American Protege International Music Competitions at Carnegie Hall

International Concerto Competition 2017

International Concerto Competition 2017 was open to all instruments, including strings, piano, voice and winds.

Participants were required to submit video/audio recording materials for the audition.

Eligibility


 

We invite school students and adults to participate in the Competition. There is no age limit for the adult participants.

Multiple winners will be chosen in each of the following age groups:

School Students:Adults (19 and older):
12 and underAmateur without professional degree
13 – 18College students and professional musicians

Awards


 

Winners performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City

on Sunday, November 26, 2017 at 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM
on Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 11:30 AM

$300 Scholarship and other Special Awards may be granted based on the judges’ recommendations.

Judges


 

International panel of qualified judges will evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent, and their students are not allowed to apply this season. The concert pianist and teacher Ms. Irina Kaufman-Brookes (U.K./Russia) is invited as a Chairwoman of the Concerto Competition 2017. A graduate from the Moscow Gnessin Academy of Music, classes of Prof. E. Lieberman and Prof. L. Naumov, Ms. Kaufman-Brookes won a number of the International Competitions and performed as a solo and chamber ensemble pianist with the Bolshoi Theater, Stanislavskiy and Nemirovich – Danchenko Opera Theatre, and many orchestras across the Europe and USA.

International Concerto Competition 2017 Results

Judges Distinction Award (Plaque Trophies) Winners

Music Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 25

Natasha Harper is a happy 11-year old. She lives and studies in Minsk, Belarus. Natasha started taking piano lessons at the age of 5. At age 8 she was admitted to Belarus Music College. Natasha has performed and competed locally and internationally. She has played a number of solo pieces in Belarus State Philharmonic over past 4 years, including an opportunity to play with Belarussian State Orchestra. In 2016, Natasha received 1st place in 2 categories at the United States International Duo Piano Competition (USIDPC) in Colorado Springs, CO. The same year she was awarded 1st prize in London Grand Prize Virtuoso International Piano Competition in chamber music category. She was invited to perform on stage in Royal Albert Hall in London in 2016. Natasha also plays violin, enjoys choreography and studies foreign languages.

Music Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3

Olivia Yang, age 12, lives in Charlotte, NC, and is a seventh-grade student at Randolph middle school and has been studying the piano with Irena Hramenkova since the age of 5. She has participated in numerous local and state competitions and most recently has won the Grand Prize at the 2017 Young Artists Competition. She will perform with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra at the concert on May 14, 2017. She has won first prizes at Piano solo festival state scholarship competitions and Concerto competitions last few years. She also plays cello and composes music pieces. Her compositions recently received first prize in the 2017 State Federation Junior Composers Competition and her composition is now competing at the Regional Competition.

Music Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 2

Sarah Liu, age 12, has traveled across the country, performing on the violin in venues such as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington D.C., the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in California, and the world-famous Carnegie Hall. Sarah completed her Advanced level Certificate of Merit for violin in 2016. She was the Grand Prize winner for the Satori Strings contest in 2015 and has won numerous awards from the Southwestern Youth Music Festival competitions. In 2016, she won first place in the Music Teacher’s Association Vocalists, Orchestral Instrumentalists and Chamber Music Ensembles (VOCE) regional competition. Sarah is also active as an orchestral player. From 2013 to 2015, Sarah served as Concertmistress of the Prelude Chamber Strings.

Music Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 30

Manou Magdalena Chakravorty studies with Richard Hirschl of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She began cello lessons at the age of four with Karen Schulz-Harmon and has been fortunate to have taken classes with many eminent cellists including a master class by Yo-Yo Ma in 2014. Manou was the winner of the Chicago Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra’s 2016 Concerto Competition, giving her an opportunity to perform the Haydn Cello Concerto in 2017. She is a first prize winner of the Fall 2016 American Protégé International Music Talent Competition and of the Indiana Summer String Academy 2015 Concerto Competition. She has placed in several other competitions including the DePaul Concerto Festival 2017, the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius (2011-2014) and performed as soloist in the US, Spain, Italy and Austria. 

