International Competition of Romantic Music 2023
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 2023 attracted the largest number of very competitive applicants on record from 11 countries, including the United States, Bermuda, Canada, China, Costa Rica, England, Macedonia, Republic of Georgia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam.
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 evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent; their students are not allowed to apply this season.
Dr. Sophya Genis was invited as a Chairwoman of the Competition 2023. 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 2023 Results:
Judges Distinction Award (Plaque Trophie) Winner
Neal Qin is an eleven-year-old student of Dr. Svetlana Arakelova in Tucson, Arizona. He started piano at the age of six and has enjoyed playing the piano since. He plays at local retirement communities with his youth friends monthly. Besides piano, Neal likes to play guitar and play chess. He hopes to continue sharing the joy of music in the future.
Winners by Age Category
| Name | Age | Country/State |
| Young Musicians Category, Age 5 to 10: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Hengyi Hao, piano | 6 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Dr. Zhou Jiang | ||
| Layla Guan, piano | 8 | Elk Grove, CA |
| Elizabeth Levine, piano | 10 | New York, NY |
| Student of Yukimi Song | ||
| Quynh Anh Tran Pham, piano | 10 | Hanoi, Vietnam |
| Student of Doan Hoang Khanh Linh | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Jonathan Guo, piano | 7 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Dr. Zhou Jiang | ||
| Ruoxin Ni, piano | 8 | Huntingdon Valley, PA |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Elina Lizama, piano | 9 | Mount Prospect, IL |
| Student of Midori Nagasaka | ||
| Venice Kangvanpanich, piano | 9 | Chonburi, Thailand |
| Student of Dr. Patchara Phutivanish | ||
| Avaline Wang, piano | 10 | Saratoga, CA |
| Student of Tina Fang-Bourges | ||
| Leyna Petrini, piano | 10 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Jihye Kim | ||
| Luise Lizano Schneider, piano | 10 | San Jose, Costa Rica |
| Student of Ludmila Melzer and Jonathan Salazar Abuja | ||
| Ryan Liu, piano | 10 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Zhou Jiang | ||
| Sean Chen, piano | 10 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Sophia Li, piano | 10 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Yuna Kobayashi, piano | 10 | Hoffman Estates, IL |
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Ariana Harada, violin | 6 | Honolulu, HI |
| Student of Dr. Nikki Ebisu | ||
| Melody Chao, piano | 7 | San Pablo, CA |
| Student of Min Tam | ||
| Derek Wan, piano | 8 | Cherry Hill, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Yuchen Liu, piano | 8 | Woodstock, MD |
| Student of Yifei Xu | ||
| Charlee Lu, piano | 9 | Mt Laurel, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Cedric Chen, piano | 10 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Student of Frank Levy | ||
| Steven Si, piano | 10 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Thanaphat Sutatsanee, piano | 10 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Kritin Suthamchai | ||
| Yao Chen Huang, piano | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Ching Huey Lim | ||
| Yiran Zhang, piano | 10 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Chloe Xu | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Claire Chang, piano | 8 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Yiyi Chen | ||
| Cynthia Zhang, piano | 9 | Mason, OH |
| Student of Dr. Yuking Chou Brandenburgh | ||
| Nathan Kang, cello | 9 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Youna Choi | ||
| Annabella Sakunkoo, piano | 10 | Reno, NV |
| Student of Dr. Bryan Chuan, DMA | ||
| Alice Guo, piano | 10 | Mason, OH |
| Student of Yuking Chou Brandenburgh | ||
| Felicia Lin, piano | 10 | Cupertino, CA |
| Katherine Chang, piano | 10 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Yiyi Chen | ||
| Soledad Mangles Fernandez, piano | 10 | Pembroke Pines, FL |
| Student of Yadelia Leyva | ||
| Vincente Chu, piano | 10 | Temple City, CA |
| Junior Category, Age 11 to 14: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Andrew Zhang, piano | 11 | Mason, OH |
| Student of Luba Fedorov | ||
| Ayane Matsuzaki, cello | 11 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Zhou Long | ||
| Neal Qin, piano | 11 | Oro Valley, AZ |
| Student of Svetlana Arakelova | ||
| Carrie Liang, piano | 12 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Tatiana Stignev | ||
| Leonora Vukovitz, viola | 12 | Thousand Oaks, CA |
| Student of Deborah Vukovitz | ||
| Matt Zhao, piano | 12 | London, England |
| Student of Caterina Grewe | ||
