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John Chen
Age 16, Lovettsville, Virginia
Scholarship to the International Keyboard Institute and Music Festival at Mannes College The New School |
When he was five, John Chen moved from Beijing, China, to the
United States. He discovered a new country and new love – playing the piano. His life has not been the same since. Today he is a high school junior in Virginia, a Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholar, and a student at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division where he studies with Matti Raekallio. But John’s life has had challenges, too. One was finding a place to live where he could play the piano over eight hours each day.
Moving to a location where he could practice, he began to “play music for the world to enjoy.” By age eleven, he won the grand prize in the World Piano Competition. By twelve, he had performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall five times. He won first prize in Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition and performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2 in G minor with the World Festival Orchestra in Cincinnati. At thirteen, he performed Peter Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat minor in Russia’s |
State Glinka Capella Concert Hall with the Saint Petersburg Orchestra. After winning a concerto competition in The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, John performed Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto no. 1 in E-flat major with the Pre-College Orchestra at Lincoln Center. Last February, John won first prize in the National Symphony Orchestra’s Young Soloist Competition. In July, he will once again perform Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto, this time with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D. C.
John still finds time to play at the Northern Virginia Sunrise Assisted Living residence and to give benefit concerts for Leesburg’s Loudoun Country Day School to provide scholarships for students of talent from diverse backgrounds.
What does he do in his spare time? John likes to read about everything, ride his bike, watch movies, and listen to operas, symphonies, and sound tracks of movie music. He says that one of the reasons he is participating in the PianoArts competition is because “it measures an all rounded musician instead of a playing machine.”
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Alison Chiang
Age 18, Plano Texas |
With each of her family’s moves, Alison Chiang discovered new opportunities as a student and performer of the piano. She was
born in Rochester, New York, where she began her studies at the age of five. Only two years later, she won first place in the Saint Charles Illinois State Music Competition. When Alison was eight, her family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where she continued her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Olga Radosavljevich, receiving the Olga Radosavljevich scholarship award. At age thirteen, Alison performed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major with the Lakeside Symphony. Two years later, Alison performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in B-flat major with the Cleveland Women’s Orchestra and the Lakeside Symphony. Robert Cronquist conducted all performances.
In 2007, Alison and her family moved to Plano, Texas, where Alison now studies with Pamela Mia Paul at the University of North Texas.
In 2008, Alison won the grand prize in the Vernell Gregg Young |
Artists’Competition and performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no. 2 in G minor with the Lewisville Lake Symphony. In 2009, she won the Collin County Young Artist Competition and performed Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in F minor with the Plano Symphony Orchestra.
Alison looks forward to the challenging PianoArts competition that requires a full solo recital, duo performances, and a concerto. What does she want the audience to hear in her performances? Alison says that she hopes that the audience will remember the different tone colors and expressions in each piece of music.
When she is not listening to piano music, Alison enjoys violin concertos and symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven and Peter Tchaikovsky, as well as Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
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Benjamin Hopkins
Age 20, Rochester, New York; |
Speaking about audiences at his performances, Benjamin Hopkins says that his goal is for the audience to hear something that opens their ears and hearts and gives them “a new and unforgettable experience.” That is an experience that Ben has on a regular basis as an avid concertgoer himself.
Now living in Los Angeles, Ben takes every opportunity to hear
world-class performers in concert and opera. He says that these experiences have been “invaluable in shaping my broader musical understanding and feeling for style.” He loves the symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven, especially Symphony no. 7. in A major, Opus 92, and is a huge opera fan. Ben also enjoys jazz; one of his favorite pianists is Keith Jarrett.
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A highlight of Ben’s performing experience was the opportunity to play Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Opus 16 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The Rochester Philharmonic League Young Artist Auditions presented him in this performance after he won their 2008 Special Award and Ness Award. Also in 2008, Ben won the first place prize in Rochester’s Hochstein School of Music and Dance Recital Competition. In 2007, he won first place prize in New York State’s 1000 Islands International Piano Competition.
A native of Rochester, Ben studies with Norman Krieger at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. When he can, Ben enjoys performing for diverse audiences, especially those still in high school. He believes strongly in reaching out to new audiences.
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Andrew Kim
Age 20, Los Angeles, California |
Listening to recordings of mezzo-soprano, Dame Janet Baker; cellist, Jacqueline du Pre; and violinist, Gidon Kremer inspired Andrew Kim to pursue a career as a concert pianist. When he was three years old, he began piano lessons. (Then he did not enjoy practicing.) As he matured and listened to performances by great artists, he discovered that music was a permanent part of his life.
Andrew says that painters, such as Marc Chagall, have also helped him to understand the beauty in a work of art. Through his piano performance, Andrew strives to create a work of art that is much
like the painting The Taking of Christ by the Italian Baroque master, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Andrews illuminates his thoughts by saying that the painting shows great technical facility, without showing off, and has an emotional, philosophical, intellectual, and religious depth.