Concerto Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3

Stephen Nishi, age 12, is a seventh grader at Sunnyvale Challenger School. He began taking violin lessons at the age of five, and after studying under Li Lin and Jenny Rudin, he is now student of Robin Sharp. Stephen has won numerous competitions including US Open, VOCE Competition, and ECYS Solo Competition. In addition to studying Chinese and Japanese languages, Stephen enjoys swimming, skiing, basketball, and computer games such as Minecraft.

International Violin Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3362

Belle Wang is a 10th grader student from Mountain view high school, Mesa, AZ. She started to learn violin when she was 7. Belle has won numerous awards as the Arizona Musicfest Young Musicians Competition 2016, American String Teachers Association State Solo Competition 2015, Philadelphia International Music Festival Solo Competition 2015, and Chandler Symphony Orchestra Youth Competition in which Belle had her first solo debut with Chandler Orchestra in 2016.  Last year, her Trio won first place in American Protégé International Piano and String competition; they had first debut in Carnegie Hall. Belle is a grand prize winner in 57th Phoenix Youth Symphony Young Musicians competition. 

International Flute Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3360

Jenny Yoon has been studying clarinet since she was 8 years old under the guidance of Yong Jae Kim and now Sergio Coelho. She has loved it ever since then, and her passion for clarinet has been shown through her various awards and honors. Jenny has numerous 1st place awards from the annual SYMF competition clarinet category and 2nd place in SYMF Young Artist Woodwind Category in 2015 for playing Weber clarinet concerto No.2. She obtained MTAC CM advanced Level 10 at the age of 14. She has also consistently been chosen to be part of the All-Southern California Honor Orchestra for last 4 years. Jenny has performed as a soloist with orchestra, and has participated in the Colburn Conservatory Wind Ensemble Los Angeles for 3 years, and now the member of Colburn Chamber Music Ensemble by Ed & Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute. 

International Violin Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3369

Korean violinist Jinwoo Jung graduated from Seoul High school in Korea. He was an award winner in The University of Seoul competition and Seokyeong University competion. At the age of 16, he performed with the Bulgaria State Parzardzhik Orchestra. The following year, he was invited by the Russian ambassador to perform in Saint Petersburg; that same year, he performed in the Sejong International Music Festival. Most recently, he won the 2nd prize in both the New York Artists International Competition and the New York International Concours. He had the privilege to perform at the Winner Concert at Lincoln Center Bruno Walter Auditorium which became his debut in New York. Also, he got a Young Artist of International Grand Music Competition, so he performed in Merkin Concert Hall at Kufman Music Center. 

International Violin Competition in Carnegie Hall New York 3368

Justina la Cour was born in Odense, Denmark in 1996.  At the age of 6 she was admitted to the National M. K. Ciurlionis school of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania and moved to Eastern Europe, where she lived and studied violin performance for 12 years. In this period, Justina became a laureate of 10 national and international music competitions, including 1st prize in 7th International Augusts Dombrovskis String Competition, 1st prize in 4th International Saulius Sondeckis Violin Competition and Grand Prix in 1st National Forum “Ars Lituanica” String Competition. Justina performed as a soloist with Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Riga National Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas National Symphony Orchestra, Klaipeda Music Theaters Orchestra, Sankt Christopher Chamber Orchestra etc.  She has played concerts and recitals in Studio Scenen DKDM, Copenhagen, Rennhof Castle, Germany, Riga National Philharmonic Hall, Latvia, Kaunas State Philharmonic Hall, Lithuania and appeared in such festivals as International Festival of Young Musicians and Pazaislis International Music Festival as well participated in Masterclasses with B. Garlitsky (France), S. Krylov (Italy) and L. Chang (USA).

