The Department of Music holds a biennial Concerto Competition, which is open to all registered students at the University and to all members of the performance ensembles. The judges of the 2024 competition — which included University Symphony Orchestra conductor Barbara Schubert, Chamber Orchestra conductor Matthew Sheppard, Wind Ensemble conductor Nicholas Carlson, and guest artist Renée-Paule Gauthier — were very impressed with the high level of artistry in this year's competition. The incredible level of talent and achievement amongst our UChicago students made it difficult to choose the winners, but the judges ultimately decided to name two first place winners and three honorable mention winners of this year's Concerto Competition.
Katie Gallagher, viola
Katie Gallagher is a third-year math PhD student working with Professor Ngô Bao Châu. Originally from Naperville, Illinois, Katie began playing the violin at the age of 4 and the viola at the age of 12. Before college, Katie studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago. She has soloed with multiple orchestras, including the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony, and the Northbrook Symphony. She has spent multiple summers at the Chautauqua Music Festival, performing both the violin and viola. Katie went to the University of Notre Dame where she double majored in mathematics and music. She then earned a Marshall Scholarship, which she used to study at the University of Oxford and Imperial College London in the United Kingdom prior to beginning her studies here in Chicago. In her free time, Katie enjoys long distance running.
Katie will perform Béla Bartók's Viola Concerto on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 PM with the University Symphony Orchestra.
Eileen Moudou, violin
Eileen Moudou is a first-year PhD student in the chemistry department of the Physical Sciences Division. Originally from Maryland, Eileen began studies on violin at age 8 with Lya Stern and played through high school, additionally studying with Sylvia Rosenberg and Paul Kantor as a summer student at the Aspen Music Festival. She then earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2021, and revisited the violin in 2022 while obtaining her M.S. in physics. In her free time she enjoys gardening and baking.
Eileen will perform the first movement of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G minor on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 PM with the University Symphony Orchestra.
The judges also selected three Honorable Mention awardees: Raphael Stone, violoncello (Max Bruch: Kol Nidre), Anthony Yoon, violin (Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor), and Yuchen Zhou, guzheng (Zhanhao He: The Eternal Sorrow of Lin'an). Congratulations to all who auditioned!