International Music Talent Competition Spring 2026
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.
American Protégé Music Talent Competition Spring 2026 attracted a record number of very competitive applicants from 17 countries, including the United States, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Guam, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Romania, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and United Kingdom.
Awards
Winners will be offered to receive a Winner’s Package by mail or to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the following dates:
Monday, May 25, 2026, 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 20, 2026, 1:00 PM
Sunday, June 21, 2026, 7:30 PM
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.
Judges
Three qualified judges evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent, their students are not allowed to apply this season.
American Protégé
International Music Talent Competition Spring 2026 Results:
Judges’ Distinction (Trophy) Award Winners
Soyoon Park, 11 years old, began her piano journey at the age of three —she performs with rare precision and emotional depth. Born in South Korea and now based in Minnesota, she studies under Dr. Catherine Kim, bringing to every piece the dedication and instincts of a natural musician. Her competition record reflects that steady growth: Grand Prize at the Korea Young Artist Music Competition, and First Prize and Gold Awards at both the Yein Young Artist Music Competition and the Honam Arts Festival. Most recently, she was named a Winner of the MMTA Piano Contest and a Finalist at the Shattuck–St. Mary’s Music Competition, where she will compete in the final round on April 2026. Away from the piano, Soyoon is a hockey player — and the rink has made her a better musician. The focus, discipline, and fearlessness she built on the ice follow her to every performance.
Anastasiya Yushkevich, 12, from Grodno, Belarus, is a young pianist distinguished by artistry, discipline, and exceptional promise. In 2025–2026, she earned prizes at numerous national and international competitions. Her top honors include Grand Prix awards at the International Performing Arts Competition Talents of the New Century in Baranovichi, the All-Russian Chamber Ensemble Competition Spring Assemblies – Sforzando in Tatarstan, and the Republican Competition Spring Rhapsody in Minsk. She also won First Prize at the 12th Republican Festival-Competition Lyon in both Piano Solo and Teacher–Student Ensemble, as well as at Musical Watercolor, My Dream, Bravo, and Accord. Anastasiya has received special diplomas for outstanding performances of works by Belarusian composers, along with Second Prize at Music of Hope and Third Prize at Belarusian Talents 2025.
Ruolan Hao is a young musician from China, born in Shanghai in 2011. She has studied piano for nine years, composition for six years, and percussion for three years. Ahe was enrolled in the Tianjin Juilliard School Pre-College program as a piano major, and since 2025 as a composition major. In 2024, Ruolan presented a Pre-College Student Recital at the Tianjin Juilliard School Recital Hall. In 2021, at the age of 10, she gave her first piano recital at the Shangyin Opera House and donated all proceeds from the concert to an autism spectrum community. She has also received significant recognition in international competitions. In 2019, she won 1st Prize in Piano and in Piano Duet at the Singapore International Piano Competition Global Finals. In 2022, she earned 1st Prize in Piano and in Original Composition at the International Bach Competition.
