The Winners of the 2022 Mary Hilem Taylor Competition are:

Benjamin Kremer, violin
‍1st Place Winner

Gioia Gedicks, violin
‍2nd Place Winner

Daniel Guevara, viola
‍3rd Place Winner

The other three Finalists that performed in the Final Round of the competition will each receive a $2,500 honorarium made possible by a generous support of Jo and Douglas Gressete and an anonymous donor:

Gabriel Esperon, violin
‍Megan Savage, cello
‍Moises Molina, violin

Meet Our Competition Finalists

Gabriel Esperon, violin

Age: 20
Vanderbilt University, Tennessee

Gabriel Esperon is in his junior year pursuing undergraduate degrees in Violin Performance and Economics with a minor in Business at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where he is the recipient of a prestigious full-ride merit and need-based Opportunity Grant.  At Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, he performs in the symphony and opera orchestras, plays in a chamber ensemble, and studies violin under the tutelage of Cornelia Heard. 

Gabriel has performed under world-renowned conductors such as Gerard Schwarz and José-Luis Novo while studying at the Eastern Music Festival as well as Michael Tilson Thomas. He is the Founder and Concertmaster/Leader of the conductor-less chamber orchestra Camerata di Magdalena, and as soloist with this ensemble he performed all four complete concerti of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” as well as concerti by Telemann and J.S. Bach. 

This past summer he studied at the Aspen Music Festival and School as a Fellow. He also attended the Perugia Music Festival in Italy where he was selected to perform as a soloist playing Mendelssohn’s “Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64.”  Gabriel served as Concertmaster of the Florida Youth Orchestra and Assistant Concertmaster at the Eastern Music Festival.  He is a two-time winner of the Music Club of Hollywood (FL) Competition.  Prior to attending Vanderbilt, Gabriel studied with Eric Berken and Robert Davidovici, and played in masterclasses with Zakhar Bron and Jeffrey Multer.  

Gabriel is committed to serving as a fundraiser and volunteer for a variety of need-based organizations.  As Founder of Camerata di Magdalena, he raised $13,000 in concert proceeds that were donated directly to the Holy Grill Ministry for Feeding the Homeless of Broward County, a cause for which he was featured by South Florida NPR.  At present, he serves his community by giving free violin lessons to low-income K-12 students through the W.O. Smith Music School in Nashville.

Gioia Gedicks, violin

Age: 23
Lynn University, Florida

Known for her vibrant performance style and engaging musicality, Gioia Gedicks is a classically trained violinist with a myriad of experiences and interests, including solo performing, chamber music, orchestra, musical theater (pit and on stage), dance pits, both free and stylistic improvisation, bands (rock, pop, country, and jazz), contemporary music, film orchestra, and teaching. Gedicks won first prize in the Lynn Conservatory Chamber Competition as first violinist of the Kourdisma string quartet (Lynn Conservatory at Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL), the Boston Conservatory at Berklee Concerto Competition (Boston Conservatory Orchestra, Boston, MA), the Lee Strebel Memorial Competition (Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Ithaca, NY), the Rhodes Competition (Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Springfield, MA), and was named alternate to the national Finals of the Music Teachers National Association Competition (MTNA).

She has performed as a soloist with the Boston Conservatory’s Hemenway Strings and Conductor’s Orchestra, as well as served as concertmistress with the Lynn Philharmonia and Boston Conservatory Orchestra and the Berklee Performance Orchestra. Gedicks has performed alongside the genre-defying band Time for Three, was a fellow of the Adirondack Performing Arts Fellowship, has performed and coached as an Artist in Residence for pianoSonoma directed by Michael and Jessica Shinn, and as an Emerging Artist with the chamber festival Music from Salem directed by Lila Brown. Gedicks has performed across the United States and throughout the world, including Germany, Spain, and Canada. Additionally, she is a featured soloist on a Cannes International Film Festival Official Selection, as well as featured on several albums released by singer/songwriter Charles Paul. Gedicks received her Bachelor of Music from Boston Conservatory at Berklee studying with Katie Lansdale, and is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at Lynn Conservatory with Guillermo Figueroa.

Daniel Guevara, viola

Age: 24
Lynn University, Florida

Violist and violinist Daniel Guevara has performed in orchestras conducted by world-renowned musicians such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Gerard Schwarz, Marin Alsop, and Giancarlo Guerrero.  He currently serves as a section violinist of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. His orchestral experience includes the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, The Villages Philharmonic, the National Youth Orchestra USA, and the Lynn Philharmonia.

Guevara began his violin studies the age of eight, with Evgenii Sapojnikov and Dimitri Petukhov at the Conservatorio Antonio María Valencia in his native town, Santiago de Cali, Colombia. In 2012, Guevara continued his musical studies in Miami, USA, at the New World School of the Arts under Professor Huifang Chen. An active chamber musician, Guevara has performed with two award-winning chamber groups, The Gallant String Quartet (2019-2020) and The Kourdisma Quartet (2021-2022), as second prize and first prize winners, respectively, of the Lynn Conservatory Chamber Music Competition. He has performed in a chamber music workshop side-by-side with renowned violinist Joshua Bell.  

