Jeremy Liu, conductor Jerry Hou, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago receive an ovation onstage at Symphony Center (Photo: Todd Rosenberg Photography)
A middle schooler has won a prestigious concerto competition for the first time in a decade.
Jeremy Liu took first prize in the Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition at Symphony Center on Saturday. Hailing from Naperville, Jeremy is 13 and an eighth grader at Gregory Middle School. He is the first middle schooler to win this competition since Kimberly Han in 2015.
Playing the first movement of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Jeremy’s teacher Sueanne Metz says his “genuine sincerity shines through when he performs, along with his intelligence, maturity, and creativity beyond his years.”
After preliminary rounds in January, four pianists were chosen as finalists to play alongside the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and conductor Jerry Hou. 16-year-old Tong-Bai Deng of Clarendon Hills was named First Alternate for performing the final movement of Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also in the finals were 17-year-old Joseph Gallwas of Elmhurst and 14-year-old Evangeline Wang. Gallwas is an alum of Introductions, WFMT’s weekly show that features local pre-college classical musicians, while Wang is the younger sister of Introductions alum Angelika Wang. Following the music and during the judges’ deliberations, the four finalists were interviewed on stage by WFMT’s Robbie Ellis.
Jeremy Liu’s prize includes the chance to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in their 2025-26 season and a solo piano recital appearance on Introductions. As well as piano, Jeremy plays cello in the Gregory Middle School Orchestra, and many of his fellow orchestra members attended Saturday’s concert. He is also an avid snowboarder, and has twice attended Space Camp.
Robbie Ellis and Jeremy Liu onstage at Symphony Center for the Crain-Maling CSO Young Artists Competition (Photo: Todd Rosenberg Photography)
Previous winners of the CSO Young Artists Competition include cellist Gabriel Cabezas; violinists Maya Anjali Buchanan and Esme Arias-Kim, (the latter of whom is currently a semifinalist in Cedille Records’s Emerging Artist Competition); and pianists Noah Kim and Yerin Yang. The most recent winner, steelpan player Jaden Teague-Núñez, performs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in May and live on Introductions on September 13.
The Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artists Competition is open to Illinois musicians who are high school juniors or younger. It is run on a three-year cycle: last year was for wind, brass, percussion and harp players; this year was for pianists; and next year will be open to string players.
