ZLATOMIR FUNG, cellist Photo: Matt Dine “Zlatomir Fung brought a rich, warm tone, impeccable intonation, appreciation for dynamic shading and thoughtful phrasing to the Schumann Cello Concerto (with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra). —THE BALTIMORE SUN “In the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 with the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, Fung showed a mastery of his instrument that was truly a thing to behold. He was lost in the magic of the music, maneuvering the strings with exquisite control as he created his own musical mosaic." —BENICIA HERALD (California) “The Saint-Saëns concerto demands technically flawless execution, and here Fung delivered hands down. This was a spectacular performance.” —PERFORMING ARTS MONTEREY BAY First Prize, 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition First Prize, 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions Alexander Kasza-Kasser Prize • Rhoda Walker Teagle Concert Prize • Slomovic Soloist Prize Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize • Embassy Series Prize • Lied Center of Kansas Prize Paramount Theater Prize • Sunday Musicale Prize • 2017 Astral National Auditions 2016 Presidential Scholar for the Arts • First Prize, George Enescu International Cello Competition (Romania) First Prize, Irving Klein International Competition YOUNG CONCERT ARTISTS, INC. 1776 Broadway, Suite 1500 New York, NY 10019 Telephone: (212) 307-6655 [email protected] www.yca.org Young Concert Artists, Inc. 1776 Broadway, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10019 telephone: (212) 307-6655 fax: (212) 581-8894 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.yca.org ZLATOMIR FUNG, cellist Cellist Zlatomir Fung recently captured First Prize at the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition. He was also awarded the competition’s sole performance engagement prize, for a concert with Poland’s Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Fung has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Boston Pops, Santa Cruz Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony and the New England Philharmonic. Abroad, he has been heard with Romania’s State Philharmonic of Sibiu, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in Bucharest, and the Lausanne Sinfonietta in Switzerland. As a First Prize Winner of the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Fung makes his recital debuts in the 2018-19 Young Concert Artists Series in at Merkin Concert Hall, sponsored by the Rhoda Walker Teagle Concert Prize and in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, sponsored by the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert Prize. He also won special performance prizes from the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, the Embassy Series Prize in Washington D.C., the Friends of Music Concerts Prize in Sleepy Hollow, NY, the Paramount Theatre Prize in Vermont, the Lied Center of Kansas Prize, the Sunday Musicale Prize in New Jersey, and the Slomovic Prize for sponsorship of an Orchestra Partnership Project concerto engagement. Zlatomir Fung will also perform the Bloch Schelomo with Orchestra Iowa this season, and give recitals for the Cosmos Club, the Hopkins Center, the Port Washington (NY) Library, the Aaron Copland School of Music/Queens College, the Jewish Community Alliance, Colgate University, Patrons for Young Artists in Poughkeepsie, NY, Salon de Virtuosi, Tryon Concerts and Chamber on the Mountain in Washington State. Mr. Fung was a 2016 Presidential Scholar for the Arts, and won the 2017 Astral National Auditions as well as First Prizes at the George Enescu International Cello Competition in Romania, the Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, the Stulberg International String Competition, and the Irving Klein International Competition. He has participated at Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia and the Aspen Music Festival. He is a regular member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York, and has been featured on NPR’s radio show “From the Top” six times, as well as on “Performance Today.” Mr. Fung is of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage. Born in Oregon, he and his family moved from there to the Boston area so that he could attend the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. He is currently a full Kovner Fellowship student of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School. Zlatomir Fung has also studied with Julie Albers, Emmanuel Feldman, and Nancy Hair. Outside of music, he enjoys cinema, reading philosophy and chess. ______________________________________ NOTE: When editing, please do not delete references to Young Concert Artists, nor special prizes. Please do not use previously dated biographies. 