Winners by Age Category
| Name | Age | City, state, Country |
| First Place Winners | ||
| Michael Girgis, piano | 4 | North Potomac, MD |
| Student of Elena Ayanyan | ||
| Amanda Yu, piano | 7 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Helen Cui | ||
| Luke Nguyen, piano | 7 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Jiaqi Long | ||
| Lynelle Yeung, piano | 7 | Bayside, NY |
| Student of Bernice Chan | ||
| Mia Zhang, piano | 8 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Chloe Xu | ||
| Clark Li, piano | 9 | Claremont, CA |
| Student of Chun Chen Chan | ||
| Maxwell Li, piano | 9 | El Cerrito, CA |
| Student of Shu-Yi Pai | ||
| Melinda Xu, piano | 9 | Chino Hills, CA |
| Student of Chun Chen Chan | ||
| Ethan Li, piano | 10 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Le Yu | ||
| Jia Li, piano | 10 | Old Westbury, NY |
| Student of Qi Zhang | ||
| Sejin Yeon, cello | 10 | Tamuning, Guam |
| Student of Christina Kim | ||
| Kosei Noda, voice | 11 | Wattana, Thailand |
| Linna Liu, violin | 11 | Mclean, VA |
| Student of Alexis Bernard | ||
| Soyoon Park, piano | 11 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr. Catherine Kim | ||
| Anastasiya Yushkevich, piano | 12 | Grodno, Belarus |
| Student of Volha Kareva and Lizaveta Kareva | ||
| Karen Xuanyuan, cello | 12 | West Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Chantal Bian | ||
| Clementine Wei, piano | 13 | Dix Hills, NY |
| Student of Baichao Lan | ||
| Jacob Han, flute | 13 | Brea, CA |
| Student of Yong Mi Choi | ||
| Rosalina Xue, piano | 13 | Upland, CA |
| Student of Chun Chen Chan | ||
| Sophia Li, piano | 13 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Yupeng Ji, violin | 13 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Nina Li | ||
| Amy Han, piano | 14 | Chapel Hill, NC |
| Student of Florence Ko | ||
| Celine Merritt, piano | 14 | Portland, OR |
| Student of Dr. Renato Fabbro | ||
| Lucia Liu, piano | 14 | Menlo Park, CA |
| Student of Dun Liu | ||
| Lucy Wang, piano | 14 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Yingwen Lewis | ||
| Lucy Wang, violin | 14 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of Juyi Peng | ||
| Ruolan Hao, piano | 14 | Tianjin, China |
| Student of Ching-Wen Hsiao | ||
| Jaden Shim, piano | 15 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Young Sook Kang | ||
| Jiyun Lee, cello | 15 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of A Yung Kim | ||
| Kaden Wu, piano | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Tatiana Stignev | ||
| Lucretia Biocina, piano | 15 | Philadelphia, PA |
| Student of Mariya Broytman | ||
| Shaan Duggal, piano | 15 | Santa Ana, CA |
| Student of Noriko Laudenslager | ||
| Chelsea Ha, guzheng | 16 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Miss Chiffon Fu | ||
| Dominique Zen, violin | 16 | Albany, NY |
| Student of I-Hao Lee | ||
| Ema Anyue Sun, voice | 16 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Zhenyu Liu | ||
| Hanyue Tan, voice | 16 | Surrey, Canada |
| Student of Jessica Zhang | ||
| Kenji Husni, piano | 16 | North Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Student of James Albert Baginda | ||
| Michelle Tiang, piano | 16 | Upland, CA |
| Student of Jen | ||
| Natasha Kuo, guzheng | 16 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Chiffon Fu | ||
| Ryan Hu, piano | 16 | Winnetka, IL |
| Student of Soo Lee | ||
| Jiyool (Jaynie) Lee, violin | 17 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Eun Hee Kim | ||
| Rebecca Xinya Gao, voice | 17 | Surrey, Canada |
| Student of Jessica Zhang | ||
| Yunsau Hong, piano | 17 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Chi-Ho Han | ||
| Emilia Mullerman, piano | 22 | Brooklyn, NY |
| Student of Alexandre Moutouzkine and Lydia Boguslavsky | ||
| Nijat Masimov, balaban | 29 | Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Student of Muxtar Abseynov | ||
| Xinying He, piano | 29 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Steven Glaser | ||
