International Vocal Competition 2021
The American Protégé International Vocal Competition is designed for singers who would like to challenge themselves in a very competitive environment. The Competition is open to solo vocalists and vocal groups of all ages, nationalities and countries.
Participants are required to submit video recording materials for the audition.
A panel of qualified judges will evaluate audition materials. All judges are independent, their students are not allowed to apply this season.
Singers from 13 countries applied for this year’s Competition: different U.S. states, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Lithuania, Macedonia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
Eligibility
We invite school students and adults to participate in the Competition. There is no age limit for the adult participants.
Multiple winners will be chosen in each of the following age groups:
| Category: | Age: |
| Young Singers | 5 - 10 |
| Junior | 11 - 14 |
| Intermediate | 15 - 17 |
| Amateur (without Professional Degree) | 18 and older |
| College students and professional singers | 18 and older |
Awards
Since the situation with COVID-19 Global Health Crisis is still uncertain, winners will be offered to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on the dates to be announced, or to receive a Winner’s Package by mail.
$300 Scholarship, Judges’ Favorite Award Trophy, Judges’ Distinction Award Trophy and other Special Awards may be granted based on the judges’ recommendations.
International Vocal Competition 2021 Results:
Scholarship Award Winner:
Fifteen-year-old Eva Ravluševič comes from Vilnius, Lithuania and has stood out in her musical progress under the tutelage of renowned Lithuanian opera singer Raimonda Tallat-Kelpšaitė. Eva is a vocal and piano student at B. Dvarionas Musical School in Vilnius since 2014. She is fluent in four languages and sings accent free in seven different languages. Her singing career began at the age of eight, when she performed at one of the most prestigious academic singing contests “Šilagėlė” in Lithuania. She was then awarded the title of “Invention of the Year”. Moreover, in 2019/2021 Eva performed in various competitions – national and international: she was awarded Gran Prix in “Astana Vision Contest” (Kazakhstan); First place in the International Olga Sosnovskaya Vocalists Contest (Russia); First prize in “Online Wave” (Spain); First place in “Scarlatti Award” (Italy); Gold Medal award in “Riga Symphony” (Latvia), First prize in “Open International Auditions” (Italy).
Judges’ Distinction (Plaque Trophy) Award Winners
Jiaranil Jiamkanok is 16 years old from Thailand. She began studying vocal at the age of twelve. She loves to sing and dance. In 2020, Jiaranil got a silver award from the 4th Brilliant Talent Discovery Awards in Singapore, and got a silver prize from the 7th Hong Kong Youth Performing Arts Festival in Thailand Preliminary Round. In 2021, she won the First Prize award and of the international competition “Golden Classical Music Awards”.
Avril Brown is a 15-year-old singer from Fremont, California. She has been singing both for 8 years and was a Second Place Winner of the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition Fall 2020. She is a member of her school’s leadership program and has a variety of music-based hobbies including playing the piano and guitar, writing her own music, performing in school productions, and performing musical theater songs.
Kirsten Tierney lives in Falls Church, Virginia, and attends McLean High School . She has taken voice lessons for about 6 years from Sonia Yon at Harmonia School of Music and Arts in Vienna, Virginia, and has participated in numerous recitals and musicals. Her favorite roles have been Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Glinda in Wicked. Kirsten has competed in the National Vocal Competition of the New York Lyric Opera where she placed fourth in the Junior High Division in 2018 and was a finalist in the High School Division in 2019, with performances at the National Opera Center in New York City. In 2020 and 2021, she was a finalist in the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition, Art song Category.