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In addition to music in the piano repertory, Andrew enjoys the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, symphonies by Gustav Mahler, César Franck, Carl Nielson, and Serge Prokofiev, as well as Kindertotenlieder and Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen by Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht, and string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich.
What would Andrew like the audience to hear in his music? He responds, “The emotional depth, intelligence, and the cleanliness of my performance.” Andrew won the Sophia Guzik Foundation Scholarship Award at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he studies with Vitaly Margulis.
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Yesse Kim
Age 17, Ann Arbor, Michigan |
In a recent interview, Yesse Kim described her personality through reflections by her friends: fun loving, yet disciplined; emotional yet serious. Yesse, herself, says that she is “rational yet spontaneous." When asked what she would like the audience to hear in her music, she said, “…passion, enjoyment, and maturity.”
Reflecting her personality, Yesse’s performances have been enjoyed in Korea, China and many parts of the United States. Many were award-winning concerts. She was a recent winner in 2010 Dearborn Symphony Young Artists Auditions, performing Felix Mendelssohn’s Concerto Piano no. 1 in G minor with the orchestra. Also in 2010, Yesse was a prizewinner in Chicago’s Sejong Piano Competition.
After moving from Korea to Michigan in 2006, Yesse was the winner
in the Yamaha Music Teachers National Association in Michigan and the Michigan Music Teachers Association Concerto. She was also
a prizewinner in the Kingsville International Piano Competition. She made her orchestral debut at the age of nine with the Daejeon |
Sangrok Orchestra in Korea and later performed with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to China to perform as a part of the Korea-China Exchange Concert of Piano Prodigies.
In addition to performing wit the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, Yesse was a featured soloist with the Ann Arbor and Birmingham-Bloomfield symphonies. Yesse began her piano studies and the age of six and is currently a student of Panayis Lyras, who teaches at Michigan State University.
When Yesse is not listening to and performing the piano, she listens to jazz and lots of cello pieces, especially those composed by Astor Piazzola, Peter Tchaikovsky and Serge Rachmaninoff.
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David Yoshiaki Ko
Age 17, Millbrae, California
First Place Prize, Audience Communication Award, Best Performance of a Piano/Violin Duo |
Music is an “integral part of my identity,” says David Yoshiaki Ko.
His musical life began at four, in Japan, when David convinced his mother to accompany him to a piano studio where he could take piano lessons. When he was eight, and living with his family in San Francisco, David continued his piano studies at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he also took cello and composition lessons.
After graduating from high school at sixteen, David attended a summer master class at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. While there,
he was invited by Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling to study with him
at the Hanover State University of Music and Drama. Now seventeen, David spends several months of the year going back and forth
between Germany and America.
In 2007 and 2008, David received scholarships from the Chopin Foundation of the United States. He also won first place prizes at both the Pacific Musical Society Competition in San Francisco and the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition at Stanford University. In Germany, |
he was a prize winner at Lindau’s Rotary Jugend-Musikpris. Mindell Piano Competition at Stanford University. In Germany, he was a prizewinner at Lindau’s Rotary Jugend-Musikpris.
David wants to change the impression that classical music is dry and pretentious by helping audiences to experience the emotions and thoughts of the composer. David is able to see the impact of these kinds of programs when he performs outreach programs, such as performances in retirement residences and in 2008, participating in the Peninsula Symphony’s program for children in grades four and five in the San Francisco Bay area.
In the fall of 2010, David will become a full time student at both Columbia University and The Juilliard School of Music.
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Philip Kwoka
Age 18, Wellington, Florida |
A first generation American, Philip Kwoka was born in New York City
to Polish parents and grew up speaking both Polish and English. Not surprisingly, Philip is especially fond of compositions by Polish
composer Frédéric Chopin – an interest that led him to receiving
yearly scholarships in 2007 and 2008 from the Chopin Foundation of
the United States.
When Philip was in elementary school, his family moved to South
Florida, where he began piano studies with Roberta Rust at the Lynn University Preparatory School of Music. After graduating from high school, he was accepted at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he
is currently studying with Daniel Shapiro.
Philip says that he has an enormous passion for and “an insatiable desire to expand my knowledge of music.” His passion, studies, and disciplined efforts were rewarded in 2007, when he won first place
prizes with the Tampa Bay Symphony Young Artist Competition and |
the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. In 2008, he was also a prizewinner with the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Blount Slawson Young Artist Competition.
Philip likes challenges. He has learned six concertos, has a very large repertory,
and looks forward to the challenges of the PianoArts competition that includes solo and chamber music, as well as audience engagement that integrates speaking about the music and performing. When he is not practicing or studying piano repertory, he listens to a vast array of symphonic and chamber music. He also enjoys Florida lifestyle activities of skateboarding, surfing, tennis, and golf.
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Fan-Ya Lin
Age 20, Taipei, Taiwan and Ogden, Utah
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Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Fan-Ya Lin began piano study at age four.
With great love and passion for music, it is her ultimate goal to become a concert pianist. It is Fan-Ya’s dream to be a pianist who performs around the world, who brings the most uplifting experience to the audience, who shares the pure beauty of great composers' masterworks, and who inspires the listeners beyond the technique
and artistry of piano playing.
