Public voting for the 2025 Karin Larson YourClassical Prize is now open! Below you will find the entries of each of our finalists in the Preprofessional Musician and Emerging Artist categories, including the video of their performance and their answers to the two essay questions. Videos and essay question answers are presented as submitted by the finalists. You may cast one vote in each category.
Public voting is open through June 4. One winner in each category will be announced on June 11.
Preprofessional Musician Finalists
Agnes Barthel
How does your video celebrate women in classical music? “Cecilia McDowall is a contemporary composer whose music brings fresh energy and beauty to the organ repertoire. ‘Church Bells beyond the stars’ showcases her distinctive, lyrical style and captures the shimmering resonance of church bells through flowing, cascading passages. Inspired by a poem by George Herbert, the piece evokes both grandeur and serenity, demonstrating the organ’s ability to create vivid, atmospheric soundscapes. Through works like this, McDowall helps keep the organ vibrant and relevant in the modern classical world; something that is deeply inspirational for young organists like myself. By choosing this piece, I hope to honor her contributions and help bring greater recognition to female composers who have often been overlooked. I also want to help inspire other young musicians, especially young girls, to explore music by women composers, and discover the powerful role we play in shaping the future of classical music.”
What would winning this prize mean to you? “Winning this prize would mean a great deal to me as a young organist who is passionate about this incredible instrument. I am especially committed to promoting music by women composers, and it would be an honor to help bring greater recognition to these works in the organ world, and beyond. Most of all, I think it would be a powerful way to show that the pipe organ is not just a historic or ‘dying’ instrument, but very much alive and full of exciting possibilities for the future. This prize would encourage me to continue learning, performing, and encouraging other young people to explore the organ, as we try to create space for new voices, perspectives, and a new generation of musicians in the current world of classical music.”
Cosette Isakson
How does your video celebrate women in classical music? “Keiko Abe’s contribution to the growth and prevalence of the marimba in classical music is incredibly significant. In the 1960s, she commissioned Japan’s leading composers to write some of the first classical solo repertoire for the marimba, which she then premiered herself. Her solo recitals were the first ever solo recitals of serious classical marimba music. She accomplished all of this while living in a very male-oriented Japanese society, and her achievements stand as a testament to the strength of the female spirit in classical music. She is responsible, in collaboration with Yamaha, for expanding the range of the marimba to five octaves, which is now the standard range used in modern marimba repertoire. It is an honor to perform this composition of hers, which I believe is a beautiful reflection of the complexity and depth of expression of the female voice in classical music.”
What would winning this prize mean to you? “Currently, only a very small percentage of percussion section positions in the world’s leading orchestras are occupied by women. To me, winning this prize would be a celebration and a tribute to women percussionists in classical music today, and would help me be able to forge my own path as a woman in the percussion field. As a classical percussionist, I practice and perform on a variety of different instruments, the marimba being only one of them. This makes percussion one of the instruments with the largest financial barrier for pre-professional musicians who are between school and a professional career. Since I am graduating from my undergraduate program this spring, winning this prize would help me to afford quality instruments to practice on as I continue to cultivate my skills post-graduation. It would help me be able to own a variety of instruments and be a self-sustaining musician.”
Ian Woodrich
How does your video celebrate women in classical music? “Rebecca Clarke was a violist and composer of world class accomplishment and acclaim, who lived from 1886 to 1979. She broke boundaries across the musical field, some of which include attending Stanford University as their first female composition student and being hired among the first women to play in a professional orchestra worldwide in 1913. Women were even further discriminated against in composition as compared to other musical fields, and when she submitted this piece, the Sonata for Viola and Piano, to an anonymous competition, it was deadlocked with Ernest Bloch's Suite for first place. Bloch's piece ultimately won by one vote, but when the judges learned that Clarke's piece was written by a woman, they were reportedly astounded and in disbelief. By performing her works, we celebrate the compositional accomplishments of a boundary-breaking woman who made astounding professional success for herself as a musician across multiple disciplines.”
What would winning this prize mean to you? “Being awarded the chance to record this Sonata in a setting with professional equipment would be an incredible opportunity to say the least, and would give me a chance to revisit my exploration of this piece. I have purchased a new viola since the recording attached was filmed, and with it I would be able to create a recording representative of my musical interpretation of this piece with the palette of colors offered by this new instrument. Money is always in need as a developing musician, whether to attend summer festivals, travel to auditions, pay for applications, even purchase a new bow to suit this viola. There are never ending opportunities for me to seek, and they almost all require some funding. These opportunities allow me to improve my craft and develop my musical ideas, with which I can explore and showcase delightful compositions like those of Rebecca Clarke.”
Vote now: Preprofessional Musician
Who gets your vote for the Karin Larson YourClassical Prize Preprofessional Musician category? Make your selection for one performer below. Click once to select the person you’re voting for, and then click once on the Vote button. You may vote only once.
Emerging Artist Finalists
Madeleine Klevay
How does your video celebrate women in classical music? “This past fall, I performed in a showcase at the Girlhood exhibit at the Minnesota History Center, where I was able to perform alongside other young female musicians. I played pieces by Chopin, Claude Debussy, and Cécile Chaminade, a French composer during the Romantic period, who overcame significant gender bias during her career. Even after her own father forbade her from enrolling in a conservatory, Chaminade studied privately, and started giving public recitals when she was 18. Chaminade’s career paved the way for future female composers in classical music. It was an honor for me to perform a Chaminade piece for the Girlhood event and this contest, as a celebration of women, inspiring other girls to join the world of talented women in music.”
What would winning this prize mean to you? “Usually for piano competitions, I learn pieces by male composers because they far outnumber known pieces by women. This has been disappointing growing up, and I have always hoped that someday I could learn about and succeed with a female composed piece in this male dominated field. Throughout my musical education, I have been surrounded by talented female musicians. I owe so much to the women who have been my teachers, and winning this competition would not only be for me, but for them, and all the work they have put into my growth as a musician. Winning this prize would also mean a lot to me as a junior in high school, as a resource as I look at colleges and possible career paths. It is my dream to study music, as it has been an important part of my life, and I can’t imagine a life without it.”
Anna Pitsavas Wakely
How does your video celebrate women in classical music? “Spanish composer, Pablo de Sarasate, composed ‘Ziguernerweisen’ after becoming acquainted with gypsy ways… their song, their music style, their culture, their dance, and their customs. The female gypsy performers, whose prime instrument was always the violin, tantalized audiences with their passionate storytelling and dynamic lyricism. These underrepresented women, who had experienced much suffering and exile, poured their voices and lives into their performances, captivating composers throughout much of history. ‘Zigeurnerweisen’ celebrates these nationless mothers and daughters whose musical traditions continue to inspire classical music enthusiasts to our present day.”
What would winning this prize mean to you? “As a daughter of first-generation immigrant parents who have been a shining model of strength and beauty, and whose love of music has accompanied me from a very young age, I must say that being considered for such a prize would be but one token of my deepest appreciation for the sacrifices that they have made toward supporting my pursuit of classical music. It would be a tremendous gift that would go toward advancing my current commitments in music as well as my future goals in performance. I have come to find that the highly competitive world of performance can often be accompanied with criticism and skepticism. Earning such an esteemed prize would be a great accomplishment — a real recognition which has the potential to help foster the confidence to keep on playing! ”
Vote now: Emerging Artist
Who gets your vote for the Karin Larson YourClassical Prize Emerging Artist category? Make your selection for one performer below. Click once to select the person you’re voting for, and then click once on the Vote button. You may vote only once.
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