Chanidapa Kalayavinai, 14, student from Mater Dei School, Bangkok, Thailand. She loves to sing a song and has started to take vocal courses at the age of seven. For the school projects, she was chosen to be a choir joined with Maitai Orchestra in 2018 and 2019. Moreover Chanidapa joined Yamaha Thailand Music Festival for three times. She won the silver prize in 2017 and the gold prizes in 2018 and 2019. She also won the gold prize from The 7th Hong Kong Youth Performance Arts Festival 2019. Chanidapa got high distinction in Pop Music Vocals – Recital Grade 3 for 93 marks, University of West London. In recently, She has joined The Young Artist Music Contest 2020, Mahidol University, Thailand. She won the 2nd prize. She also enjoys playing piano. She took piano exams of Trinity Colledge London with the distinction score in grade 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Ra-Ingdao Itthiratanakomol is eight years old Thai girl who loves and has strong passion in singing. She has been performing since she was four years old at her first “We are Monster the Musical”. Later, she performed as “Young Nala” in “The Lion King Mini Musical” at the Icon Siam. Ing Ing also sings in the official Ads “Aunjai with AIS”, airing in Jan 2020 and she has been recording Voice Spot for Mamarine Ads, broadcasting in February 2020. She performed Christmas Charity Singing Concert December 2020, for fund raising to help underprivileged children in Thailand. Ra-Ingdao Itthiratanakomol won in several Singing Competitions: First Place & Audience Award Winner in “Rocky Mountain Voice Competition 2021” (Canada); Gold Medal Winner from “Thailand Music Festival 2020 for Young Artist”; Platinum Trophy Award from “The 1st Bangkok Classical Music Festival 2019” and ranked the highest “Excellence” score from “Young Artist Music Contest 2019”.
| Name | Age | City/State/Country |
| First Place Winners: | ||
| Young Singers Category, Age 5 to 10: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Katherine Backues | 9 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Wei Feng | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Irene Su | 6 | Newport Coast, CA |
| Student of Mai Sui | ||
| Janelle Wu | 9 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Tina Xianyu Cui | ||
| Heidi Hager | 10 | Herndon, VA |
| Rada Kanjanapruk | 10 | Samutprakarn, Thailand |
| Student of Lullalit Supatravanij | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Ra-Ingdao Itthiratanakomol | 8 | Bangkhunkong, Thailand |
| Student of Auranus Yuenyonghattaporn | ||
| Zach Edwards | 8 | Singapore |
| Alera Cetrulo | 9 | Goleta, CA |
| Student of Dauri Kennedy | ||
| Janelle Wu | 9 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Tina Xianyu Cui | ||
| Cynthia Cai | 10 | Katy, TX |
| Student of Dr. Yung-Wei Sun | ||
| Hansong Zhu | 10 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Solène Le Van | ||
| Heidi Hager | 10 | Herndon, VA |
| Juliet Lee | 10 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Lucy Cox | 10 | Smyrna, GA |
| Student of Dr. Adriana van Rensburg | ||
| Sienna Stoll | 10 | Phoenix, AZ |
| Student of Renee Koher and Kristen Drathman | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Elina Ma | 8 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Esther Gao | 10 | Alpharetta, GA |
| Student of Xianyu Cui | ||
| Junior Category, Age 11 to 14: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Jingyao Zhang | 12 | Xian, China |
| Student of Pyoung Gang Kim | ||
| Ryan Zhou | 14 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Chunfeng Li | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Gloria Wang | 11 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Olivia Song | 11 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Mai Sui | ||
| Nicolette Bett | 13 | Valley Stream, NY |
| Student of Steven Tompkins | ||
| Renee Zhu | 14 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Margot S. Wu | 11 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming and Stephanie Leong | ||
| Neil Thakkar | 11 | Chester Springs, PA |
| Student of Hazel Choi | ||
| Olivia Ma | 11 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Leah Thomas | 12 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Majhon Phillips | ||
