Awards to
High School Seniors

 
The Symphony Association wishes to recognize students who have been active in music during their high school careers. The awards are based on participation in musical events and activities, particularly activities that support music education and music in the community.

All high school seniors who reside and/or attend school in Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol, Dublin, or San Ramon, California, or who have actively participated as LAS musicians, are invited to apply for one of the $500 awards administered by the Symphony Association.

The awards include the John H. Green Memorial Award; the Bill King Memorial Award; and two Livermore-Amador Symphony Association Awards. This year, one of the Association Awards is named in honor of Music Director Emeritus Arthur P. Barnes. The second Association Award is given in memory of longtime orchestra member Marion Stearns.

The application period for the 2023–2024 season awards is closed, but the application form may be downloaded for your reference as a Word document or as a pdf file. Applications were due by October 2, 2023, and the Awards were presented at the Symphony’s concert on the evening of December 2, 2023.

If you have questions or are unable to submit an application by email, please contact LAS Awards Committee Chair Nissa Nack at (925) 484-1942 or nissanack@comcast.net.

 
The 2023–24 Season Award Winners
(main text is from December 2023)
 
Symphony Association Award
One of two awards established by the Livermore-Amador Symphony Association.
This year one award is given in honor of longtime orchestra member Marion Stearns.
 

The LAS Association Award in honor of Marion Stearns goes to Esha Shenoy. A student at Dublin High School, Esha plays violin and piano. She has taken piano lessons from Rimma Radayeva for 12 years and has earned Certificates of Merit from the Music Teachers’ Association of California in each of the past ten years. Since 9th grade, Esha has been awarded four first places plus a second place in the North California Young Talents Music Competition, performing contemporary and Romantic piano pieces. Also throughout high school, Esha has been a violin player in the Dublin High School Orchestra. As a junior, she was publicity chair for the orchestra. This year, she is outreach manager for the newly formed Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter at Dublin High. In that role, she has taken on varied tasks including helping to plan mentorships for middle school students and future senior center performances by small ensembles. Esha plans to attend a four-year university and major in biomedicalĀ engineering. She will continue to play the violin and piano and hopes to learnĀ to play otherĀ instruments, such as the guitar, as well.
 

Arthur P. Barnes Award
This Livermore-Amador Symphony Association Award is named in honor of
Music Director Emeritus Arthur P. Barnes.
 

Yeonjun Kim receives the Arthur P. Barnes Award. A piano student of Galina Corkery throughout high school and a violin student of Karen Paik during his junior and senior years, Yeonjun is co-concertmaster of the Livermore High School honors chamber orchestra, an ensemble that has won numerous awards, including being selected to perform at Carnegie Hall and being selected as the “reading orchestra” for the 2023 California All-State Music Educators Conference. As a junior and senior at LHS, Yeonjun has been a sound engineer for the jazz band and a keyboardist for the spring musicals in 2022 and 2023. Also while at LHS, he has served as piano accompanist for the Junction Avenue K–8 school choir and for a Christensen Middle School soloist. He has performed at command performances of the Tri-Valley Solo & Ensemble Festivals on both piano (as a soloist, in a duet, and as an accompanist) and violin (as first violin in a string quartet). Yeonjun plans to continue to play violin in an orchestra while pursuing a bioengineering degree at a four-year university on his way to becoming a physician.
 

John H. Green Memorial Award
Established by Tot and John W. Green in memory of their son, John H. Green;
he played horn, attended Granada High School,
and received a Symphony Association Award.
 

The John H. Green Memorial Award goes to Francis Nguyen, who plays piano and violin and is a student at Livermore High School, where he is co-concertmaster of the honors chamber orchestra and is pianist in the honors jazz band. For three years, he has been the accompanist for the LHS chamber choir and has played piano in the pit orchestra for LHS musicals. He also played keyboard in the Valley Dance Theatre pit orchestra for Spring Rep last year. At command performances of Tri-Valley Solo & Ensemble Festivals, Francis has played piano as a soloist (for three years) and in a piano duet and has played violin in a string quartet. Throughout high school, he has been a first violin in the Marian Days National Church Festival orchestras. He has been piano accompanist for the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church choir in San Jose since ninth grade and the St. Michael Catholic Church choir in Livermore since tenth grade; both are weekly commitments. Francis plans to attend a four-year university to study in the medical field while continuing to be active in music programs.
 

Bill King Memorial Award
Established by Jean and Walter King in memory of their son, Bill;
he loved music and played cello and trombone
at Jackson and East Avenue Middle Schools.
 

The Bill King Memorial Award this year is presented to Granada High School student Abigail Paik, a singer and violin player. She has played violin in the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, Berkeley Youth Orchestra, and San Jose’s Cambrian Symphony, as well as orchestras at Granada and Livermore High Schools. At Tri-Valley Solo & Ensemble Festival command performances, Abigail has played violin as a soloist and in a string trio and has sung in a voice ensemble. She has performed on violin at Discovery Church in Livermore and St. Clare’s Episcopal Church in Pleasanton. She has accompanied the Cantabella Children’s Chorus on violin as a senior and recorded vocal practice tracks for that group as a ninth grader and has been the soprano section leader for the chorus. She has played violin in pit orchestras for numerous musicals. Abigail has also been an actor/singer in high school musicals and even was a sound technician for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and at her church. In college, Abigail plans to study civil engineering while participating in both choral and orchestral music as a hobby.
 

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