Bienen sophomore cellist Brannon Cho received first prize in the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition on May 31, 2015. As reward, Cho receives $7,500 and a solo performance opportunity with the Minnesota Orchestra.

The Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition has been rewarding and encouraging the talents of young musicians since 1956. Competitors, up to the age of 25, are judged and critiqued by professional orchestra musicians through the preliminary and semi-final rounds. The final round is judged by Maestro Osmo Vanska, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra.

A student of Bienen Professor Hans Jørgen Jensen, Brannon Cho has also been invited to participate in the International Tchaikovsky Competition this summer in Russia alongside 50 of the best young cellists in the world. Cho is one of only three American cellists invited to this year’s competition, which will take place in Moscow and St. Petersburg June 10 through July 3.

Cho will present a free concert on Tuesday, June 2, at 7:30 p.m. in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall to preview his repertoire for the Tchaikovsky competition. The public is invited to attend.