WILLAMETTE VALLEY SYMPHONY

2025 Student Concerto Competition Winners

Shane Ong – Bruch violin concerto (mvmt. III)

Shane is an 11th-grade violinist at Crescent Valley High School and the Assistant Concertmaster for the Corvallis Youth Symphony. He started learning violin at age eleven, beginning his musical journey in the Elementary Strings program and has been a dedicated member of CYSA programs since. He has been selected for OMEA All-State and NAfME All-Northwest Orchestras and was a winner at the OMTA Baroque Festival for three consecutive years (2023-2025). Shane placed first at the 2025 OMEA District Solo and went on to compete at state level. He gives back to the music community as an Elementary Strings Assistant Teacher, and enjoys playing in the pit orchestra of CSD Theaters productions as a musician such as Cinderella, Newsies, and Oliver. Shane also enjoys playing chamber music and frequently attends summer ensemble programs.

Tzippora Kreston-Duckles – Elgar cello concerto (mvmt. I)
When Tzippora was four, she was already a violinist. One day her mom ordered a pink cello on Amazon and Tzippy simply couldn’t go back. She played her little pink cello until she got good enough that her dad bought her a real cello. Tzippy and her family lived in Germany from 2016 to 2020 where she took lessons from her dad, Jason Duckles.
 
Right now, Tzippy plays in the Corvallis Youth Symphony as well as the Camerata Orchestra at Corvallis High School. Tzippy also plays in her family quartet, the Quartissimos, who perform together many times throughout the year. She doesn’t like to practice and she often puts it off until late at night, or “forgets” entirely, but she loves playing with her family and peers.
 
When she’s not playing cello, Tzippy likes to make ceramics, play video games, and cut her own hair. She also likes to sleep in and eat donuts, but everyone likes to do that so it doesn’t really count.
 
Tzippy spends summers playing in music camps like the Delgani String Quartet Academy, Inside Music Academy Chamber Music Workshop, and the Xenia Camp in Italy. Tzippy would like to thank her dad for introducing her to cello and conducting her youth symphony every Monday, Victoria Wolff for being her first real cello teacher after Covid, Sarah Perkins for being an amazing orchestra teacher during school and for choosing such cool pieces to play and Anne Ridlington for being a wonderful cello teacher, even though they spend most of their lessons gossiping and talking about true crime podcasts.
 
Tzippy would also like to thank all of her friends, family, teachers, and guinea pigs Poppy and Ophelia.
 
David McDonald – Forsyth viola concerto (mvmt. I)
David McDonald first picked up the viola in 4th grade after his dad taught him how to hold it (possibly so David wouldn’t hold it like a guitar). Since then, he’s been trying very hard to convince people that the viola isn’t just a big violin.
 
Over the years, David has studied with several wonderful teachers — Nicole Atkinson, Abigail Stoughton, and now Anthea Kreston — who have all helped him become good enough to play pieces that make his parents cry (sometimes from emotion, sometimes from the practice hours). He currently holds the title of principal violist of the Corvallis Youth Symphony, which is a fancy way of saying he gets the best chair in the viola section.
 
David has been to All-State, got into All-Northwest (but didn’t go because of Oregon weather, naturally), and once took third place at state with a sextet — which, for the record, is six musicians playing together, not what you were thinking.
 
When he’s not practicing or going to 2–3 music camps a summer, David is also taking college classes at LBCC to graduate high school early, because apparently viola solos and regular school weren’t enough of a challenge.
 
He would like to thank his many teachers, parents, grandparents, and especially Blake and Sarah Perkins for welcoming him to Oregon and the music community. Without their support, he’d probably still be trying to tune his C string.

2024 Student Concerto Competition Winners

Bastian Sorenson – French Horn,  Morceau De Concert by C. Saint Seans

Bastian Sorenson (French Horn) is a driven performer who is at home on the stage. A senior at Crescent Valley High School, Bastian is a Drum Major for the marching band. He has performed with numerous ensembles, including the Corvallis Youth Symphony, the Young Musicians and Artists summer band and orchestra camp, and the All-State Wind Ensemble. This summer, he toured Spain and Portugal with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. When he’s not playing the horn, he’s likely to be found singing, dancing, acting, or doing all three at once in one of CSDTheaters’ yearly musicals at Corvallis High School. Bastian is also recognized nationally for his singing by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. 

Bethany Christensen – Violin,  Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, 1st Movement

Bethany Christensen is a senior at Corvallis High School. She began playing the violin at the age of five, and has studied with an array of teachers, of which most recently is Jessica Lambert for the past four years. She has played in a variety of ensemble groups, including OMEA All-State and All-Northwest Symphonies; the Corvallis Youth Symphony, where she currently serves as Concertmaster; her school’s Honors Camerata Orchestra; and group ensembles, such as trios and quintets, that served as Corvallis High School’s representatives for competitions. Bethany has also competed in various contests including ASTA’s Solo Competition; OMTA’s Ensemble Festival, where she placed first; OMEA’s High School Solo Competition, where she ranked second at districts and tenth at state; and OMEA’s High School Ensemble Competition, where her ensemble placed third at state. 

Jason Han – Cello,  Lalo Cello Concerto in D minor 1st Movement

Jason Han is a freshman at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Oregon. He has been playing the cello for nine years and served as a principal in the Willamette Valley Junior Honor Symphony (2021-23) and is currently in the Corvallis Youth Symphony. An accomplished soloist, Jason won first place in the American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition and first prize in the New York Laureate International Music Competition. He received second place at the Oregon Mozart Players Competition and earned a Silver medal in the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition. In addition, he has won at several Oregon Music Teacher Association festivals and has performed as a soloist with Salem Philharmonia Orchestra.

2024 Student Composition Competition Winners

Flash Inouye – Look At All the Stars

Ten year old Flash Inouye is a musician, athlete, and adventurer. Flash wrote his first composition at age 8 and has been composing avidly ever since. He plays the cello, is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, the Young Composers Project, and recently debuted in the cello section of the Lewis and Clark Orchestra. Flash also plays soccer and basketball and practices Taekwondo. He couldn’t be more excited about the world premiere of his original composition “Look at all the Stars.” 

Abe Tsai, Composer – La Esperanza

Abe’s love of sharing music began as a boy, performing violin for his great-grandmother. Along his musical journey, he has played in numerous honor groups, including the OMEA All-State Orchestra and NaFME All-Northwest Symphony Orchestra. He has competed at the state level for both violin and oboe, and recently performed Vieuxtemps’ 4th violin concerto as the winner of Corvallis Youth Symphony’s Young Soloists Competition. Abe has also appeared as a featured artist on All Classical Radio’s “On Deck With Young Musicians.” Currently, he serves as assistant concertmaster of CYS and concertmaster of the Corvallis Camerata Orchestra. As long as he’s been playing violin, Abe has also been writing melodies. He began his formal training in composition as a fellow in the Newport Youth Symphony Young Composers Symposium, and has had the honor of playing his pieces alongside the Camerata Orchestra, the Newport Symphony festival, and most recently, at the OSU PRaX Soundbox 7 International Music Festival.