International Music Talent Competition Spring 2017
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 at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City
on November 26, 2017 (limited placements)
on December 16, 2017 at 3:30 PM
On December 17, 2017 at 11:30 AM and
on December 24, 2017 at 1:00 PM.
Judges
Three qualified judges evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent, their students are not allowed to apply this season.
International Music Talent Competition Spring 2017 Results:
Judges' Distinction Award and First Place Winners:
Richard Cheung is a violinist from Hong Kong. He started playing violin and piano since he was five years old, and has performed and attended various competitions since then. Recently, he won the First Prize in the 3rd Hong Kong International Music Festival 2016 Music Competition. He has also achieved the Japan Society of Hong Kong Prize and placed first in the 5th Japan-Hong Kong International Music Competition. He participated in many years of Hong Kong Schools Music Festivals, presented by Hong Kong Schools Music and Speech Association. In the 69th Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Richard was rewarded third place in the Age 19 or under category. He was invited to perform at the 2016 Caritas Charity Concert, hosted by Hong Kong’s biggest television network TVB. He receives violin mentoring from Cindy Chen and Connie Lo.
Siren Zige Gao, enthusiastic and passionate vocalist from China, obtained her Bachelor Degree at Central Conservatory of Music, China, Master of Music Degree at University of Bristol and advanced studies at Opera Research Institute, Peking University. Ms. Gao performed at many prestigious venues and events, including performing O Mio Babbino Caro with recording artist Giacomo Puccini for China Central Television Channel, Beethoven 9th Symphony at Beijing Great Hall of The People Tiananmen Square, Tchaikovsky Eugene Oinegin at the Opening Debut National Center for the Performing Arts and Faure’s Requiemat the Opening Debut in China in collaboration with the national youth symphony. She is a principal actress at Rose Thorns with full theatre adaptation and composition aired globally on SINA.COM; and was a principal singer at Concert in China with Piano accompaniment Marco Giovanetti, Director of the Gaetano Donizetti Conservatory of Bergamo, Italy. Ms Gao also gave solo concerts at Victoria Hall of Bristol, UK and at Harbin Concert Hall with Harbin Symphony Orchestra.
Piano Duo/Four Hands:
Jarom Martineau is 17 years old and has been studying piano for 6 years. For the past three years he has been a student of Dr. Irene Peery-Fox. Previous training was with Brandon Stewart. His First Prizes include the Salt Lake Piano Competition, the Encore Keyboard Competition, and the Utah Valley Symphony Young Artists’ Concerto Competition, which awarded him the opportunity to perform Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 1 with the Utah Valley Symphony. As a Second Prize winner of the 2016 American Protege Competition, Jarom was honoured to perform in Carnegie Hall.
Joshua Jensen, age 16, started studying piano classically at age 11. He lives in Gilbert, Arizona where he enjoys photography, musical theater, choir, and intensive piano with his mentor and teacher, Fei Xu, of the New Century Conservatory in Chandler, AZ. Joshua’s most recent piano accomplishments include the 2017 Phoenix Symphony Guild Concerto Competition First Place Winner, 2016 American Protege Competition, 2016 EVMTA Piano Competition (Gold Medalist), and the 2016 Steinway Avanti Competition (HM). Joshua enjoys being educated at home with his four sisters and two little brothers. Some of Joshua’s favorite composers are Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Liszt, and Prokofiev. He looks forward to a career in music and is grateful to his teacher and family who continue to support him every step of the way.
