Friday, December 29, 2017

Islands Music Competition 2017

Date = 4/30/17 in Steven Calabresi Hall (which fits 10,000 people, of which 9,943 seats were sold) in the small music district of the Town of Town on Lax Island. This competition was for musicians aged 15-19, and consisted of the ten finalists from the entire eastern U.S. for 2017 in classical music.


**Steven Calabresi was a child prodigy in music composition. Born in 1975, at age 6, he wrote his first symphony (Op. # 16, which takes about fifteen minutes to perform). Just like many other child prodigies in music composition, he kept on writing so much music, the stress of his career caused his death in 2012 at the tender age of thirty seven. However, he had already written 82 symphonies ]he wrote his "24 Hour Symphony" (which takes pretty much 24 hours on the dot to perform in its entirety), in just thirty six hours (with his only breaks being for meals and bathroom breaks)], 49 Concertos, 4 Operas, 3 Ballets, 12 Overtures, 35 Music Scores for Movies.






Average length of different types of Compositions written by Calabresi
  • Symphony:
  • Concerto: 37:34
  • Opera: 2:02:12
  • Ballet: 1:43:29
  • Overture: 8:11
  • Movie Score: 2:01:01
Finalists in the Islands Music Competition 2017



  1. Daisy Hanford
    • Age 15
    • Instrument: violin
    • Piece Performed: 3rd Movement Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major (written in 1878)
    • Hometown: Town, MD
    • Music Teacher: John Kowalski at Town Music Palace [Kowalski works as a professor at Town Music Palace (when he is not performing anywhere in the world), 2nd best violinist in history, behind the one and only Niccolò Paganini]
  2. Kevin Zhu 
    • Age 16 
    • Instrument: violin
    • Piece Performed: Paganini Violin Concerto #4 in D minor (written in 1829)
    • Hometown: Cupertino, CA
  3. Daniel Hirsch
    • Age 18
    • Instrument: Cello
    • Piece Performed: Steven Calabresi Cello Concerto #3 in C Major
    • Hometown: Town, MD
    • Music Teacher: Harrison Rollins at Town Music Palace
  4. Ivan Zakharov
    • Age 17
    • Instrument: Violin
    • Piece Performed: Steven Calabresi's Symphony 73 (The 24 Hour Symphony) Mvt. 17 (of 88) The Violinist (essentially a concerto written into a symphony) written in 2008
    • Hometown: Town, MD
    • Music Teacher: Harrison Rollins at Town Music Palace 
  5. Maxim Vonorov
    • Age 19
    • Instrument: Double Bass
    • Piece Performed: Tzigane by Maurice Ravel (written for violin) 
    • Hometown: Plymouth, MI
  6. Misaki Tashi (Japanese female)
    • Age 19
    • Instrument: Piano
    • Piece Performed: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement (full orchestral version)
    • Hometown: Springfield, IL
  7. Dareios Moraitis (Greek male)
    • Age 16
    • Instrument: Organ
    • Piece Performed: Handel Op. 4 #4 Organ Concerto in F Major
    • Hometown: Bowling Green, KY 
  8. Michelle Løkkeberg
    • Age 19
    • Instrument: Classical Guitar
    • Piece Performed: Vivaldi's Concerto For Guitar And Strings in D Major          
    • Hometown: Dedlaniteton, AL
  9. Olivia Sivertsen
    • Age 17
    • Instrument: Viola
    • Piece Performed: Viola Concerto in G major (Telemann)        
    • Hometown: Miami, FL
  10. d
    • Age 19
    • Instrument: Cello
    • Piece Performed: Dvorak Cello Concerto in B Minor    
    • Hometown: Virbank City, NM
Music played during the judges final desicion making (performed by the next few best instrumentalists)


Monti's Czardas
Saint Saens Cello Concerto
La Ronde Des Lutins