Naumburg Foundation Announces Winners Of The 2022 International Saxophone Competition

The winners of the 2022 Walter W. Naumburg Foundation's International Saxophone Competition were announced on Sunday evening, October 9, 2022, at the conclusion of the competition's final round, held in Manhattan School of Music's Neidorff-Karpati Hall.

Sharing first prize are Andreas Mader, age 29, from Austria and currently residing in Luxembourg and Valentin Kovalev, age 21, a native of Russia who now resides in Philadelphia, PA. Both Mr. Mader and Mr. Kovalev received a cash award of $20,000; a New York debut concert; and a Naumburg commission, composer TBA. Second prize, $10,000, was given to Robert (Chance) Stein, age 26, who resides in Washington, DC and is a member of Pershing's Own United States Army Ceremonial Band.

Rounding out the final round were Walter Puyear, age 25, who is persuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan; and Thomas Giles, age 32, who works as a freelance musician in New York City and also holds the baritone chair of the San Francisco-based MANA Quartet. Mr. Puyear and Mr. Giles each received an honorarium of $2,000. Pianists Liz Ames and Casey Dierlam-Tse each were awarded a special prize of $1,000. Liz Ames, from Ann Arbor, MI collaborates worldwide with instrumentalists, vocalists and composers; and Casey Dierlam-Tse, who since 2014 has served as a collaborative pianist at Knox College in Galesburg, IL, is the collaborative piano coordinator for the North American Saxophone Alliance conference.

The distinguished jury included Charles Neidich, Chair; Paul Cohen, John Corigliano, Carrie Koffman, Timothy McAllister, Otis Murphy Bence Szepesi, Joan Tower and Carol Wincenc.

With cash awards totaling more than $50,000, concert recital debuts and commissioned works, this was the largest ever competition to be held for the saxophone. The competition began on Oct. 4, 5 and 6 with the preliminary round in Thalia Theater at Symphony Space; and at Manhattan School of Music on Oct. 7 the semi-final round in Greenfield Recital Hall and the final round on Oct. 9 in Neidorff-Karpati Hall. An international roster of 31 saxophonists competed in the competition.

The semi-final and final rounds of the Naumburg Saxophone Competition can be viewed: Bby live stream. at the following URL https://www.naumburg.org/live-stream/