or the pitch (the accordion), he wanted me to play an instrument where I would be responsible for the tone and the intonation. Since my Mom's sister is a Suzuki violin teacher, violin was the natural choice. But my Dad actually had another wish--that I learn to play the string bass. The solution was for me to start violin with the great Suzuki violin teacher Linda Fiore, and when I failed miserably at that, I would automatically switch to bass because by then I would have become totally enamored of Linda's wonderful bass-playing husband, Dominick Fiore (note the diabolical parental plot to name me after that Dominick). Anyway, it turned out that I was pretty good at the violin, and so Linda never let me come under Dominick's sway."

Domenic has performed with the Da Core Strings in Philadelphia, Reading, Chicago, and at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. He presently studies with Lee Snyder in Abington, PA. He is often featured on benefit recitals and concerts given by violinist Paul Chou and composer/pianist Paul Salerni, and has toured public schools in the Lehigh Valley with Chou, Salerni, and soprano Debra Field as part of their "Composer in Your Classroom" presentations. In February 1999, he performed as a soloist with the Bucks County Symphony Orchestra as a result of winning their Young People's Concerto Competition. He has played solo recitals for the Delaware Valley Music Club and the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem and benefit recitals for Hadassah of Bethlehem and the Soup Kitchen at Trinity Episcopal Church. He spent 1999-2000 in Italy where he played solo recitals in Bassano and Vicenza and performed as soloist and orchestra member with the Camerata Vicentina Musicale. He was the soloist for the Camerata's concert for the European Union's Conference on Human Rights in Venice. In Italy, he played soccer for Gruppo Sportivo San Paolo. Last season Domenic won first prize in the Voorhees competition for the Allentown Symphony and the junior division of the MacPhail competition at the Pottstown Symphony. He also won a Menges Scholarship from the Ambler Symphony. As a result of these competitions, he played as the soloist in Allentown's Side-by-Side concert in May and as a soloist with the Pottstown Symphony and the Ambler Symphony in February. Domenic also plays the baritone horn and the cornamusa (Italian bagpipes) and is a violinist in the Braverman Quartet, one of Settlement Music School's scholarship quartets.

Outstanding Young Artist 2002, Maria Emerson, piano

Maria Emerson, pianist, is a tenth grade student at Allentown Central Catholic High School. She started taking piano lessons in kindergarten, and has been studying with Dr. Debra Torok for ten years. In sixth grade, she began playing for St. Ann s Christmas and spring shows, including the production of Annie . She has been a member of the pit band for Central Catholic s productions of South Pacific and Pajama Game , and will play for Lil Abner this spring. She also accompanies the school chorus at Central Catholic. She has accompanied her brother in his violin recitals, and this winter accompanied two Voorhees Competition finalists. In the seventh grade, she became interested in the organ when she began playing for school masses. For the last three years, she has been taking lessons from Dr. Michael Krentz. Last spring, she won the American Guild of Organists competition. She also volunteers for one of the Sunday Masses at St. Ann s Church in Emmaus.

Outstanding Young Artist 2001, Kathryn Ogletree, flute

Kathryn Ogletree was born in the Dominican Republic in 1983. She was adopted at the age of 16 months by Mary Ogletree, and lives near Allentown, Pennsylvania with her mother. Katie was an honor student at Emmaus High School. Katie has studied flute since she was eight years old, first with Timothy Running at Kutztown University, and then with Robin Kani at Moravian College. She currently studies with Ms. Kani and with Bradley Garner at The Juilliard School PreCollege Division. At Juilliard she also studies music theory and solfege, and performs in both chamber music and the PreCollege Orchestra, which performed recently at Alice Tully Hall. In the summers of 1995 and 1996, Katie attended the Junior Session at Kinhaven Music School in Weston, Vermont. She returned there during the past three summers for Senior Sessions, studying chamber and orchestral music. In 1997 she participated in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts summer chamber music program in Milano Marittima. Italy. Katie has performed in a number of recitals and master classes at Moravian College, Kutztown University, and Lafayette College. In December of 1999 she won the Schuylkill Symphony s Young Artist Competition and performed the C.P.E. Bach d minor concerto with the orchestra. Katie presented a solo recital at the Juilliard School's Paul Hall on March 3, 2001.

Outstanding Young Artist 2000, Robert Gelber, violin

Robert Gelber, a resident of Allentown, PA, began his violin studies at the age of 4 at the Community Music School and studied there most recently with Linda Kistler. He attended Parkland High School, where he was concert master of the orchestra and leader of the Strolling Strings and the String Ensemble. He has performed with the District 10 Orchestra, where he was principal 2nd violin, the Region V and All-State Orchestras, the Young People's Philharmonic, the Manhattan of School of Music Prep Division Philharmonic, and the Lehigh University Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also played in several pit orchestras in the area. He won the Schadt String Scholarship in 1997-98, and the Allentown Music Club Strings Award in 2000. He was also a member of the CMS Select String Quartet, which won the Friends of Music Small Ensembles Competition in 1997. He is currently attending the Music Conservatory at the State University of New York at Purchase. He hopes to receive a doctorate degree in violin performance and to teach and to perform on a regular basis.