American Protege International Music Competitions at Carnegie Hall

International Competition of Romantic Music 2021

The American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music is open to instrumentalists (piano, piano duo, winds, strings, chamber orchestras, voice) of all nationalities and countries. Participants are required to submit video recording materials for the audition. Multiple winners will be chosen in each age category.

American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music 2021 attracted the largest number of very competitive applicants on record from 6 countries, including the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea.


 

Awards


Since the situation with COVID-19 Global Health Crisis is still uncertain, winners will be offered to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the dates to be announced, or to receive a Winner’s Package by mail.

Special prizes for best performances may be awarded based on the judges’ recommendations.

Judges


 

Four qualified judges will evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent; their students are not allowed to apply this season.

Dr. Sophya Genis is invited as a Chairwoman of the Competition 2021. Mrs. Genis holds a Doctor of Music Arts Degree. She studied piano with such renowned professors as Alexander Yoheles, Yakov Milstein and Yakov Zak.

International Competition of Romantic Music 2021 Results:

Judges Distinction Award (Plaque Trophies) Winners

Carnegie Hall Piano Competitions

Grace Wang studies piano with Dr. Jonathan Bass at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Grace has won the first place with Judges’ Distinction in the 2021 American Protégé International Concerto Competition, first prize in the 2021 GLORY Int’l Romantic Music Competition, first place in the 2021 American Protégé International Piano and String Competition, and first prize in the Great Composers Competition 2021 Masters of Concerto and 2021 Best Chopin Performance. She has also been awarded first place in the Piano Teacher’s Congress of New York Honors Program, first prize with a perfect score in the Crescendo International Music Competition, first prize in the American Protégé Talent competition. Grace has performed numerous times at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall Piano Competitions

Grace Peng, from Atlanta, Georgia, began studying piano at the age of five. Currently, she studies with Dr. David Fung, but her primary teachers have included Raffi Besalyan and Elena Cholakova. Her accolades include being a laureate of the ENKOR International Piano Competition, Nashville International Piano Competition, Steinway Junior Piano Competition, a semifinalist of the William Knabe Piano Competition, and a four-time winner of the Georgia Music Teachers’ Association auditions. She has participated in several international music festivals, including the John Perry Academy, Lee University Piano Festival, and Bowdoin International Music Festival, where she has studied with pianists such as Natalya Antonova, Alan Chow, John Perry, and Ran Dank. Outside of solo piano, Grace is the pianist of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Sycamore Piano Trio, which has won the Franklin Pond Chamber Music Competition. 

Carnegie Hall Piano Competitions

Grace Navarro is a seventeen year old Mezzo-Soprano from Los Angeles County. She’s a senior at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studies Opera. Grace also studies at Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. She will begin her third year with them in 2022. Grace is an alumni of Washington National Opera’s Institute for High School students. In 2019, she participated in LAO’s Opera Camp and performed in Then I Stood Up: A Civil Rights Cycle. During that summer, she was also in the California Philharmonic Chorale and performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall. She’s an honorary member of Cal Tech’s Chamber Choir and Glee Club. This year, Grace was a semifinalist in Spotlight at the Music Center of LA Opera. About two years ago, she was a Los Angeles Rotary Club Pageant of the Arts Finalist and First Place Winner in her district.

Carnegie Hall Music Competitions

Ryan Lee, who has just turned 13, was inspired to learn to play the cello after hearing Bach’s cello suites when he was 9. He now studies cello with Brady Anderson in Pleasanton, and is in his school orchestra. Ryan loves performing, whether for a recital or for a competition. He has won many awards, including first prize in the San Francisco International Innovative Music Competition (SFIIMC), the North California Young Talents Music Competition, and the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) VOCE Alameda County section competition. He has also won awards in the VOCE California State Final, the California American String Teachers Association (CalASTA) – San Francisco competition, United States International Music Competition (USIMC), the Korean-American Music Supporters’ Association Competition (KAMSA), the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC),  and the International Grande Music Competition (IGMC). 