| Da Hee Kim, piano | 30 | Richardson, TX |
| Student of Heidi Louise Williams | ||
| Yulim Jung, piano | 31 | Denton, TX |
| Yong Mi Choi, flute | 47 | Yorba Linda, CA |
| Student of Jim Waker | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Jeremy Zhao, piano | 10 | Williamsville, NY |
| Richard Hu, piano | 11 | Buffalo, NY |
| Students of Violeta Arakelova | ||
| Piano Duo/Four Hands: | ||
| Grace Liu, piano | 13 | Fort Lee, NJ |
| Matthew Lau, piano | 16 | Fort Lee, NJ |
| Students of Yuka Yoshino | ||
| Aubade Trio: | ||
| Julia Hyun, violin | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Lynn Choi, viola | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Ryan C Kim, cello | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Students of Haesoo Kang | ||
| “IV” Saxophone Quartet: | ||
| Hanyue Sophie Liu, soprano saxophone | 16 | Surrey, Canada |
| Jayden Kang, saxophone | 12 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Eason Fan, tenor saxphone | 13 | Coquitlam, Canada |
| Nathan Wei, baritone saxophone | 15 | Surrey, Canada |
| Students of Kun Zhou | ||
| Second Place Winners | ||
| Oscar Sun, piano | 5 | Clyde Hill, WA |
| Student of Shulin An | ||
| Delbert Xiang, piano | 6 | Redmond, WA |
| Student of Shulin An | ||
| David Lin, cello | 7 | Newton Centre, MA |
| Student of Deborah Thompson | ||
| Kayla Xie, piano | 7 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Lincoln Pan, piano | 7 | New York, NY |
| Student of Delana Thomsen | ||
| Stella Si, piano | 7 | Kirkland, WA |
| Student of Shulin An | ||
| Rakan Mardini, piano | 8 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr. Catherine Kim | ||
| Sofia Boothe, piano | 8 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Yulia Ayrapetyan | ||
| Yuna Juhn, piano | 8 | Nashua, NH |
| Student of Jinsun Yoo | ||
| Avila Pan, voice | 9 | Danville, CA |
| Student of Jing Cui | ||
| Ella Zhang, voice | 9 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Student of Helen Cui and Wenbo Deng | ||
| Estella Fang, piano | 9 | Scarsdale, NY |
| Student of Delana Thomsen | ||
| Remi Nguyen, piano | 9 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Jiaqi Long | ||
| Sadhbh Navin, piano | 9 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr Catherine Kim | ||
| Snow Early, piano | 9 | New York, NY |
| Student of Ayna Dalgatova | ||
| Tiffany Chen, piano | 9 | Pasadena, CA |
| Student of Yinyin Huang | ||
| Yukuan Hu, piano | 9 | Winnetka, IL |
| Student of Soo Young Lee | ||
| Caitlyn Xu, piano | 10 | Hacienda Heights, CA |
| Student of Yixuan Xu | ||
| Chloe Hong, violin | 10 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Lucy Jang | ||
| Hajun Jung, cello | 10 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Yeonjoo Kim and Minji Kim | ||
| Lily Koder, piano | 10 | London, United Kingdom |
| Tarek Mardini, piano | 10 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr. Catherine Kim | ||
| Vladimir Zhukov, piano | 10 | Encino, CA |
| Student of Yulia Ayrapetyan | ||
| William Li, piano | 10 | Gaithersburg, MD |
| Student of Sicheng He | ||
| Dain Dana Chung, violin | 11 | Seocho-Gu, South Korea |
| Student of Jaewon Jessie Chung | ||
| Euvin Teong, voice | 11 | Seocho, South Korea |
| Student of Eugene Kang | ||
| Grace Hong, musical theatre | 11 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Eugene Kang | ||
| Jacqueline Wu, piano | 11 | Hacienda Heights, CA |
| Student of Yixuan Xu | ||
| Jia Yi Yu, voice | 11 | Surrey, Canada |
| Student of Jessica Zhang | ||
| Ruya Li, voice | 11 | Santa Clara, CA |
| Student of Shude Wu | ||
| Scarlett Wang, piano | 11 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Chloe Xu | ||
| Sophia Choi, piano | 11 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sayaka Tanikawa | ||
| Sua Lim, clarinet | 11 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Hyo Jung Lim | ||
| Andrew Chen, violin | 12 | Parkland, FL |
| Student of Tony Huang | ||
