Shirley Givens
and
Harry Wimmer
The Shirley Givens & Harry Wimmer Memorial Fellowship
The Shirley Givens & Harry Wimmer Memorial Fellowship is awarded annually to a talented young artist for their participation in the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
In Memoriam
Shirley Givens was the beloved violinist, teacher, and long-time faculty member of the Juilliard School, Peabody Institute, and Mannes School of Music. Her husband, cellist and conductor Harry Wimmer, was her lifelong musical collaborator in addition to his own career as a performer and teacher.
Together, the two musicians had a special affection for Puerto Rico, whose wonderful cultural heritage they experienced during their two visits to the Island.
Invited to present master classes in 1991 to the members of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas as part of the Festival Casals, they also performed in a trio recital with the Chancellor of the Puerto Rico Conservatory, the pianist Samuel Pérez.
Returning two years later, they were honored to play a chamber music concert at Sala Casals, Don Pablo’s last home in the hills outside San Juan. Also joining them was Givens’ long-time Puerto Rican student Christian Colberg, who has since become Principal Violist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The family of Shirley Givens and Harry Wimmer is honored to continue this Fellowship, originally established in Shirley Givens’ name, to support classical music education in Puerto Rico.
2023 Shirley Givens and Harry Wimmer Memorial Fellow
Evan De Long, Violin
United States
Originally from Los Angeles, California, Evan De Long has been playing the violin since the age of eight, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Jorja Fleezanis and Grigory Kalinovsky. He recently finished his masters degree at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music, where he studied with Linda Wang and held a Graduate Teaching Assistantship.
Evan currently holds the principal 2nd violin position with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and also holds a position with the Boulder Philharmonic. He also plays as a regular substitute with both the Colorado Symphony and Opera Colorado. Evan completed a cruise ship contract with Lincoln Center Stage and Holland America Line in 2019, and performs concerts with the Range Ensemble quartet in Candlelight Concerts. Evan maintains a large private studio of both violin and piano students in the Denver Area.
2022 Shirley Givens Fellow
Henry Jenkins, Violin
Henry Jenkins, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, is a freelance violinist currently based in Indiana. After studying at the Oberlin Conservatory under Professor Milan Vitek, Henry completed his graduate studies with Professor Kevork Mardirossian at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Henry serves as Assistant Concertmaster in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony Orchestras and performs in the sections of the Owensboro Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, and Indianapolis Symphony. Henry also plays with the Iris Orchestra in Memphis and the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico.
2021 Shirley Givens Fellow
Sun Huh, Violin
Native Korean violinist Sun Huh has risen to acclaim around the world for her musicianship and extraordinary performances. She has played concerts as a soloist in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and is a prize winner of many national competitions in South Korea. Huh debuted as a concert soloist in Germany with “Neue Kammerorchester Düsseldorf” in the Mozart Festival under the baton of Rüdiger Bohn. She has had significant performance engagements as a soloist with German notable orchestras such as Collegium Musicum Jülich under the baton of Raymond Janssen and Neue Philharmonia Westfalen.
One of the recent highlights was a solo performance at the ceremony of the “UNHCR World Refugee Day” in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Huh has sat on the jury of international music competitions, including the Manhattan International Music Competition and the East Coast International Competition.
She has joined the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico which provides dynamic concerts to Puerto Rican communities as a musical representative for the D’Addario and the Titin Foundations since 2019. She most recently earned her Doctor of Music in Literature and Performance as a student of Mark Kaplan at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
2020 Shirley Givens Fellow
Nathaniel Shapiro, Violin
Swiss violinist, Nathaniel Shapiro is pursuing a Doctorate of Music in violin performance under the tutelage of professor Kevork Mardirossian at the Jacobs School of Music. Nathaniel was awarded a regional first prize in solo performance at the Concours Suisse de la Jeunesse Musicale.
Performing side by side with internationally renowned artists, Nathaniel will share his passion for music-making and pedagogy, participating in ICOPR’s performances, outreach events, and masterclasses for children and communities throughout Puerto Rico!
2019 Shirley Givens Fellow
Paula Lastra, Violin
Student of the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico
Paula Lastra, an 18-year-old violinist from Puerto Rico, is the recipient of the Shirley Givens Memorial Fellowship for the 2019 Festival. Currently studying at the Conservatoria de Música de Puerto Rico, she began studying violin at the age three. She is a Symphonic Experience Prize Winner and made her solo debut with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra.
2018 Shirley Givens Fellow
Javier Torres, Violin
Student of the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico
“It is a great honor to have been selected to participate in the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico Festival as a Shirley Givens Memorial Fellow. This is an experience that will help me to succeed in my future and I could not have done this without your help. I am grateful to Mr. Wimmer and to his family and friends for their great support.” -Javier Torres
Many thanks to our supporters of the endowed scholarship fund:
Shirley Givens & Harry Wimmer Memorial Fellowship
Susan Ashby
Michael Avsharian
Rhett Brandon
Tanya Carey
Rachel Carlin
John Chan & Fan Jian in honor of So-Yin Hui and Cheung-Ching Chan
Elizabeth and Jon Hochman
Francis Elliott
James Finerfrock
Susan Feiner
Helen Friedman
Marc Goloff
Jody Goodman
Bang Hee Lee
Reiko Hillyer
Reiko Hillyer
Katherine Kallick
Paul Kantor
Min Young Kim
Marilyn Kowal
Amy Little
Nicholas Mann
Nancy Mann
Catherine Maskell
The Metzger Family
Irene R. Miller
Shelley Mitnick
Krishnan Mody
Elizabeth Mooney
Sayuri Miyamoto
Hans Nebel
Roy Rhodes
Nathaniel Rosen
Robert H. Sanders
Rorianne Schrade
Steven Schwartz
Jacquie Sfeir
Leslie Shank
Jane Stewart
Michael Stewart
Anton Swensen Jr.
Lisa and Michael Terry
Lois Tilles
Elizabeth Tomic
Elena Tsvetkova
Jacqueline Weinstein
Thomas Whitman
Harry Wimmer
Tiana Wimmer