International Competition of Romantic Music 2025
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 2025 attracted the largest on record number of very competitive applicants from 9 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Greece, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and United Kingdom.
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 2025. 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 2025 Results:
Judges Distinction Award (Plaque Trophies) Winners
Angelica Spyrka is a pianist from Canada. She began her piano studies at the age of 4. In 2024, she performed with the New York Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. In 2025, Angelica was the youngest soloist performing at the Petrof Fest at the Teatro Victoria in Mexico. For this performance she was awarded Recognition from the State of Durango, Mexico, for her contribution to strengthening of the culture and music. She was invited to perform again with the Petrof Fest Orchestra in 2026. Her recent achievements include Gold Medal at the 2025 Steinway Piano Competition in Canada, Gold Medal of the Royal Conservatory of Music of Canada, Grand Prize of the 2025 Petrof International Piano Competition, Grand Prize of the 6th BMTG Intercontinental Music Competition in New York.
Ezra Lewis, age 14, has studied piano for nine years. Ezra performed and was interviewed on NPR’s “From The Top” national radio program at age 11. Last summer, Ezra was one of the youngest students accepted to study at the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute. During prior summers, Ezra studied chamber music at Greenwood. Ezra will make his orchestral debut in December 2025 as the winner of the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition. Ezra is a student of Professor Jonathan Bass at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In addition to his solo work, Ezra is an accomplished chamber musician and composer.
Lexi Eugenie, born in 2016, began learning cello at the age of 6 (2022). Under the guidance of Teacher Natasha Liu, Lexi has bloomed to be a dedicated young cellist. Over these 2 years Lexi joined a few competitions where clutched some awards including gold winner at London Young Musician and First Place Winner at American Protege etc. She discovers the joy of performing since the start of learning cello. Enhancing her skills and her love to perform, she joined Voice of Cellissima, together they make beautiful harmonious music. Her cello journey is just starting, and she is excited to explore more.
Winners by Age Category
| NAME | AGE | CITY, STATE/COUNTRY |
| Young Musicians Category, Age 5 to 10: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Junka Makino, piano | 8 | Hoffman Estates, IL |
| Student of Midori Nagasaka | ||
| Kate Yuen, piano | 8 | Mercer Island, WA |
| Student of Dr. Adam Aleksander | ||
| Bella Dong, piano | 9 | Dallas, TX |
| Student of Ran Feng | ||
| Lexi Eugenie Hadirahardjo, cello | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Natasha Liu | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Anthony Jiang, piano | 7 | Westford, MA |
| Mila Wu, piano | 7 | Chino, CA |
| Student of Julie Cai | ||
| Charlotte Guenet, piano | 8 | Redlands, CA |
| Student of Anna Yukho | ||
| Victor Huang, piano | 8 | Katy, TX |
| Student of Shu Liu | ||
| Leonard Mai, piano | 9 | Phoenix, AZ |
| Student of Dr. Ivona Kaminska Bowlby | ||
| Seth Quek, violin | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Brenda Koh | ||
| Aidan Wang, piano | 10 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Michelle Lee | ||
| Amelia Wang, voice | 10 | Fallston, MD |
| Student of Chunfeng Li | ||
| Kaylee Shen, piano | 10 | Arcadia, CA |
| Student of David Tao | ||
| Marc Zhao, piano | 10 | Gaithersburg, MD |
| Student of Hanni Zhang | ||
| Minjoon Jung, piano | 10 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Gina Myung | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Eleanor Liu, piano | 7 | Hartsdale, NY |
| Alex Banerjee, piano | 8 | Pasadena, CA |
| Student of Julian Jaeyoung Kim | ||
