First Prize
Second Prize
Third Prize
Best Solo Award
Discretionary Awards
Young Jury Award
David Hou, First Prize
David Hou, 15, from Hawthorn Woods, IL, is currently a sophomore at Adlai E. Stevenson High School. He made his solo debut with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra in February 2012, in Appleton, Wisconsin, receiving high praise for his outstanding performance of Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major. David has performed concerts in major Chicago music venues, such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, Harris Theater, and Ravinia Bennett-Gordon Hall and has given personal concerts in many retirement homes across the Chicago area. He is the winner of 2009 ISMTA State District Audition Elementary Division, the winner of the 2010 Walgreens National Concerto Competition Junior Piano Open Division, and the winner of the 2011 Chicago Steinway Young Artist Solo Competition. He was also a contestant for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2012 and a finalist in the 2015 CSO youth auditions. He studies with Alan Chow of Northwestern University.
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Charlie Liu, Second Prize
Charlie Liu, 15, from Princeton, NJ, began learning piano at age 4. He has won top prizes in multiple renowned international and national competitions, including first prizes in the 2015 David Dubois Piano Competition and 2015 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and third prizes in the 2015 MostArts Festival and 7th Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition. At age 11, Charlie made his orchestra debut and since has soloed with orchestras in three different states. In 2008, he won the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Scholarship and remains the youngest ever selected. He set a world record by performing in all three concert halls of the world-famous Carnegie Hall at age 8. He has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Oprah Winfrey Show, and also at top venues across the U.S. from Lincoln Center in NY, to the Millennium Park in Chicago and the Segerstrom Concert Hall in California. Charlie initiated benefit events such as "Young Artists for Haiti" and benefit solo recitals for UI Children's Hospital and Plainsboro Rescue Squad, and is currently fundraising to create a "Rescue Music Foundation" to further help many communities. He has studied with Ingrid Clarfield of Westminster Choir College since 2007.
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Daniel Szefer, Third Prize Winner
Daniel Szefer, 17, from Winnetka, IL, is a first–generation American born to Polish parents. He had his first piano lesson at the age of seven and was introduced to the public in Miami, FL by the Chopin Foundation of the United States when he was ten. He gave three piano performances in Millennium Park in Chicago in 2010. In 2011, the cable television POLSAT made a documentary about his life as a young musician. He was one of eight international students invited to study at the Sergei Babayan Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2012. The same year, he gave a solo concert at the Chicago Symphony Center. He had his orchestral debut at the age of 13 with the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mina Zikri and he concertized with this orchestra for the next three years. Szefer gave three concerts in Poland in July 2013. He was the youngest Fellow at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in 2014 and one of two Americans who participated in the 8th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow, Russia in 2014. He had his Chicago Symphony Center orchestral debut in November 2015. He studies with Ralph Neiweem.
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Baron Cao, Discretionary Award Winner
Baron Cao, 15, from State College, PA, began his piano study in 2008 at age 7, and one year later he won first prize at the Duquesne Young Artist National Competition (2009). He went on to receive many other first prizes, including the West Chester University National Pre-College Piano Competition (2013, 2014), the Golden Era of Romantic Music International Competition (2012), the American Fine Arts Festival (2010, 2011, 2012), and the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition (2010, 2011). As the winner of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association (PMTA) Junior Piano competition (2014), he represented the state of Pennsylvania to participate in the MTNA Junior Piano Regional Competition (2015) and received the second prize. In June of 2015, Baron won a discretionary prize at the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition. He is an alumnus of the Southeastern Piano Festival (2015), Aspen Music Festival and School (2014), and played in master classes with Garrick Ohlsson, Andrew Cooperstock, and Vivian Weilerstein. Baron has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Harris Concert Hall in Aspen, PNC Recital Hall, Esber Recital Hall, and various other venues. He studies with Dea Baba.
