SABIAN Announces 2011 SABIAN/PASIC Scholarship Winner

MEDUCTIC, Canada – (August 15, 2011) SABIAN is happy to announce that this year's SABIAN/PASIC Scholarship winner is Noam Bierstone of Toronto, Ontario. The scholarship is awarded annually to aspiring young musicians. Winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis, IN.

Noam is a third year student majoring in Performance Percussion at McGill University, where he studies with Aiyun Huang and Fabrice Marandola. He received the Schulich Scholarship upon his acceptance to McGill, where he is currently principal percussionist of the McGill Symphony Orchestra.

Noam’s young career has been much heralded. He won Grand Prize (ex-æquo) at the 2009 Canadian Music Competition in the 19–30 age group. He won both third prize and the Domaine Forget Prize at the 2009 OSM Standard Life Competition. In 2010, the Williamson Foundation for Music offered him a grant that he used to attend the Zivkovic International Summer Academy for Marimba and Percussion in Engers, Germany. And in 2011, Noam received the Austrian Society Scholarship from McGill University, providing him the opportunity to attend the Marimba Masterclass at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg in July.

Noam made his orchestral soloist debut with the Orchestre Metropolitain in February, 2011, performing Toshiro Mayuzumi’s Concertino for Xylophone. He was a finalist in the McGill Concerto Competition in February 2011 where he performed Nebojsa Jovan Zivkovic’s Concerto No. 2 for Marimba and Orchestra.

Noam’s current projects include a marimba/violin duet with Sarah Frank, and a five-piece ensemble called The Bombadils. Upon graduation, he intends to pursue percussion performance as a career.

About SABIAN

SABIAN is globally renowned as the world's leading designer and maker of cymbals, offering instruments and sounds for every musical application, playing level and price point. Endorsers include major artists Neil Peart, Jojo Mayer, Mike Portnoy, Dave Weckl, and Jack DeJohnette, as well as renowned percussionists from the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Opera House – Covent Garden and the Vienna Philharmonic. Situated in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, and with offices in the US, the UK and Europe, SABIAN is the world's most innovative cymbal maker. For more information about SABIAN and its products, please visit the company online at www.SABIAN.com.