The Sherer International Violin & Piano Competition

October 19-20, 2024
Goshen College Music Center

Prizes | Eligibility & Application | Judges | Video Clips | Contact

Solomia Soroka, artistic director
Marcia Yost, executive director

The Sherer International Competition is an annual violin and piano competition named in honor of the late Lon and Kathryn Sherer, Goshen College Professors Emeritus of Music. For 40 years, Lon (violin) and Kathryn (piano) created, nurtured and developed instrumental music at Goshen College, bringing the program to unprecedented heights through their talent, hard work, and pedagogy.

Recent Sherer Competition participants, on the Sauder Concert Hall stage

Prizes

1st Prize: $2,000
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Judges’ decisions on all prizes are final.

Additionally, all participating finalists will be offered a $10,000/year music scholarship to attend Goshen College.

Eligibility

The competition is open to classically-trained violinists and pianists in grades 8-12 (ages between 13-18 as of October 19, 2024). Competition applicants must not be enrolled in a degree program at a college or university.

Application

Applications will be accepted beginning May 1, 2024. A completed application form, payment of non-refundable $75 application fee, and uploaded video recording file must be submitted by the registration deadline (October 1, 2024). Violinists may bring their own accompanist, or the competition will provide one for an additional $120 fee, payable at time of registration.

Submit application for the Sherer Competition

Screening Recording

All entrants must submit an unedited video recording of one piece from their competition repertoire on or before the registration deadline (October 1, 2024). Recordings should be uploaded to YouTube, or shared from Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar file-sharing service. Selected applicants will be notified by email no later than October 4, 2024.

Repertoire

Violin

Repertoire should include selections from at least two of the following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary. Standard violin concerto movements are permitted. All works must be memorized with the exception of sonata movements, and works written after 1945. Students should aim for a program no longer than 30 minutes in length. Competitors exceeding the 30 minute limit will be stopped.

Piano

Repertoire should include selections for solo piano from at least two of the following style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary. Concerto performances are NOT permitted for piano. Extended techniques such as introducing foreign objects into the workings of the piano, strumming or plucking of strings, etc. are also not permitted. All pieces must be memorized. Students should aim for a program no longer than 30 minutes in length. Competitors exceeding the 30 minute limit will be stopped.

Notification

All entrants will be notified of acceptance via email no later than October 4, 2024.

Competition Schedule

Schedule is subject to change

Sample Saturday schedule

10 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Student arrival, registration, rehearsal, and practice time
6:30 p.m. – Drawing for performance order, and reception for contestants
7:00 p.m. – Concert, Sherer Piano Trio & Guest Artists, Sauder Concert Hall

Sample Sunday schedule

Morning – Warm-ups for violinists with accompanists, and pianists
10:00 a.m. – Piano Adjudication, Sauder Concert Hall
10:00 a.m. – Violin Adjudication, Rieth Recital Hall
4:00 p.m. – Award Ceremony and Competition Winners Concert, Sauder Concert Hall

Past Competition Winners

August Baik, piano
2022 Competition, First Place Winner, Piano Division
Frederic Chopin, Etude in B minor, Op. 25 No. 10

John Lee, violin
2022 Competition, First Place Winner, Violin Division
Eugene Ysaye, Sonata No. 3 – Ballade

Roger Wang, piano
2021 Competition, First Place Winner, Piano Division
Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”, mvt. 1

Abigail Ko, violin
2021 Competition, First Place Winner, Violin Division
Piotr I. Tchiakovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, mvt. 1

Judges

Dr. Matthew Hill, piano

Matthew Hill, DMA, pianist and Goshen College professor of music, is chair of the music department and teaches piano, chamber music, music history, and as a result of the strong influence from his wife and daughter, also teaches a general education course in Opera and Musical Theatre. He has studied with such renowned musicians as Howard Karp and Claude Frank, whose respective pedagogical genealogies include Rosina Lhévinne and Arthur Schnabel. He has had a variety of teaching and performing experiences both nationally and internationally. Dr. Hill participated at the Schlern International Music Festival held in the Dolomites of northern Italy through invitation as a teacher, performer, and master class clinician. In China, he taught a series of master classes at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and presented a solo recital. Matthew received his doctorate in piano performance at University of Wisconsin-Madison. His students have gone on to further graduate study at many different graduate schools, including Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Oklahoma, Westminster Choir College, and the University of South Florida.