| Jonathan Guo, piano | 8 | San Antonio, TX |
| Student of AJ Collins | ||
| Karen Ihara, flute | 8 | Minato-city, Japan |
| Student of Jun Kubo | ||
| Erjia Bunyada Song, piano | 9 | Fort Worth, TX |
| Student of Mariel Zuniga | ||
| Aideen Roberts, piano | 10 | Arlington, VA |
| Student of Valerica Maican | ||
| Sarah Wang, piano | 10 | El Dorado Hills, CA |
| Student of Matt Wang | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Hannah Zhang, piano | 9 | Allen, TX |
| Student of Han Zhao | ||
| Abby Xu, violin | 10 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Chavdar Parashkevov | ||
| Chloe Kim, piano | 10 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Erica Hao, voice | 10 | Lutherville Timonium, MD |
| Student of Chunfeng Li | ||
| Esther Lim, piano | 10 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Ivy Chen | ||
| Isaac Peter Shih, violin | 10 | Mont Albert North, Australia |
| Student of Yi Cheng Shih and Yi Wei Chu | ||
| Junior Category, Age 11 to 14: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Bruce Han, piano | 11 | Lexington,, MA |
| Student of Yuna Lee | ||
| Kaede Taguchi, piano | 11 | Los Gatos, CA |
| Student of Nagisa Ariza | ||
| Angelica Spyrka, piano | 13 | North Vancouver, Canada |
| Lily Bell Morgan, voice | 13 | Portsmouth, VA |
| Student of Amelia Demayo and Liliana Sotirova | ||
| Nathan Janco, piano | 13 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Student of Rinna Livshin | ||
| Benjamin Yang, cello | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Jenny Oh | ||
| Bowen Wang, piano | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Michelle Lee | ||
| Emily Liu, piano | 14 | Sammamish, WA |
| Student of Dr. Adam Aleksander | ||
| Emmeline Liu, harp | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Linda-rose Hembreiker | ||
| Ezra Lewis, piano | 14 | Waban, MA |
| Student of Jonathan Bass | ||
| George Chuan, piano | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Vicki Tseng | ||
| Grey Jones, cello | 14 | Chandler, AZ |
| Student of Emily Hunt | ||
| Julia Gentry, piano | 14 | Lakeville, CT |
| Student of Ana Maria Eckstein | ||
| Kaylah Liu, piano | 14 | Sandy, UT |
| Student of Ya Liu | ||
| Peyton Yang, piano | 14 | Cary, NC |
| Student of Teddy Robie | ||
| Yunfei (Joanna) Huang, piano | 14 | Bellevue, WA |
| Student of Dr. Ivona Kaminska | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Akira Endo, piano | 11 | New York, NY |
| Student of Oldrich Teply | ||
| Tung Tung Demi Lee, piano | 11 | La Crescenta, CA |
| Student of Roger Wright | ||
| Tyler Liu, piano | 11 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Hanni Zhang | ||
| Vivienne Jahnke, violin | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Andrea Lin | ||
| India Abrahams, piano | 12 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sohyun Ahn | ||
| Jasper Wu, piano | 12 | Sammamish, WA |
| Student of Christopher Bowlby | ||
| Rayaan Chaudhuri, voice | 12 | Cranbury, NJ |
| Student of Natalie Megules | ||
| Rosalind Lee, piano | 12 | Mountain View, CA |
| Student of Amy Chiu | ||
| Stephanie Lee, voice | 12 | Chanhassen, MN |
| Student of Chunfeng Li | ||
| Vanessa Mai, piano | 12 | Clarksburg, MD |
| Student of Du Pangji | ||
| Maria Gosteva, piano | 13 | Lakeway, TX |
| Student of Scarlett Olga Romoff | ||
| Mirei Akiba, piano | 13 | Hoffman Estates, IL |
| Student of Midori Nagasaka | ||
| Ryan Zhou, piano | 13 | Atherton, CA |
| Student of Jessica Kelly and Marie Kelly | ||
| Samuel Chiu, piano | 13 | Castro Valley, CA |
| Student of Ji An | ||
| Bryan Pan, piano | 14 | Danville, CA |
| Student of William Hobbs | ||
| Elsa Yoon, piano | 14 | Fairfax, VA |
| Student of Kelley Nam | ||
| George Zhao, piano | 14 | Vernon Hills, IL |
| Student of Regina Syrkin | ||
| Jun Yu, piano | 14 | Lake Forest, CA |
| Student of Vicki Tseng | ||
| Katie Moon, violin | 14 | Harbor City, CA |
| Student of Gail Mellert | ||
| Owin Abeysinghe, piano | 14 | Cincinnati, OH |
| Student of Yuking Chou Brandenburgh | ||
| Serena Abrahams, piano | 14 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sohyun Ahn | ||
