Jun Guo
Pianist Jun Guo of Liaoyuan, China, won the University of Wyoming's Dorothy Jacoby Student Soloist Competition Feb. 10, at the UW Fine Arts Center concert hall.
His performance of the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto with the UW Symphony Orchestra was selected by the judges as the best of six soloists, earning him a significant cash prize. The six were selected from a pool of nearly 40 UW music students who auditioned in the first round of the competition last December.
Guo is pursuing a performer's certificate in piano performance at UW, where he studies with Theresa Bogard, UW music professor. Guo received his B.S. degree in music at Shenyang Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious conservatories in China. From 2006-2008, he won the prize of excellence at the Shenyin Cup Piano Solo Competition. Guo also won first place in Laramie's Snowy Range piano competition last year and gained the honor of 2010 Chair's Honor Convocation at UW.
The Dorothy Jacoby Student Soloist Competition provides an opportunity for the best UW music students to appear as a soloist with the UW Symphony. It also offers a significant award to the musician judged to have given the best performance that evening.
Jacoby was a founding member of the UW Symphony Association and a long-time supporter of classical music in Laramie. Her sons Peter and Michael Jacoby made a generous contribution in honor of their late mother. That gift, along with contributions from many of her friends, created the endowment for the cash prize that is awarded at the performance.
The other finalists were Tyler Cessor, alto saxophone, a senior from Cheyenne; Xiaoqian Gou, piano, a performer's certificate student from Xi'an, China; flutist Xuan Li, a performer's certificate student from Changsha, China; Laramie resident Stephanie Rickard, horn, a senior; and Nicklas Waroff, alto saxophone, a graduate student from Rogue River, Ore.
The judges were Larry Graham, retired professor of piano at the University of Colorado; Susan McCullough, professor of horn at the University of Denver; and Peter Somer, professor of saxophone at Colorado State University. UW Symphony Orchestra Music Director Michael Griffith conducted the concert.
