2022 Young Musicians Concerto Competition Winners

1st Prize Nachuan Tao, pianist

Nachuan Tao is a junior at I.M. Terrell Academy for STEM and VPA and studies piano with John Owings at Texas Christian University. He was awarded scholarships from the Chopin Foundation of the United States in 2021 and the Feltsman Piano Foundation in 2020. He won first prize at the Fort Worth Music Teachers Association Solo Competition and was a prizewinner in the 2020 Juanita Miller Concerto Competition sponsored by the Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras. He participated in the Steinway Junior Piano Competition, winning first prize twice. He has participated in masterclasses with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Christopher O’Riley and has appeared in recitals at Wuyuan Concert Hall and Bass Performance Hall. He has been admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music and will begin his studies there in the Fall of 2022.

Watch Nachuan’s performance of the third movement from Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 on YouTube.

2nd Prize Natalie Caldwell, violinist

Natalie Caldwell is a junior at North Crowley High School and currently studies with Kurt Sprenger. She has been in the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra program since 2016 where she was a Young Performer’s Concerto Competition winner in 2016 and 2017. She placed first in the Fort Worth Music Teachers Association Soloist Competition in 2017, 2018 and 2019. For the past three years, she auditioned for and placed in the TMEA All-Region Symphony Orchestra. She also placed in the TMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra in 2021 and 2022.

Watch Natalie’s performance of the first movement from Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major, K. 218 on YouTube.