At Saturday night's semi-finals in Houston, Texas, 28-year-old Israeli clarinetist Moran Katz bested a pair of pianists and a violinist to take home first prize in the 2013 Ima Hogg Competition.
A true favorite, Katz's performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto also won awards for Audience Choice and Artistic Encouragment--the latter voted on by musicians from the Houston Symphony.
Russian pianist Vladimir Khomyakov finished in second place, with pianist Min Jung Kim and violinist Elizabeth Fayette coming in third and fourth, respectively.
Katz will perform again with the Houston Symphony at the Houston Chronicle Dollar Concert on July 13, 2013.
Khomyakov makes his return on June 29 at Miller Theater.
Moran Katz took music classes in New York City's public schools through a program sponsored by Carnegie Hall, going on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School. Having performed at music festivals and concert series from the U.S. to Israel to Mongolia, Katz previously won an international clarinet contest in Germany in 2009.
Named to honor the memory of Houston Symphony co-founder Ima Hogg, the prestigious competition is open to young musicians between the ages of 13 and 30 who play standard orchestral instruments or piano. Presented with the support of the Houston Symphony League since 1976, the competition provides both performance opportunities and a cash prize.
And as the Houston Chronicle's Steven Brown reports, this year's pool was the richest in contest history, with Katz receiving $25,000 as the winner--an increase from last year's $5,000 purse.
The judges for the 2013 Ima Hogg Competition, both semi-finals and finals, were Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor James Feddeck, Monica Felkel of Young Concert Artists and the Chronicle's former classical music critic, Charles Ward.
Here's Moran Katz performing the first movement of Ofer Ben-Amots' 2006 composition, The Klezmer Concerto.
