A panel of three judges selected alto saxophone player Austin Shilling, an 11th grader from Fort Worth, as grand prize winner for the 2020 Juanita Miller Concerto Competition held January 12 at the Owen Arts Center at Southern Methodist University. The competition is hosted annually by the Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras (TASO).
Earlier in the daylong competition, Shilling won first place in the winds/brass division.
Perren-Luc Thiessen, a 10th grader from Lucas, won first place in the piano division. Lauren Matthews, an 11th grader from Katy, Texas took first place in the strings division.
The late Juanita Miller, founding president of TASO, began the concerto competition in 1997. She and her husband, the late Henry S. Miller, both of Dallas, provided the initial underwriting and subsequent gifts to fund these youth competitions which now bear her name.
Patsy Donosky, daughter of Juanita and Henry S. Miller represented her late mother at this year’s competition.
Grand Prize
Austin Shilling (Fort Worth, 11th)
First Place Winners
1st Place Alto Sax Austin Shilling (Fort Worth, 11th)
1st Place Cello Lauren Mathews (Katy, 11th)
1st Place Piano Perren-Luc Thiessen (Lucas, 10th)
All Winners 2020
Winds/Brass
Grand Prize Alto Sax Austin Shilling (Fort Worth, 11th)
2nd Place Flute Lorien Britt (Fate, 10th)
3rd Place Clarinet James Li (Plano, 11th)
Hon Mention Oboe Michelle Zhu (Plano, 11th)
Strings
1st Place Cello Lauren Mathews (Katy, 11th)
2nd Place Viola Jacob Choi (McKinney, 10th)
3rd Place Violin Gabriel Fedak (Irving, 11th)
Hon Mention Violin Matthew Ho (Plano, 11th)
Hon Mention Viola Jackie Liu (Plano, 11th)
Piano
1st Place Piano Perren-Luc Thiessen (Lucas, 10th)
2nd Place Piano Claire Chiang (Plano, 11th)
3rd Place Piano Nachuan Tao (Fort Worth, 9th)
Hon Mention Piano Ella Tran (Arlington, 9th)
Hon Mention Piano Shiv Yajnik (Dallas, 11th)
2020 JUDGES
Piano Division - Mia Chung-Yee, Curtis Institute of Music
String Division - Dmitri Berlinsky, Michigan State University College of Music
Winds & Brass Division - Mark Ostoich, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music