The reach of the Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition extends to the classical strongholds of San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Yet, some of the best classical musicians reside just across the causeway in Sacramento.

"Expanding the competition's reach – statewide – positions Mondavi Center as a major California performing arts presence, both in terms of the presenting season and as a destination for pre-professional young artists throughout the state," said Lara Downes, competition director and Mondavi pianist-in-residence.

"But this competition is also a good chance to highlight local talent and see what's happening here in the region."

The competition, open to musicians ages 10 through 17, continues to expand since its 2005 inception, when it was mainly a local contest. This year only 25 percent of the 120 competitors hailed from the greater Sacramento area.

Despite the large number of Bay Area competitors, local musicians took top honors at this year's festival. Audiences will see the winners in a 2 p.m. Sunday concert of solo and chamber works for piano, strings and voice at Mondavi's Studio Theater.

One memorable musician in this year's competition is 15-year-old pianist Kevin Sun. A 10th-grade student of Sacramento's Mira Loma High School, Sun took first prize in the senior division.

"At the competition, I remember he really stood out," said Downes. "He's a small guy, and serious looking. But what grabbed me was his Bach – which was bold and daring, and right on the edge."

A panel of internationally renowned musicians juried the competition, held in January. Each musician must perform one piece from the baroque or classical period, one piece from either the Romantic or Impressionist period, and one work written after 1950.

By all accounts, Sun made his biggest splash on Bach's Prelude from his English Suite No. 6.

"His Bach was almost jazzy. He was taking a lot of chances, and he was saying with that piece what music meant to him," she said. "This is a hard thing for a young student to do – to let that shine through. That's a mark of a very mature and strong musician."

Sun will perform the Bach prelude at the performance.

"I feel I'm most solid with this piece," said Sun, who has won several piano competitions in Northern California, including the top prize in the junior division of the Young Artists competition in 2007.

"I feel that the Bach prelude is a thin and structured piece, yet it carries intense emotion and passion that surfaces during some parts of the piece," he said. "And I think the reason I can comprehend it is because I believe the piece mirrors my personality."

The winner in the senior vocal category is 17-year-old Yelena Dyachek, a Sacramentan who transfixed judges with her performance of "La Separazione," a work for voice and piano by Gioacchino Rossini.

Sacramento Opera conductor Timm Rolek, one of the competition judges, knew that he had to choose a winner among young singers whose voices aren't fully mature. Typically, voices don't reach maturity until a singer reaches his or her late 20s.

"The most remarkable thing about Yelena is how advanced she was for her age. Her vocal production and breath control was that of a musician much older than she."

"Yelena was, totally, the most mature of the singers competing," Downes said. "She's a commanding presence. She's statuesque and has this big voice that's ripe beyond its years. It's a big instrument, and she's very, very musical."

Also performing next Sunday are San Jose pianist Alex Chien, a 10-year-old who took the grand prize in the junior division, and 14-year-old San Francisco violinist Evin Blomberg, who won the instrumental prize in the senior division. Two chamber ensembles will also perform.

One thing that Downes saw among local competitors was a surprising amount of poise and confidence. She believes that a town like Sacramento may offer a positive environment for the development of musical talent.

"Maybe Sacramento's outsider status and vibe is a good thing for talent that's nurtured here," said Downes. "We're not cocooned in a tradition of study and performance, and that can produce very independent voices and unfettered talent."

Rolek avidly seconds that notion.

"There's a great advantage to growing up in a place like Sacramento," he said.

Rolek, who spent his formative musical years in Minneapolis, knows what it means to grow up away from high-pressure musical cauldrons like San Francisco, New York or Chicago.

"In Minneapolis there was pressure to succeed, but it was nothing like the pressure you encounter when growing up in Chicago," he said. "In big cities, there's more of a parental and institutional pressure to excel and get into the junior division at Juilliard. That doesn't exist to the same degree in this geography."

Call Bee arts critic Edward Ortiz, (916) 321-1071.