Left to Right: Shadrin, Meek, Bukhman, and Harout Senekeremian ’04, who also participated in the competition

Three recent piano graduates of the Conservatory sweeping the top three prizes at an international competition says something about the nature of Oberlin. Two of the three accompanying one another in the final rounds speaks volumes.

At the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings, held Feb. 16 — 19 on the campus of Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, Michael Bukhman '05 won the first prize and $5,000 for his performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor. Yury Shadrin AD '05 won the second prize and $2,500 for his performance of Chopin's Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, and Scott Meek '05won the third prize and $1,000 for his performance of Prokofiev's Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10.

The competition allows the participants to provide their own accompanists. In a show of typical Oberlin camaraderie and support, Bukhman accompanied Meek and Meek accompanied Bukhman.

Bukhman, a native of Baku, Azerbaijan, who moved with his family first to Israel, then to Houston, Texas, studied at Oberlin with Professor of Piano Robert Shannon and received a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in 2005. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Music program at the Juilliard School, where he studies with Robert McDonald. He is a graduate of the Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

At Oberlin Shadrin studied with Professor of Piano Monique Duphil and performed at the Kennedy Center as part of the 2005 Conservatory Project.  He was a winner of the 2004 Oberlin Concerto Competition and the Arthur Dann competition; under the auspices of the Arthur Dann Foundation he performed eight recitals and concerts with orchestras in the U.S., Argentina, Hong Kong, Venezuela, and Vietnam. In December 2005 he shared first prize with Ying Ying Su '07 in the Maracaibo International Piano Competition in Venezuela. Su is also a student of Monique Duphil.

Meek was a student of Oberlin Associate Professor of Piano Alvin Chow and a winner of Oberlin's 2003 Concerto Competition. He won the bronze medal and third prize at the 2005 World Piano Competition, held in Cincinnati in July 2005. In November 2005 he performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and was invited to perform with the Toronto and Winnipeg symphony orchestras in November and December 2006. All three are among Canada's major orchestras, and all are subscription series concerts. Meek is studying with Menahem Pressler in the Master of Music program at Indiana University.

The field in the piano division of the Corpus Christi competition consisted of 17 musicians, winnowed down to six semi-finalists and two finalists. Enrique Graf, Ralph Votapek, and Joseph Schwartz served as adjudicators for the competition.