Carnegie Hall Music Competitions

James Tsaggaris started piano lessons when he was 5.5 years old. He passed the California Certificate of Merit level 9 exam at 13 years of age and is currently working towards the advanced level certificate. In 2021, he competed in person at the United States Open Music Competition in Oakland, California winning First Place in the Treasury of U.S.A. Composers and Second Place in the Showcase Piano Solo against older kids. He also won First Place in the 2021 U.S. International Open Music Competition, as well as First Place in the 2021 American Fine Arts Festival Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition. In 2020, he won First Place in the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music and American Fine Arts Festival Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition. Besides music, James also loves inventing things. His design of a mechanism to automatically flip music sheets won First Prize at the 2020 Synopsis Science Fair.

Carnegie Hall Music Competitions

Evangeline Lien made her public solo piano debut recital at the age of 9. The unique sound of the viola attracted her attention, which led her to transition to a violist. She was frequently invited to perform in mayor recitals, churches, and senior homes.  By the age of 11, she had won numerous international competitions including the 1st prize of the American Protege International Music Talent Competition, 1st prize of the Golden Classical Music Awards, 1st prize of the International Music Competition “Bonn and Salzburg” Grand Prize Virtuoso with invitations to perform at Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and Solitär Mozarteum in Salzburg, 1st prize of the Greece Muse International Competition along with the 3rd prize of the overall winners,  1st prize with Menzione Speciale of the 31st Young Musician International Competition “City of Barletta”,  1st place of the 21st Century Talents Music Competition, 1st prize of the IMKA Music Competition, and 1st prize of the Charleston International Music Competition. 

Carnegie Hall Music Competitions

Olivia Yu, from Lincoln Nebraska, is currently a 1st grader at the Maxey Elementary School. She started to learn piano at five years old with Dr. Feifei Jiang and Dr. Hua Jiang at the JF International Music Academy in Lincoln. Olivia practices piano joyfully and persistently. She was awarded the first place of the U.S. division of the 2021 Conero International Piano Competition and a scholarship to participate in the Young Musician Program of the 2021 Conero International Piano Festival. She was also a prize winner of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition in 2021 and the International Piano Competition Online in 2021. Olivia enjoys performing in public and performed in several concerts at the Conero International Piano Festival in Kansas City in 2021 as well as many local music events. She also loves reading and drawing.

Carnegie Hall Music Competitions

Andrew Lun is a seven years old boy from New York City. He is a second grader at St. Bernard’s School. He started his formal piano studies with Fumiko Honda Bauer when he was five and a half. After his first six months of study, Andrew started to make incredible progress and during the next year he rapidly learned the following works: all fifteen Inventions of Bach, three waltzes and a polonaise by Chopin, and several classical Sonatinas. Andrew is already starting to make his mark as a performer. He was a Gold Prize winner of the 2021 International Young Artist Competition, also a Grand Prix winner of the Music-Fest Rising Talents Festival and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. Besides playing the piano, Andrew enjoys Math, reading, chess, tennis and learning different languages. He is also a student at School of American Ballet.

Winners by Age Category

NameAgeCountry/State
Young Musicians Category, Age 5 to 10:
First Place Winners
Olivia Yu, piano6Lincoln, NE
Student of Dr. Feifei Jiang and Dr. Hua Jiang  
Andrew Lun, piano7New York, NY
Student of Fumiko Honda Bauer  
Julia Gentry, piano10Newport Beach, CA
Student of Ana Maria Eckstein  
Maxwell Brown, violin10Wilmington, DE
Student of Shelley Beard Santore  
Ryusei Kobayashi, piano10Rolling Hills Estates, CA
Student of Masumi Maeda  
Yi Ting Lim, cello10Singapore
Student of Professor Natasha Liu  
Zoe Augusto Pook, piano10Semarang, Indonesia
Student of Midya Wirawan, LRSM  
Second Place Winners
River Brown, violin5Wilmington, DE
Student of Shelley Beard  
Emma Zhou, piano8Getzville, NY
Student of Dr. Violeta Arakelova and Diana Kezerashvili
Jacob Frame, piano8Katy, TX
Student of Alina Uddin  
Jundi Ke, piano8Hollywood, FL
Student of Zheng Wang and Zhangqian Huang  
Lena Okada, piano8Rolling Meadows, IL
Student of Midori Nagasaka  
Carissa Darmawan, piano9Austin, TX
Student of Julia Hsiao  
Helun Yang, piano9Irvine, CA
Student of Cheng Zhu  
Kyle Tanaka, piano9Palatine, IL
Student of Midori Nagasaka  
Rachel Wang, piano9Acton, MA
Student of Yidan Guo  
Yoojun Curtis Lee, violin9Singapore
Student of Helena Dawn Yah  
Boyou Huang, piano10Champaign, IL
Student of Jing Hao  
Katie Moon, violin10Harbor City, CA
Student of Diana Kim  
Kaylah Liu, piano10Sandy, UT
Student of Ya Liu  
Third Place Winners
Daniel Frame, piano10Katy, TX
Student of Alina Uddin  
Grace Guo, piano10Lexington, MA
Student of Andrew Goodridge  
Mia Turakhia, violin10Hillsborough, CA
Student of Alena Tsoi-Barantschik  
Selina Dong, piano10Draper, UT
Student of Ya Liu  
Honorable Mention
Steven Si, piano8Austin, TX
Student of Julia Hsiao  
Leem Jia En, piano10Singapore
Student of Khoong Shok Meng  
   
