For the second year in a row, OKIE will join the Youth Ambassador Student Exchange (YASE) program hosted by the America Israel Friendship League (AIFL). In the fall of 2006, Jenks High School senior, Andrew McQuary traveled to New York City, Washington D.C. and Israel along with a group of students from the United States, the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Israel.    Read more...

2008 Young Artists Competition The Oklahoma Israel Exchange is proud to announce the 2008 Young Artists Competition, June 14-15, 2008.  The poster and application form are available here. Deadline for application is April 1, 2008. The winner of the 2008 Young Artists Piano Competition will be presented in concerts and recitals throughout Israel in 2009, a recital performance during the 2009 OK MOZART International Festival, additional concert performances as arranged by OKIE, and will be offered management support and assistance for one year. The winner of the 2008 competition will be announced at the 2008 OK MOZART International Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on June 15 as part of the 2008 Young Artists Piano Competition Recital featuring Anna Starzec, the 2007 competition winner. This is the third year that the Young Artists Competition is presented by the Oklahoma Israel Exchange (OKIE) and hosted at OK MOZART. HOW TO APPLY To be invited to participate in this competition, applicants must be pianists between the ages of 21 and 28 and be currently enrolled in or have graduated from an Oklahoma institution of higher education. Read more... Young Artists Competition click here for details

2007 Young Artists Competition Announces Winner The Oklahoma Israel Exchange (OKIE) is proud to announce that the winner 2007 Young Artists Competition is Anna Starzec, a graduate student at Oklahoma City University majoring in piano performance. For the competition, Starzec performed the Grieg Concerto for Piano in a minor, Mozart FantasyII Sonate by Grazyna Bacewicz, a contemporary composer from Starzec's homeland of Poland.  She was presented to the public and performed the Bacewicz work at the Young Artists Competition Recital on Sunday, June 10, 2007, which was part of the OK MOZART International Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. in d minor, as A student of Prof. Amy I-Lin Chen, head of the piano program at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, Starzec has performed in Italy, Germany, Norway, Poland, and the United States. She has won the 3rd prize from the International Piano Competition of the Associazione F. Chopin in Rome, the Erazmus Sokrates Scholarship in Norway, and a commendation of Distinction at the Ibla Grand Prize in Sicily, Italy.  During her two years in Oklahoma, she has won the 1st prize of Oklahoma Music Teachers Association, the 2nd prize of the Oklahoma Community Orchestra Young Artists Competition, and the Oklahoma City University Concerto Competition.  She was also among the few pianists selected from around the world to participate in the 2007 Piano Texas International Academy and Festival this June. Read more...

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