| Peyton Yang, piano | 12 | Cary, NC |
| Student of Adam Wibrowski | ||
| Arisa Wangwittaya, piano | 13 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Dr Pornphan Banternghansa | ||
| Gracie Park, viola | 13 | Tustin, CA |
| Student of Heesun Choi | ||
| Alex Kim, piano | 14 | Mountain View, CA |
| Student of John McCarthy | ||
| Jaynie Lee, violin | 14 | Newport Beach, CA |
| Student of Hee Sun Choi | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Maggie Gulis, piano | 12 | State College, PA |
| Ben Gulis, piano | 13 | State College, PA |
| Students of Cecilia Grillo and Alessio Quaresima | ||
| Fereol Trio: | ||
| Madison Bae, violin | 13 | Lexington, MA |
| Brandon Kim, cello | 14 | Oakton, VA |
| Jaime Moon, piano | 13 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Students of Natalia Yampolsky | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Hannah Liu, voice | 11 | Richmond, Canada |
| Student of Chen Wang | ||
| Isabelle Wang, piano | 11 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Zhaozhao Yang | ||
| Karlsson Ong, cello | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Natasha Liu | ||
| Lily Mei, voice | 11 | Basking Ridge, NJ |
| Student of Rebecca Thompson-Galecki | ||
| Riyo Nokami, piano | 11 | Schaumburg, IL |
| Student of Midori Ngasaka | ||
| Ansel Huang, cello | 12 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Jennifer Ma | ||
| Serena Abrahams, piano | 12 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sohyun Ahn | ||
| Yulia Lizama, piano | 12 | Mount Prospect, IL |
| Student of Midori Nagasaka | ||
| Yushan Wu, piano | 12 | Beijing, China |
| Student of Yan Yunong | ||
| Clint Lee, piano | 13 | Austin, TX |
| Kayla Hwang, violin | 13 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Zhao Wei | ||
| Kota Yoneyama, piano | 13 | New York, NY |
| Student of Kanae Koshi | ||
| Lav Chajka Todorovski, piano | 13 | Skopje, Macedonia |
| Student of Ajhan Kurtov | ||
| Leon Crisan, violin | 13 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Wangchen Long | ||
| Winsley Tsai, piano | 13 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Yuyeon Jung | ||
| Alex Xu, Piano | 14 | Potomac, MD |
| Student of Max Foster | ||
| David Li, piano | 14 | Chicago, IL |
| Student of Sueanne Metz | ||
| Ethan Dawson, cello | 14 | Ridgefield, CT |
| Student of Chungsun Kim | ||
| Evan Kaplan, piano | 14 | Pelham, NY |
| Student of Natalia Budyonny | ||
| Irene Zhang, piano | 14 | Mason, OH |
| Student of Luba Fedorov | ||
| Leo Zhang, piano | 14 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Lucinda Lok Yan Wu, piano | 14 | Monterey, CA |
| Student of Chloe Xu | ||
| Maximus Choi, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Katie Gueorguieva-Ledford | ||
| Nicholas Wang, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Zhaozhao Yang | ||
| Nicolette Ledford, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Ekaterina Gueorguieva | ||
| Ruilin Zhu, piano | 14 | Anaheim, CA |
| Student of Jenny Shin | ||
| Simon Fass, piano | 14 | Williamsburg, VA |
| Student of Sharon Stewart | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Caden Lee, piano | 11 | Austin, TX |
| Rachel Chen, piano | 11 | Moorestown, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Kyan Wiedmann, piano | 12 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Student of Zewhong Lee and Yun Hee Lee | ||
| Angela Pan, piano | 13 | Boston, MA |
| Student of A. J. Collins | ||
| Jude Cuomo, piano | 13 | Old Tappan, NJ |
| Student of Sohui Kim | ||
| Nina Xue, piano | 13 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Markus Pawlik | ||
| Nina Xue, violin | 13 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Amy Liu | ||
| Joel Lee, violin | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of SungHee Park | ||
| Leo LeBron, piano | 14 | Saddlebrooke, AZ |
| Student of Dr. Svetlana Arakelova | ||
| Mahati Geetla, piano | 14 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Shaylin Bau, violin | 14 | Tustin, CA |
| Student of Michelle Park | ||
| Shujun Han, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Sophia Li, piano | 14 | Mason, OH |
| Sora Kim, cello | 14 | San Ramon, CA |
| Emmy Guo, voice | 15 | Singapore |
| Student of Carolina Kurnia and Hratsjuhi Aramian | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Jiashen Liang, piano | 11 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Olivia Wan, piano | 11 | Cherry Hill, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Saisha Pandita, piano | 12 | Weston, FL |
| Student of Yadelia Leyva | ||
| Arjun Selvam, piano | 13 | Union City, CA |
| Student of Helen Lee | ||
| Evan Lu, violin | 13 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Amy Liu | ||