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Eric Lin, Discretionary Award Winner
Eric Lin, 15, from Falls Church, VA, is a sophomore at TJHSST. He has been studying piano for 11 years and won numerous competitions throughout the nation. He is the winner of the 2014-2015 Virginia State MTNA, 2015-2016 D.C. MTNA and Alternate in the 2016 MTNA Eastern Division. He was first prize winner at the David Dubois Piano Competition, McDonald Arts Scholarship, Elizabeth-Davis Piano Competition, International Young Artist Pianist Competition, Lee University Piano Competition, Chopin Young Artists Piano Competition, Ylda-Novik Piano Concerto Competition, Emilio del Rosario Piano Concerto Competition(Chicago), DePaul Concerto Festival and Robert Spencer Concerto Competition in both Junior and Senior levels. Eric has soloed with four Symphony Orchestras in Chicago, Washington DC, and New York areas. In October 2014, he performed the entire Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Capital City Symphony at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C. At age 11, Eric had his concerto debuts with the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra and Harper Symphony Orchestra in Chicago within 3 months. His other prizes include third place in FMMC Competition, second place in Misbin Chamber Music Competition, Finalist Prize in the International Institute for Young Musicians Competition, and the Blount-Slawson Competition. He studies with Marjorie Lee.
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Ethan Yuen, Discretionary Award Winner
Ethan Yuen, 14, is from Palo Alto, California and started learning piano when he was five, winning his first competition at age seven. In the past few years, he has been a prizewinner several times in the CAPMT, MTAC Northern California and state concerto competitions and the AFAF international concerto competition. He was a Grand Prize winner in the winner's recital of AFAF which was held in Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall. He was also a prize-winner in the LA Young Musicians International Piano Competition and the MTNA State and Divisional competitions. In June, he will have his debut with the El Camino Youth Symphony. He has attended the Colburn Music Academy Piano Festival, John Perry Academy Summer Piano Festival and Cooper Piano Festival. Ethan especially enjoys playing works by Beethoven and Chopin. Besides playing and listening to classical music, he enjoys playing basketball with friends, watching Giants and Warriors games and eating gourmet food. In school, he loves and excels in foreign languages. He is currently a student of Hans Boepple.
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David Hou, Best Solo Work Prize
David Hou, 15, from Hawthorn Woods, IL, is currently a sophomore at Adlai E. Stevenson High School. He made his solo debut with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra in February 2012, in Appleton, Wisconsin, receiving high praise for his outstanding performance of Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major. David has performed concerts in major Chicago music venues, such as Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, Harris Theater, and Ravinia Bennett-Gordon Hall and has given personal concerts in many retirement homes across the Chicago area. He is the winner of 2009 ISMTA State District Audition Elementary Division, the winner of the 2010 Walgreens National Concerto Competition Junior Piano Open Division, and the winner of the 2011 Chicago Steinway Young Artist Solo Competition. He was also a contestant for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2012 and a finalist in the 2015 CSO youth auditions. He studies with Alan Chow of Northwestern University.
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Charlie Liu, Best Solo Work Prize
Charlie Liu, 15, from Princeton, NJ, began learning piano at age 4. He has won top prizes in multiple renowned international and national competitions, including first prizes in the 2015 David Dubois Piano Competition and 2015 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and third prizes in the 2015 MostArts Festival and 7th Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition. At age 11, Charlie made his orchestra debut and since has soloed with orchestras in three different states. In 2008, he won the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Scholarship and remains the youngest ever selected. He set a world record by performing in all three concert halls of the world-famous Carnegie Hall at age 8. He has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Oprah Winfrey Show, and also at top venues across the U.S. from Lincoln Center in NY, to the Millennium Park in Chicago and the Segerstrom Concert Hall in California. Charlie initiated benefit events such as "Young Artists for Haiti" and benefit solo recitals for UI Children's Hospital and Plainsboro Rescue Squad, and is currently fundraising to create a "Rescue Music Foundation" to further help many communities. He has studied with Ingrid Clarfield of Westminster Choir College since 2007.
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Charlie Liu, Young Jury Award Winner
Charlie Liu, 15, from Princeton, NJ, began learning piano at age 4. He has won top prizes in multiple renowned international and national competitions, including first prizes in the 2015 David Dubois Piano Competition and 2015 Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and third prizes in the 2015 MostArts Festival and 7th Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition. At age 11, Charlie made his orchestra debut and since has soloed with orchestras in three different states. In 2008, he won the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Scholarship and remains the youngest ever selected. He set a world record by performing in all three concert halls of the world-famous Carnegie Hall at age 8. He has performed on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Oprah Winfrey Show, and also at top venues across the U.S. from Lincoln Center in NY, to the Millennium Park in Chicago and the Segerstrom Concert Hall in California. Charlie initiated benefit events such as "Young Artists for Haiti" and benefit solo recitals for UI Children's Hospital and Plainsboro Rescue Squad, and is currently fundraising to create a "Rescue Music Foundation" to further help many communities. He has studied with Ingrid Clarfield of Westminster Choir College since 2007.
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