International Music Talent Competition Fall 2015
The American Protégé International Music Talent Competition is open to all instrumentalists (piano, winds, strings, brass, traditional, etc.), vocalists and traditional folk and jazz groups of all nationalities and countries. Participants are required to submit video recording materials for the audition. American Protégé is looking for genuinely talented people, who have creativity and stage charisma.
We invite talented performers of any age and genre to participate in the Competition.
All applicants who are signed with the manager or producer must submit via email a General Representation and Release Form signed by the Manager/Producer to be eligible for the Competition.
Awards
Winners performed on
Saturday, December 26, 2015 at 1:00PM at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and
Sunday, March 27, 2016 (Easter) at 3:30PM and 7:30PM at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Judges’ Distinction Award Trophy and other Special Awards were granted based on the judges recommendations.
Judges
Three qualified judges evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent, their students are not allowed to apply this season.
International Music Talent Competition Fall 2015 Results:
Judges’ Distinction (Plaque Trophy) Award Winners
Kher Ching Chong, 6, was born in Tawau – the third largest town of “The Land Below The Wind”, Sabah, Malaysia. She has been studying Pianoforte Performance for 3 years with Linda Koh. Kher Ching won 2nd prize in Grade 2 Romantic Piano Solo Competition and Grade 1 Folk & Pop Piano Solo Competition in the 21st Kota Kinabalu Music Festival in 2014. Recently, she emerged the champion in the Grade 3 Popular Piano Solo Competition and won 2nd prize in the Grade 6 Classical & Romantic Piano Solo Competition in the 22nd Kota Kinabalu Music Festival 2015. Kher Ching was awarded Distinctions in her Pre-Preparatory and Step 1 Piano Performance, Speech & Drama Step 2 and Grade 1 and Music Theory Step by London College of Music (LCM), University of West London. She also participated in The Music Makers’ 2013 & 2015 Concerts “Musicale” and “Artistico”, respectively.
Elias Tyson Venegas is a 9 year old singer with an old soul and a young heart. He loves to sing and has been jazzing up songs since he could sing his ABCs. Tyson loves to also play piano and drums, dance and write songs. He won 2013’s British Columbia Junior Talent and Pacific National Exhibition’s Star Showdown, contest won previously by Michael Buble and Carly Rae Jepson. Much to Tyson’s surprise, Michael Buble came to surprise him at this event. He has been invited to perform at various events and fundraisers, such as Canada Winter Games, Canuck Place gala, Variety’s Children’s Charity events, Global TV’s Christmas breakfast wish, Hospital Galas, Canada Summer Special Olympics and both Canadian and American anthems at National Hockey League Canucks game and a Vancouver Canadians baseball. Tyson’s also been able to perform with Michael Kaeshammer and Bobby McFerrin (2014 Vancouver Jazz Festival at the Orpheum).
Clare Celine Quinn is a 16 year old mezzo soprano from Galway, Ireland. She is the current “All Ireland Schools Talent Search” winner, this national competition was televised by TV3. Clare Celine has won national titles at the Feis Ceoil 2015, in Sligo and the Midlands in both classical and musical theatre genres. Clare Celine was selected to perform on the iconic Late Late Show on RTE television The Irish Independent Newspaper described her performance as “The Performance of the night”. This year Clare Celine was the recipient of a High Achievers Award from the Royal Irish Academy of Music having obtained distinction for her singing. Clare Celine, a tireless ,humble ,and gracious advocate for numerous charities, has been described by Irish television as “one of those talents that makes us sit up and pay attention, we think she will be a big name in the future”.
