Thank you to all participants of the 2023 Concerto Competition! It is gratifying and inspiring to have so many wonderful young performers in the East Tennessee area.
Our 2023 winners are:
• Elizabeth Burch, violin, Adult Category for her performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, First Movement.
• Chris Kaum, violin, Youth Category, for his performance of Saint-Saens’ Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.
Both winners will perform their winning selections during our Fall Concert at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday, November 3, 2023.
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Elizabeth Burch is an American violinist, noted for being a sensitive player who takes her multi-disciplinary skills across the world. She is currently in the final year of her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, studying under Dr. Miroslav Hristov.
While at UT, she has been awarded several academic and performance scholarships including the highly competitive Kline Award. Outside of school, her playing has also given her the opportunity to work with renowned violinists and pedagogues including Helmut Lipsky, Chen Zhao, Elisabeth Adkins and Joan Kwuon, and she has been in orchestras under the batons of esteemed conductors such as Victor Yampolsky, JoAnn Falleta, Robert Spano, Joseph Young and others. Elizabeth has also been the Associate Concertmaster of the UT Symphony Orchestra and Opera, and participated in the UT chamber program every semester.
Around the Knoxville area, she has substituted as the Concertmaster for the Oak Ridge Philharmonia. Beyond her orchestral experiences, she received a scholarship to attend the East Tennessee State University chamber program in Johnson City, TN as well as the International Lyric Academy in Vicenza, Italy, and was placed as a Festival Scholar for the Heartland Chamber Music Festival in Kansas City, MO.
More recently, Elizabeth was also awarded a full ride as a student at Round Top Festival Institute in Round Top, TX and received funding to attend Clazz Music Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. Along with these endeavors, she works as a private violin instructor, assistant for the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra and has worked outside of school as a pit musician for various theater guilds and events. Elizabeth desires to continue her education through a master’s degree in violin performance.
Chris Keum, son of Soyoung Lim and Jong Keum, was born in Stony Brook New York in 2006 and has been playing the violin since 2012. He is a junior at Farragut High School in Knoxville, TN and has been studying under Kathy Hart for 11 years.
In 2022, he was a finalist for the KSYO Concerto Competition, and in 2023, he won first prize in the Charleston International Music Competition As a part of the Hart Strings Studio, he regularly performs at events, such as the Fantasy of Trees and the Rossini Festival, with other students.
In addition to his activities as a violinist in the Studio, Chris has been an active member of the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra Association since 2014, where he currently plays first violin for the Youth Orchestra under James Fellenbaum. Outside of music, he is involved in organizations such as science bowl and HOSA.