Student Secures Second Prize at Concerto Competition

Freshman Zarin Mehta recently tied for second place at the International Young Artist Concerto Competition (IYACC), a Chicago-based competition in which 76 musicians from around the world age 18 and young submit video auditions of concerti.

Mehta was among the 16 semi-finalists who performed with the Chicago Arts Orchestra, led by visiting conductor Conner Gray Covington, associate conductor of the Utah Symphony and principal conductor of the Deer Valley Music Festival and advanced to the final rounds with four other semi-finalists before tying for second place. View the final round of his performance, when he played the first movement of Sergei Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto, below. More information on the IYACC is available here.

No stranger to awards, Mehta also earned 2nd prize at the Music Teachers National Association competition for his original piano composition “Glimpses,” a four-movement work of melodic miniatures. He has been invited to perform this piece, as well as works by other composers, at St. James Chapel in downtown Chicago during the “Second Saturday at One” concert series on Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m. These concerts are free and open to the public. Information about the concert series is available here.