| Music Talent Competition Fall 2015 Winners | ||
| Name | Age | Country/State |
| First Place Winners | ||
| Cary Wang, piano | 6 | New Canaan, CT |
| Student of Felicia Feng Zhang | ||
| Isabelle Soleil Amezqua, violin | 6 | Peachtree City, GA |
| Student of Olga Romoff | ||
| Kher Ching Chong, piano | 6 | Tawau, Malaysia |
| Student of Linda Koh Fui Tze | ||
| Ria Chhabra, voice, Folk/Traditional | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Sophia Li, piano | 6 | Brentwood, TN |
| Student of Li Li | ||
| Arya Babu, piano | 8 | Solon, OH |
| Student of Cynthia Crotty | ||
| Luna Chen, piano | 8 | Belmont, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Shuchi Tyagi, piano | 8 | Boyds, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Hershe Lee, piano | 9 | Tawau, Malaysia |
| Student of Linda Koh | ||
| Hsien En Shannen Tay, piano | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Helen Lin | ||
| Elias Tyson Venegas, voice, Jazz | 10 | Port Moody, Canada |
| Student of Camille Henderson | ||
| Rosemary Mantchev, piano | 11 | Montreal, Canada |
| Student of Genevieve Snider | ||
| Shirlynn Chan, Flute | 12 | Monterey Park, CA |
| Student of Amy Tsai | ||
| Lauren Yang, piano | 13 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Helen Tan | ||
| Renee Choi, violin | 13 | Closter, NJ |
| Student of Dr. Yu Jeong Lee | ||
| Zachary Zhang, cello | 13 | Bellevue, WA |
| Student of Zhenlun Li | ||
| Handong Wang, piano | 14 | Los Gatos, CA |
| Student of Yang Yu | ||
| Hannah Chan, piano | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Miranda Wu | ||
| Nikolay Dimitrov, piano | 14 | Ruse, Bulgaria |
| Student of Daniela Kyurkchieva and Ivan Kurtev | ||
| Bonita Shin, piano | 15 | Brandon, Canada |
| Student of Jayoung Hong | ||
| Hansub Kim, violin | 15 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Johnny Nam | ||
| Joon Bang, piano | 15 | Germantown, MD |
| Student of Dr. JeongEun Park Kang | ||
| Kevin Su, piano | 15 | Boyds, MD |
| Student of Marjorie Lee | ||
| Shalynn Tsai Qi Yun, violin | 15 | Singapore |
| Student of Zhang Zhen Shan | ||
| Xu Jingyan, piano | 15 | Oakland Gardens, NY |
| Student of Ivy Chen | ||
| Clare Celine Quinn, voice, Broadway | 16 | Galway, Ireland |
| Student of John Quinn | ||
| Ji Eun Park, viola | 16 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Helen Callus | ||
| Peter Wang, piano | 16 | West Roxbury, MA |
| Student of Natalia Harlap | ||
| Jonathan Lai, Double Bass | 17 | New York, NY |
| Student of Eugene Levinson | ||
| Andres Viquez Sanchez, Marimba | 18 | Alajuela, Costa Rica |
| Student of Carmen Alfaro Mendez and Alexandr Sklioutovsky | ||
| Yujin Jang, voice, Classical | 19 | Huntington, NY |
| Student of Yuri Park and Peter Castaldi | ||
| Luis Diego Hernandez, Marimba | 20 | Alajuela, Costa Rica |
| Student of Carmen Alfaro Mendez and Alexandr Sklioutovsky | ||
| Rachel Decker, flute | 24 | Portageville, NY |
| Taylor Pardell, voice, Broadway | 26 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Taylor Pardell | ||
| Liguang Zhou, piano | 28 | Columbus, OH |
| Student of Dr. Caroline Hong and Dr. Christopher Fisher | ||
| Yeji Kim, piano | 30 | Wethersfield, CT |
| Student of Haejeon Lee | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Zhi Yan Eva Yu, piano | 5 | Hong Kong |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui | ||
| Dhwani Srinivasan, flute | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Larisa Tupitsina | ||
| Ria Chhabra, voice, Classical | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Ria Chhabra, voice, Broadway | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Niyah Skye Amezqua, piano | 8 | Peachtree City, GA |
| Student of Olga Romoff | ||
| Alexander Ning, piano | 9 | Mississauga, Canada |
| Student of Dr. Olga Chichova | ||
| Gladys Lim, voice, Classical | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Roderick Teh | ||
| Caelan Lu, piano | 10 | Mount Pleasant, Australia |
| Student of Helene Lu | ||
| Jacqueline Su, cello | 10 | Bothell, WA |
| Student of Zhenlun Li | ||
| Nathan Reiser, cello | 10 | Arlington, VA |
| Student of John Kaboff | ||
| Paula Rueda, piano | 10 | San Jose, Costa Rica |
| Student of Valentina Tumanova and Tamara Sklioutovski | ||
| Amarin Wexler, piano | 11 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Irina Novikova | ||
| Arjun Chhabra, voice, Classical | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Arjun Chhabra, voice, Broadway | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Chris Choi, piano | 11 | Farmington, CT |
| Student of Yeji Kim | ||
| Desmond Ng, piano | 11 | Fresh Meadows, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Hahn Yu Raine Chiew, voice, Broadway | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of June Cheong and Chiew Chun Wee | ||
