October 15, 2025

[Vancouver, WA. October 15, 2025] – The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA announces Wilson Liu (piano), Jacob Peizner (alto saxophone), and Hana Gottesman (violin) as the Gold Medalists of its 31st Annual Young Artist Competition following a remarkable performance from all nine finalists. These gold medal winners will perform their winning selections with the VSO under the baton of Maestro Salvador Brotons on January 17 and 18, 2025 at Skyview Concert Hall. Mr. Liu will perform Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor K.466 movt. 1 by W.A. Mozart. Mr. Peizner will perform Concertino Da Camera by Jacques Ibert and Ms. Gottesman will perform Tzigane by Maurice Ravel.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA’s annual Young Artist Competition highlights and celebrates great student musicianship. Young artists from across the U.S. compete in the Piano, String, and Woodwinds/Brass Categories. Nine finalists were chosen from nearly 100 applicants for their outstanding musical ability and virtuosity and performed on October 12 at First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver for a jury that included Zuill Bailey, Dr. Julia Hwakyu Lee, Philippe Quint, Dr. Ken Selden, and Dr. Igor Shakhman.

All finalists received generous cash prizes. Gold Medalists are awarded $5,000 each; Silver Medalists, $2,000 each; Bronze Medalists, $1,000 each. The three Gold Medalists – Wilson Liu (piano), Jacob Peizner (alto saxophone), and Hana Gottesman (violin), will ultimately perform with Maestro Brotons and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Skyview Concert Hall early next year.

Silver Medalists were Jacob Rockower (piano), Felix Zhou (bassoon), and Angela Rose Padula (cello). Bronze Medalists were Alvin Gao (piano), Soomin Oh (flute), and Lily Richards (violin).

The VSO would like to thank the Realvest Corporation and Paul Christensen for their long-term support of this competition. Thank you to Michelle’s Piano Company for providing two grand pianos.

All three gold medalists are particularly accomplished musicians who have already established themselves with numerous competition wins and noteworthy performances:

Wilson Liu was admitted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where he won the Bachauer Prize with full scholarship and Concerto Competition at the age of 7. He studies with Hung-Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone. Wilson will be a ‘25-‘26 Fellow in From the Top Learning and Media Lab. He has participated in a film for “Now Hear This” presented by Great Performances on PBS. Since his earliest training, Wilson has won numerous competitions, and he performed with Seen Worldwide NPO in Chicago Symphony Center at the most recent International Young Artists Concerto Competition.

Jacob Peizner is a Senior at Oregon Episcopal School and a student of Phil Baldino and Kenneth Radnofsky. Jacob was one of ten saxophonists internationally selected for the 2024 BU Tanglewood Saxophone Workshop and was co-principal saxophone for the 2025 Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra & Wind-Ensemble. Nationally, Jacob was a finalist in the YoungArts Classical Competition and was an alto-saxophonist in Music-for-All’s Honor Band of America. He was the 2024 OSAA High-Saxophone State Champion. Additionally, Jacob plays principal saxophone in the Portland Youth Philharmonic and accompanies piano with a middle school choir.

Hana Gottesman earned top honors including first prize at the Royal Maas International, UK International (Absolute Prize), Coeur d’Alene National Young Artist, MTNA National, and Seattle Young Artist Music Festival (Festival Medal) competitions. A Postacchini International Competition finalist, Hana soloed with several orchestras such as the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, and SEEN Orchestra of Chicago. She has performed on King FM radio and NPR’s Live Sessions. Hana studies with Jan Coleman, Simon James and is a student at the Seattle Chamber Music Society Academy.

About the VSO
The VSO, now in its 47th season, enriches lives in the Pacific Northwest and beyond through world-class symphonic concerts, other musical performances, and engaging educational programming. For more information, please visit vancouversymphony.org.

About Our Sponsors
The VSO is generously supported by individual donors, The M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Realvest Foundation, Keller Foundation, Oregon Public Broadcasting, The AC Hotel Marriott, United Grain Corporation, Columbia Credit Union, All Classical Radio, Gravitate, Dick Hannah Dealerships, The Columbian, Michelle’s Piano Co., Pacific Office Automation, Salsbury & Co., Steinway & Sons Portland, The VIC, Kiggins Theatre, Opsahl Dawson, and Willful Wine Company.

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Media contact:
Allison Van Etten
Vice President
[email protected]
8VA Music Consultancy
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