Congratulations

Winners in 2024

We appreciate the strong results demonstrated in your work.

Thank you for your partipation

Wall of Honor

All-Winners will receive the email notification shortly with the further information regarding the Prize and Honor Recital

Elementary Division

Time Kan Janawisitphone

GRAND PRIZE

Piano Session

Time embarked on his musical journey in July 2022 when he was just four years old. Within a mere three months of starting piano lessons, Time's innate talent began to shine. He showcased his skills at the 10th Hong Kong International Youth Performance Arts Festival and amazed the audience with his impeccable performance. He was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal prize for his outstanding musical abilities. With the confidence gained from his initial success, Time was awarded the gold prize at 24th OSAKA International Music Competition, 1st prize at 3rd LUGANO International Music Competition, II prize at XI ODIN International Music Competition, and gold prize at London Young Musician. This accomplishment further fueled his determination to excel in his musical pursuits. The future holds great promise for Time as he embarks on a musical journey that is destined to be extraordinary."

Felix Zhu

HONORABLE MENTION

Piano Session

Felix Zhu began learning piano about a year ago. He is an enthusiastic player and enjoyed most of his practice pieces, especially classical music which, as parents, we found very interesting for his age. Therefore, we decided to have Felix participate in this competition to support his interest and hope to encourage him to continue with this interest. Felix participated in a recital a few months ago where he played He's a Pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean and Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. His teacher thought his performance went very successfully and provided very positive feedback for his tempo and dynamics.

Kameron Mizuta

FIRST PRIZE

Piano Session

Kameron Mizuta began learning the piano last summer (2023) and had quickly taken to the instrument. He loves music and particularly enjoys playing sing-a-long pieces that are familiar favorites, as well as learning new techniques and styles of music. He’s eager to continue developing his skills and growing his love for the piano.

Jolin Lin

FIRST PRIZE

String Session

Jolin has performed violin in BYSO from year 2023-2024 and participated in many time concerts. She got a silver medal in the competition of London young musician 2022-2023 season 2.

Olivia Lu

SECOND PRIZE

Piano Session

Olivia has been learning piano for two years. She has participated in a few competitions, such as Silver Medalist in the 2023 Classical Viennese Festival.

Junior Division

Calvin To

GRAND PRIZE

Piano Session

Calvin loves music and has been playing the piano for seven years. He also has studied cello for about four years now. Calvin has made significant progress in his music studies and received high marks with distinction for his piano and cello exams from Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) and Trinity College London. He received the RCM Regional Gold Medal for his level 6 exam. He serves as the cello section leader in his school orchestra and is also a cellist in one of the string quartets at The Music Matters Foundation, performing regularly for charitable and educational communities. Additionally, he has participated in various local and international music competitions, receiving top awards. Outside of music, Calvin enjoys playing various sports such as ultimate frisbee, flag football, basketball, and badminton.

Jocelyn Chen

FIRST PRIZE

Piano Session

-Seattle International Piano Festival Bach 2023 Gold Medalist (Age 11 Group) -UK International Music Competition Online 2023 Season Four First Prize Winner (Youth Age 11-13 Group)

Grace Cai

THIRD PRIZE

Piano Session

FIRST PRIZE Winner of the 2024 "Golden Classical Music Awards" International Competition Silver Prize Winner of the UK Elizabeth International Music Competition 2023 Season 2 Third Prize Winner of the UK International Music Competition 2023

