Oliver Betz, 16, is from Brooklyn, NY. Born in 1999, Oliver studied piano at the Special Music School in Manhattan before entering the Juilliard pre-college program in 2012. Oliver has won various prizes starting at age 9 with the concerto competition at the Special Music School and the grand prize at the International Chopin competition in Hartford CT, leading to a performance with the Ukrainian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kiev. Other awards are the Best Young Talent prize at the IBLA International Music Competition, Sicily, the second prize in the Thousand Island Competition and the Viennese Classic prize in the Luciano Marciano competition, Vienna last fall. Oliver loves participating in international music festivals and master classes such as Musikhochschule in Munich with Friedemann Berger or the Vianden Music Festival, Luxembourg with Boaz Sharon and Andrew Cooperstock. He is also an avid chamber music performer at Juilliard or in the Sejong International summer camp at the Curtis Institute and is pursuing his passion for conducting under George Stelluto. Due to his mixed background Oliver is trilingual (Mandarin, English and German) and a fanatical soccer player. He studies with Matti Raekallio.
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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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Hans Chan, 17, is from St, Louis, MO and began his piano education at the age of eight. Hans is already an accomplished performer and a prizewinner of many prestigious competitions. Some of his awards include First Place in the 2014-2015 Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) Missouri State Piano Competition, Second Place in the 2014-2015 MTNA West Central Division Piano Competition, and First Place in the 2015 Fite Family Young Artist Competition. In the summer of 2015, Hans attended Perugia MusicFest in Italy, where he performed the Grieg Concerto with the Alicante Symphony Orchestra. He also participated in the 2015 Southeastern Piano Competition. In 2014, he played in the prestigious Shepley Concert Series after winning the St. Louis Young Artist Piano Competition. Hans attended International Institute for Young Musicians on scholarship in 2014 and 2015, where he was able to study with such esteemed teachers as Jack Winerock and John McCarthy. Currently he studies with Annette Burkhart.
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Josephine Chan, 13, from San Francisco, CA, is currently a scholarship student in the Pre-College Division at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She and her trio took first prize at the 2016 Diablo Valley College Chamber Music Competition. As a soloist, she is a prizewinner in 2015 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, 2015 Enkor International Piano Competition, 2015 Pacific Musical Society Scholarship Competition, 2015 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition, 2013 American Protégé International Piano Competition and 2012 San Francisco Chopin Competition. She was also chosen to participate in the 2011 and 2013 Junior Bach Festival. Performance highlights include: 2015 Ojai Music Festival at Libbey Bowl, 2015 Ojai at Berkeley Zellerbach Hall, 2015 SF Conservatory Classical Kickoff Recital, 2015 SF Conservatory Fanfare Luncheon, 2013 American Protégé Competition Winner's Concert at Carnegie Weill Hall and 2012 Lang Lang 101 Pianists Workshop. In her spare time, Josephine enjoys drawing, reading, travelling, swimming, listening to music and roller coaster rides. She currently studies with Corey McVicar.
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Daniel Che, 16, from Plano, TX, began studying the piano at the age of seven. Since then, he has distinguished himself by consistently winning local piano competitions hosted by the Dallas Music Teacher’s Association, including the Dallas Symphonic Festival and Dallas Solo Competition. He won first prize in March of 2016 at Dallas Symphonic Festival senior concerto division. Daniel has also excelled in the state of Texas, winning first and second places in the Texas MTNA Performance Competition for the latest three consecutive years, including the first place and second place (alternate) in the Junior Division of 2013 and 2014, respectively, and the alternate in the Senior Division of 2015. He was also the winner of the MTNA South Central Division, and the third place in the MTNA National Competition of 2013-2014. In 2015, Daniel won second place at the Waco Piano Competition for the junior solo division and Grand Prize at the McKinney Young Artist Competition. He studies with Yifan Liu.
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Christian Chiu, 13, is from Pittsburgh, PA, and currently a seventh Grader at Fort Couch Middle School in the Upper St. Clair School District. At the age of ten, he made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21. He was first prize winner of the solo division at the Duquesne Young Artist National Competition, the Pittsburgh Concert Society Young Artist Competition, and has been selected as a Steinway Society of Western PA Young Artist. He has been invited to appear on the live radio show "Saturday Light Brigade's Neighborhood Voices" on multiple occasions. Most recently, he was selected as a finalist for NPR's "From The Top" auditions. Christian likes playing music from all different periods, and especially appreciates performing the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Outside of his musical pursuits, Christian enjoys playing chess, ping-pong, golf, and watching hockey games. He currently studies with Natasha Snitkovsky.