| Sharon Li, piano | 14 | Mason, OH |
| Student of Yuking Chou Brandenburgh | ||
| Sophie Liu, piano | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Bella Tseng | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Abigail Moon, cello | 11 | Harbor City, CA |
| Student of Hyunji Yi | ||
| Annabelle Mankovsky, violin | 11 | Potomac Falls, VA |
| Student of Nicole Fainsan | ||
| Chen Brendan, piano | 12 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Amy Chiu | ||
| Joshua Lee, cello | 12 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Ashley Kim | ||
| Juchan Kim, piano | 12 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Ja Kyung Seong | ||
| Praewkwan Tharamast, piano | 12 | Klaeng, Thailand |
| Student of Dr. Onpavee Nitisingkarin | ||
| Sabrina Lee, voice | 12 | Chicago, IL |
| Student of Lichunfeng | ||
| Phoebe Chen-Plotkin, piano | 13 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Student of Jenny Chen | ||
| William He, piano | 13 | Henrico, VA |
| Student of Ilona Rectenwald | ||
| Ellie Yang, piano | 14 | Winterville, NC |
| Student of Wei Coglio | ||
| Eloise Woolf, piano | 14 | New York, NY |
| Student of Oldirch Teply | ||
| Justin Tien, violin | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Tina Minn | ||
| Zixuan Yang, piano | 14 | Highland, UT |
| Student of Ya Liu | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Andrew Gong, piano | 11 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Oldrich Teply | ||
| Leila Wiedmann, piano | 11 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Student of Yunhee Lee and Zewhong Lee | ||
| Philip Gong, piano | 11 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Oldrich Teply | ||
| Arvin Farhadifar, piano | 12 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Han Chen | ||
| Anaira Phadke, piano | 13 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Anna Zhu, piano | 13 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Zhaoni Chen | ||
| Colin He, piano | 13 | Henrico, VA |
| Student of Ilona Rectenwald | ||
| Keerit Sehmbey, piano | 13 | Rocklin, CA |
| Student of Matt Wang | ||
| Evelyn Huie, piano | 14 | Woodside, CA |
| Student of Vivian Chen | ||
| Intermediate Category, Age 15 to 18: | ||
| First Place Winners | ||
| Laura Lin, violin | 15 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Student of Tina Minn | ||
| Andrew Lee, piano | 16 | Carmel, IN |
| George Huang, piano | 16 | West Valley City, UT |
| Student of Ning Lu | ||
| Jonathan Zhou, piano | 16 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Bella Tseng | ||
| Michelle Cai, voice | 17 | Houston, Texas, TX |
| Student of Summer Song | ||
| Muying Zhu, piano | 17 | Wellesley, MA |
| Student of Fumei Huang | ||
| Rachel Abrams, piano | 17 | Montclair, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Inesa Sinkevych | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Aneesh Pusuluri, piano | 15 | Flowermound, TX |
| Student of Yuki Kumamoto | ||
| Anna Chuang, piano | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Brandon Tsai, piano | 15 | Chino Hills, CA |
| Student of Jennifer Lin Hunt | ||
| Ethan Jung, viola | 15 | Lewisville, TX |
| Student of Daemin Kim | ||
| Jiaxi Ji, piano | 15 | Chicago, IL |
| Student of Yumy Lee Kim | ||
| Luke Lee, violin | 15 | Bellevue, WA |
| Student of Gloria Guo and Li-cheng Anna Hung | ||
| Nathan Tsui, trumpet | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Claire Su and Kate Wang | ||
| Rachel Suh, violin | 15 | Suwanee, GA |
| Student of Dr. Cindy Park | ||
| Rik Deb, piano | 15 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Ross Mitchell | ||
| Sylvia Liang, viola | 15 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Hui Ling Hsu | ||
| Alexander Francis, piano | 16 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Katie Gueorguieva-Ledford | ||
| Edward Xiong, piano | 16 | Diamond Bar, CA |
| Student of Julie Cai | ||
| Ethan Hong, piano | 16 | San Marino, CA |
| Student of Nobuyo Nshixaka | ||
| Maximus Choi, piano | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Ekaterina Gueorguieva | ||