Through the years, she has won many competitions. The most significant was last March when she placed first in the 2010 Music Teachers National Association Steinway Young Artist National Piano Competition. Winning this award began the prior fall with state rounds. Shet won first place in the 2009 Utah Music Teacher National Association Young Artist Competition, then the South West Division. All competitions were in the senior division and included upper level college and graduate students. |
In 2009, Fan-Ya also received other awards that include third place in the Aurora Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, first place in the Utah Music Teacher Association Concerto Competition, third place in the Beethoven Club International Piano Competition, and first place in the Snowy Range Piano Competition,
Among the many music festivals Fan-Ya have attended are the Bowdoin Music Festival, Paris International Summer Session, Aspen Music Festival and Music@Menlo. She has played in the piano master classes given by renowned pianists and master teachers such as Ivo Pogorelich, Boris Berman, Nelita True, Dr. Boris Slutsky, Wu Han, Orli Shaham, Jeffrey Kahane, Gilbert Kalish, Lydia Artymiw, and Menahem Pressler.
In 2008, Fan-Ya was accepted into several prestigious music schools in Taiwan and in the United States. She chose to attend Weber State University, where she is the recipient of the Edna Ione Hall Scholarship, to study with Dr. Yu-Jane Yang.
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Tristan Savella
Age 18, Ithaca, New York |
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Now a student at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Tristan Savella’s life has been a musical journey beginning in Ithaca, New York, where
he was born, then to the Philippines, where he started piano lessons at the Yamaha School of Music. Returning to Ithaca when he was eight, he continued his piano studies and, in time, transferred to Miri Yampolsky at Cornell University. When he was thirteen, Tristan was accepted as a boarding student in Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy.
His journey has included performing in Weill Recital Hall in New York City’s Carnegie Hall after winning first place in the 2008 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition. In 2009, Tristan performed at the University of Miami as a finalist in National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts YoungARTS, a competition that usually has six to eight thousand applicants performing in nine different art forms. He was also a prizewinner in the 2007 Michigan Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition.
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Tristan has performed in master classes and studied with teachers from several different schools of music. During the past three years, he has studied with Phiroze Mehta at Ithaca College and Thomas Lymenstull at Interlochen Arts Academy. He is currently a student of Nelita True.
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Michael Stewart
Age 20, West Valley City,Utah
Second Place Prize, Junior Jury Prize |
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“I knew from a very early age that music, and especially the piano, would play
a pivotal role in my life,” says Michael Stewart. “The piano gives me motivation…
it provides an emotional and creative outlet… it has been a good friend…and it has taught me life skills such as being dedicated, patient, perseverant, and goal-oriented.” This has led Michael
to excellence in piano and academic performance. He has been on the Dean’s List at the University of Utah since 2007, is a member of three honor societies, was valedictorian of his high school class, and has received several academic awards, including the West Valley City Mayor’s “Star of Excellence” Award.
Highlights of his piano awards include first prizes in the Utah Symphony “Salute to Youth” Auditions, the University of Utah Concerto Competition, Aloha International Piano Competition in Hawaii, and the Coeur d’Alene Symphony National Competition in Idaho. He was also a prizewinner in the Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition in Maryland, and the Snowy Range Piano Competition in Wyoming.
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Michael’s goals are to complete his undergraduate studies and earn a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree that will prepare him to teach as a piano faculty member in collaboration with other faculty, and to research and write about music. He further plans to be actively engaged in improving his community by working on projects with service organizations. Michael is currently studying at the University of Utah with Susan Duehlmeier.
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Kai Talim
Age 17, Portland, Oregon |
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The Talim household is filled with music. Kai Talim might be practicing the piano, or the trumpet. His sister might be practicing the violin. Of course, they have lessons of all those instruments. When Kai takes practice break, he likes to
go outdoors to participate in a variety of sports, especially ultimate frisbee.
(He says that he enjoys the constant movement of the players.) Whether he
is playing on a sports team or performing in the youth symphony, Kai enjoys collaborating with others. Not surprisingly, he enjoys playing chamber music,
as well as concertos, and has performed piano concertos with the
Portland Youth Philharmonic, Rose City Chamber Orchestra and the Pacific Crest Sinfonietta.
The piano was Kai’s first instrument, and it is still his primary one. He began piano lessons at age six in Kobe, Japan. Continuing with his studies when he moved to Portland, Oregon, Kai says that when he began to study with Kelli Stephens, his interest in piano developed into a major one. Through the years, he has received support to continue his studies and awards. Kai received a grand piano through |
the Piano Santa Foundation. He won first place in the Suzanne Raines Young pianist Competition in 208 and with the Oregon Music Teachers Association Junior Piano Competition in 2007.
Kai enjoys playing his instruments for people unable to attend concerts, such as those in retirement residencies or hospitals. When describing what he would like his audience to experience, he uses a word others have used to describe his music, “sincere.”
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