International Music Talent Competition Spring 2021
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.
Talented musicians applied for this Spring’s Music Talent Competition. They hailed from 12 countries, including different parts of the U.S., Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Awards
Winners will be offered to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, or to receive a Winner’s Package by mail.
Star Performer Award, Judges’ Favorite Award Trophy, Judges’ Distinction Award Trophy and other Special Awards may be 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 Spring 2021 Results:
Scholarship Award Winner
Jonathan Paul Cambry is an American classical pianist, teacher, composer and producer from Chicago, Illinois. He has performed at multiple locations around the world, most notably the Chicago Symphony Center as a part of the 2012 Chicago Piano Day curated by concert pianist and Grammy-winning Soviet-born naturalized American classical pianist, Emanuel Ax. Pianists at this festival included world-renowned pianists Jorge Federico Osorio, Jeremy Denk, Reginald Robinson, Marc-André Hamelin, Orli Shaham, Valentina Lisitsa, Bill Charlap, Renee Rosnes and others. Cambry is also the founder of the American Chamber Opera, a Chamber opera in the United States which performs famous operatic works in English and has been featured on NBC and WGN networks in Chicago. Jonathan Cambry is a graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory High Schools, class of 2000. In 2012, he performed at all the locations in the Memorial Day Weekend Keys to the City Piano Festival, that was created by the City of Chicago.
Judges’ Distinction (Plaque Trophy) Award Winner
Jade Holt has been playing piano since age 5, and has enjoyed playing for others from the moment she touched her first key. Although she only recently expressed interest in playing in competitions, she achieved first place in Crescendo International in late 2020. A perfectionist at heart, Jade will often replay music even after mastering the technical aspects, as she then wants to add her “heart” into the piece. One of her most endearing qualities is her love for creating lyrics for any piece she learns – often silly, but sometimes endearing and filled with her own emotional connection with the music. In this way, Jade experiences her music on a deeply personal level that she expressed through her performance.
| Name | Age | City, state, Country |
| First Place Winners | ||
| Brigitte Xie, piano | 3 | Ridgefield, CT |
| Student of Felicia Zhang | ||
| Marilyn Cheng, piano | 6 | Bayside, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Valerie Libby Kojongian, violin | 7 | Singapore |
| Student of Annie Lee | ||
| Jade Holt, piano | 8 | Tulsa, OK |
| Student of Tatyana Lantos | ||
| Olivia Ling Lim, piano | 8 | Petaling Jaya, Malaysia |
| Student of Joanna Chin Pak Kaan and Pok Chee Hong | ||
| Alexander Liu, piano | 9 | Yorktown Heights, NY |
| Student of Diyi Tang | ||
| Chloe Cheng, piano | 10 | Bayside, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Ivarine Kanthamanond, Traditional Instrument | 10 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Kammathep Theeralertrat | ||
| Kingsley Din, piano | 10 | Flushing, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Kreea Chakraborty, voice | 10 | Hahira, GA |
| Student of Marti Schert | ||
| Abigail Kwon, violin | 11 | New York, NY |
| Student of Dr. Ye-Jin Han | ||
| Evangeline Lien, viola | 11 | La Verne, CA |
| Student of Chu Ping Lin | ||
| Jayne You, piano | 11 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Mia Arima, violin | 11 | New York, NY |
| Student of Chloe Kiffer | ||
| Samuel Meyer Buch, piano | 11 | Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Student of Rita Shen | ||
| Alexander Vivero, piano | 12 | Guadalajara, Mexico |
| Student of Joel N Juan Qui | ||
| Brianna Tang, Saxophone | 12 | Staten Island, NY |
| Student of Lukas Gabric and Jason Luft | ||
| Hayden Park, piano | 12 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Kang, Young Sook | ||
| Alana Chiang, piano | 14 | Princeton, NJ |
| Student of Helen Huang | ||
| Eujeong Choi, cello | 14 | Niskayuna, NY |
| Student of Dr. David Bebe | ||
| Tiffany Tsui, violin | 14 | New York, NY |
| Student of Nurit Pacht | ||
| Eric Zhai, piano | 15 | Belmont, CA |
| Student of Olga Persits | ||