Junior Category, Age 11 to 14:
First Place Winners
Evangeline Lien, viola11La Verne, CA
Student of Chu-Ping Lin  
Sarah Qistina Lim, voice11Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Student of Cha Seng Tiang  
Alex Kim, piano12Mountain View, CA
Student of Jinhee Kim  
Gina Fanelli, piano12Morrow, OH
Student of Takako Hayase Frautschi  
James Yan, piano12Champaign, IL
Student of Jiafeng Yan and Jing Hao  
Katherine Yaya Wang, piano12Carmel, IN
Student of Phoenix Park-Kim  
Cynthia Huang, cello13La Jolla, CA
Student of Ruslan Biryukov  
Ryan Lee, cello13Dublin, CA
Student of Brady Anderson  
David Deutsch, piano14San Diego, CA
Student of Tatiana Stignev  
Gahyeon Yoon, clarinet14Los Gatos, CA
Student of Katie Ryu  
Isaac Sohn, piano14Irvine, CA
Student of Kookhee Hong  
James Tsaggaris, piano14San Jose, CA
Student of Nataly Gingis  
Kenan Begovic, piano14Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Student of Belinda Juang  
Oliver Kahng, violin14West Orange, NJ
Student of Sharon Cho  
Theodore Tak, cello14San Jose, CA
Student of Jonathan Koh  
Piano Duo/ Four Hands:  
April Yang, piano14East Amherst, NY
Kevin Yang, piano15East Amherst, NY
Students of Violeta Arakelova  
Second Place Winners
Akshatha Arunkumar, piano11Cupertino, CA
Student of Matt Wang  
Ethan Zhang, piano11Naperville, IL
Student of JeongSoo Kim  
Angelina Wang, piano12Farmington, CT
Benjamin Lim, piano12Beverly Hills, CA
Student of Sung Eun Lee  
David Mun, piano12Tenafly, NJ
Student of Juny Jung  
Lemi Okada, piano12Rolling Meadows, IL
Student of Midori Nagasaka  
Lucas Wang, violin12Los Altos, CA
Student of Iskandar Widjaja  
Roy Wang, piano12Champaign, IL
Student of Jing Hao  
Eleanor Yu, piano13San Jose, CA
Student of Yo Han Kim  
Wendy Liu, violin13Cupertino, CA
Student of Zheng Zeng  
Anna Lui, piano14South Jordan, UT
Student of Ya Liu  
Annika Shivam, piano14Austin, TX
Student of Julia Hsiao  
Beverlyn Tsai, piano14Irvine, CA
Student of Jane Jung  
Claire Wang, piano14Ann Arbor, MI
Student of Yangwei Situ  
Daniel Mun, piano14Tenafly, NJ
Student of Juny Jung  
Joseph Padalecki, piano14Concord, CA
Student of Stephanie Pai  
Kristy Luk, piano14Hong Kong
Maya Fu, piano14Superior Township, MI
Student of Michele Cooker  
Sean Park, piano14Edgewater, NJ
Student of Simon Juny Jung  
Zijing Zhang, piano14Saratoga, CA
Student of Frank Levy  
Piano Duo/ Four Hands:  
Joshua Hana, piano10Austin, TX
Samuel Hana, piano12Austin, TX
Students of Julia Hsiao  
Third Place Winners
Alex Xu, piano12Potomac, MD
Student of Max Foster  
Alice Nadauld, piano12Salt Lake City, UT
Student of Lindsey Wright  
Andrew Gong, violin12Saratoga, CA
Student of Wangchen Long  
Chelsea Chen, piano12Irvine, CA
Student of Miranda Wu  
Alexander Brown, piano14Irvine, CA
Student of Minako Horimura  
Cara Kim, piano14San Ramon, CA
Student of Junghee Park  
Clarissa Joy Lee, violin14Singapore
Student of Andrea Lin  
Honorable Mention
Siboney Oviedo-Gray, piano13Rye, NY
Student of Peggy Reich  
Sofia Lee Lugo, cello13Wilton, CT
Student of Dr. Sara Bennett Wolfe  
   