| Aaron De Los Angeles, piano | 12 | Farmington, CT |
| Student of Priyeshni Perera | ||
| Callie Koder, piano | 12 | London, United Kingdom |
| Celine Mardini, piano | 12 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr. Cathrine Kim | ||
| Hosanna Yu-Hsuan Chen, cello | 12 | Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Sophie Jeon, flute | 12 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Junghwa Kim | ||
| Bela Pande, piano | 13 | Chester Spring, PA |
| Student of Iris Urgelles | ||
| Chloe Cai, piano | 13 | New York, NY |
| Student of Marianna Vartikian | ||
| Derrick Chen, piano | 13 | Great Neck, NY |
| Student of Alla Bell | ||
| Eileen Hong, flute | 13 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Yewon Kwon | ||
| Elena ZhangWang, violin | 13 | Tulsa, OK |
| Student of Lynn Ledbetter | ||
| Jessie Tang, piano | 13 | Jacksonville, FL |
| Student of Aida Ribero Mechetti | ||
| Kailin Liu, violin | 13 | Mclean, VA |
| Student of Alexis Bernard | ||
| Leo Chen, piano | 13 | Bellevue, WA |
| Student of Shulin An | ||
| Tianrui ( Elina) Yao, violin | 13 | Houston, TX |
| Student of Siyang Lao | ||
| Giselle Roh, flute | 14 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Grace Shin | ||
| Liana Arghami, piano | 14 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Dr. Catherine Kim | ||
| Noah Choi, piano | 14 | New York, NY |
| Student of Sayaka Tanikawa | ||
| Sophia Roh, piano | 14 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Vivian Ying Chen | ||
| Caroline Yu, guzheng | 15 | Mountain View, CA |
| Student of Tongyi Yin | ||
| Chris Feng, piano | 15 | Winchester, MA |
| Student of Yu Wang | ||
| Dena Yang, cello | 15 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Jonathan Lien | ||
| Edward Li, piano | 15 | Downingtown, PA |
| Student of Aj Collins | ||
| Franzesca Marchiella Setio, voice | 15 | Jakarta Utara, Indonesia |
| Student of Mario Asido Sipayung and Robby Radot P. Tambunan | ||
| Genevieve Chang, violin | 15 | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Student of Asheley Watabe | ||
| Peggy Shao, viola | 15 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Nina Li | ||
| Riona Lee, violin | 15 | San Ramon, CA |
| Student of James Choi | ||
| Sarah Higashio Gocsei, clarinet | 15 | Minato, Japan |
| Student of Pei-Lun Tsai | ||
| Seonyul Kim, piano | 15 | Rochester, MN |
| Student of Catherine Kim | ||
| William Xie, violin | 15 | Clarksville, MD |
| Student of Nina Li | ||
| Anagha Tariboina, violin | 16 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Nina Li | ||
| Darren Kapturski, piano | 16 | Allendale, NJ |
| Student of Rob Keiser | ||
| Emily Zheng, piano | 16 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA |
| Student of Chun Chen Chan | ||
| Ethan Chung, violin | 16 | Centreville, VA |
| Student of Shen-Pang Chien | ||
| Evelyn Kim, piano | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Eunice Ahn | ||
| Lillian Vu, piano | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Nichole Wang, guzheng | 16 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Chiffon Fu | ||
| Alejandro Carvajal, piano | 17 | Rohrmoser, Costa Rica |
| Student of Jason Eliezer | ||
| Andre Chan, piano | 17 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Dr. Yu Chi Tai | ||
| Belinda Li, cello | 17 | Rockville, MD |
| Student of Ning Wang | ||
| Melia Kraijesteijn, piano | 17 | Winchester, MA |
| Student of Sarah Tocco | ||
| Ryan Kim, viola | 17 | Los Altos, CA |
| Student of Yun-Sun Kim | ||
| Kailash Rueppel, piano | 18 | San Francisco, CA |
| Student of Bennett Roth-Newell | ||
| Shangchen (Adrian) Wei, piano | 18 | Houston, TX |
| Student of Zoia Golofeeva | ||
| Yuru Jin, piano | 27 | Lawrence, KS |
| Jingwen Zhang, guzheng | 32 | Collegeville, PA |
| Student of Changyuan Wang | ||
| Third Place Winners | ||
| Amelia Liana Ledesma, voice | 5 | Winter Springs, FL |
| Christopher Ha, piano | 7 | New York, NY |
| Student of Hyewon Yoon | ||