| Chanidapa Kalayavinai | 13 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Yaowapa Hoisungwarn | ||
| Estella Chen | 14 | San Jose , CA |
| Student of Lin Pan and Edna Garabedian | ||
| Fiona Neff | 14 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Mina Lim | 14 | Orinda, CA |
| Student of Betty Schneider | ||
| Intermediate Category, Age 15 to 17: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Csepke Sallai | 15 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Eva Ravluševič | 15 | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Student of Raimonda Tallat-Kelpšaitė and Gytis Cinauskas | ||
| Grace Chung | 15 | Garfield, NJ |
| Student of Jinhwan Byun | ||
| Kirsten Tierney | 16 | Falls Church, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Sophia Welch | 15 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Yoonsuh (Erin) Lee | 16 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Tom Ford and Eugene Kang | ||
| Julia Tooker | 17 | Penfield, NY |
| Student of Diane Abrahamian and Rena Monti | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Milena Manocchia | 15 | New York, NY |
| Kaede Shimizu | 16 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Sophie Liu | ||
| Zoe Yu | 16 | Hong Kong |
| Student of Rao Lan | ||
| Armen Manucharyan | 17 | Burlington, MA |
| Student of Victoria Avetisyan and Yeghishe Manucharyan | ||
| Brandon Lim | 17 | Commack, NY |
| Student of Valentin Peytchinov and Gloria Park | ||
| Brook Xiao | 17 | Concord, NH |
| Student of Mark Cleveland and Deborah Williams | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Amanda Swickle | 15 | Jericho, NY |
| Student of Allie Brault | ||
| Avril Brown | 15 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Lin Pan and Edna Garabedian | ||
| Cole Seevers | 15 | Oakton, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Susan Jiang | 15 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Wei Feng | ||
| Andrew Yuan | 16 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Iari Melchor | ||
| Aviela Chang | 16 | San Juan Capistrano, CA |
| Student of Mai Sui | ||
| Brandon Lee | 16 | Riverside, CA |
| Student of Eunwon Choi | ||
| Jiaranil Jiamkanok | 16 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Onwara Chaisomkun | ||
| Zoe Yu | 16 | Hong Kong |
| Student of Rao Lan | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Aviela Chang | 16 | San Juan Capistrano, CA |
| Student of Mai Sui | ||
| College Students and Professional Singers Category: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Fei Xia | 32 | Flushing, NY |
| Student of Hope Koehler | ||
| Jena Abati | 28 | Lancaster, NY |
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Adriana Zarzu | Sacramento, CA | |
| Amateur Category: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Gayatri Venkatesan | 27 | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Ying Li | Brooklyn, NY | |
| Student of Maitland Peters | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Camille Nicholas | 26 | Saint Albans, NY |
| Student of Dr. Maya Hoover | ||
| Jeonghyun Hur | 21 | Huntington, NY |
| Student of Yuri Park | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Lindsey O’Connor | 31 | Berlin, Germany |
| Second Place Winners: | ||
| Young Singers Category, Age 5 to 10: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Kaylynn Cho | 10 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Student of Jihong Park | ||
| Zixuan Xu | 10 | Lexington, MA |
| Student of Xiaohan Chen | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Maya Mulholland | 7 | New York, NY |
| Student of David Mulholland | ||
| Michael Ma | 9 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Julia Kartvelishvili | 10 | Coralville, IA |
| Student of Mia Fryvecind Gimenez | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Anya Thakkar | 8 | Chester Springs, PA |
| Student of Hazel Choi | ||
| Jiaxuan Li | 9 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Katha Loke | 9 | Denville, NJ |
| Student of Brittany | ||
| Julia Kartvelishvili | 10 | Coralville, IA |
| Student of Mia Fryvecind Gimenez | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Grace Wang | 8 | Duluth, GA |