Intermediate Category, Age 15 to 18:
First Place Winners
Catherine Li, piano15San Jose, CA
Student of Dr. Zhao Zhao Yang  
David Lee, piano15San Jose, CA
Student of John McCarthy and Richard Cionco  
Jaehyun Lim, clarinet
15Saratoga, CA
Student of Young Park  
Sophie Zhu, piano15Williamsville, NY
Student of Violeta Arakelova  
Chantale Tso, violin16Fremont, CA
Student of Ker Qi  
Ellie Lee, violin16San Diego, CA
Student of Michael Tseitlin and Irina Tseitlin  
Francesco Severino, piano16Porter Ranch, CA
Student of Violette Hu and Robin Sharp  
Grace Yang, cello16San Ramon, CA
Student of Jehah Han  
Julianna Owyang, Harp16Sunnyvale, CA
Student of Linda Wood Rollo  
Nathan Mo, piano16Herndon, VA
Student of Evelyn Mo  
Alyssa Wu, cello17Diamond Bar, CA
Student of Ling Yan and  
Brandon Lee, flute17Riverside, CA
Student of Yongmi Choi  
Grace Peng, piano17Alpharetta, GA
Student of David Fung  
Grace Navarro, voice17San Marino, CA
Student of Millicent Scarlett and Monica McCullough
Grace Wang, piano17Andover, MA
Student of Dr. Jonathan Bass  
Joshua Kave, viola17Tarzana, CA
Student of Jonathan Moerschel  
John Matters, violin18Milton, MA
Student of Naoko Tanaka and Lynn Chang  
Piano Trio:  
Jaehyun Lim, clarinet15Saratoga, CA
Steven Jeon, viola15San Jose, CA
Claire Lee, piano15San Jose, CA
Students of Sonyoung Kang  
Piano Trio:  
Frances Kueper, violin16Cupertino, CA
Student of Seo Hee Byun  
Cindy Xu, viola16San Jose, CA
Student of Yen-Yin Lee  
Sabrina Ning, piano16Cupertino, CA
Student of Maggie Lee  
Second Place Winners
Audrey Fang, piano15Williamsville, NY
Student of Violeta Arakelova  
Christina Huang, piano15San Jose, CA
Student of Zhao Zhao Yang  
Dixon Yang, violin15Fremont, CA
Student of Ker Qi  
Elisabeth Floyd, piano15Sunnyvale, CA
Student of Erna Gulabyan  
Emily Kim, cello15Irvine, CA
Student of Jenny Oh  
Emma Leifer, violin15New York, NY
Student of Eriko Sato  
Joon-Hyung Noh, voice15Los Angeles, CA
Student of Sang Keun Chang  
Maxwell Huang, piano15Natick, MA
Student of Faina Kofman  
Tiffany Lim, piano15Fremont, CA
Student of Anna Poklewski  
Alan Ma, piano16Portland, OR
Student of Elena Istratova  
Alexa Chen, harp16Pleasanton, CA
Alicia Lee, piano16Cupertino, CA
Student of Zhaoni Chen  
Benjamin Who, piano16Sugar Land, TX
Student of Jenny Undercofler  
Brian Nguyen, piano16Santa Clara, CA
Student of Anna Poklewski  
Christopher Tillen, piano16Weston, MA
Student of Erin Lindsey  
Cindy Xu, viola16San Jose, CA
Student of Yen-yin Lee  
Cody Zheng, piano16St. Louis, MO
Student of Oksana Shpringman  
Katie Guo, violin16Los Gatos, CA
Student of Zheng Zeng  
Matthew Wang, piano16Arcadia, CA
Student of Yinyin Huang  
Mehana Ellis, piano16Palo Alto, CA
Student of Annamarie McCarthy  
Pravin Agrawal-Chung, piano16Cupertino, CA
Student of Maggie Lee  
Youngsung Sim, piano16Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Student of Eunyoung Park  
Jimin Kim, cello17Avon, CT
Student of Pablo Issa  
Joseph Mathew, piano17Coppell, TX
Student of Hwa Lee  
Joshua Lim, viola17Newton, MA
Student of Kyoko Horowitz  
Sandra Chan, piano17Huntington Beach, CA
Student of Jane Jung  
Sangwoo You, cello17Irvine, CA
Student of Jenny Oh  
Third Place Winners
Annie Ye, piano15Mason, OH
Student of Luba Fedorov  
Anoushka Pandit, piano15Dublin, CA
Student of Sofia Biktimir  
Claire Choe, piano15Boston, MA
Student of Mami Ienaga  
Devin Chan, piano15Irvine, CA
Student of Miranda Wu  
Shaunak Pandey, piano15Austin, TX
Student of Julia Hsiao  
Ryan Wang, piano16Champaign, IL
Student of Jiafeng Yan  
Shreyas Verma, piano16Fremont, CA
Vaibhav Mishra, piano16Dublin, GA
Student of Nancy Claxton  
Cindy Chen, flute17San Jose, CA
Student of Cecily Lan  
Joshua Kim, violin17Los Angeles, CA
Student of Johnny Nam and Yun Hee Lee  
Piano Duo/ Four Hands:  
Aditi Dangi, piano17Austin, TX
Henrik Chan, piano16Austin, TX
Students of Julia Hsiao  
   