| Sean Yusin, piano | 16 | Sierra Madre, CA |
| Student of Nobuyo Nishizaka | ||
| Sebastian Morales, piano | 16 | Lexington, KY |
| Student of Dr. Irina Voro and Dr. Maria Lerose | ||
| Troy Song, piano | 16 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Han Chen | ||
| Worakrit Tanatchasai, piano | 16 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Rungnapa Wongpisutipong | ||
| Yihao Wong, piano | 16 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Muza Mdzinarishvili | ||
| Leona Lee, viola | 17 | Tustin, CA |
| Student of Hsu Hui Ling | ||
| Lydia Exarchou, piano | 17 | Preveza, Greece |
| Student of Entela Dimitra Roshi | ||
| Sean Dai, piano | 17 | Oro Valley, AZ |
| Tiffany Tung, piano | 17 | Stevenson Ranch, CA |
| Student of Agnes Kim | ||
| Chanyoung You, clarinet | 18 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Hyojung Lim | ||
| Piano Trio: | ||
| Timothy Lee, clarinet | 16 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Mary Lee, viola | 14 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Ashley Ahn, piano | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Students of Sonyoung Kang | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Atticus Lin, piano | 15 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Vivian Chen | ||
| Brandon Lee, piano | 15 | Brambleton, VA |
| Student of Eunji Park | ||
| Emme Catanzano, piano | 15 | Newport Beach, CA |
| Student of Minako Han | ||
| Hailyn Jung, viola | 15 | Columbia, MD |
| Student of Karin Brown | ||
| Howard Luo, piano | 15 | Glen Allen, VA |
| Student of Ilona Rectenwald | ||
| Ian Chen, violin | 15 | Santa Cruz, CA |
| Sarah Seong, violin | 15 | Suwanee, GA |
| Student of Ruth Henson | ||
| Sean Zhou, piano | 15 | Atherton, CA |
| Student of Jessica Kelly | ||
| Alina Mitev, piano | 16 | Ridgefield, CT |
| Student of Natialia Budiyonniy | ||
| Ashley Ahn, piano | 16 | Fullerton, CA |
| Student of Ahram Shin | ||
| Bryce Laroche, piano | 16 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Cristina Jin, piano | 16 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Lina Chang, piano | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Sun Yung Cho | ||
| Shaurya Singhal, piano | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Ekaterina Gueorguieva-ledford | ||
| Silvia Kang, viola | 16 | Erie, PA |
| Student of Kathleen Dolan | ||
| Victoria Vanderslice, piano | 17 | New York, NY |
| Student of Dr. Li-chen Hwang | ||
| Xing (Lexie) Gao, piano | 17 | Southlake, TX |
| Student of Siew-lee Chin | ||
| Elizabeth Xiao, piano | 18 | Weston, FL |
| Student of Roxanne Stevenson | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Abhiram Donepudi, piano | 15 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Alexa Mendoza, piano | 15 | Rancho Cordova, CA |
| Student of Matt Wang | ||
| Chloe Wong, piano | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Victoriya Kuminska | ||
| Jadyn Vietas, piano | 15 | Hill Country Village, TX |
| Student of AJ Collins | ||
| Yifei Li, piano | 15 | Walnut, CA |
| Student of Mike Chiu | ||
| Liyah Shang, piano | 15 | San Francisco, CA |
| Brandon Feudo, piano | 17 | Schertz, TX |
| Student of Aj Collins | ||
| Sophia Shen, piano | 17 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Vivian Ying Chen | ||
| College Students and Professional Musicians: | ||
| First Place Winner | ||
| Yeseul Cho, piano | 31 | Plano, TX |
| Third Place Winner | ||
| Jinwei Zhang, piano | 21 | Phutthamonthon, Thailand |
| Student of Dr. Onpavee Nitisingkarin | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Shanice Aaron, piano | 31 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Student of Anli Lin Tong and John Gavalchin | ||
| Amateur Category: | ||
| First Place Winner | ||
| Maryam Farshadfar, piano | 43 | Los Altos Hills, CA |
| Student of Daniel Glover | ||
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 fees are not refundable.
10. All participants are responsible for their own expenses (travel, housing accommodations, etc.).
11. Detailed Winners Recital Guidelines will be emailed to the participants.