Winners by Age Category

NAMEAGECITY, STATE/COUNTRY
Age Group 12 and under:
FIRST PLACE WINNERS
Benjamin Luo, piano8Apex, NC
Student of Florence Ko  
Mozart, Piano Concerto No.12 in A Major, K.414. I Mvt.  
Ashley Foong Shu Yan, violin10Singapore
Student of Luo Wei  
Haydn, Violin Concerto in C Major, Hob.VIIa, I Mvt.  
and De Bériot, Violin Concerto No.9, Op.104  
Sophie Deng, cello10Stillwater, OK
Student of Meredith Blecha-Wells  
Kabalevsky, Cello Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, I Mvt.  
Natasha Harper, piano11Minsk, Belarus
Student of Alexander Borovikov  
Bach, Concerto in F Minor  
Xinyu Wang, flute11San Marino, CA
Student of Amy Tsai  
J. J. Quantz, Flute Concerto in G Major, I Mvt.  
Ian Barnett, violin12Key Biscayne, FL
Student of Scott Flavin  
Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor Op. 26  
Olivia Yang, piano12Charlotte, NC
Student of Irena Hramenkova  
Beethoven, Concerto No. 4, III Mvt.  
Sarah Liu, violin12Yorba Linda, CA
Student of Eunhee Kim  
Wieniawski, Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor Op. 22, I Mvt.  
SECOND PLACE WINNERS
Isabella Liu, piano8Honolulu, HI
Student of Dr. Thomas Yee  
Kabalevsky, Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Major, I Mvt.  
Emily Wu, piano10West Chester, PA
Student of Joy Kiszely  
Mozart, Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466  
Andrew Manzella, piano11Murrysville, PA
Student of Rodrigo Ojeda and Bilu Manzella  
Haydn, Concerto in D Major Hob. XVIII:11, I Mvt.  
Leo Chang, cello12Bellevue , WA
Student of Kai Chen   
Elgar, Concerto in E Minor Op. 85, I Mvt.  
Noah Chen, cello12Chicago, IL
Student of Laura Chen  
Saint-Saëns, Molto Allegro  
THIRD PLACE WINNERS
Andrew Han, violin12Demarest , NJ
Student of Elizabeth Faidley   
Mozart, Violin Concerto No.3 in G Major K.216, I Mvt.  
HONORABLE MENTION
Jasper Y. Ng, violin6Edmonton, Canada
Student of Dr. Bianca Baciu  
Rieding, Concerto in B Minor Op. 35  
Justin J. Ng, violin9Edmonton, Canada
Student of Frank Ho  
Oskar Rieding, Concerto in G Major Op. 24, I Mvt.  
and Vivaldi, Concerto in G Major Op. 3, No. 3, RV 310  
Catherine Chu, violin12Palo Alto, CA
Student of Chia-Hsin Chu  
Accolay, Violin Concerto No.1 in A Minor  
Age Group 13 to 18:
FIRST PLACE WINNERS
Anastasia Barabanova, piano13Moscow, Russia
Student of Miroslava Marchenko  
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15, II and III Mvt.  
Beatrice Chen, viola13Chicago, IL
Student of Paul Neubauer  
von Weber, Andante and Rondo Ungarese, Op. 35  
Manou Magdalena Chakravorty, cello13Chicago, IL
Student of Richard Hirschl  
Saint-Saëns, Cello Concerto in A Minor I Mvt and Coda  
Sora Hoppo, piano13Sewickley, PA
Student of Luz Manriquez  
Mendelssohn, Piano concerto No. 1 Op. 25, I Mvt.  
Stephen Nishi, violin13Cupertino, CA
Student of Robin Sharp  
Bach, Violin Concerto No. 1  
Tiffanie Huang, piano14Fremont, CA
Student of Katherine Lee and Wei Xing  
Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 20 K 466, III Mvt  
Alexander Zhang, violin15Trumbull, CT
Student of Shan Jiang  
Veuxtemps, Concerto No. 5 in A Minor, Op. 37  
Chelsie Park, violin15Palo Alto, CA
Student of E. Park  
Wieniawski, Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor  
Daniel (Jehoon) Yoo, cello15Irvine, CA
Student of Sarah Koo  
Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor, I Mvt.  
Fiona Cunninghame-Murray, violin15Reisterstown, MD
Student of Lenelle Morse  
Kabalevsky, Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 48, I Mvt.  
Hannah Lee, cello15Cupertino, CA
Student of Kyeong Hwa Kim  
Lalo, Cello Concerto in D Minor, I Mvt.  
and Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor, I Mvt.  
Jenny Yoon, Bb clarinet15Studio City, CA
Student of Yongjae Kim  
Von Weber, Clarinet Concerto No. 1, I Mvt.  
Katherine Guo, cello15Fremont, CA
Student of Jihee Kim  
Kabalevsky, Cello Concerto No. 1 in G Minor  
Maine Hoppo, violin15Sewickley, PA
Student of Hong-Guang Jia  
Saint-Saëns, Violin Concerto No. 3 Op. 61, I Mvt.  
Ryan Har, cello15Palo Alto, CA
Student of Eric Sung  
Elgar, Cello Concerto Op. 85, I Mvt.  
Sean Lee, cello15San Ramon, CA
Student of Jonathan Koh  
Elgar, Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85, IV Mvt.  
and Dvorak, Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, III Mvt.  
Sophia Zheng, violin15West Palm Beach, Fl
Student of Carol Cole  
Sarasate, Zigeunerweisen  
Stephan Xie, piano15Sugar Land, TX
Student of Yanzi Lin  
Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2  
Alvin Chung, flute16Saratoga, CA
Student of Liling Chen and Anny Cheng  
Cecile Chaminade, Concertino Op. 107 in D Major  
and Mozart, Concerto No. 2, K.314 in D Major, III Mvt.  
Bo Fei Wang, piano16Palm Harbor, Fl
Student of Grigorios Zamparas  
Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor  
Daniel Choo, violin16Knoxville, TN
Student of Dr. Miroslav Hristov  
Maurice Ravel, Tzigane  
Jakob Schoenfeld, marimba16Oviedo, FL
Student of Bryant Bernal and Brad Kuperman  
Ney Rosauro, Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra  
Julie Karam, violin16Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Student of Joey Corpus  
Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major, Opus 35, I and II Mvt.  
Justin Nguyen, viola16Irvine, CA
Student of Dr. Jerzy Kosmala  
Walton, Viola Concerto, I Mvt.  
KyungHwan (Alex) Hwang, cello16San Diego, CA
Student of Ruslan Biryukov  
Saint Saens, Concerto No. 1 in A Minor Opus 33  
Aveek Ganguly, piano17Portland, OR
Student of Dr. Renato Fabbro  
Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor Op 22, I Mvt.  
Edward Li, cello17San Diego, CA
Student of Lu Yan Guo  
Haydn, Concerto in C Major for Cello, I Mvt.  
Minsu Seo, cello17Bayside, NY
Student of Lee In Hwa  
Lalo, Concerto in D Minor, III Mvt.  
Stella Faux, violin 17Urbana, IL
Student of Igor Kalnin  
Kabalevsky, Violin Concerto in C Major, Op. 48-1, I Mvt.  
   