Stephen Chen

GRAND PRIZE

Piano Session

Growing up in the greater Richmond area of Virginia, Stephen S. Chen is currently studying under Dr. Yinfei Wang to pursue his pianist dream. Stephen started his piano journey at age five and a half with Ms. Ruta Smedina-Starke. Stephen won many competitions crossing international, state, and district levels. He was placed 1st in the V International Chopin Competition in Vienna, XV Savshinsky International Music Competition, OPUS Music Competition, American Protégé International Competition, Stockholm Tenth International Music Competition, Carles & Sofia International Piano Competition, Vienna Virtuoso International Competition, Charleston International Competition, Elite International Music Competition, International Youth Music Competition, and American Music Talent Competition. He also received different prizes from the Thomas Hulbert International Piano Competition, San Francisco International Piano Competition, International Young Artist Piano Competition, Enkor International Music Competition, Feurich International Competition, Artcial International Piano Competition, the Pacific International Piano Competition, International Grande Music Competition, and Bradshaw & Buono Piano Competition. He won first place in the VMTA (Virginia Music Teacher Association) State Auditions in 2022, second in 2021, and third in 2023. Additionally, he won first place in RMTA (Richmond Music Teacher Association) Central Virginia District Auditions in consecutive years (2021-2024), the Bach Competition, and the Sonata Competition. Stephen received the Student of the Year 2022 Achievement Award and the 2023 Summer Music Camp Scholarship from RMTA. Stephen achieved his Carnegie Hall and Ehrbar Saal Vienna performance debuts in 2023. He was invited to perform at the Washington International Piano Festival 2023 and 2024. He had masterclasses with Professor Vladimir Kharin (University of Music and Performance Arts, Vienna), and Daniel Adam Maltz (Fortepianist based in Vienna). Stephen regularly performs as a volunteer at greater Richmond area retirement centers. Besides playing piano, Stephen loves reading and math. He received the grand award (99%) from the John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Testing in 2021.

Alyson Lin

SECOND PRIZE

Piano Session

Lucy Huang

HONORABLE MENTION

Piano Session

Calvin To

FIRST PRIZE

String Session

Katherine Zhu

SECOND PRIZE

Piano Session

Katherine started learning piano at the age of six and gave her first public performance at the age of nine . She won the Bach Festival Piano Competition in 2023 with a Silver Medal, won a Bronze Medal in April 2024 for the Northwest Classical Viennese Festival and the Third Prize in the Junior Category of the Global Phiharmonic 2024 Music Competition as well.

Ethan Tong

HONORABLE MENTION

Piano Session

Mandi Dou

FIRST PRIZE

String Session

My name is Cindy Dou. I am thirteen years old, and I live in Redmond, Washington with my parents and younger sister. I am an eighth grader at The Bear Creek School. I have been playing piano for more than eight years – since I was five. I received Silver in Pacific Northwest Piano Competition 2023 and Bronze in Chopin NW Competition 2024.

Elizabeth Yu

THIRD PRIZE

Piano Session

Elizabeth has performed in many recitals and concerts and applied for other competitions.

