2022 Ruth P. Cogen Competition

The Ruth P. Cogen Competition was established by the Board of Trustees of Levine Music in 1983 to honor Ruth Cogen, one of the school’s founders and its first chair of the Board of Trustees. 

The 2022 Competition took place with students competing in two age divisions: Intermediate (age 10-13), and Senior (age 14-18). Each participant prepared a video recording of one movement from a concerto or solo piece intended for performance with an orchestra for the preliminary round. Students in the final round recorded their performances with piano accompaniment using additional protocols to make it a safe experience. One grand prize winner was chosen from all the first-place division winners to play in a virtual performance with the Levine International Orchestra comprised of Levine faculty, alumni, and musicians worldwide. 

Enjoy the final round performances in the videos below. Congratulations to all the participants, their teachers and families!

Special thanks to: Aaron Percy, Recording Engineer, Vasily Popov, grand prize conductor and video editor, Lois Narvey and Maxfield Wollam-Fisher, competition organizers, Irina Kats and Dasha Gabay, accompanists, Emily Baltzer, Ellen Dooley, Sophia Kim Cook, and Jisoo Ok, competition judges, Levine campus staff and return to campus task force.

This program has been made possible through the generous support of the Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation, Inc.

Intermediate Division

Piano Concerto in C Major, Joseph Haydn
III. Allegro
Anna Lundman, piano student of Karen Bartman

Concerto in G Major, Georg Philipp Telemann
II. Allegro
Maeve McMurray, viola student of Paula Fishman

Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Jean Baptiste Breval
III. Allegretto
Ishaan Banerjee, cello student of Maxfield Wollam Fisher

Keyboard Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058, Johann Sebastian Bach
I. Allegro
William Hsieh, piano student of Martin Labazevitch

Senior Division

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Major, Op.50, molto Dimitri Kabalevsky
I. Allegro
Pamina Burton, piano student of Cecilia Cho

Viola Concerto in D major, Carl Stamitz
I. Allegro
Elizabeth (Ellie) Chen, viola student of Patrick LeStrange

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, Ludwig van Beethoven
I. Allegro con brio
Evan Proudkii, piano student of Ralitza Patcheva

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, Max Bruch
Allegro moderato
Jackie Cavallin, violin student of Leslie SIlverfine

Hummel Oboe Concerto in F Major, Op. 102, Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Introduction, theme et variations Adagio
John Rhee, oboe student of Kenneth Stilwell

Violin Concerto 1 in G minor, Opus 26, Max Bruch
1st Movement, Vorspiel
Eileen Maloney Cunningham, violin student of Erin Durham