| Student of Qian Li and Jungkyu Han | ||
| Junior Category, Age 11 to 14: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Ruotong Xu | 11 | Xian, China |
| Student of Pyoung Gang Kim | ||
| Hannah Messineo | 12 | Meridian, ID |
| Student of Thomas Truhitte | ||
| Naomi Sedwick | 13 | McLean, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Annie Song Wang | 14 | Vancouver, Canada |
| Student of Zhenyu Liu | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Mark Ma | 11 | Johns Creek, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| Zachary Park | 11 | Wellesley , MA |
| Student of Francis Kweon and Joohwa Park | ||
| Hannah Messineo | 12 | Meridian, ID |
| Student of Thomas Truhitte | ||
| Isabella Rivera | 12 | Winter Haven, FL |
| Student of Patricia Lincoski and Jitka Cinibulk | ||
| Trinity Hu | 12 | Sudbury, MA |
| Student of Zhuge Zeng | ||
| Andrew Chiu | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Ming Sheng Yang | ||
| Isabella Reichenbach | 14 | New York, NY |
| Student of Lauren D’Ottavio | ||
| Kyana Chainani | 14 | Singapore |
| Student of Khor Ai Ming | ||
| Naomi Tan | 14 | Westbury, NY |
| Student of Jennifer Grimaldi-Toohey | ||
| Raghav Ramgopal | 14 | Los Altos Hills, CA |
| Student of Eun Mee Ko | ||
| Riko Hatanaka | 14 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Haruna Shiokawa Mo | ||
| Sindhu Vemulapalli | 14 | Folsom, CA |
| Student of Donna Olson | ||
| Zimo Zhao | 14 | Altlanta, GA |
| Student of Li Qian and JungKyu Han | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Anne Gao | 11 | McLean, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Korrawan Boonnak | 11 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| Student of Onwara Chaisomkun | ||
| NiuNiu Zhang | 11 | Potomac, MD |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Olivia Song | 11 | Irvine, CA |
| Student of Mai Sui | ||
| Sua Chung | 11 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Amelia Mussachio | 12 | Lockport, NY |
| Student of Kacy Carbone and Kim Potfora | ||
| Nicole Podolskaya | 12 | San Bruno, CA |
| Student of Anna Yelizarova | ||
| Abigail Ribakoff | 13 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Evelyn Edwards and Carol Tingle | ||
| Aditya Ramanathan | 13 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Gayatri Venkatesan | ||
| Akshi Malhotra | 13 | Cupertino, CA |
| Student of Haruna Shiokawa-Mo | ||
| Julia Murphy | 13 | Oakton, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Sarah Serena Thompson | 13 | Sandy Springs, GA |
| Student of Dr. Adriana Janse van Rensburg | ||
| Ella Vakiner | 14 | Iowa City, IA |
| Student of Mia Fryvecind Gimenez | ||
| Hayoon Shin | 14 | Plymouth Meeting, PA |
| Student of Hye Eun Choi | ||
| Jamie Choe | 14 | Dunn Loring, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Jingyi Du | 14 | Oakland Gardens, NY |
| Student of Roubing Zhang | ||
| Rya Monroe | 14 | Spokane, WA |
| Student of Deanna Joy | ||
| Sophie Jaquish | 14 | Saratoga , CA |
| Student of Mahsheed Massarat | ||
| Vocal Duet: | ||
| Joshua Thomas | 14 | Cupertino, CA |
| Leah Thomas | 12 | Cupertino, CA |
| Students of Majhon Phillips | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Benoit Pelchat | 14 | Moraga, CA |
| Student of Min-Sheng Yang | ||
| Intermediate Category, Age 15 to 17: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Gina Vicari | 15 | Centreville, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Ariel De Leon | 16 | McAllen, TX |
| Student of Maria Avalos | ||
| Isabella Brubaker | 16 | Fairfax, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Kelly Shen | 16 | Atherton, CA |
| Student of Eun-Mee Ko | ||
| Sara Porjosh | 16 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Agnes William | 15 | Morgan Hill, CA |
| Student of Solmaaz Adeli | ||
| Ellen Jo | 15 | San Jose , CA |
| Student of Kyungmin Lee | ||
| Kiana Palmer | 15 | Dunn Loring, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Hyewon Son | 16 | Englewood Cliffs, NJ |
| Student of Hye Young Kang | ||
| Lia Zheng | 16 | San Diego, CA |
| Student of Zeping Cai | ||
| Rachel Zhao | 16 | Ellicott City, MD |
| Student of Chunfeng Li | ||
| Renna Popli | 16 | Pleasanton, CA |
