2023 WINNERS
JOE MAI0CCO
FIRST PLACE
BASS TROMBONIST
Joe Maiocco is a 17-year-old bass trombonist from Prospect, Kentucky. Presently a
high school senior at North Oldham High School, he has been attending the
University of Louisville Dual Credit Program. He is a member of the Bluegrass
Brass Quintet and the Louisville Youth Orchestra where he plays tenor and bass trombone.
Most recently Joe participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI)
Young Artists Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Center, Kentucky Music Educators
Association (KMEA) All-State Symphony Orchestra, National Association for Music
Educators (NAfME) All-National Symphony Orchestra, and recently performed bass
trombone with the Lexington Philharmonic.
In March 2023, Joe won the Pershing's Own National Bass Trombone Solo
Competition at the American Trombone Workshop. He also took 1st prize in the
Kentucky Music Teachers Association’s High School Brass Solo Competition in
February 2023. Recent summer programs include attendance at the Brevard Music
enter and the Kentucky Governors School for the Arts.
Joe is planning on continuing his music study next year, majoring in Classical Bass
Trombone Performance at college. In his free time, he enjoys being with friends and
family, playing golf, flying planes, and performing on bass guitar with his classic rock
cover band. Joe is also proficient on various instruments including the euphonium
and cello.
ERICA NAM
SECOND PLACE
VIOLINIST
A 11th grader at Walnut Hills High School, Erica Nam has been a student of Prof. Sassmannshaus since age 7. She has played in masterclasses with Friedemann Eichhorn, Sibbi Bernhardsson, Janet Sung, Vadim Gluzman, Clara-Jumi Kang, Axel Strauss, Jinjoo Cho and Amy J. Lee.
Erica recently made a debut with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra with Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy under Maestro J.R. Cassidy. She was also a featured soloist performing Wieniawski Concerto No. 2 with the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Michael Chertock. She frequently performs solos with the Starling Chamber Orchestra, most notably as soloist at age 9 on their 2016 tour of China.
Erica is winner of the Jack and Lucille Wonnell Young Artist Competition. She also won top prizes in the Louisville Young Artist Competition, New Albany Symphony Concerto Competition and Sejong Music Competition, in which she won the Best Interpretation of Korean Piece prize. Nam has participated in Bowdoin International Music Festival, Great Wall International Music Academy, Innsbrook Institute, Sounding Point Academy, Encore Chamber Music Institute Academy, Philadelphia International Music Festival, and Cincinnati Young Artists Chamber Music Festival.
Nam is a proud member of the Starling Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Philharmonic, and Walnut Hills High School Chamber Orchestra having served as a concertmaster and principal second violinist.
GRACE KIM
THIRD PLACE
FLUTE
Grace Kim attends William Mason High School and has been playing the flute for seven years. She has been a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra since the 2019-20 season and is in her school Wind Symphony. She frequently performs at retirement homes and churches with local music groups. Most recently she was in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra in the Interlochen Arts Camp 2023 season. She was also the principal flutist in the Ohio Music Education Association All-State Orchestra in the 2022-23 season. Grace enjoyed being the flutist in the pit orchestra of the musical premiere of “McBride’s Call” in Miami University in 2021. She won the first places in Laudie Porter Memorial Competition in 2021 (the Seventh and Eighth Grade Division), Jack & Lucille Wonnell Young Artist Concerto Competition in 2020 (13 and under Division), and the Flute Society of Kentucky Junior Soloist Competition in 2019. She also was one of the finalists of 2022 Overture Awards (Instrumental Music), and she received the second prizes in the National Flute Association Junior Soloist Competition in 2021, the 2021 Louisville Young Artist Concerto Competition, and the Central Ohio Flute Association Junior High School Division Competition in 2019.
Christy Kim
Honorable Mention
Violin
Christy Kim, a senior at William Mason High School in Ohio, started playing the violin at the age of six. She won top prizes in the 2023 Sejong Music Competition, the 2023 Matinée Musicale Cincinnati Nancy F. Walker Memorial Scholarship Competition, the 2021 David L. Pierson Concerto Competition, the 2020 Jack & Lucille Wonnell Young Artist Concerto Competition, and the 2018-19 Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert) Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and with the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert). She was also awarded prizes in the 2023 YoungArts National Competition, the 2023 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the 2022 and 2023 Overture Awards, the 2022 Society of American Musicians Violin Competition, and in the 2019 Louisville Young Artist Concerto Competition.
Christy is the concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Philharmonic), and also plays in the Mason Symphony Orchestra and her school Symphony Chamber Orchestra. She served as concertmaster of the Ohio Music Education Association All-State and Southwest Regional Orchestras for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, as well as the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (Concert) for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. She participated in the National Youth Orchestra 2 (2022).
Christy has traveled to diverse festivals, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival (2019, 2020), the Innsbrook Institute of Music (2018), and the Cincinnati Young Artists Music Festival (2017, 2019). She has played in masterclasses for Marina Chiche, Vadim Gluzman, Karen Gomyo, Tessa Lark, Timothy Lees, and Esther Yoo.