| Ethan Shin, cello | 15 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Jehah Han | ||
| Ian Zhang, piano | 15 | Chester, NJ |
| Student of Richard Hendrickson | ||
| Julianna Owyang, Harp | 15 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Student of Linda Wood Rollo | ||
| Katherine Shi, piano | 15 | Scottsdale, AZ |
| Student of Hong Zhu | ||
| Julia Huang, piano | 16 | Northville, MI |
| Student of Arthur Greene | ||
| Zhenjie (Jack) He, voice | 16 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Janette Lim | ||
| Aiai Calmer, Guzheng/Zither | 17 | Highland, MD |
| Student of Bing Xia | ||
| Jared Weissberg, cello | 17 | Tustin, CA |
| Student of Esther Back | ||
| Matthew Bailey, cello | 17 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Kyeong Hwa Kim | ||
| Jonathan Cambry, piano | 38 | Chicago, IL |
| Mary Beth Orr, Horn | 40 | Howard City, MI |
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Justin Meng | 6 | East Amherst, NY |
| Vivienne Liu | 6 | Amherst, NY |
| Students of Dr. Violeta Arakelova and Diana Kezerashvili | ||
| RMA Piano quintet: | ||
| Erika Lyu | 10 | Buffalo, NY |
| Haolin Jin | 8 | East Amherst, NY |
| Aria Liang | 8 | Williamsville , NY |
| Christine Li | 9 | Williamsville, NY |
| Wenlee Vazquez | 7 | Buffalo, NY |
| Students of Diana Kezerashvili and Alexander Bator | ||
| Strings Sextet: | ||
| Ethan Guo, Guzheng | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Brandon Diep, cello | 14 | San Diego, CA |
| Ethan Diep, cello | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Anthony Jiang, cello | 15 | Rancho Santa Fe, CA |
| Claire Jiang, cello | 17 | Rancho Santa Fe, CA |
| Lily Guo, cello | 12 | San Diego, CA |
| Students of Lu-Yan Guo | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Ananda María Domínguez Kesselman, flute | 6 | Cherry Hill, NJ |
| Student of Prema Kesselman | ||
| Caleb Ding, piano | 6 | Durham, NC |
| Student of Florence Ko | ||
| Anran Liang, violin | 7 | Singapore |
| Student of Elza Nartadjieva | ||
| Isaiah Shin, violin | 7 | Bronxville, NY |
| Student of Jung Won Yoon | ||
| Rossini lu, piano | 8 | Little Neck, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Shiori Mikami, violin | 8 | Houston, TX |
| Student of Dr. Jingwen Xu | ||
| William Yan, violin | 8 | Foothill Ranch, CA |
| Student of Wendy Castille | ||
| Lucas, Jun Kai Liow, cello | 9 | Singapore |
| Student of Natasha Liu | ||
| Shengshan Tang, piano | 9 | Champaign, IL |
| Student of Du Peng | ||
| William Foon, voice | 9 | Orinda, CA |
| Student of Leslie Noel | ||
| Akash Lokesh, piano | 10 | Aurora, OH |
| Student of Cynthia Crotty | ||
| April Guo, piano | 11 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Zhili Zhao | ||
| Olivia Zeng, piano | 11 | Solon, OH |
| Student of Xiaoling Anderson | ||
| Ziyao Guan, piano | 11 | Whitestone, NY |
| Student of Vivian Fang Liu | ||
| Shannon Yu, piano | 12 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Tatiana Romanovsky | ||
| Shinjian Song, piano | 12 | Champaign, IL |
| Student of Peng Du Krol | ||
| Yan Qi Ong, violin | 12 | Singapore |
| Student of Edward Tan | ||
| Arjun Lokesh, piano | 13 | Aurora, OH |
| Student of Cynthia Crotty | ||
| Malachi Balakrishnan, piano | 13 | Katy, TX |
| Student of Krume Andreevski | ||
| Astra Phoon, piano | 14 | Teaneck, NJ |
| Student of Michael Thomopoulos | ||
| Hannah Biggins, cello | 14 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Grace Shin | ||
| Louis Son, piano | 14 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Connie Nam and Grace Shin | ||
| Christian Kang, violin | 15 | Porter Ranch, CA |
| Student of Tracey Kim and Grace Shin | ||
| Haoqing Ye, piano | 15 | Danville, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Henry Idone, cello | 15 | Ridgefield, CT |
| Student of Dr. Chungsun Kim | ||
| Kate Chu, violin | 15 | El Sobrante, CA |
| Student of Heghine Boloyan | ||
| Katrina Lam, piano | 15 | Richardson, TX |
| Student of Jin Ah Kwon | ||
| Logan Yuan, piano | 15 | Avon, CT |
| Student of Pihsun Shih | ||
| Adi Kalahasti, Mridangam (South Indian Drum) | 16 | Solon, OH |
| Student of KV Gopalakrishnan | ||
| Aditi Dangi, piano | 16 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Caitilyn Yu, piano | 16 | Monrovia, CA |
| Student of Lily Chen | ||
| Davis Clark, piano | 16 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Corey Hamm | ||
| Annika Vallabhanath, cello | 17 | Portland, OR |
