The excitement of discovering a promising new musician is like hearing your favorite piece of music for the first time. At Noontime Concerts, we believe that gifted emerging artists will shape the future of classical music. That’s why it is our privilege and our commitment to offering young talented musical artists, in the early stages of their careers, a chance to play in our concert series.
The Helen von Ammon Fund for Emerging Artists provides scholarship-based live performance opportunities for gifted and talented young musicians on the threshold of amazing careers. A Noontime Concerts opportunity for these special artists becomes a memorable experience for all of us who are so lucky to see and hear them play.
Featured Emerging Artists April 22, 2025
Xinran Shi and Brian Lin
Xinran Shi Program
Frédéric Chopin
Mazurkas, Op. 24, No. 1-2
Preludes, Op. 28, No. 13-18
Waltzes, Op. 42 and Op. 18
Brian Lin Program
L. V. Beethoven: Sonata No. 13 in E-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1
Franz Liszt: Ballade No. 2 in B Minor
XINRAN SHI (age 14) began playing piano at age 4. She currently studies with Hans Boepple. At age 13, she made her debut with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has soloed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, USA, Peninsula Symphony, and Golden Gate Youth Orchestra. Xinran has won top prizes in the Ross McKee Piano Competition, International-E-Competition, Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and Ettlingen International Competition, to name a few. She was a 2020-2022 Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. In 2023, she appeared on NPR’s From the Top.
BRIAN LIN (age 17) is a senior at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont and a piano student of Hans Boepple. A 2024 Laureate of the Ross McKee Piano Competition, Brian is also the recipient of a 2024 National Young Artists Award and
four National Chopin Scholarships (2022-2925). He is a proud inductee into the prestigious Young Artist Guild (YAG) for 2024-2029. Apart from his musical achievements, Brian is passionate about mathematics and is actively engaged in
community service. His dedication to meaningful causes has twice earned him the National Gold Presidential Volunteer Service Award.
The Ross McKee Foundation is proud to introduce two of our four 2024 Laureates who were selected in the annual competition. The Foundation supports piano education and performance in the Bay Area and honors the legacy of Ross McKee, who founded the Music and Arts Institute of San Francisco in 1939. During the Foundation’s 33-year history, it has sponsored music education programs in schools and awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to hundreds of pianists, local arts presenters, and music organizations. Please visit our website at rossmckeefoundation.org.
The Helen von Ammon Fund for Emerging Artists
Helen von Ammon
August 2, 1922 – January 31, 2014
As an artist, Helen von Ammon was particularly sensitive to obstacles artists of all persuasions encountered on the path to recognition and success. Whether in the applied or the musical arts, artistic expression can be fettered by commercialism, perceived marketability, and myriad other constraints. The Helen von Ammon Fund was established to provide talented musical artists with opportunities to express the depth and breadth of their capabilities. So, with gratitude for Helen’s vision and generosity, Noontime Concerts provides professional musicians beginning their careers with an important performance opportunity, exposure, and recognition.
Ross McKee Piano Competition
The Ross McKee Foundation is nationally recognized for supporting accomplished pre-professional piano artists, cultivating potential piano talent, and advancing piano performance. Located in San Francisco, CA, the Foundation supports the musical arts throughout the Bay Area.
The Ross McKee Foundation produces a piano competition open to high school students each year. Up to four contestants are selected to be Ross McKee Young Artists. These laureates receive a prize of $1,500 and participate in a public recital.
Irving M. Klein International String Competition
Since its inception in 1985, the Klein competition has helped launch the careers of many performers. Mr. Klein, who died in 1984, devoted himself untiringly to the development of young artists. He was sensitive to their human as well as musical needs. His friends, colleagues, and students who established the Competition in his memory sought to imbue it with his unusual qualities of empathy with and generosity to young musicians. Parallel to the guiding principles of the Helen von Ammon Fund, the Klein Competition seeks to provide recital opportunities, recognition, and assistance to accomplished musicians in the early stages of their careers. Noontime Concerts has been honored to present Klein Competition winners under the auspices of the von Ammon Fund.