| Student of Jumi Kim | ||
| Shreya Krishnan | 16 | Colorado Springs, CO |
| Kyubin Moon | 17 | Buffalo Grove, IL |
| Student of Yongmin Kim and Hyewon Jung | ||
| Mayu Tayama | 17 | San Jose, CA |
| Student of Justin Montigne | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Jingyi Du | 14 | Oakland Gardens, NY |
| Student of Roubing Zhang | ||
| Ashley Zhang | 15 | Fairfax, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Jasmin Chen | 15 | Great Falls, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Kiana Palmer | 15 | Dunn Loring, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| TongTong Ye | 15 | Potomac, MD |
| Student of Joyce Lundy | ||
| Ahana Guin | 16 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Kamerin McDonald | ||
| Anna Abraham | 16 | Flower Mound, TX |
| Student of Kara Hanson-Hajjafari | ||
| Anya Waria | 16 | Fremont, CA |
| Student of Kamerin McDonald | ||
| Carissa Ma | 16 | Vienna, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Kavya Vandavasi | 16 | Fairfax, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Ria Bhatnagar | 16 | Bangalore, India |
| Student of Sandra Oberoi | ||
| Catherine Zavela | 17 | McLean, VA |
| Student of Sonia Yon | ||
| Erin Kim | 17 | Andover, MA |
| Student of Kennedy McAlister | ||
| Justin Ingui | 17 | Brooklyn, NY |
| Student of Chris Citera and Jana Ballard | ||
| Yilin Cai | 17 | Nanjing, China |
| Student of Wang Zuoxin and Zhu Fu | ||
| Vocal Duet: | ||
| Joonmo Koo | 17 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Yoonsuh (Erin) Lee | 16 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Students of Tom Ford and Eugene Kang | ||
| Folk/Traditional | ||
| Kenny Tsao | 17 | Alpharetta, GA |
| Student of Qian Li | ||
| College Students and Professional Singers Category: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Olivia Carter | 34 | San Francisco, CA |
| Classical Repertoire | ||
| Diana Sotski | 35 | New York, NY |
| Amateur Category: | ||
| Opera Aria | ||
| Hannah Cummings | 18 | Valley Center, CA |
| Student of Camilla Arnold | ||
| Joshua Lee | 20 | Los Angeles, CA |
| Student of Sarah Chung | ||
| Broadway/Musical Theatre/Jazz | ||
| Andre De La Tejera | 27 | Edinburg, TX |
| Student of Maria Avalos | ||
| Angela Madjirova | 18 | Bogdanci, Macedonia |
| Student of Ana Kostadinovska | ||
Third Place and Honorable Mention Winners will be notified of their standing via email.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS!
Winners Recital Information
1. Each participant will be notified about the Competition results after the Artistic Director releases the Competition placements. Winners of the Competition will perform one piece selected by the judges from the participant’s audition repertoire.
2. To change a performance repertoire, the participant must submit a link to the new piece video recording and a $55 fee not later than two months before the Concert.
3. 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.
4. Participants must bring their own piano accompanist. American Protégé does not provide piano accompanist, but can recommend one (contact the office).
5. Performance time limit for the School Students categories is under 5 minutes; for the Amateur category – under 6 minutes and for the College Students/Professionals category – under 7 minutes.
6. Extra performance time of up to 1 minute can be accepted for the Winners Recital with an additional fee of $100.
7. 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.
8. Each Winner will perform at one Recital. Recital date and time will be offered to the Winner, based on the Competition results.
9. Organizational Committee collects short biographies to introduce the performers at the Winners Recitals. American Protégé reserves the rights to edit, reduce and re-format any submitted biographies as it seems appropriate and fit into the Recital Brochure.
10. All participants are responsible for their own expenses (travel, housing accommodations, etc.).
11. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 shipment to the friends or relatives residing in the U.S. We do not mail packages internationally.
12. Detailed Winners Recital Guidelines will be emailed to the participants.