| Marlee Lu, piano | 13 | Mt Laurel, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Moon Liu, piano | 13 | Dublin, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Nathan Wang, piano | 13 | Great Neck, NY |
| Student of Yelena Fridman | ||
| Grace Cho, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Soon Ja Hong | ||
| Lucas Gavrilescu, piano | 14 | Weston, FL |
| Student of Yadelia Leyva | ||
| Swara Sawant, piano | 14 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Helen Lee | ||
| Tomas Cadena, piano | 14 | Weston, FL |
| Student of Yadelia Leyva | ||
| Intermediate Category, Age 15 to 18: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Alyssa Kuang, piano | 15 | Spring, TX |
| Jerry Li, piano | 15 | Edmonton, Canada |
| Student of Bianca Baciu | ||
| Isaac Sohn, piano | 16 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Kookhee Hong | ||
| Yeoneui Jeong, viola | 17 | Alpharetta, GA |
| Student of William Paul Murphy | ||
| Laura Wang, violin | 18 | Lexington, MA |
| Student of Peter Zazofsky | ||
| The Black Pearl Trio: | ||
| Kanta Osako, violin | 16 | Houston, TX |
| Sheila Dickinson, piano | 13 | Houston, TX |
| Karin Dickinson, violin | 16 | Houston, TX |
| Students of Dr. Kana Mimaki and Bradley Snook | ||
| Harmonic Synergy: | ||
| Ashlyn Choi, flute | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Claire Kim, flute | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Sungmin Lee, piano | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Students of Sonyoung Kang | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Jane Ser, piano | 15 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Student of Yeongmi Lee | ||
| Kairun (Angelina) Yang, piano | 15 | Unionville, CT |
| Student of Sima Brodsky | ||
| Kyle Liang, piano | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Tatiana Stignev | ||
| Michael Chuang, piano | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Sofi Dediashvili | ||
| Sarah Lu, piano | 15 | Tucson, AZ |
| Student of Svetlana Arakelova | ||
| Sophia Zhong, voice | 15 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Student of Eugene Brancoveanu and Lin Pan | ||
| Yerang Kim, piano | 15 | Bellevue, WA |
| Student of Thomas Lee | ||
| Alexander Brown, piano | 16 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Minako Horimura | ||
| Andrew Luo, violin | 16 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Ker Qi | ||
| Graysen Carlsen, piano | 16 | Tarzana, CA |
| Student of Sharon Shaheed | ||
| Sashi Chuckravanen, piano | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Irina Bendetsky | ||
| Vanessa Ran, violin | 16 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Vivian Hou | ||
| Yong Rou Huang, piano | 16 | Singapore |
| Student of Helen Lin | ||
| Cana Fass, piano | 17 | Williamsburg, VA |
| Student of Sharon Stewart | ||
| Ian Arnold, piano | 17 | Del Mar, CA |
| Student of Rowena Asuncion | ||
| Lily Yang, piano | 17 | Forest Hills, NY |
| Student of Yuka Yoshino | ||
| Timothy Han, cello | 17 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Jaewon Ahn | ||
| Yasemin Goktepe, piano | 17 | McLean, VA |
| Student of TJ Lymenstull | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Noah Balough, piano | 16 | Los Gatos, CA |
| Alex Cismaru, piano | 16 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Students of Katie Gueorguieva-Ledford | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Alyssa Ackalloor, piano | 15 | Los Gatos, CA |
| Student of Ekaterina Gueorguieva, M.M | ||
| Angela Bryan, piano | 15 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| eJenn Huang, piano | 15 | Diamond Bar, CA |
| Ivana Siu, piano | 15 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Dr. Emily Hung | ||
| Justin Whang, voice | 15 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Alena Pyne | ||
| Karina Arutyunov, piano | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Marcus Castillo, piano | 15 | Tucson, AZ |
| Student of Dr. Svetlana Arakelova | ||
| Aidan Zhong, piano | 16 | Blue Ash, OH |
| Student of Luba Fedorov | ||
| Alex Cismaru, piano | 16 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Student of Katie Gueorguieva-Ledford | ||
| Chanah Yin, piano | 16 | Laguna Niguel, CA |
| Student of Dr. Emily Hung | ||
| Erina Park, piano | 16 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Student of Soyun Kim | ||
| Gloria Min, violin | 16 | Deer Park, NY |
| Student of Joenne Dumitrascu | ||
| Jack Paiva, piano | 16 | North Kingstown, RI |
| Student of Nonetta Shatakhtsian | ||
| Kaden Hong, piano | 16 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Student of Soyun Kim | ||
| Kaycee Kim, voice | 16 | Draper, UT |
| Student of Yoojin Kang | ||
| Nicole Murphy, piano | 16 | Katy, TX |
| Student of Alina Uddin | ||
| Roanne Lee, piano | 16 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Student of Soyun Kim | ||
| Zachary Loden, piano | 16 | Commerce, GA |