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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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Heather Hsun Chang, 17, from Pao Alto, CA, has already performed quite extensively, both as a very young pianist in her native country, Taiwan, and in more recent years, in various cities on both coasts of the United States. Heather attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division where she is a Hurlbut-Johnson Preparatory scholarship student. She has participated in numerous competitions and received second prize in the ENKOR International Piano Competition, Ross McKee Piano Competition, Pacific Musical Society Competition, the San Francisco Chopin Competition, and the Kawaii Piano Competition, Taiwan Regional. Her music studies continued in the summer, when she attended the Walnut Hill Music Festival in Natick, Boston, participated in the Morningside Music Bridge Music Festival in Calgary, Canada, and took part in the Dominican University Chamber Camp with full scholarships. In addition, Heather was a winner of the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts YoungArts Week 2015 in Maimi, Florida and received a Level I Award. Her previous teachers include Chiao-Han Liao and Prof. Mack McCray, and she currently studies with Corey McVicar.
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Mahima Kumara, 17, from State College, PA, is a senior at State College Area High School. She has won awards in regional and national piano competitions, including first place in the Duquesne Young Artists National Competition, Phyllis Triolo Music Competition, and Vera Kochanowsky Piano Competition. She has also won awards in PA State MTNA Competitions and the Marian Garcia Piano Competition at Penn State. Last fall, she performed with the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra as the winner of their Young Artist Competition. She was also one of thirty students accepted from around the world to attend the Boston University Tanglewood Institute piano program in the summer of 2014. In addition to piano, Mahima loves to sing. She studies South Indian Carnatic classical singing and is a member of auditioned choirs at her school. Mahima was a 2014 All-State Chorus and 2015 All-Eastern Chorus member, and she accompanies choirs in school and at regional festivals. Outside of music, she loves math and science, is captain of her school’s quiz bowl team, and enjoys fencing, volunteering, and outreach activities. She currently studies piano with Dea Baba.
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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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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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Anastasia Magamedova, 18, from Murray, UT, a 2016 National YoungArts winner, was also recently chosen to be one of the 24 pianists to be invited to participate in the First Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival in Fort Worth, Texas. A Gold medalist of the 2013 International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival Piano Competition and third place winner of the 2015 IIYM International Piano Competition, she began studying the piano at the age of 5 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The winner of the 2016 Utah State MTNA Piano Competition, she was also a 2015 SouthWest Regional MTNA Piano Competition winner, leading to being a 2015 MTNA National Finalist. In January of 2015, she was also a finalist in the Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition for Young Pianists. Winner of several concerto competitions, she has performed with the Utah Symphony and the American West Symphony. In 2014 she also performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Concert Hall. A recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, she has been featured on NPR’s "From the Top" and on BYU Radio twice. Anastasia studies with Dr. Heather Conner and Dr. Scott Holden.
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Daniel Oslin, 16, from Lynwood, WA, has been the first prize winner and was selected the Outstanding Performer at the 2009 Northwest Bach Festival, the first prize winner of the 2012 and 2013 Northwest Chopin Competition, solo and concerto divisions of the 2012 Eastside Music Teachers Scholarship Competition, one of the ten finalists in the Classical King FM 2012 Young Artists Competitions, and the winner of 2012 Seattle Young Artists Music Festival. In 2012, Daniel played with the Seattle Philharmonia Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. He was selected by the Seattle Symphony to perform at the 2013 Rachfest Master Class in Benaroya Recital Hall. Daniel performed live on the King 5 Television show “New Day Northwest” and the Classical King FM Radio Station. He was a finalist at the Kaufman International Youth Piano Competition in June 2013 in New York City, and is a recipient of the Carol and Brian Gregory Scholarship at the 2014 Russian Chamber Music Festival. Most recently, he has been invited to the Curtis Summer Music Festival. Additionally, he enjoys swimming, reading, math and science. He previously studied with Sasha Starcevich and is currently studying under Dr. Duane Hulbert and Dr. Nancy Jang.