SECOND PLACE WINNERS
Emilee Kitmahawong, violin14New york, NY
Student of Min Sun Kim  
Lalo, Symphonie Espagnole – Intermezzo  
Wenson Tang, piano14Houston, TX
Student of Rodolfo Morales  
Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major, K. 415, I Mvt.  
An Hoang, piano15Garden Grove, CA
Student of Molly Nguyen  
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 18 in C Minor, III Mvt.  
Carolyn Chen, cello15Los Altos, CA
Student of Amy Hsieh  
Lalo, Cello Concerto in D Minor, I Mvt.  
Jacey Yang, violin15San Diego, CA
Student of Hernan Constantino  
Ravel, Tzigane  
Junyoung (David) Choi, clarinet15San Jose, CA
Student of Hye Min Yun  
von Weber, Concertino in E-Flat Major, Op.26  
Kevin Chen, violin15Manhattan Beach, CA
Student of Elmer Su  
Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major, III Mvt.  
Christopher Lee, cello16Wexford, PA
Popper, Hungarian Rhapsody Op. 68  
Jason Xu, clarinet16San Jose, CA
Student of Janet Averett  
Rossini, Introduction, Theme and Variations for Clarinet  
Keven Zhang, piano16Salt Lake City, UT
Student of Ya Liu  
Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor Op. 22  
Sarah Sun, piano16Cedar City, UT
Student of Irene Peery-Fox  
Rachmaninoff, Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, I Mvt.  
Sylvia Tang, piano16Johns Creek, GA
Student of Shirley Irek  
Beethoven, Concerto No. 3  
Trevor Jensen, violin16Sunnyside, NY
Student of Dr. Yu Jeong Lee  
Bruch, Scottish Fantasy, Op.46, Finale  
Isabella Chang, piano17Potomac, MD
Student of Hyun Park  
Grieg, Piano Concerto, II Mvt.  
Laura Deng, cello17Stillwater, OK
Student of Meredith Blecha-Wells  
Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor  
   