| Student of Hyun-jin Kim | ||
| Ethan Lee, violin | 17 | Norwood, NJ |
| Student of Sun Young Lee | ||
| Arjun Yogaratnam, piano | 18 | Frisco, TX |
| Student of Dr. Wen Ling Chua | ||
| Aryanna Holmes, violin | 18 | North Salt Lake, UT |
| Student of Eugene Watanabe | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Ilya Khazhinsky | 7 | Austin, TX |
| Victoria Khazhinsky | 12 | Austin, TX |
| Students of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Piano Trio/Six Hands: | ||
| Wenzhang Vazquez | 11 | Buffalo, NY |
| Student of Dr. Violeta Arakelova | ||
| Hoor Siddiqui | 11 | Getzville, NY |
| Student of Alexander Bator and Diana Kezerashvili | ||
| Kristina Kirakosyan | 12 | Clarence Center, NY |
| Student of Dr. Violeta Arakelova | ||
| Piano Trio/Six Hands: | ||
| Sarah Cho | 15 | Silver Spring, MD |
| Ella Phillippy | 15 | Boyds, MD |
| Danielle Lee | 17 | Rockville, MD |
| Students of Dr. JeongEun Park Kang | ||
| Flute and Harp Duo: | ||
| Ivy Liang, flute | 17 | Rockville, MD |
| Student of Leah Arsenault Barrick | ||
| Lauren Swain, Harp | 18 | Needmore, PA |
| Student of Carol McClure | ||
| Voice and Flute Duo: | ||
| Hillary LaBonte, voice | 34 | Chesterfield, MI |
| Mary Matthews, flute | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Camellia Thng, violin | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Yap Shu Mei | ||
| Grace Joy Chee, cello | 6 | Singapore |
| Student of Natasha Liu | ||
| Kaspar Ching, cello | 7 | Singapore |
| Student of Natasha Liu | ||
| Timothy Lau, piano | 8 | Waltham, MA |
| Student of Yuan Peng | ||
| Andrew Xu, piano | 9 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Tatiana Stignev | ||
| Ji-yeon Shin, violin | 9 | Bronxville, NY |
| Student of Jung Won Yoon | ||
| Lucy Wang, piano | 9 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Mustafa Khalafov, piano | 9 | Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Student of Elnara Djamalova | ||
| Yunseo Ha, violin | 9 | Busan, South Korea |
| Student of Haeri Na | ||
| Annaleigh Eve Ng, Vocal | 10 | Singapore |
| Student of Steven Ang | ||
| Austin Cai, piano | 10 | New York, NY |
| Student of Vivian Vivian Fang Liu liu | ||
| Anthony Pan, piano | 11 | Mansfield Center, CT |
| Student of Sima Brodsky | ||
| Garam Kim, violin | 11 | Busan, South Korea |
| Student of Haeri Na | ||
| Christiana Nhu Nguyen, violin | 12 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Viola You | ||
| Keira Chang, viola | 12 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Jennifer Tzeng | ||
| Mahati Geetla, piano | 12 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
| Matthew Atticus Tan, violin | 12 | Singapore |
| Student of Odesa Tay | ||
| Ryan Zhao, piano | 12 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Sierra Silverstein, piano | 12 | New York, NY |
| Student of Vivian Choi | ||
| David (Chehui) Lin, violin | 13 | Redmond, WA |
| Student of Prof. Cristian Neacsu | ||
| Michael Ovcharenko, piano | 13 | Potomac, MD |
| Student of Aglaia Koras | ||
| Ryan Kim, piano | 13 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Jaclyn Kim | ||
| Anoushka Pandit, piano | 14 | Dublin, CA |
| Student of Sofia Biktimir | ||
| Calix Xia, piano | 14 | Bethesda, MD |
| Student of Aglaia Koras | ||
| Daniel Zhao, cello | 14 | Pasadena, CA |
| Student of Ling Yan | ||
| Emma Qiu, piano | 14 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Yan Shen | ||
| Alice Liu, violin | 15 | Downingtown, PA |
| Student of Jessie Jin | ||
| Angela Wang, piano | 15 | Sugar Land, TX |
| Student of Zhulinzi Wen | ||
| Fiorella Coto, piano | 16 | San Jose, Costa Rica |
| Student of Fernando Meléndez and Carmen Méndez | ||
| Kyle Cheng, viola | 16 | Syosset, NY |
| Student of Laura Broverman | ||
| Mehana Ellis, piano | 16 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Student of Annamarie McCarthy | ||
| Varun Malhotra, piano | 16 | Danville, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Honorable Mention Winners | ||
| Victoria Wang, piano | 7 | Potomac, MD |
| Student of Aglaia Koras | ||
| Anjali Nadig, violin | 8 | Beaverton, OR |
| Student of Angelika Furtwangler | ||
| Isha Nadig, violin | 8 | Beaverton, OR |
| Student of Angelika Furtwangler | ||
| Justin Yang, piano | 8 | Austin, TX |
| Student of Julia Hsiao | ||
Other applicants received Diploma of Participation
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!