Honorable Mention
Meiyi He, piano15San Gabriel, CA
Student of Lin Liu  
Victoria Zhang, piano15Ann Arbor, MI
Student of Yangwei Situ  
David Lee, piano16Los Angeles, CA
Student of Soyun Kim  
Edward Cao, voice16Princeton, NJ
Student of Sally Gu  
Janice Nam, piano16Porter Ranch, CA
Student of Soyun Kim  
Lina Chang, piano16Los Angeles, CA
Student of Soyun Kim  
Luca Focella, piano16Little Falls, NJ
Student of Yuka Yanagi  
Mahir Siddiqui, piano16Tampa, FL
Student of Mickey Chien  
Niranjan Girish, cello16Pepper Pike, OH
Student of Rebecca Konow  
Daniel Youn, piano17Los Angeles, CA
Student of Soyun Kim  
David Choi, piano17Porter Ranch, CA
Student of Soyun Kim  
   
Advanced Category, College Students and Professionals
First Place Winners
Jeesoo Kim, piano28Tallahassee, FL
   
Nayun Shin, piano27Seoul, South Korea
   
Voice and Violin Duo:  
Hannah Nielsen, voice31Monroe, WA
Sydnee Hinrichsen, violin23Provo, UT
Student of Monte Belknap  
   
Second Place Winners
Jingjing Shao, piano31Salt Lake City, UT
Student of Dr. Jie Lu  
Tsai-Yun Kuo, piano31Columbia, MD
Student of Tsai-Yun Kuo  

Other applicants received Diploma of Participation

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!

Upcoming Competitions:

*

Competition of Romantic Music 2023

Deadline: October 10, 2023

*

Woodwinds and Brass Competition 2023

Deadline: October 25, 2023

*

Music Talent Competition Fall 2023

Deadline: November 1, 2023

*

Piano and Strings Competition 2024

Deadline: January 20, 2024

*

Concerto Competition 2024

Deadline: February 20, 2024

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Vocal Competition 2024

Deadline: June 10, 2024