THIRD PLACE WINNERS
Jason Zhuang, violin13Johns Creek, GA
Student of Yue Yang  
Bruch, Concerto Op. 26, I Mvt.  
William Suwandi, violin13Stevenson Ranch, CA
Student of Paul Lee  
Kabalevsky, Concerto in C Major Op. 48  
Christina Wang, piano14Herndon, VA
Student of Anna Ouspenskaya  
Saint-Saens, Second Concerto in G Minor Op. 22, I Mvt.  
Ko-Wei Chang, cello14Sunnyvale, CA
Student of Amy Hsieh  
Elgar, Concerto in E Minor Op. 85  
Nova Meng, piano14Copley, OH
Student of Tatsuya Nagashima  
Von Weber, Konzertstück in F minor, Op.79  
Grace Zhang, viola15Chandler , AZ
Student of Ms.Susanne Rothaar  
Hummel, Fantasie for Viola and Orchestra Op. 94  
Jeffrey Yang, cello15Saratoga, CA
Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major, Op. 107  
Alan Zheng, piano16Ann Arbor, MI
Student of Christopher Carlon  
Liszt, Liszt Concerto No. 1, IV Mvt.  
Valen Yamamoto, viola16Saratoga, CA
Student of Yen-yin Lee  
Hoffmeister, Viola Concerto in D Major  
   
HONORABLE MENTION
Alisa Wang, piano16Buffalo Grove, IL
Student of Ann Birman  
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 19  
   
College students and professional musicians
FIRST PLACE WINNERS
Jinwoo Jung, violin20New York, NY
Student of Koichiro Harada and Patinka Kopec  
Max Bruch, Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26, I Mvt.  
Justina la Cour, violin20Copenhagen, Denmark
Student of Prof. Virginie Robilliard  
Sibelius, Violin Concerto Op. 47 in D Minor, I Mvt.  
SooJi Lee, piano23Cleveland, OH
Student of Emanuela Friscioni  
Ginastera, Danzas Argentinas Op. 2, I and II Mvt.  
Yejin Han, viola26Boston, MA
Student of Michelle LaCourse and Ettore Causa  
Bartok, Concerto for Viola  
Bingjie Liu, piano27Minneapolis, MN
Student of Dr. Paul Shaw and Elizabeth Wolff  
Saint-Saens, Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 22, I Mvt.  
Ekaterina Paniukova, piano28Lubbock, TX
Student of Dr. William Westney  
Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op.23  
Hanbing Jia, violin28Middle River, MD
Student of Herbert Greenberg  
Tchaikovsky, Vioin Concerto in D Major  
Xiao Chen, piano28Los Angeles, CA
Student of Inna Faliks  
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No.2 in C Minor, Op.18  
Xin Xia, piano29Winchester, VA
Student of John O’Conor and Ieva Jokubaviciute  
Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 4 Op. 58  
SECOND PLACE WINNERS
Ha Eun An, oboe23Denton, TX
Student of James Ryon  
Kalliwoda, Oboe concertino, I and II Mvt.  
Sunhwa Hong, piano 32Bayside, NY
Beethoven , Piano Concerto No. 1, I Mvt.  
Merab Ebralidze, piano41Brooklyn, NY
Student of Prof. Tamara Poddubnaya and Prof. Nino Katamadze  
Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2  
Amateur Category
FIRST PLACE WINNER
Toshitaka Hoppo, violin48Sewickley, PA
Student of Chiharu Kano  
Shostakovich, Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77, Cadenza and IV Mvt.  

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

*

Vocal Competition 2024

Deadline: June 10, 2024