Winners of the 2004 Arthur Fraser International
Piano Competition

First Prize   Second Prize   Third Prize
Honorable Mentions

Picture of Sonya SchumannSonya Schumann, First Prize Winner
Sonya Schumann, daughter of Charles and Linda Schumann, is a tenth grader at Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg, Virginia. She has won many competitions and performed with the Williamsburg Symphony after winning their concerto competition. She also participated in the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev competition for many years, winning on more than one occasion. . She has also played in master classes throughout the United States, attending different academies during the summer, including the Indiana University Piano Academy. She has been studying the piano since the age of four with Teresa Ehrlich at the Renaissance Music Academy.


Picture of Leo SvirskyLeo Svirsky, Second Prize Winner
Leo Svirsky is 14 years old and a student at the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. He studies the piano with Irena Orlov, competition with Frances McKay, and the organ with Eric Plutz. In addition to the Levine School of Music, he has performed at the Boston Conservatory of Music, The Metropolitan Opera Guild Creating Original Conference, the Smithsonian Institution Piano 300 Exhibition, the Russian Ambassador’s Residence, the Church of the Epiphany, Georgetown University, and the Contemporary Music Forum. This year, he has played in Master Classes with George Crumb, playing his own compositions, and Leonard latkin. He has recently performed in the Kremlin and participated in a aster Class at the Moscow Conservatory. In 2002, he was named the Levine School of Music Pianist of the Year. Leo is a son of Janet and Roman Svirsky.


Picture of Jooeum ShimJooeum Shim, Third Prize Winner
Jooeum Shim, daughter of Jae Shim, is a ninth grader at Glenbrook High School in Glenview, Illinois, and has been playing the piano since she was five. She is currently enrolled at the Music Institute of Chicago in Winnetka. Her most recent musical achievement was being one of the finalists in the 2002 Feinberg Youth Auditions at Chicago Symphony Hall. Other musical achievements include placing alternate in the MTNA Junior Competition and winning first prizes in the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior divisions of the Society of American Musicians competition. Last year she was participant at the Oberlin Music Festival, and she also performed as solo artist at the 2000-2001 Young Steinway Concert Series in Skokie. She is currently a student of Brenda Huang and Emilio del Rosario.


Dara McCorkle, Honorable Mention


Picture of Samiron RaySamiron Ray, Honorable Mention
Samiron Ray, son of Sumit and Shumi Ray and a tenth grader at Dutch Fork High School in Columbia, South Carolina, is an avid pianist who has been playing the instrument since he was six. Some of his awards and accomplishments include an SCFMC scholarship to attend Brevard Music Fesitval this summer, Honorable Mention in the South Carolina 2003 MTNA competition, and first place in the Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities 2001 Piano Festival in the Romantic division. He is also academically oriented and is presently in the top ten of his class. Samiron is a co-host of the statewide Teen Forum radio talk show and is the captain of his science team. He is currently studying with Dr. Marina Lomazov at the University of South Carolina.