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 Artist May 21, 2024
Shiori Kiriake, Piano
Akira Miyoshi: Sakura Sakura (Cherry Blossom), Zui-Zui Zukkorobashi, Poeme à la Scriabin I,II
Alexander Scriabin: Waltz in A-flat Major, Op.38
Michio Mamiya: Diferencias
J. S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A Major, BWV 864
Jean Phillippe Rameau: Gavotte et six doubles
Maurice Ravel: Miroirs I, Noctuelles; Miroirs II, Oiseaux tristes; Miroirs IV, Alborada del gracioso
Shiori Kiriake is a Japanese pianist who currently lives in Northern California. Ms. Kiriake has received numerous prizes, including 1st prizes at the 15th Beten Music Competition and the 2022 International Amateur Piano Competition held in Tokyo. She has performed as a recitalist, as a concerto soloist at the California Concerto Festival, and with members of the Berlin Philharmonic at Suntory Hall in Tokyo.
A student of John McCarthy, Director Emeritus at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she is currently head of Public Relations at Paidy, a Japanese Fintech Company.
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.