Raymond Zhang, 10, of West Windsor took top prizes at the 2006 International Young Artist Piano Competition held at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. from June 29 to July 2.##M:[more]## He received first prize in his age group for his performance of the Rachmaninoff Prelude in G Minor and the Best Performance Award for his performance of the required Chinese piece. Zhang, who recently completed fifth grade at Village School, will enter SciCore Academy in West Windsor this fall. A piano student for five years, he has been a student of Ingrid Jacobson Clarfield, coordinator of the music department at Westminster Choir College, for nearly three years.
Zhang, who also enjoys math and science, was Village School’s highest scorer and was recognized with a national award for achieving a perfect score in the Continental Math League. Also recognized by Johns Hopkins Talented Youth competition, he is attending the Inductive and Deductive Reasoning summer camp this summer.
The competition, founded in 1986, is for young artists ages 5 to 18 of all nationalities. One of the purposes is to promote music of Chinese composers and the cultural exchange between people of the East and the West. The professional group competition for ages 19 to 27 was added in 2000.
