Music graduate students stand out at international competition

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

A photograph of finalists on stage at the music competitionThree graduate students from the School of Music represented the university and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at a prestigious international music competition this month. 

Saxophonists Lingxiao Li (MA), JiChen Zhang (DMA), and Jonathan Hart (DMA) were three of the 23 semi-finalists invited to compete at the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, held this month at the Flint Institute of Music in Flint, Michigan on the first weekend in March.  Young artists from throughout the world competed for a grand prize of $6,000 plus an opportunity to perform with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. The competition featured woodwind soloists from six countries, thirteen universities, and one professional orchestra.

Both JiChen Zhang and Jonathan Hart were selected by a panel of three internationally renowned judges to advance as two of the top five prize-winning finalists, with Hart earning second prize. 

Learn more about the Iowa Saxophonist's Workshop led by Kenneth Tse: 

https://saxophone.studio.uiowa.edu/

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Iowa is a comprehensive college offering 73 majors in the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. More than 17,000 undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by professors at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all UI undergraduates through the General Education Program, and confers about 70 percent of the UI's bachelor's degrees each academic year.