| Luke Mckool, piano | 11 | Pellham, NY |
| Student of Alexander Budyonny | ||
| Shavinne Tsai Yi Ling, violin | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Zhang Zhen Shan | ||
| Allison Jiang, piano | 12 | Needham, MA |
| Student of Margarita Koltyarova | ||
| Brian Zhang, piano | 12 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Jeannie Lee and Diego Kohl | ||
| Sabrina Su, cello | 12 | Boyds, MD |
| Student of Dr. Dan Levitov and Ning Wang | ||
| Trinity Lee, piano | 12 | Troy, MI |
| Student of Marta Pietrzyk | ||
| Ananya Gurumurthy, voice, Classical | 13 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Anna Veleva | ||
| Chern Faye Chiew, voice, Broadway | 13 | Singapore |
| Student of June Cheong and Chiew Chun Wee | ||
| Katrina Tsz Ching Tse, piano | 13 | Hong Kong |
| Student of Wing Chong Kam | ||
| Sarah Schiffgens, piano | 13 | Silver Spring, MD |
| Student of Dr. JeongEun Park Kang | ||
| Taylor Wang, piano | 13 | Centerville, OH |
| Student of Sergei Polusmiak | ||
| Andrew Yu, piano | 14 | Easton, CT |
| Student of Qi Liu | ||
| Kenneth Wei, piano | 14 | Mt. Sinai, NY |
| Student of Rowena Arrieta | ||
| Peter Lee, piano | 14 | Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Seung Woo Choi, piano | 14 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Eunice Ahn | ||
| Alan Zhang, piano | 15 | Wellesley, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Allen Liu, piano | 15 | Rocky Point, NY |
| Student of Rowena Arrieta | ||
| Jiayuan Han, piano | 15 | Houston, TX |
| Student of Clive Swansbourne | ||
| Jingyu Zhang, piano | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Yang Yu | ||
| Katie Gao, piano | 15 | Rockville, MD |
| Matthew Kim, cello | 15 | Northbrook, IL |
| Yenah Kim, piano | 15 | Fullerton, CA |
| Student of Dr. Hye Kyung Lee | ||
| Arthur Dvorkin, piano | 16 | Redwood City, CA |
| Student of Nataliya Borodulin | ||
| Barbara Xiong, piano | 16 | Brentwood, TN |
| Student of Roland Schneller | ||
| Julia Peng, violin | 17 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Davis Law | ||
| Lauren Hong, piano | 17 | Huntington Beach, CA |
| Student of Teresa de Jong Pombo | ||
| Maarij Bashir, piano | 19 | Plano, TX |
| Student of Dr. Gustavo A. Tolosa and Dr. David Karp | ||
| Dahyun Suk, voice, Classical | 20 | Huntington, NY |
| Student of Yuri Park | ||
| Yi Li, voice, Classical | 22 | Urumqi, China |
| Student of Lanqing Lu and Fengqin Duan | ||
| Xiuhui Liu, voice, Classical | 37 | Baoding, China |
| Student of Lanqing Lu and Na Su | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | Ridgefield, CT | |
| Raymond Sun | 15 | |
| Angela Sun | 16 | |
| Students of Qi Liu | ||
| Piano Duo: | ||
| Kevin Chen | 14 | San Diego, CA |
| Gabriel de Andrade | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Students of Tatiana Stignev | ||
| Violin Duo: | ||
| Olivia Curtis, 1st violin | 15 | Peachtree City, GA |
| Katharine Scheidt, 2nd violin | ||
| Students of Olga Romoff | ||
| The Magical Men Trio: | ||
| Alexander Huff, viola | 10 | Peachtree City, GA |
| Alex Hickmont, viola | 12 | |
| Peter Chapman, piano | 12 | |
| Students of Olga Romoff | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Julie Hong, piano | 8 | Wellesley, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Yu Zhe Chen, piano | 8 | Nanjing, China |
| Student of Christine Gan | ||
| Jacqueline King, piano | 10 | Fresh Meadows, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Sydney Jiang, piano | 10 | Needham, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Joshua Lee, piano | 11 | Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Student of Margarita Kotlyarova | ||
| Paris Aspen Arin, piano | 11 | Southwest Ranches, FL |
| Student of Prof. Paul Posnak | ||
| Jane Kim, piano | 13 | Buena Park, CA |
| Student of Dr. Hye Kyung Lee | ||
| Aimee Liang, piano | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Miranda Wu | ||
| Tassneen Bashir, violin | 16 | Plano, TX |
| Student of Briggs Howe and Ed Long | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Enzo Zhao, piano | 6 | Stafford, VA |
| Student of Susan Flinn | ||
| Ria Chhabra, piano | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Wayne Teo | ||
| William Lee, voice, Folk/Traditional | 14 | Troy, MI |
| Student of Frank Pitts, Rochester College | ||
| Alexander Kougasian, violin | 15 | Pelham, NY |
| Student of Keita Fukushima | ||
| Jiacheng Sun, voice, Classical | 18 | Beijing, China |
| Student of Lanqing Lu and Ying Yu | ||
Other participants will receive Diploma of Participation
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!