| Student of Joseph Hokayem | ||
| Eddy Jiang, piano | 17 | Overland Park, KS |
| Student of David Tauscher | ||
| Ting-Yi Wu, piano | 17 | Natick, MA |
| Student of Dr. Jenny Chen | ||
| Cassidi Casco, piano | 17 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Soo Lee | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Gabriel Gavrilescu, piano | 15 | Weston, FL |
| Student of Yadelia Leyva | ||
| Qianting Huang, piano | 15 | Brooklyn, NY |
| Student of Yifei Xu | ||
| Riya Malshe, piano | 15 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Helen Lee | ||
| Brihati Krishna, piano | 16 | Lewsville, TX |
| Student of Han Zhao | ||
| Daniel Choi, piano | 16 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Student of Soyun Kim | ||
| Daniel Ke, piano | 16 | Mountain View, CA |
| David Guo, piano | 16 | Singapore |
| Student of XiaoYun Yao | ||
| Joshua Tamba, piano | 16 | Highland, CA |
| Student of Helen LaiPang | ||
| Keith Jung, cello | 16 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Jenny Oh | ||
| Samuel Hacker, piano | 16 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sohyun Ahn | ||
| Alessandra Gallo, piano | 17 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sohyun Ahn | ||
| Bill Chang, piano | 17 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Junghee Park | ||
| Prisha Mungara, piano | 17 | Chandler, AZ |
| Student of David Coste | ||
| J.D. Ford, piano | 18 | Atlanta, GA |
| Student of Daniel Wilkinson | ||
| Advanced Category, College Students and Professionals: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Gahyun Kim, piano | 28 | Miami, FL |
| Student of Santiago Rodriguez | ||
| Jackson Chen, piano | 22 | Dothan, AL |
| Student of Dr. Jeremy Samolesky | ||
| Maia Janjgava, violin | 52 | Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia |
| Mathias Iff, cello | 42 | Highland Park, NJ |
| Youjung Jang, piano | 26 | Baltimore, MD |
| Student of Benjamin Pasternack | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Calvin Kotrba, piano | 21 | Somerville, MA |
| Student of Gila Goldstein | ||
| Constance Ridley-Smith, piano | 56 | Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Student of Rebecca Carda-Leigh and Patrick Kreeger | ||
| Eun Ji Song, piano | 37 | Elkridge, MD |
| Student of Dr. Ivo Kaltchev | ||
| John Hernandez, piano | 23 | Mission, TX |
| Student of Dr. Francisco Rocafuerte | ||
| Shanice Aaron, piano | 29 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Shinae Lee, piano | 33 | Gyeonggi-do, South Korea |
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Tina Kushnir, piano | 20 | Brooklyn, NY |
| Student of Nataliya Khrapina | ||
| Amateur Category: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Emma Huntley, piano | 20 | Winchester, KY |
| Student of Rachel Talor | ||
| Xin Jie Cheong, violin | 22 | Singapore |
Other applicants received Diploma of Participation
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!
1. Each participant will be notified about the Competition results after the Chairwoman releases the Competition placements. Each Winner will perform at one Recital. Recital date and time will be offered to the Winner based on the Competition results.
2. Only ONE piece from the audition repertoire within a time limit will be performed at the Winners Recital.
3. To change a performance repertoire (including the shortened version of the piece for string performers), a $55 fee must be submitted on the Contact Us page no later than two months prior to the Recital.
4. Extra performance time of up to 1 minute can be accepted for the Winners Recital with an additional fee of $100.
5. Only piano accompaniment can be used at the Winners Recital. Only one grand piano will be available at the Weill Recital Hall. No acoustic system will be provided.
6. Participants must bring their own piano accompanist. American Protégé does not provide piano accompanist, but can recommend one after enrollment into the program.
7. Photo or video recording during the recital is strictly prohibited per the Carnegie Hall policy. A professional photographer will be taking pictures of the performers.
8. During the COVID-19 Health Crisis, U.S. participants, who are unable to or unwilling to travel to NYC for the safety reasons, may request a Competition Winner’s Package with a non-refundable $300 fee. The Package includes online recognition, Winner’s Certificate, Teacher’s Diploma, four Booklets with biographies and photos, and participation Plaque Trophy. International participants may arrange a shipment to the friends or relatives residing in the U.S. We do not mail packages internationally.
9. All participants are responsible for their own expenses (travel, housing accommodations, etc.).
10. Detailed Winners Recital Guidelines will be emailed to the participants.