Cellist Austin Huntington of South Bend, Indiana, wins 27th Klein String Competition

Huntington’s magnificent performances included movements from Brahms’ Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99; Bach’s Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012; Beethoven’s Sinfonia Conertante in E minor, Op. 125; and Richard Festinger’s commissioned work, “Upon the Viol.”

“This year’s Irving M. Klein International String Competition has been exhilarating. Everyone present felt that the final round on Sunday, with three exceptionally riveting performers, was truly breathtaking,” said Mitchell Sardou Klein, competition director. “In cellist Austin Huntington, we have a first-prize winner who has a rare gift of mesmerizing an audience with the extraordinary intensity of his playing.”

A 17-year-old native of Saint Joseph, Mich., Huntington takes home the Marvin T. Tepperman Memorial Prize, valued at $14,850. For the first time, the prize includes soloist engagements with the Marin Symphony and San Jose Chamber Orchestra, in addition to the competition’s longstanding appearances with Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, Noontime Concerts (San Francisco) and Music in the Vineyards (Napa Valley).

The award carries the prestige that has helped many top soloists gain prominence in the competitive world of classical music, including David Requiro, Jennifer Koh, Mark Kosower, Vadim Gluzman, Alban Gerhardt, Wendy Warner, Frank Huang and François Salque.

Huntington also shared this year’s $200 Allen and Susan Weiss Memorial Prize for the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work with violinists Emma Steele and Alexandra Switala.

Huntington is the first cellist to win first prize since 2006. He studies privately with Richard Hirschl, third-prize winner in the 1989 Klein Competition and a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Huntington will enter the Colburn School Conservatory of Music this fall.

“We have loved having Austin here for cello lessons over the last eight years not only because he is a great musician and a superb cellist, but because he is funny, modest, well-rounded and thoughtful,” Hirschl said. “He has always had a wisdom and discipline far beyond his years, but with the recognition of the Klein Competition I believe he has established himself as an artist of the highest caliber. I have the most fond recollection of my experience as a participant in the competition in 1989, and am so proud that he has surpassed my achievement in the event.”

Huntington made his solo orchestral debut at age 10 and is the recipient of numerous grand and first-prize awards on both national and international levels. He has performed as guest soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Chicago Northwest Symphony Orchestra, LaPorte Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Huntington won the gold medal in the 2011 Stulberg International String Competition. He was named national first prizewinner of the 2009 Music Teachers National Association solo string performance competition in Atlanta. On invitation from the IBLA Foundation of New York, Huntington performed a series of concerts in Italy and was named Most Distinguished Artist. As a result, he performed on the IBLA Grand Prize Winner’s USA Tour, ending with his New York debut at Carnegie Hall.

Huntington has appeared on National Public Radio’s “From the Top” and was recently a featured soloist on Chicago’s WFMT “Radio Introductions” for an hour of performance and interview. He has been invited to perform master classes for Truls Mork, Gary Hoffman, Steven Doane, Robert Nagy, Lynn Harrell, Joel Krosnick, Ron Leonard, Paul Katz, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Richard Aaron, Anthony Elliot, Colin Carr, Steven Geber, Susan Moses-Bloom and Carter Enyeart. He has collaborated with highly esteemed concert artists such as Riccardo Muti, Misha Amory, James Dunham and Itzhak Perlman. Huntington is principal cellist of the award-winning Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and Encore, the orchestra’s premier performing ensemble.

The 2012 Klein Competition awarded five other prizes. Steele, a 22-year-old violinist born in Chicago, won second prize, the $4,250 Elaine H. Klein Prize. The prize includes performances with Gualala Arts Chamber Music Series and Noontime Concerts. Steele studies with Cyrus Forough at Carnegie Mellon University.

Switala, an 18-year-old violinist, won third prize, the $2,500 Alice Anne Roberts Memorial Prize. Born in Irving, Texas, she studies with Roland and Almita Vamos and is home-schooled in Grapevine, Texas. Switala, the first Latina to make the Klein Competition finals, won the $600 Pablo Casals Award for the best performance of the solo Bach work.

A pair of $1,250 fourth prizes was awarded. Jean Kim, a 16-year-old cellist from The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division and a student of Minhye Clara Kim, won the Lavilla Barry Memorial Fourth Prize. Natalie Lin, a 23-year-old violinist who was born in New Zealand and studies with Paul Kantor at Cleveland Institute of Music, won the Lena and Jules P. Flock Memorial Prize.

Each semifinalist not awarded a named prize will receive $600.

This year’s winners are among 78 Klein String Competition entrants, from 10 countries. The judges then selected nine semifinalists who gave 20-25-minute recitals Saturday, June 9, in Knuth Hall at SF State. Following Saturday’s performances, the distinguished panel of judges chose three finalists to compete in the final round held Sunday, June 10.

Among this year’s semifinalists, there were four violinists, four cellists and one violist. They ranged from 16 to 23 years old.

In its history, the Klein Competition has awarded first prize to 16 violinists, eight cellists and four violists. In 1987, a judging gridlock resulted in two outstanding winners, both violinists.