Baylor musicians impress abroad

Baylor University's clarinet studio is making quite a name for itself, not only in the United States but around the globe as well. This summer, during the 2013 International Clarinet Association conference in Assisi, Italy, students of Dr. Jun Qian, assistant professor of clarinet, were honored among some of the world's most talented.

Two members of Qian's studio, junior Daniel Malacon and sophomore Jake Hale, were selected to travel to Italy with their professor to perform in the final stages of the ICA's Orchestral Solo Competition and the Young Artist Competition. For the Orchestral Solo Competition, the audition committee selected six finalists around the world to compete. Both Baylor students were in that pool, and Malacon was awarded second prize. Hale was named as one of the 12 semifinalists in the Young Artist Competition. He was the only young artist whom ICA invited to compete for both competitions this year.

Qian is no stranger to the ICA competitions. During his junior year at Baylor, he won first prize in the Orchestral Solo Competition and third prize in the Young Artist Competition at the ICA conference in United States. He remains the only person ever to win prizes for both competitions during the same year. Now, as a member of the Baylor music faculty, Qian is striving to maintain the university's strong musical tradition abroad.

While in Italy this summer, Qian was invited to perform three ICA recitals during the same week. One solo appearance, titled East Meets West, also featured Dr. Kae Hosoda-Ayer, assistant professor of piano at Baylor.