Ioana Galu, violin

Ioana Galu,a native of Romania, has enjoyed a rich career as a performer, researcher and pedagogue in both Europe and the United States. Former Assistant Professor of Violin and chamber music at Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj, Romania, Galu has also been on the faculty at Heidelberg University, Bowling Green State University, and The College of Wooster. Galu joined the University of South Dakota in 2016 and is currently Associate Professor of Violin/Viola, co-director of the USD Chamber Orchestra and member of the Rawlins Piano Trio. She has served on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival (Greenboro, NC) between 2004 and2022, and is now the artistic director of the Arioso Chamber Players.

A graduate of Gheorghe Dima Music Academy, Romania, Galu earned a second master’s degree in violin performance from Bowling Green State University, an Artist Diploma from University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music and a doctorate in Contemporary Music from Bowling Green State University.

Galu has been awarded prizes in several national and international competitions, including Second Prize in the Mozart International Competition for Piano Trios (Romania), and First Prize and Special Prize of the SOROS Foundation at the George Enescu Violin National Competition (Romania).She also won the Second Prize in the Starling Violin Competition College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati (CCM) and was the winner of the CCM Concerto Competition with Bernstein’s Serenade.

Galu performed the world premiere of Marilyn Shrude’s violin concerto Libro D’Ore with the Central Ohio Symphony and the European premiere with the Sibiu State Philharmonic in Romania. She gave its US premiere and subsequently recorded the concerto for Albany Records. Galu also recorded “Music Under Political Unrest”- Works for Two Violins by Grażyna Bacewicz, Henryk Górecki, and Michał Spisak with Iuliana Cotirlea, violin.

Collaborative Pianist

A native of Minnesota, pianist Luke Norell has concertized internationally as soloist and chamber musician. Recent engagements have included performing at the University of Indianapolis, Ohio University, the Music Archive of Sarasota, Florida, and the Ruthmere Fall Concert Series. He has appeared as soloist with the Maple City Chamber Orchestra and the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra and also performed at Edvard Grieg’s historic home at Troldhaugen. As vice president and founding board member of the newly formed Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes, Luke took part in hosting its inaugural “SalzBergen” conference at Goshen College, giving performances with bass-baritone Njål Sparbo, and his wife Mary Rose as the Norell Piano Duo. Dr. Norell serves as the Piano Program Director for the Goshen College Community School of the Arts and as collaborative pianist for the Goshen College music department. He studied with André Watts at Indiana University, completing his D.M. and M.M. degrees, and received his B.M. degree from the University of Northwestern (St. Paul).

Sherer Competition Artistic Director

Solomia Soroka, DMA, is professor of music at Goshen College, where she teaches violin, chamber music, and music theory courses. Born in Lviv, Ukraine, she earned her master’s degree and completed her postgraduate studies in the Kiev (Kyiv) Conservatory, and later served on its staff in the department of chamber music. She also has a DMA degree from Eastman School of Music. She studied with Hersh Heifetz, Bohodar Kotorovych, Lyudmyla Zvirko and Charles Castleman. Solomia Soroka made her solo debut at ten, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared at concerts and festivals in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Taiwan and Ukraine. Since her American debut in 1997, she has performed throughout the United States as well.

Solomia Soroka has toured and recorded extensively with her husband, the pianist Arthur Greene. Their Naxos recording of Four Violin Sonatas by William Bolcom was selected as Recording of the Month with the highest ranking for both artistry and sound quality by Classics Today, and received reviews in various distinguished journals

In the past eight years Soroka has been recording for Toccata Records, based in London, where she made six premier recordings, of music by American composer Arthur Hartmann, Ukrainian Myroslav Skoryk, Mykola Lysenko, and Yevhen Stankovych, and Holocaust composers Leone Sinigaglia and Bernhard Sekles.

During the summer Solomia Soroka is on the faculty of Music Fest in Perugia, Italy. She also has taught at the Castleman Quartet Program, Pilsen Summer Academy, and Schlern Music Festival. Ms. Soroka is active giving masterclasses in her native Ukraine, USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Czech Republic, and Italy.

Contact

For general questions regarding the competition, or for questions regarding the program, audition screening recording, accompanying needs, etc. please contact:

For questions regarding travel, accommodations, meals, or the Goshen area, please contact:

October 19-20, 2024 Goshen College Music Center

Solomia Soroka, artistic director Marcia Yost, executive director