| Julian Reiss, piano | 8 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Student of Michelle Lee | ||
| Ella Zhang, cello | 9 | Palo Alto, CA |
| Student of Kevin Yu | ||
| Evangelos Yu, piano | 9 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Helen Cui | ||
| Psalm Yun-Chi Chen, cello | 9 | Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Nyra Gupta, voice | 10 | Alamo, CA |
| Student of Helen Cui | ||
| Agasi Newmark, piano | 11 | Mclean, VA |
| Student of Kristina Newmark | ||
| Edward Avakian, piano | 11 | Studio City, CA |
| Student of Gayane Sahakyan | ||
| Gavril Minnis, piano | 11 | Baia Mare, Romania |
| Student of Adriana Balaj | ||
| Matthew Cheung, piano | 11 | Frisco, TX |
| Student of Chun-Syuan Wei | ||
| Thomas Zong, violin | 11 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Nina Li and Catina Mclagan | ||
| Austin Joo, violin | 12 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Jackie Gao | ||
| Geunyoung David Song, violin | 12 | Hudsonville, MI |
| Student of Hyekyung Park | ||
| Ahren Dixit, guitar | 13 | Short Hills, NJ |
| Student of Tali Roth | ||
| Alan Hu, piano | 13 | Winnetka, IL |
| Student of Soo Young Lee | ||
| Evelyn Nguyen, piano | 13 | Morgantown, WV |
| Student of Dr Juliana Yap | ||
| Anderson Lauw, piano | 14 | Aldie, VA |
| Student of Soo Kyung Yi | ||
| Andrés Duarte, piano | 14 | Curridabat, Costa Rica |
| Student of Jonathan Cáceres Miranda and Carmen Méndez Navas | ||
| Diya Addanki, piano | 14 | Buffalo Grove, IL |
| Student of Dr. Soo Lee | ||
| Kellyn Hu, piano | 15 | Milpitas, CA |
| Student of Ling Shi | ||
| Rajdeep Majumdar, voice | 15 | Lexington, MA |
| Student of Yeghishe Manucharyan | ||
| Lance Molina, piano | 17 | Bay Point, CA |
| Student of Darja Koehler | ||
| Radha Achar, piano | 17 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Maria Brodsky | ||
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Anisha Dey, violin | 9 | Okemos, MI |
| Student of Geunyoung Kim | ||
| Victoria Vargas, piano | 9 | North Augusta, SC |
| Student of Kristen Kasarjian | ||
| Aadhya Prasad, piano | 11 | Hopkinton, MA |
| Student of Louise Hetzler | ||
| Sing Jie Chiu, piano | 11 | Taipei, Taiwan |
| Student of Mary Ko | ||
| Hannah Kleyman, piano | 12 | New York, NY |
| Student of Marina Shepel | ||
| Kanishq Shekhar, guitar/voice | 12 | Peoria, AZ |
| Student of Marshal Crocker and Jennie Edwards | ||
| Pranav Jaishankar, violin (indian classical) | 13 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Aarti Shankar | ||
| Dylan Kim, clarinet | 15 | Los Altos, CA |
| Student of Kyungeun Ryu | ||
| Ojaswin Sarkar, piano | 15 | Parkland, FL |
| Student of Jonathan Ramirez | ||
| Swara Pandey, violin | 15 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Jackie Gao | ||
| Alexander Magaro, piano | 17 | Driftwood, TX |
| Violin Duo: | ||
| Anne Sargent, violin | 56 | Franklin, MI |
| Judy Sargent Mata, violin | 58 | Franklin, MI |
| Students of Sonia Lee | ||
Other applicants received Diploma of Participation
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!
1. Each participant will be notified about the Competition results after the Artistic Director 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. Extra performance time of up to 1 minute can be accepted for the Winners Recital with an additional fee of $100.
4. 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.
5. Participants must bring their own piano accompanist. American Protégé does not provide piano accompanist, but can recommend one after enrollment into the program.
6. 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.
7. Recital and Photo Fees are not refundable.
8. Winners Package: 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 Package pickup or request a shipment to the friends or relative residing in the U.S. We do not mail packages internationally.
9. All participants are responsible for their own expenses (travel, housing accommodations, etc.).
10. Detailed Winners Recital Guidelines will be emailed to the participants.