CHAMPAIGN — Junior Daniel Cheng won a first-place award of $500 in the 2009 Young Baroque Artists Competition, held April 4 at University Place Christian Church.

Cheng also won a share of the second-place $300 award, performing with a trio. He was one of four Uni students who competed. The others were junior Katherine Buzard, sophomore Wynee Bao, and freshman Kathy Qiu.

Sponsored by the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH), the contest attracted 11 entrants, including two trios, for a total 15 students. Here are the results:

• First Place ($500) — Daniel Cheng (Uni junior), piano
• Second Place ($300) — Trio featuring Aaron Schwartz, violin; Margaret Camp-Blair, cello; Daniel Cheng, piano
• Third Place ($200) — Pierre Viallant, cello
• Honorable Mention — Katherine Buzard (Uni junior), soprano
• Honorable Mention — Kathy Qiu (Uni freshman), piano
• Honorable Mention — Aaron Schwartz, violin

All the winners will be featured in an upcoming BACH concert 7:30 p.m. May 24 at the Sinai Temple in Champaign.

For the participants, a contest like this is yet another opportunity to develop their skills.

"What I think competitions do is they help you really focus on a piece and refine it so you make it as good as you can," said Cheng.

Buzard agreed: "I don't really do competitions very often, so this is a good chance for me to perform and work really hard on a certain few pieces."

Here are the selections that the four Uni competitors performed. Musicians are listed in alphabetical order:

• Wynee Bao, piano
  J.S. Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier I: Prelude and Fugue in E minor

• Katherine Buzard, voice
  Handel aria, Joshua: "O had I Jubal's lyre"
  J.S. Bach aria, Magnificat: "Quia respexit"
  J.S. Bach aria, St. Matthew Passion: "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken"

• Daniel Cheng, piano
  Scarlatti, Sonata in A major, Longo 345; Scarlatti, Sonata in D minor, Longo 422

• Daniel Cheng, piano; Margaret Camp-Blair, cello; Aaron Schwartz, violin
  Handel, Trio Sonata in F major

• Kathy Qiu, piano
  J.S. Bach, Chromatic Fantasy

"I think this competition is good for promoting baroque music among young people," noted Qiu.

Earlier this year, Cheng won first place in the Illinois State Music Teachers Association senior-level piano competition held Nov. 15 at Wheaton College.

Qiu won the Gail and Harry Adams Young Artists Competition held Jan. 25 at St. James United Methodist Church in Danville. Cheng won third place in that contest.