| Music Talent Competition Spring 2017 Winners | ||
| Name | Age | City/State/Country |
| First Place Winners | ||
| Serena Qu, piano | 5 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Fafan Xiao | ||
| Ariel Wu, piano | 6 | Wellesley, MA |
| Student of Yidan Guo | ||
| Chloe Sun, piano | 6 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Fafan Xiao | ||
| Toby Kai Rong Tan, piano | 8 | Singapore |
| Angela Dai, piano | 9 | Belmont, MA |
| Student of Yidan Guo | ||
| Kevin Lee, cello | 9 | Lexington, MA |
| Student of Sam Ou | ||
| Lincoln Tan, violin | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Yah Wan Har | ||
| Sooah Hannah Jeon, flute | 9 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Joohee Lee | ||
| Arya Babu, piano | 10 | Solon, OH |
| Student of Cynthia Crotty | ||
| Brandon Luo, piano | 10 | Apex, NC |
| Student of Florence Ko | ||
| Benjamin Who, piano | 11 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Yanzi Lin Pratt | ||
| Max Yu-Shuen Walters, violin | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Yar Wan Har | ||
| Vivian Zhu, cello | 11 | Folsom, CA |
| Student of Jia-mo Chen | ||
| Angela Suet Kee Ng, piano | 12 | Winnipeg, Canada |
| Student of Jane Petroni | ||
| Cassie Kao, flute | 12 | Arcadia, CA |
| Student of Amy Tsai | ||
| Daniel Zhang, piano | 12 | Somers, NY |
| Student of Sheng-hui Wu Chen | ||
| Emma Li, piano | 12 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Rinna Livshin | ||
| Giancarlo Valdivia, piano | 12 | Rockledge, FL |
| Student of Ann Rosen | ||
| Hannah Wang, piano | 12 | Broomfield, CO |
| Student of Ling Yu McLoughlin | ||
| Xiaoka (Evelyn) Wu, flute | 12 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Student of Amy Tsai | ||
| Celine Chen, piano | 13 | Valencia, CA |
| Student of Rumiko Stevens | ||
| Joann Shi, violin | 13 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Lisa Shihoten | ||
| William Suwandi, violin | 13 | Stevenson Ranch, CA |
| Student of Paul Lee | ||
| Allison Yen, clarinet | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Juliana Tzeng | ||
| Chloe Feller, piano | 14 | Dallas, TX |
| Student of Marcy McDonald | ||
| Nadia Theodora, piano | 14 | Medan, Indonesia |
| Student of Sindy Goh | ||
| Oscar Yu McLoughlin, piano | 14 | Boulder, CO |
| Student of Ling Yu McLoughlin | ||
| Angela Blodgett, cello | 15 | Seattle, WA |
| Student of Zhenlun Li | ||
| Daniel Cheng, piano | 15 | Chapel Hill, NC |
| Student of Florence Ko | ||
| Darren Jiang, cello | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Ruslan Biryukov | ||
| Richard Cheung, violin | 15 | Hong Kong, China |
| Student of Cindy Chen | ||
| Jakob Schoenfeld, marimba | 16 | Oviedo, FL |
| Student of Brad Kuperman | ||
| James Sinigalliano, piano | 16 | New York, NY |
| Student of Dr. Ana Maria Bottazzi | ||
| Jungyoon Kim, piano | 16 | Kimcheon, South Korea |
| Student of Hyunjung Gloria Kim | ||
| Kaitlyn Yi, harp | 16 | Orland Park, IL |
| Student of Lisa Boggess | ||
| Matthew Oh, violin | 16 | Dublin, OH |
| Student of Jonquil Thoms | ||
| Tina (Lin Jie) Zhang, piano | 16 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Eugene Skovorodnikov | ||
| Jerry Fang, piano | 17 | Wynnewood, PA |
| Student of Joy M. Kiszely | ||
| Maris Ward, guitar, voice | 17 | Missoula, MT |
| Sebastian Brumm, cello | 17 | Del Mar, CA |
| Student of Ruslan Biryukov | ||
| Yume Choi, violin | 17 | Lorton, VA |
| Student of Jihyun Bae | ||
| Hristina Veljanoska, piano | 23 | Skopje, Macedonia |
| Student of Hans Palsson | ||
| Zige Gao, voice | 27 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Prof. Da Cheng | ||
| Byung Sook Kong, piano | 35 | Hickory Creek, TX |
| Student of Vladmir Viardo | ||
| Hyunjung Gloria Kim, piano | 36 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Kenneth Gallwas | 9 | Elmhurst, IL |
| Joseph Gallwas | 9 | Elmhurst, IL |
| Students of Dr. Soyoung Kee | ||
| Cello Duo: | ||
| Tyler Xiao | 11 | San Diego, CA |
| Kevin Wang | 13 | San Diego, CA |
| Students of Lu Yan Guo | ||
| Brava Trio: | ||
| Celine Chen, piano | 13 | Valencia, CA |
| Student of Rumiko Stevens | ||
| David Chang, clarinet | 16 | Valencia, CA |
| Student of Michael Yoshimi | ||
