Northfield Clarinetist Wins Scholarship and Performance Awards

The prestigious Philadelphia International Music Festival awarded $25,000 in scholarships and performance opportunities to twelve young musicians who took the top spots in PIMF’s semi-annual Online Concerto Competition.

The Winner in the division for ages 19 and above Anders Peterson of Northfield, MN. He earns a scholarship to PIMF’s intensive classical music training program this summer. He’ll also take the stage this Fall in the PIMF Winners Circle Concert with several members of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The University of Southern California junior competed with Luigi Bassi’s Concert Fantasia on Motives from “Rigoletto”.

“I believe opera fantasy pieces are some of the best examples of clarinet repertoire,” Anders explains, “because they show what is possible with the instrument and what the clarinet does best. The characters and colors change constantly and lend so much room for artistic freedom.”

Anders started his instrumental journey on piano but switched to clarinet eleven years ago and never looked back: “I love this instrument because it is one of the most expressive and flexible voices in the orchestra. Our instrument is regarded as having one of the widest ranges with an incredibly flexible dynamic spectrum.”

Already an in-demand orchestral artist and soloist, Anders is a clarinet performance major and bachelor of musical arts candidate at the Thornton School of Music at the USC in Los Angeles and a member of both the USC Symphony and USC Wind Ensemble orchestras. He is a member of the internationally acclaimed studio of Yehuda Gilad and a veteran of the Minnesota Youth Symphonies program.

“In over 20 years of hosting international competitions, this year’s event took on a new sense of purpose,” says PIMF President Sandy Marcucci, “With performance opportunities practically non-existent for the last year, competitions like ours were able to get these talented young musicians back into the practice room. We were very impressed by the world-class submissions we received and can’t wait to see and hear the winners in person!”

Musicians in four age categories from ages 8-22 submitted video recordings for the competition – part of a host of programs offered online by PIMF, which will be offering both LIVE and online training programs and summer camps beginning in June.

ABOUT The Philadelphia International Music Festival:

The Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) is a resident summer music program directed by Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra, offering student musicians from around the world the unique opportunity of spending up to four weeks immersed in music education and performance training with members of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra.

Since March, 2020, PIMF’s new platform PIMFOnline.org has been filling the training void for social-distancing music students with Master Classes taught by members of The Philadelphia Orchestra including: PIMF Artistic Director Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin; David Kim, Concertmaster; Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cellist; Ricardo Morales, Principal Clarinet; Boris Allakverdyan, Principal Clarinet, Los Angeles Philharmonic; and many others. Beginning in June, 2021, PIMF will be offering summer camp programs both online - at pimfonline.org - AND live on Philadelphia’s prestigious Main Line.

For more information on PIMF, visit philadelphiamusicfestival.org, call (856) 875-6816, “like” the Philadelphia International Music Camp & Festival on Facebook, follow @pimfmusiccamp on Instagram and Twitter, and visit the Philadelphia International Music Festival YouTube Channel for performance videos from previous festival seasons.