Guevara’s passion for music has led him to be involved with music outside the stage. He was a violin mentor for the Plumosa School of the Arts Elementary, afterschool program Volta Music Foundation, and Nat King Cole Foundation during the summer. In addition to performing, Guevara has composed different works, including Rhapsody for Violin Solo, Piano Quintet No .1, and "Bewildering" for Bass Clarinet solo.  Guevara received his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Lynn Conservatory of Music where he studied with Professor Carol Cole, and he is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Viola Performance at Lynn Conservatory of Music where he studies with Professor Sheila Browne.

Benjamin Kremer, violin

Age: 21
Lynn University, Florida

Benjamin Kremer is from Charleston, South Carolina, and is currently studying at the Lynn Conservatory with Elmar Oliveira. He began studying the violin at the age of 5 with Mary Taylor, and has since studied with Sarah Johnson, Jan Mark Sloman, and Yuriy Bekker. He has also performed in masterclass for Robert McDuffie as part of the Labor Day Festival at Mercer University. Benjamin has performed as the winner of the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, a finalist in the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition, and was the winner of the 2021 John Oliveira String Competition.

As a chamber musician, he has performed in The Concert Series at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church as a member of prize-winning quartets in both the 2019 and 2021 Lynn Conservatory Chamber Music Competitions, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He has also performed as a young artist in concerts by the Bach Society of Charleston. Benjamin’s orchestral experience includes performing as concertmaster at the Brevard Music Center and in the violin sections of the All-National Honors Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and Palm Beach Symphony.

Moises Molina, violin

Age: 22
Lynn University, Florida

Violinist Moises Molina was born in Caracas Venezuela and began his musical studies in El Sistema Music program where he was also part of The Simon Bolivar Conservatory and The National Violin Academy with professor Camilo Acosta. Moises has performed at Walt Disney concert hall and The Hollywood Bowl with Gustavo Dudamel, Teresa Careño Hall with The Venezuela Philharmonic, Merkin Concert Hall Lincoln Square, Gala concerts at Kaufman Music Center as Ambassador as well chamber music concerts at Carnegie hall. In 2018 Moises was awarded as recipient of the Chang Chavkin Scholarship from the Chamber Music Center of New York while studying with Chin Kim and he is currently a recipient scholar of the Virtu Foundation pursuing his violin performance studies at Lynn University with Elmar Oliveira.

Megan Savage, cello

Age: 24
Lynn University, Florida

Cellist Megan Savage was born and raised in south Florida, where she studied under primary teachers Bill Hawthorne, Jackie Robbins, and Ross Harbaugh. Being one of five musical siblings, Megan was quickly immersed in auditions, competitions, and young artist showcases. She has been featured as soloist with the Treasure Coast Symphony, Treasure Coast Youth Symphony, and Stetson University Symphony as a concerto competition winner and Young Artist scholar, and was a finalist for the 2016 mARTies Award and 2022 John Oliveira String Competition. She has performed for masterclasses with cellists Zladomir Fung, David Finckel, Gary Hoffman, David Ying, Andres Diaz, David Hardy, and Richard Weiss, and pianists Rohan De Silva and Wu Han.

Megan maintains an active performing life as a substitute cellist with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera, Boca Sinfonia, and Venice Symphony, and has additionally performed with the Orlando Opera and Orlando Ballet companies. She has worked with conductors Michael Tilson-Thomas, Eric Jacobsen, Guillermo Figueroa, Joel Revzen, Joel Smirnoff, and has performed with artists including Yuja Wang, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Simone Porter. Megan has toured internationally with orchestras in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Wales, and England, and has performed in Carnegie Hall as member of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA).

Megan has been featured as a guest artist for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Summer Serenade concert series, performing with the Orlando Philharmonic String Quartet. Additionally, she has performed at the Gŵyl Beaumaris Festival in Wales as a member of the Barron String Quartet and the St. Paul Chamber Series in Boca Raton, Florida as member of the Obri Quartet. Megan has studied with members of the Emerson, Harlem, Jupiter, Arianna, Amernet, and Bergonzi String Quartets, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Most recently, Megan became the new member of the award-winning Kourdisma Quartet.

Megan received her bachelor’s degree from Stetson University as a recipient of the Duckwitz Talent scholarship where she studied with David Bjella and Dr. Jamie Clark. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Lynn Conservatory of Music as a student of David Cole.

Meet our Final Round Judges

Gerard Schwarz

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Dr. Hyunjee Chung

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Michael Linville

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First Round Judges

Evija Ozolins 

Concertmaster,
Palm Beach Symphony

Valentin Mansurov 

Principal Second Violin, Palm Beach Symphony

Chauncey Patterson

Principal Viola,
Palm Beach Symphony

Claudio Jaffé

Principal Cello,
Palm Beach Symphony

Juan Carlos Peña

Principal Double Bass,
Palm Beach Symphony

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