Katherine Liu
First Prize; Best Work Written Since 1990

Katherine Liu, 17, has received top prizes in numerous piano competitions, including Grand Prizes at the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition and the Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut, and First Prizes at the Krystian Tkaczewski International Piano Competition, Steinway Society Piano Competition, NEC Preparatory Concerto Competition, and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. Katherine has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Brockton Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. She is also the bronze medalist at the 2019 Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition as well as a winner of the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, International Piano-E Competition, and 2021 National YoungArts Competition. Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2015, Katherine has performed several times in the Cartoon Festival at Boston’s Symphony Hall. She also appeared on NPR's From the Top at Jordan Hall in 2016 and performed at the “Lato z chopinem” festival in Poland. Katherine is a third-year recipient of the Chopin Foundation scholarship. Katherine has worked with great musicians including Alexander Ghindin, Valery Kuleshov, Krzysztof Jablonski, Kevin Kenner, Alexander Kobrin, Piotr Paleczny, Ewa Poblocka, Keith Lockhart, and John Perry. She currently studies with HaeSun Paik at the New England.
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Jinyoung Kweon
Second Prize

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jinyoung Kweon began piano studies at the age of 7. She is currently an 11th grader at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts, studying under HaeSun Paik at the New England Conservatory of Music since 2020. The winner of the 2022 Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, she was awarded the First Prize at the 2021 Minnesota International e-Piano Junior Competition. She received the Second Prize at the 2018 Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany, and was invited to the Hilton Head International Piano Competition the following year. She has also won first prizes at many prestigious competitions in Korea. Recently, she performed at Jordan Hall of the New England Conservatory of Music as part of the prestigious “First Monday at Jordan Hall” and “NEC Composers: Piano Music by NEC Alumni and Faculty” concert series. In addition to a solo recital at the 2021 Parish Center of Arts Piano Series, she has participated in internationally recognized festivals including the 2021 Morningside Music Bridge and the 2019 Kirishima International Music Festival. She has also had various performances and multiple recitals in her country over the past eight years, such as Kumho Here & Now 20th Anniversary Concert, Korean Chamber Orchestra Prodigy Concert, Kumho Prodigy Concert Solo Recital, and Korea Young Artist Solo Recital. This coming May, she will perform as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall as part of the 2022 BSO Family Concert.
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Helaine Zhao
Third Prize

Helaine Zhao was born and raised in Irvine, California. She started piano lessons at age 5, currently studies with Rufus Choi. Helaine made her orchestral debut at the age of 10 as a winner of the SYMF Young Pianist Concerto Competition. She has a great passion for music and participated in numerous performances and competitions. She performed in various concert halls including Winifred Concert Hall, Segerstrom Concert Hall, Thayer Hall at Colburn School, and the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Most recently, Helaine was named a 2022 National YoungArts Merit winner, 1st prize winner of CAPMT Concerto Competition, 1st prize of SSMF Young Pianist Competition with Grand Schoenfeld Scholarship Award, winner of OCSA All Instruments Concerto Competition and will play with Symphony Orchestra in May. Helaine’s other accolades including 1st prize winner in MSMU Music Competition, US New Star International Competition, North International Music Competition, OC Steinway Rising Star Piano Competition. In addition, she was a top winner of ENKOR International Music Competition, the Bremen International Piano Competition, SC Junior Bach Competition, MTAC and MTNA state-level competition. Helaine has performed in masterclasses with Eduardo Delgado, Oxana Yablonskaya, Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Alexander Kobrin Dmitry, and Dmitry Rachmanov.
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Nathaniel Zhang
Young Jury Award

Nathaniel Zhang, 15, started learning piano at the age of five and presented his first piano solo recital at the age of 10. He made his orchestral debut with the Florence Conservatory Orchestra at Music Fest Perugia, Italy. He will be performing with the Philharmonia Northwest in May 2022, and he will perform with the Seattle Symphony and Auburn Symphony in the 2022-2023 season. Nathaniel was the 1st place winner of the 2018-2019 National MTNA Junior Performance Competition and Chopin Award, 2019 Waring International Junior Solo Competition and Junior Concerto Competition. In 2021, Nathaniel participated in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition. He won 2nd place of Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, 5th place of Young Artist category of the International-Piano-E Junior Competition, and 2nd place of San Jose International Piano Competition. Nathaniel loves sharing music with all ages and enjoys public performance. He played piano for first-graders in elementary school. His story was featured on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, segment “America Strong”. Nathaniel also enjoys playing chamber music and regularly performs at the “Rising Stars of Chamber Music” concerts. He is a student of Dr. Sasha Starcevich.
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Matthew Liu
Best Performance of a Solo Work

