2024 - 2025 Winners
Leon Burke III (2011-2013)
Leon Burke III is a native St. Louisan, where he attended Mc Bride High School and John Burroughs School. He holds music degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Kansas. Burke studied as a Fulbright Fellow in Paraguay. Burke has served as Conductor/Music Director of the Lawrence Chamber Players, the Hutchinson Symphony, and the McPherson Symphony. He has been on the faculties of Baker University, Sterling College, Hutchinson Community College, and Webster University. Burke is an active member of Unitarian Universalists Musicians Network (UUMN). He served as a member of the UUA New Hymn Resource Task Force, which was appointed in the Fall of 2003 to create a new congregational hymn resource.
Zoe Baldwin
First Place Winner
Zoe Baldwin is a sophomore at Clayton High School and studies with Joo Kim. She began studying the violin at age four with Renita Luehrman, later studying with Angie Smart for three years. Zoe has been a member of several orchestras at the Webster Community Music School, and in 2021, she was a concerto competition winner and soloist with the Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra. For the past three years, Zoe has been a member of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Webster CMS Preparatory Program. Since 2022, Zoe has attended the Arianna Chamber Music Festival, and in 2023, she attended the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont. This past summer, Zoe was a young artist at the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival. In 2023, Zoe was a co-winner of the Odyssey Pre-Collegiate Concerto Competition, First Prize Winner of the St. Louis Civic Orchestra’s Florence Frager Young Artist Competition, and co-winner of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Junior Division Concerto Competition. Last year, she was also a member of the Missouri All-State Orchestra. In her free time, Zoe enjoys reading, hanging out with her friends, and sight reading chamber music. She would like to thank Joo Kim, Angie Smart, Renita Luehrman, Daniel Henderson, Vera Parkin, and the Arianna String Quartet for their guidance as well as her friends and family for their support. Zoe will be performing her piece on stage with ASO on February 23rd!
Liam Alexander
Deborah Fox Guild Winner
David Liam Alexander, 10 years old (USA/Romania) was born in the United States. Based in Illinois, he began learning the violin when he was 5 years old. He currently studies violin under Magdalena Ursu, a violin professor at the “Dinu Lipatti” National Arts High School in Bucharest, Romania. At a young age, Liam is already an accomplished violinist with several international competition prizes. In 2024, he won 1st prize at the Nouvelles Étoiles, King’s Peak, and Chinese Fine Art Society Music Festival Competitions and the 4th prize at the Mimas Violin Competition. In 2023, he received 1st prize at the Radda Rise International String Competition, Gold Prize at the Amadeus International Music Awards, a Special Mention for a Noteworthy Performance at the Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists in Brussels; he also won 1st prize at 2023 Music Singapore International Piano & Violin Competition, S.E. Aphrodite Voice Cyprus International Music Competition, at the Concursul Napocensis Music, Romania, and the 3rd prize at the Enkor International Violin Competition. In 2022, some of his awards include 1st place at the Chambana International Music Competition in Champaign, Illinois; 3rd prize at the Enkor International Violin Competition; the Gold Medal at the North American Virtuoso International Music competition (NAVI); 1st prize at the Muse International Music Competition (Greece); 1st prize at the Geneva International Competition - Melos (Switzerland); 1st prize in the Charleston International Music Competition; 3rd prize in the American Music Talent Competition in Washington D.C., and 1st prize of excellence at the International Competition Scherzo, Romania. In 2021, Liam won 3rd prize at the International Competition “Remember Enescu”; 1st prize in the Music Box International Online Contest; 1st prize at the “George Manoliu” Competition in Romania. Additionally, Liam was awarded several special prizes such as 1st prize and the prize for best interpretation of a Romanian work sponsored by the ‘Remember Enescu” Foundation at the 2021 “Paul Constantinescu” Competition in Romania. In 2020, Liam won 1st prize in the “Violin Doc” International Online Festival; 3rd prize and the special prize for the youngest violinist at the Online Prestissimo International Violin Competition; Special Prize for Virtuosity at the International Festival Rezonante Muzicale. In 2024, Liam was the youngest participant at the Northwestern University Summer Violin Institute, where he performed at a recital and had masterclasses with Paul Kantor and Blair Milton. In summer 2023, Liam was one of the youngest participants at the Festival Academy Budapest 2023, where he had masterclasses with Mihaela Martin and Magdalena Ursu. He also participated in the International Music Festival and Academy Music&More SummerFest in Trebinje, Bosnia, during 2023 and 2024. In summer 2022, Liam participated in the Harpa International Music Academy (HIMA) USA, an intensive summer music academy for strings and string chamber music on the Lake Erie shore in Northeast Ohio. Besides violin, Liam loves to read, play piano, draw, and spend time with his friends. Liam will be performing on stage with ASO on December 7th!
Samuel Wenger-Stickel
First Place Runner-Up
Sam is in eleventh grade at Westminster Christian Academy and is a member of his school orchestra. He was selected as a Rader Young Artist of the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis for the 2023/2024 season. He has also performed with multiple ensembles through Webster Community Music School (CMS). Since 2021, Sam has participated in the CMS Preparatory program. Sam was a winner of the Belleville Stars of Tomorrow Competition for the 2023/2024 season and the Town and Country Symphony Orchestra Rising Talents Concerto Competition for the 2022/2023 season. He was selected for Missouri All State Orchestra in both 2023 and 2024 and won the position of principal second violin in 2024. He has received top ratings at the Missouri State Solo and Ensemble Music Festival in 2023 and 2024 for solo performance. In the summer of 2024, Sam participated locally in the Arianna Chamber Music Festival and Credo Festival, and then attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival where he studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus. In previous summers he has attended Center Stage Strings at the University of Michigan, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and Heartland Chamber Music Festival. Sam would like to thank those who have helped him on his musical journey, including his teachers Angie Smart and Joo Kim, his school orchestra conductor Carrie Roberts, and mentors Vera Parkin, Davin Rubicz, and the Arianna String Quartet.