OKIE: Oklahoma Israel Exchange

The concert was the culmination of a statewide competition for pianists between the ages of 21 and 28, who
currently are enrolled in or have graduated from an Oklahoma institution of higher education. OKIE, whose
mission is to develop joint projects between Israel and the state of Oklahoma in the arts, education,
agriculture, commerce and economic development, sponsors the competition and the concert.

Young Artists Competition semi-finalists and finalists performed for a VIP panel of judges April 9 and 10 in
Tyrrell Hall Auditorium at the University of Tulsa School of Music. The 2010 competition winner was Nicole
Biggs, a doctoral student of Dr. Jeongwon Ham at the University of Oklahoma. The second-place winner was
Eunkung Park, a student of Sergio Monteiro at Oklahoma City University.

Nicole Biggs made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Weill Recital Hall in 2006. She has since performed in
China, Italy, England and throughout the United States. Some of her recent solo performances include the
Oklahoma Music Teacher's Association State Conference in Tulsa, the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival in
Oxford, England, and the Assembly Hall in historic Temple Square in Salt Lake City. She also performed the
Tchaikovsky B-flat Piano Concerto with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra in the Civic Center Music
Hall. A winner in several international piano competitions, Nicole won prizes in the IBLA Grand Prize
International Piano Competition in Ragusa, Sicily, the Joyce Dutka Multi-Instrumental Competition, and the
Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in New York. She has degrees in piano performance
from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of North Texas. Her teachers include Antonio
Pompa-Baldi, Emmanuella Friscioni, Steven Harlos and Dr. Jeongwon Ham.

The concert program featured 2009 Young Artists Competition winner, Marcin Parys, performing a work
written for him by Israeli composer, Elad Katz, and other works by Chopin. Yossi Arnheim performed a
Prelude on Middle Eastern and Israeli Themes and the Bizet/Borne Carmen Fantasy with Irit Rub
accompanying him on the piano. The concert opened with the announcement of this year's winner, Nicole
Biggs, who performed a movement from the Howard Ferguson Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 8.

Parys, a native of Poland, won last year's competition as a student of Prof. Amy I-Lin Chen at the Wanda L.
Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, where he has continued his studies with Dr. Sergio
Monteiro. As a student of Waldemar Andrzejewski, he is a graduate of the Paderewski Academy of Music in
Poland. He also participated in master classes at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Universitat fur
Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Alessandria Conservatory in Italy, Erevan Conservatory in Armenia
and Northwestern University in Chicago. Marcin Parys won prizes and awards for his participation in the
Polish National Piano Competition, International Piano Competition of Koszyce, National Piano Competition
of Poland, International Piano Competition of Glubczyce and several other piano competitions throughout
Poland.

As winners of the Young Artists Competition, Parys and Biggs will each be featured in a concert tour of
Israel. OKIE presented the 2010 Young Artists Competition in collaboration with the University of Tulsa, the
Jewish Federation of Tulsa and the Blumental Music Center of Tel Aviv, named in honor of the late,
internationally renowned pianist, Felicja Blumental. The annual event was made possible with additional
support from the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Kerr Foundation, Tulsa Performing Arts
Center Trust, Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.