January 10th, 2022 (Ann Arbor, MI) — The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has announced flutist Abi Middaugh and violinist Lily Sullivan as winners of its 2021 Young Artist Competition. Twelve finalists competed on December 11, 2021 at Eastern Michigan University for the chance to perform at one of the A2SO’s youth concerts in 2022. Abi will perform the first movement of Carl Nielsen‘s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, and Lily will perform the opening movement of Camille Saint-Saëns’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor.
In a statement, competition jury chair and A2SO concertmaster Aaron Berofsky said: “I’m so glad that I could be a part of the Young Artist Competition this year. The performances were wonderful; remarkably sophisticated and beautiful for students at such a young age. I was impressed with the variety of repertoire and instruments represented, all played at an amazing level.”
Abi Middaugh is from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and is a senior in high school at the Early College Alliance at Eastern Michigan University, studying flute with Kelly McDermott in Ann Arbor. She plans on studying flute performance to become an orchestral flutist, and has applied to the University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory, Northwestern University, Rice University, the Curtis Institute, and the Colburn School for next fall.
A member of the University of Michigan’s Youth Symphony Orchestra and Eastern Michigan University’s Wind Symphony, Abi has also served as principal flute of Interlochen Arts Camp’s 2021 World Youth Symphony Orchestra. She is a member of the Pitchbenders Flute Ensemble, and winner of the Washtenaw Community Concert Band Concerto Competition in 2020 and the North Dakota State University National Music Competition in 2021. Besides her private teacher, other mentors include Matthew Roitstein with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Sharon Sparrow and Hannah Hammel with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Amy Porter at the University of Michigan, and David DiGiaccobe at the College of New Jersey.
Abi is passionate about spreading the gift of music to people all over the world, and is dedicated to the mental preparation it takes to execute a performance in a personal, authentic way. Besides her music, Abi enjoys exercise, cooking, photography, thrift shopping, and meditation. She plays a Muramatsu DS flute, and can be found on Instagram at abirejoice_flute_, and at her website: www.abimiddaughflute.com. Abi remarks “At the competition, the A2SO staff were so welcoming, and I’m grateful to them for connecting me with an accompanist when I needed one. Overall, it was a great experience connecting with a local symphony.”
Lily Sullivan, 14, is a merit scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college musicians. She studies violin with Grigory Kalinovsky and is a member of the Dando Piano Trio at the Music Institute of Chicago.
Lily began studying violin at the age of four at the Oklahoma City University Children’s Performing Arts Program with Karén Khanagov. She made her first solo orchestral debut at the age of seven and won the Sanford-Austin Memoriam Award, First Prize and Overall awards at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s Orchestra League at age nine. A laureate of the American Music Institute’s 2020 Violin Competition, Lily was chosen as First Alternate in the 2020 MTNA statewide Competition and awarded the Finalist Award of Excellence in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Young Musicians Contest. In 2021, she was selected as the statewide Junior Division winner of the MTNA Competition. Lily was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2020 Association of the Louisville Orchestra Young Artist Competition, the Ladonna Dingledine First Prize of the 2021 Muncie Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition, First Prize winner in Age Group C of the Bellegrande International Music Competition and was chosen as a Young Laureate of the 2021 Chicago International Violin Competition. Lily has attended festivals at the University of Oklahoma, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and the Heifetz International Music Institute, and has performed in masterclasses for Sergey Malov, Hal Grossman, Danielle Bellen, Mauricio Fuks, Vadim Gluzman, Mihaela Martin, Eszter Haffner, Ilya Kaler, and the Borromeo Quartet.
Of her experience at the competition, Lily says “I was reminded of what a privilege it is to make music before a live audience. Performing in this competition alongside such talented musicians was an honor. I am very grateful for the opportunity to share the stage with the Ann Arbor Symphony!”