International Competition of Romantic Music 2021

Grace Wang studies piano with Dr. Jonathan Bass at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Grace has won the first place with Judges’ Distinction in the 2021 American Protégé International Concerto Competition, first prize in the 2021 GLORY Int’l Romantic Music Competition, first place in the 2021 American Protégé International Piano and String Competition, and first prize in the Great Composers Competition 2021 Masters of Concerto and 2021 Best Chopin Performance. She has also been awarded first place in the Piano Teacher’s Congress of New York Honors Program, first prize with a perfect score in the Crescendo International Music Competition, first prize in the American Protégé Talent competition. Grace has performed numerous times at Carnegie Hall.

Grace Peng, from Atlanta, Georgia, began studying piano at the age of five. Currently, she studies with Dr. David Fung, but her primary teachers have included Raffi Besalyan and Elena Cholakova. Her accolades include being a laureate of the ENKOR International Piano Competition, Nashville International Piano Competition, Steinway Junior Piano Competition, a semifinalist of the William Knabe Piano Competition, and a four-time winner of the Georgia Music Teachers’ Association auditions. She has participated in several international music festivals, including the John Perry Academy, Lee University Piano Festival, and Bowdoin International Music Festival, where she has studied with pianists such as Natalya Antonova, Alan Chow, John Perry, and Ran Dank. Outside of solo piano, Grace is the pianist of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Sycamore Piano Trio, which has won the Franklin Pond Chamber Music Competition. She is a current senior at Northview High School.

Grace Navarro is a seventeen year old Mezzo-Soprano from Los Angeles County. She’s a senior at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where she studies Opera. Grace also studies at Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. She will begin her third year with them in 2022. Grace is an alumni of Washington National Opera’s Institute for High School students. In 2019, she participated in LAO’s Opera Camp and performed in Then I Stood Up: A Civil Rights Cycle. During that summer, she was also in the California Philharmonic Chorale and performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall. She’s an honorary member of Cal Tech’s Chamber Choir and Glee Club. This year, Grace was a semifinalist in Spotlight at the Music Center of LA Opera. About two years ago, she was a Los Angeles Rotary Club Pageant of the Arts Finalist and First Place Winner in her district.

Ryan Lee, who has just turned 13, was inspired to learn to play the cello after hearing Bach’s cello suites when he was 9. He now studies cello with Brady Anderson in Pleasanton, and is in his school orchestra. Ryan loves performing, whether for a recital or for a competition. He has won many awards, including first prize in the San Francisco International Innovative Music Competition (SFIIMC), the North California Young Talents Music Competition, and the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) VOCE Alameda County section competition. He has also won awards in the VOCE California State Final, the California American String Teachers Association (CalASTA) – San Francisco competition, United States International Music Competition (USIMC), the Korean-American Music Supporters’ Association Competition (KAMSA), the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC),  and the International Grande Music Competition (IGMC). When not playing cello, you’ll find him reading sheet music online, doing math, or coding.

James Tsaggaris started piano lessons when he was 5.5 years old. He passed the California Certificate of Merit level 9 exam at 13 years of age and is currently working towards the advanced level certificate. In 2021, he competed in person at the United States Open Music Competition in Oakland, California winning First Place in the Treasury of U.S.A. Composers and Second Place in the Showcase Piano Solo against older kids. He also won First Place in the 2021 U.S. International Open Music Competition, as well as First Place in the 2021 American Fine Arts Festival Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition. In 2020, he won First Place in the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music and American Fine Arts Festival Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition. Besides music, James also loves inventing things. His design of a mechanism to automatically flip music sheets won First Prize at the 2020 Synopsis Science Fair.

Olivia Yu, from Lincoln Nebraska, is currently a 1st grader at the Maxey Elementary School. She started to learn piano at five years old with Dr. Feifei Jiang and Dr. Hua Jiang at the JF International Music Academy in Lincoln. Olivia practices piano joyfully and persistently. She was awarded the first place of the U.S. division of the 2021 Conero International Piano Competition and a scholarship to participate in the Young Musician Program of the 2021 Conero International Piano Festival. She was also a prize winner of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition in 2021 and the International Piano Competition Online in 2021. Olivia enjoys performing in public and performed in several concerts at the Conero International Piano Festival in Kansas City in 2021 as well as many local music events. She also loves reading and drawing.

Andrew Lun is a seven years old boy from New York City. He is a second grader at St. Bernard’s School. He started his formal piano studies with Fumiko Honda Bauer when he was five and a half. After his first six months of study, Andrew started to make incredible progress and during the next year he rapidly learned the following works: all fifteen Inventions of Bach, three waltzes and a polonaise by Chopin, and several classical Sonatinas. Andrew is already starting to make his mark as a performer. He was a Gold Prize winner of the 2021 International Young Artist Competition, also a Grand Prix winner of the Music-Fest Rising Talents Festival and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall. Besides playing the piano, Andrew enjoys Math, reading, chess, tennis and learning different languages. He is also a student at School of American Ballet.

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