(Winston-Salem) Violinist Dustin Wilkes-Kim, an 11^th grader in the School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), recently won second place at the Hilton Head (S.C.) Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. 

The Winston-Salem native played Prokofiev's Concerto No. 1 in D major.   He received a cash award of $500 and an invitation to return to Hilton Head in June to perform several concerts for the community.

Wilkes-Kim studies at UNCSA with faculty-artist Sarah Johnson.

“Dustin continues to distinguish himself throughout the Southeast,” said School of Music Dean Wade Weast.  “His success is testament to his talent and hard work, and the excellent training provided by faculty-artists such as Sarah Johnson.”

In June 2012, Wilkes-Kim won first prize in the junior division of the North Carolina Symphony Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryan Youth Concerto Competition in Raleigh. In 2011, he was the unanimous choice of the judges to win at the Regionals of the Music Teachers National Association’s (MTNA) Junior Strings Competition in Columbus, Ga.  He has soloed with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Salisbury Symphony and Danville (Va.) Symphony Orchestra.

As America’s first state-supported arts school, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a unique stand-alone public university of arts conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a degree-granting institution that trains young people of talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

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