07/2018 News Winners announced at 2018 Schoenfeld Competition 30 JULY 2018 Zlatomir Fung The 2018 Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld International String Competition has concluded. Taking place from 18 to 30 July, the competition was held in Harbin, China. In the cello section, American 19-year-old Zlatomir Fung received the first prize, worth $30,000. He also received the special prize of a solo engagement with Poland’s Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra. A full Kovner Fellowship student of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy at Juilliard, Fung has won prizes at the 2014 Klein Competition and 2017 Enescu Competition, and was also successful in last year’s Astral Auditions and Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2016 he was named a US Presidential Scholar for the Arts. The 2018 jury comprised Jean-Jacques Kantorow (Chair), David Geringas (Chair), Ole Bøhn, Andrés Cárdenes, Anne Gastinel, Karine Georgian, Rudolf Koelman, Hu Kun, Grzegorz Kotow, Jakob Kullberg, Alexander Markov, Amit Peled, James Tennant, Raphael Wallfisch and Raimund Trenkler. https://www.thestrad.com/news/winners-announced-at-2018-schoenfeld-competition/8046.article BREAKING | VC Young Artist Zlatomir Fung Awarded 1st Prize at 2018 Schoenfeld International Cello Comp VC Young Artist Zlatomir Fung has been awarded 1st prize at the 2018 Schoenfeld International Cello Competition – in Harbin, China July 28, 2018 19-year-old VC Young Artist Zlatomir Fung from the United States has just minutes ago been awarded 1st prize at the 2018 Schoenfeld International Cello Competition – in Harbin, China. A full Kovner Fellowship student of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School, Zlatomir is a former 1st prize winner at the George Enescu International Cello Competition, the Johansen, Stulberg and Irving Klein International Music Competitions – and the Astral Artists and Young Concert Artists International Auditions He will receive US $30,000. “I’m really surprised … and I feel extremely lucky … ” Zlatomir has told The Violin Channel. “I feel so grateful to the jury … my competitors here are truly so esteemed and I respect their playing so much … this might sound cliche, but really … any given day the result really could have gone many different ways …” he has said. 2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to Anastasia Kobekina from Russia and Dora Kokas from Hungary. 4th and 5th prizes were awarded to Rustem Khamidullin from Russia and Mon-Puo Lee from Spain. In addition, Zlatomir was awarded the special prize of a solo engagement with the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra – presented by 2018 jury member Grzegorz Kotow from Liu Kotow Artist Management. The 2018 jury comprised: Jean-Jacques Kantorow (Chair), David Geringas (Chair), Ole Bøhn, Andrés Cárdenes, Anne Gastinel, Karine Georgian, Rudolf Koelman, Kun Hu, Grzegorz Kotow, Jakob Kullberg, Alexander Markov, Amit Peled, James Tennant, Raphael Wallfisch and Raimund Trenkler. https://theviolinchannel.com/zlatomir-fung-2018-schoenfeld-international-cello-competition-1st- prize/?utm_source=SHOENFELD+RESULT&utm_campaign=SCHOENFELD+COMP&utm_medium=email NEWS from Young Concert Artists, Inc. Zlatomir Fung, cellist BENICIA HERALD Review: Vallejo Symphony FEBRUARY 2, 2017 BY ELIZABETH WARNIMONT Soloist Zlatomir Fung, left, and VSO Director Marc Taddei attended a post-concert reception at Avery-Green Honda in Vallejo Sunday evening. (Photo by Susie Peterson) The Vallejo Symphony Orchestra (VSO) played the second concert of its 2016-17 season to an impressive crowd at the Hogan Auditorium in Vallejo Sunday. Marc Taddei seemed excited to be presenting not only “the greatest symphony ever written,” as he describes Beethoven’s Eroica, but also a fresh, early work by Haydn and a special performance by a bright young talent in Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, featuring prodigy cellist Zlatomir Fung of Massachusetts. Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 begins simply, with a four-note theme presented by the solo cello. The theme is quickly elaborated upon by string sections and builds to pulsating, percussive waves, beating solidly and steadily like a gently rolling sea against the prow of a ship. Listeners are drawn slyly and smoothly into the more frenetic pace and tone of the second, moderato movement. The even rhythm of the preceding allegretto falls away to a more restless tone, creating a picture of an escapee frantically navigating unknown avenues, some ominous force pressing him urgently forward. In turn, the frenzy of the movement is somewhat calmed by soothing tones from the bassoon, as if a great bird were soaring above the fray, alerting the subject to a route to safety. Horns and clarinets also contribute contrasting sounds of soothing amid the urgency of the solo cello and its accompanying larger strings. As if in response to the encouraging winds, the solo cello takes on an assertive thread leading into the subsequent candenza movement. This is where Fung had the greatest