| Phillip Suwandi, cello | 15 | Stevenson Ranch, CA |
| Student of Andrew Cook | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Jarom Martineau | 17 | Gilbert, AZ |
| Student of Irene Peery-Fox | ||
| Joshua Jensen | 16 | Gilbert, AZ |
| Student of Fei Xu | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Sophia Li, piano | 6 | Rockville, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Danielle Beylin, piano | 7 | Bethesda, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Isabel Alpízar, piano | 7 | San Jose, Costa Rica |
| Student of Jason Arroyo Prend | ||
| Ferenc Alexander Zou, voice | 8 | New York, NY |
| Student of Rebecca Hyman | ||
| Katie Pei, piano | 8 | Wilmington, DE |
| Student of Fei Liu | ||
| Le Xuan Aricia Hoh, piano | 8 | Singapore |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui | ||
| Leah Shive, piano | 8 | Boyds, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Lexi Liu, piano | 8 | Singapore |
| Student of Natalya Kuznetsova | ||
| Matthew Brand, piano | 8 | New York, NY |
| Student of Donna Weng Friedman | ||
| Rosanna Foss, piano | 8 | Manhattan Beach, CA |
| Student of Gayane Sahakyan | ||
| Cedric Wu, piano | 9 | Rockville, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Natalie Beylin, piano | 9 | Bethesda, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Beatrice Priscilla Yaury, piano | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui | ||
| Brandon Nathaniel Yaury, piano | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui | ||
| Clare Bowler, piano | 10 | Orem, UT |
| Student of Irene Perry-Fox | ||
| Yehong Jiang, voice | 10 | Los Altos, CA |
| Benjamin Hubbs, piano | 11 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Francis Yao and Bryant Bernal | ||
| Eliza Ruffle, piano | 11 | Shanghai, China |
| Student of Peter Tomasz and Stephanie Huang | ||
| Jacob Markman, piano | 11 | New York, NY |
| Tiffany Lim, piano | 11 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Fonny Chandra | ||
| Jeonghyun Park, violin | 13 | Fullerton, CA |
| Student of Kwangjae Woo | ||
| Alexandra Thalberg, piano | 14 | North Potomac, MD |
| Student of Vivian Kwok | ||
| Chi Yu, piano | 14 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Sheve-Hwa Su | ||
| Evelyn Anne Davenport, piano | 14 | Thunder Bay, Canada |
| Student of Dr. Evgeny Chugunov | ||
| Sebastian Park, piano | 14 | East Longmeadow, MA |
| Student of Jimin Han | ||
| Chloe Retika, piano | 15 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Fonny Chandra | ||
| Diana Céspedes, piano | 15 | San Jose, Costa Rica |
| Student of Jason Arroyo Prend | ||
| Rachel Soong, piano | 15 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Student of Alison Edwards | ||
| Alisa Wang, piano | 16 | Buffalo Grove, IL |
| Student of Ann Birman | ||
| Candilla Park, piano | 16 | Groton, MA |
| Student of Soo Lee-Martone | ||
| Colleen Choi, cello | 16 | Ashburn, VA |
| Student of Dr. Heejung Jung | ||
| Shefali Ramakrishna, piano | 16 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Fonny Chandra | ||
| Yuqing Liu, piano | 16 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Jonathan Tao | ||
| Salonee Ferrao, violin | 17 | Williamsburg, VA |
| Student of Arkady Heifetz | ||
| Maria Cristina De La Rosa Peralta, folk harp | 34 | Xalapa, Mexico |
| Student of Alberto De La Rosa | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Beatrice Priscilla Yaury | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui and Fei Xu | ||
| Brandon Nathaniel Yaury | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Christine Gan Siew Hui | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Felix Podgayetsky , violin | 10 | Richboro , PA |
| Student of Larisa Odlyvanska | ||
| Sophia Yoo, violin | 11 | Morganville, NJ |
| Student of Sharon Gayoung Cho and Prof. YuQiang Dai | ||
| Benjamin Fitzpatrick, piano | 14 | Rancho Santa Fe, CA |
| Student of Rinna Livshin | ||
| Avinash Vikram, piano | 16 | Scottsdale, AZ |
| Student of Lesli Hanson | ||
| Debbie Dunnick, piano | Bradenton, FL | |
Honorable Mention Winners and other participants will be notified of their standing via email.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!