Intermediate Division

Nina Iorik

GRAND PRIZE

Nina Iorik is an outstanding 13-year-old pianist residing in Seattle, Washington. She started her musical journey at the age of nine and currently studies with prominent pedagogue Dr. Nino Merabishvili. Nina combines her piano playing with harpsichord and organ studies under Dr. Wyatt Smith. Nina is also a student of the Seattle Chamber Music Academy (SCMA) and has performed numerous times with the SCMA’ s chamber music program at Benaroya hall, Seattle. Nina has also taken masterclasses with many acclaimed pianists, such as Robert Shannon, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Alvin Chow, Steven Spooner, Natalia Trull, Anne-Marie McDermott, Joseph Rackers, Marina Lomazov, Eleonora Karpukhova, Paige Roberts Molloy and others. Nina is also a harpsichord student and continuo player at the Early Music Youth Academy (Seattle), which is part of the Seattle Historical Arts for Kids Society. As a harpsichordist, Nina took lessons with acclaimed harpsichordists and fortepianists such as David Breitman and Mark Edwards (Oberlin Conservatory of Music), and Jillon Stoppels-Dupree. Nina is also a young composer and writes classical solos and duets for different instruments. Her works are used by local piano teachers for intermediate students. In 2023, Nina won first place with her musical composition at the Reflections PTA Art Competition. As an addition to her music studies, Nina is an active member of several musical non-profit organizations: Back to Bach International Music Society, ConChord Music (Music for mental health) and Project CliKK (diversity and accessibility for musicians). Nina is giving free recitals and lectures about classical music at local schools, senior homes, and fundraising events. Nina is a gifted musician with a deep sense of music. Despite her young age, Nina has won many awards at regional and international competitions. She also takes part in music festivals in Europe and USA, such as Oberlin Piano festival 2023 (Ohio, USA), Peng Piano Academy 2022 with full scholarship (California, USA), Piano loop Festival 2022 (Croatia), Seattle Young Artists Music Festival 2023 (Washington state, 2023), Russian Chamber Music Festival (Washington ,USA, 2020- 2023), Bach International Music Festival (Seattle, USA, 2020-2024), SonaFest (Washington state, 2021-2023), Virtuoso Artists Seattle International Piano Festival (2021). Awards: • Pacific Northwest Piano Competition 2022 /23 Gold and Silver Medals. • Grand -Pri x in chamber program and Gold medal in solo program at the International Music Competition " N ouvelles Etoiles" ( France, Paris, 2023 ) . • Two Gold with scholarship and one Silver meda l s at the Russian Chamber Music Festival in Seattle 202 0/21/22 ) • Two Gold and Silver medal s at the (Sonata-Sonatina Festival, Seattle 202 1 /22/23 ) • Seattle International Bach Piano Festival : Disting uish Gold Medal ist in numero us years 2020 /21/22/23) as well as Award of excellence for the exceptional performance on a harpsichord in 2023 . • Silver medal at the F. Chopin Piano Competition, Northwest Division, 2022 . • Two Silver medal s at the Pacific International Piano Competition, 202 1 /22. • Finalist of the César Franck International Piano Competition, Belgium 2022.

Ashley Chen

THIRD PRIZR

Riane Chen

FIRST PRIZE

Riane has been learning piano and cello since age six, having participated in numerous music competitions both in Taiwan and the United States.

Donovan To

FIRST PRIZE

Donovan loves music and has been playing piano for about 10 years (since he was five). Before the pandemic, he started learning the violin and has been playing violin for about five years. Donovan has been progressing through his music studies and earned high marks with distinction in piano and violin exams including Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) and Trinity College London. He also received the RCM National Gold Medal for level 8, and Regional Gold Medals for levels 6 and 7. He participates in the school orchestra as the concertmaster. He was accepted to the 2024 WMEA All-State Philharmonic Strings for violin. He plays as the first violinist in the string quartet of The Music Matters Foundation which he performs regularly at charitable and educational communities. He competed in various local and international music competitions for both piano and violin and received top awards. Outside of music, he enjoys various sports including cross-country, badminton, football, and ultimate frisbee. He loves to read and draw in his spare time as well as compete in scholastic chess tournaments.

Katherine Huang

THIRD PRIZE

Donovan To

FIRST PRIZE

Sophie Li

SECOND PRIZE

Grant Su

HONORABLE MENTION

Grant Su, 13 years old, RCM Level 10 candidate, is focused on mastering complex repertoire and refining technical skills, aiming to achieve a high level of artistry and expression. His commitment to music and continuous pursuit of excellence reflects his dedication to the art.

Emma Shi

FIRST PRIZE

Passed Trinity College London Violin level 8 with Merit Awarded First Prize in the Golden Classical Music Awards in the Summer of 2023 Awarded First Prize in International Music Competition Grand Prize Virtuoso in Summer of 2023

Cindy Dou

THIRD PRIZE

Ziyu Dong

HONORABLE MENTION

Malaveka Moothedath Jagadeesh

THIRD PRIZE

Malaveka is a high school sophomore that has been learning violin for about 5 years. She has recently completed the Trinity grade 4 exam with merit and hopes to continue violin through high school and beyond.