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Nita Qui, 14, from Woodbury, MN, is in 8th grade at the Trinity School at River Ridge. An active performer throughout the country, Nita is the recipient of numerous awards and recognition. Some of her most recent awards include placing first in the St. Paul Piano Teacher's Association Concerto Competition in December, 2015, receiving third place in the Aloha International Piano Competition (Junior Division) in Honolulu, Hawaii in June, 2015, and being a National Finalist of the Music Teacher's National Association Young Artist Competition (Junior Division) in Las Vegas, Nevada in March, 2015. She played the Saint Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 first movement with Mississippi Valley Orchestra in February 2016. She also played the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 with the Young Artist World Piano Festival Orchestra at the age of 12, and the first movement of the same concerto with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra at the age of 11. Aside from piano, Nita is a competitive swimmer and loves reading and watching movies as well. She has studied for over eight years with Joseph Zins.
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Roger Shen, 17, is from Northbrook, IL. A first place winner of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition and the Aloha International Concerto Competition, he has performed with the Midwest Young Artists Symphony Orchestra and the Honolulu Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Lawrence Rapchak in two consecutive seasons. As a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, he performed with the Exeter Symphony Orchestra after winning the Phillips Exeter Concerto Competition. In addition, he has performed twice with the Mostarts Symphony Orchestra as part of the Mostarts Festival held at Alfred University. He has performed at Carnegie Hall twice as a result of winning first place at both the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition and the American Fine Arts Piano Competition. He has also won first place at the Chicago Steinway Young Artists Competition and at the Music Teachers National Association State Competition for the past three years in a row (MTNA Illinois and New Hampshire). Roger was awarded prizes at the Southeastern Piano Festival, Cooper Piano Festival, Most-Arts Piano Festival, Sejong Piano Competition, Chopin Youth Piano Competition (WI), and the Society of American Musicians Piano Competition. He has participated in NEC's Advanced Piano Seminar. He studies with Jon Sakata.
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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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Jarrett Takakii, 17, from Wilmette IL, is a junior at New Trier High School. He received first place awards at the De Paul Concerto Festival, the American Fine Arts Festival International Piano Competition, The Tennessee Young Artist Competition, The Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the Emilio Del Rosario Concerto Competition, The Lee Piano Competition, and the Cardinal Stritch Piano Festival. Jarrett was a semifinalist at the Yamaha International Piano Competition, the Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition, and a second place winner in the Junior Division of the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He received prizes in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, the Aloha International Piano Festival, the Steinway Piano Competition, The DePauw University Piano Festival and the MTNA Competition. He has performed the Mozart Concerto in D Minor first movement with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago, the Bach D minor Piano Concerto first movement with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the University of Alicante and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto in C Major first movement with the Harper College Symphony Orchestra. Jarrett has performed at Weill Hall, Symphony Center, Daley Plaza, Warner Hall, and Bennett Gordon Hall, and was a featured artist in the Young Steinway Piano Series. He currently studies with Sueanne Metz.
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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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Jason Zhang, 17, is from Dallas, Texas. Self-taught at the age of five, he began his formal training under the guidance of Colleen Beshear and Sam Wong at the age of nine. Jason enjoys sharing his music with others. He has been featured on classical radio stations including North Texas' Classical WRR. He was invited to perform at the Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, England and has had the privilege of performing in solo master classes with Norman Krieger, Philippe Cassard, Leslie Howard, and Graham Scott. His passion for music has also earned him top prizes in international and regional competitions. He received the Grand Prize at the McKinney Young Artist Competition and was awarded top recognitions in the National YoungArts Foundation, International Piano e-Competition, Schmidbauer International Young Artist Competition, and Lynn Harrell Concerto Competition. Additionally, he won first place at the Texas Music Teachers Association’s Performance Competition for Piano Solo and top prizes at the TMTA-MTNA Performance Competitions. Jason is currently a junior at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas and studies with Tamas Ungar.
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Lewis Zou, 16, from Sohon, OH and a sophomore at Solon High School, began his formal musical education at the age of five at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2010, 2011, and 2013, Lewis won first prize in the Ohio Music Teachers Association District Buckeye Piano Competition. In May of 2011, he made his debut as soloist with orchestra with the Lakeland Civic Orchestra as a result of winning the Lakeland Civic Orchestra's Young Artist Competition. In 2012 he was a semifinalist in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition held in Salt Lake City. He also won the state Music Teachers National Association competition in October of 2012. As a result of winning the 2013 Jean L. Petitt Memorial Music Scholarship Competition, he made his debut at Severance Hall with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. In May of 2014, he made his Carnegie Hall debut as First Prize winner in the 2014 Alexander & Buono International Piano Competition. Lewis was invited to perform the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto with the Firelands Symphony Orchestra on Opening Night in October 2015, and has been awarded the Scholarship of Chopin Foundation of the United States for both 2015 and 2016. He studies with Alvin Chow.
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