Matthew Liu, age 14, has been studying piano for 8 years and is currently a student of Professor Jack Winerock at the University of Kansas. Recently, he won the first prize in Kansas City Symphony Young Artist concerto competition, best Chopin performance in MTNA junior piano, first prize at International Young Artist Piano Competition in D.C., first prize at Chopin International Competition in Hartford CT, first prize in Paderewski International Piano Competition, first prize in Conero International Piano Competition, and was a semi-finalist at the 2021 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. He has performed as a competition winner at venues such as Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, the Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, IN, Ward Recital Hall at Catholic University of America in D.C., Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City. In 2019, he performed with Midwestern Chamber as a concerto competition winner, and KC Star commended his performance as “dazzling, …, the music played expressively, … a joy to hear”, and “was phenomenal”. In addition to music, Matthew loves to play tennis and chess, and enjoys spending time with families and friends.
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Elsie Lu
Discretionary Award Winner

Elsie Lu began studying piano at the age of five with Rada Bukhman and immediately adored classical music. Currently a pupil of Dr. Sasha Starcevich, Elsie is eager to continue to explore and pursue music as her career. As a winner of the American Protégé, Elsie attained the opportunity to perform in Carnegie hall at the age of nine. She won 1st place at 2021 Canadian Music Competition, platinum prize at Grand Metropolitan Competition, 3rd of professional category at Chicago International Competition and special mention of Young Euregio Competition. She’s gold medalist at US Northwest Chopin Festival, 2nd of 6th NW Ensemble Competition and Steinway Junior Competition. Most recently Elsie was the winner of concerto division of 50th SYAMF, and the receiver of Fazioli Trophy at CDMF festival. Elsie appeared with various orchestras including Bruensis Virtuosi, MusicFest Perugia and Bellevue Symphony. The festivals she attended gave her opportunities engage in workshops and masterclasses with the renowned professors such as Robert McDonald, Alexander Braginsky, Ursula Oppens, Boris Slutsky, Arthur Greene etc. Elsie enjoys exploring all mediums of art. Her poems were published in the book Intuition, and her paintings were published in the music collection book “The Magic Link” (by Rada Bukhman).
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Luke Turner
Discretionary Award Winner

Luke Turner, 18, is from Birmingham, Alabama. Since 2015, he has been a Myra Jackson Blair Scholar at Vanderbilt’s Blair Academy, where he studies with Dr. Heather Conner. He is a two-time MTNA National Finalist and a two-time first prize winner in the Lois Pickard Concerto Competition, sponsored by the Alabama Symphony. He is a 2021 YoungArts Winner and a 2020-21 Chopin Foundation Scholarship Recipient. Most recently, Luke won First Prize in the 2022 Emory Young Artists Piano Competition. He was named a 2021-22 From the Top Fellow and will perform on an upcoming episode of the show. He won Grand Prize in the 2021 Nashville Philharmonic Concerto Competition and received second prize in the 2021 LaGrange Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Luke performed with the Nashville Symphony in May 2019 after winning Grand Prize at the Curb Concerto Competition and soloed with the Curb Youth Symphony in December of that year. Also in 2019, Luke was a participant in the Cliburn International Junior Piano Festival and won third prize in the 2019 Lee University International Piano Competition. He has performed in masterclasses for renowned artists, including Norman Krieger, Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, and Peter Frankl.
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Ryan Wang
Discretionary Award Winner

Ryan Wang, 15, currently studies with Professor Hans Boepple. Ryan has received numerous awards, including the 2022 National YoungArts Merit award, semifinalist in the 2021 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, winner of the 2021 MTNA State and Southwest Division piano performance competitions, first place in the CAPMT Contemporary Competition, first place in the Los Angeles International Liszt Piano Competition, first place in the Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition, first place in the KAMSA competition, winner of the Marilyn Mindell competition, first place in the SF Chopin competition, second place in the Henry and Carol Zeiter Piano Competition, second place in the CAPMT Honors Competition, first alternate in the 2020 MTAC piano solo competition, first alternate in the MTAC piano concerto competition in 2019 and 2018, first place and Outstanding Gold Medalist award in the US Open Music Showcase Piano Solo Competition, second place in the United States International Music Competition, third place in the San Jose International Piano Competition, winner in the Golden State Youth Orchestra solo competition and winner in the Palo Alto Philharmonic concerto movement competition. Ryan performed as a soloist with the Golden State Youth Orchestra in 2018 and the Palo Alto Philharmonic in 2019.
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