YAC 2010 OKIE: Oklahoma Israel Exchange

The East Wind Duo, comprised of Principal Flutist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Yossi
Arnheim, and Julia Rovinsky, Principal Harpist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; the winner of
2011 Young Artists Competition; and Nicole Biggs, winner of the 2010 Young Artists Competition
for pianists will all perform on April 17 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Liddy Doenges Theatre.
The program is presented by the Oklahoma Israel Exchange (OKIE) as the closing concert of the
2011 Young Artists Competition sponsored by OKIE.

The concert is 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 to
compete for the honor. The competition and the concert are sponsored by OKIE, whose mission is to
develop joint projects between Israel and the state of Oklahoma in the arts, education, agriculture,
commerce and economic development.

Young Artists Competition semi-finalists and finalists will perform for a panel of judges April 15 and
16 in Tyrrell Hall Auditorium at the School of Music of the University of Tulsa. The winner of the
competition will be announced at the 2011 Young Artists Competition concert at 3 p.m., April 17, at
the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Liddy Doenges Theatre.

The concert program will feature 2010 Young Artists Competition winner Nicole Biggs performing
Transcendental Etude No. 11, Concert Etude No. 3, and Ballade No. 2 by Liszt. She will also
perform Invention by Shmuel Malkin, an Israeli composer. The East Wind Duo will perform the
Allegro from Sonata in g minor by Bach and the Israeli Song Medley by Cohen/Lavri.
Biggs, a native Oklahoman, won last year's competition. She is a doctoral candidate at the University
of Oklahoma as a student of Dr. Jeongwon Ham. She earned an undergraduate degree from the
University of North Texas and a master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has
performed in numerous master classes with pianists such as Gary Graffman, Jerome Lowenthal, and
Abbey Simon, among others.

She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Weill Recital Hall in May 2006 and has performed
throughout the United States, China, Italy and England at venues such as the Oxford Philomusica
Piano Festival in England, Las Vegas Music Festival, China Central Television, Giovanni Paisello
Concert Hall in Italy, and with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Albuquerque Symphony
Orchestra.

Biggs has also performed at many universities across the United States including Indiana University,
the University of North Texas, Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University, the
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Oklahoma Baptist University, Case Western Reserve University,
the Cleveland Institute of Music, Oklahoma State University, the University of Central Oklahoma,
Oklahoma City University, and the University of Oklahoma.

She won the IBLA Grand Prize International Piano Competition and the Bradshaw and Buono
International Piano Competition. Biggs participated in numerous other competitions and won prizes
and awards from the Albuquerque Symphony Orchestra International Competition, 2008 Donna
Turner Smith Piano Competition, 2007 MTNA/OMTA Young Artist Piano Competition, 2004
Amadeus 20th Century Piano Competition, and the 1999 Texas Young Artists Competition.
Biggs was recently awarded a 2010 Yamaha In-Residence Fellowship. She is on the piano faculty at
the University of Missouri at Columbia where she coordinates the group piano program and teaches
applied piano and piano pedagogy. She will perform in Mongolia, Austria, and throughout United
States this year. Following her April 17th performance, Biggs will be featured by OKIE in a concert
tour of Israel as the winner of the 2010 Young Artists Competition.

The public is invited to attend both the competition events and concert recital. The cost to attend only
the competition events from noon until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 15, and Saturday, April 16, is $5
dollars per day, and a day pass may be acquired at the entrance to Tyrrell Hall at the University of
Tulsa. Piano students and piano teachers are invited to attend the competition events on a
complimentary basis.
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