2021 Festival Participants

Picture of Alyssa GabrilovichAlyssa Gabrilovich
Alyssa Gabrilovich is a freshman at Harriton High School and studies piano with Dr. Igor Resnianski. Alyssa made her concerto debut at the age of 9 as a winner of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra concerto competition. Competing locally, regionally, and internationally, Alyssa received numerous awards including Grand prize and a special award for the best performance of a Russian piece at the 2019 Chicago International Music Competition and top prize in her age division and a special award for the best performance of a contemporary piece at the 2019 Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition. She was a winner of Pennsylvania State MTNA Competitions (2017, 2018, and 2019), winner of Eastern Division MTNA and National Finalist (2019-2020). Alyssa is a recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States scholarship, Elmer and Louise Menges, and PIMF scholarships. She has performed as a soloist with several orchestras in the Philadelphia region as well as in venues such as the Weill Recital Hall, Kimmel Center, and Merkin Hall. Alyssa performed live at the WRTI 90.1FM studio (2018, 2019) and was featured in the WWFM broadcasted series “Kids on Keys” (2018) and in NPR’s From The Top program (2020, 2021).
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Picture of Solomon GeSolomon Ge
Solomon Ge is a pianist and composer from San Jose, CA. He currently studies piano with Prof. Yoshikazu Nagai at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the summer of 2019, Solomon won fourth prize in the International e-piano Junior Competition and top prizes in the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, and the Los Angeles International Piano Competition. He is the winner of numerous local and state competitions, including the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition, Palo Alto Philharmonic Concerto Competition, California Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, Mondavi Young Artists’ Competition, Ross McKee Competition, and Emory University Young Artists’ Piano Competition, among others. He has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, Richardson Symphony Orchestra, Peninsula Symphony, Palo Alto Philharmonic, Round Rock Symphony Orchestra and California Youth Symphony. This summer, he has been invited to join the San Jose Youth Symphony on tour to Europe as a soloist.
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Picture of Andrew GuAndrew Gu
Andrew Gu,14, hails from Milton, Massachusetts. He started piano lessons with mom Helen Jung at age 6. He is currently a student at Roxbury Latin School and New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School where he studies under the direction of world-renowned master pianist Alexander Korsantia and Hitomi Koyama.

In 2015, he won 1st Prize at the 61st Grotrian-Steinweg International Piano Competition. More recently, he won 1st Prize at the 2017 Rosalyn Tureck International Piano Competition, and was awarded Grand Prix at the 2019 Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford. He made his orchestra debut at age 8 performing Haydn's Keyboard Concerto in D major. In 2020, as the winner of the Ehlers Young Artist Competition and Eleanor B. Nelson Concerto Competition, he performed Prokofiev’s Concerto No.1. He was featured in Classical King FM’s NW Focus Live Shows, Ten Grands Seattle and Ten Grands Florida Concerts. He has attended masterclasses of Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Bernhard Goetzke, Peter Lang, Gary Graffman, and Dang Thai Son. Over the years, he has performed at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, New York's Merkin Hall and DiMenna Center for Classical Music, as well as the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West.
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Picture of Kenneth HeKenneth He
Kenneth’s piano teacher is Prof. Stella Xu. Kenny has won many prizes and awards. These include 2020 MTNA National Winner (Senior group, second place), 2021and 2020 MTNA East Division Piano Competition (First place), 2020 VIENNA International music competition (High distinction), 2020 Camerata Artists International Competition (First place), 2019 Steinway Piano Competition (First place), 2019 NJMTA New Jersey state Piano Competition (First place), 33rd International Young Artist Piano Competition (First place), 2019 International Grand Competition (Second place), 2018 VIVO International Piano Competition (Gold Prize), 2018 National League of Performance Arts Piano Competition (Gold Prize), 2018 Great Princeton Steinway Piano Competition (First place), 2018 Crescendo International Piano Competition(First place), 2017 New York Music Competition(Second place), 2017 New Jersey Music Teachers Association Piano Competition(First place). 2017 Chinese CCTV Young Artist Music Instrument Competition (First place). 2015 OSAKA International Music Competition (grand prize). Kenny also was selected to participate in master classes with Prof. Peter Frankl, Prof. David Dubal, Concert artist Alessia Bax . His performances have been well received in the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Kennedy Center in D.C., the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie. His performance was selected by radio WQXR and play many times.
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Picture of Adrian KingAdrian King
Adrian King is a high school senior from Silverdale, Washington. He is a student of Dr. Peter Mack of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and Dr. Dainius Vaicekonis of Seattle Pacific University. Adrian has been a prize winner at many competitions in both piano solo, concerto, and duet categories.

Adrian was the winner of the 2019 Seattle International Piano Competition. Adrian received 1st place at the 2018 Aloha International Piano Competition. He was a National YoungArts winner in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He was a finalist in the 2019 Kaufman International Youth Piano Competition in New York City. Adrian was a 2020-21 National Finalist in the MTNA National Senior Piano competition. Adrian and his sister, Mya, received second place in the 2016-17 National MTNA Competition in Baltimore, Senior Duet Division. Adrian won the concerto competition at the 2017 Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota and performed Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto with the NLMF orchestra under conductor, Gavriel Heine. He has also performed concerti with orchestras in both Washington and Hawaii. Adrian has received instruction from Emanuel Ax, Robert McDonald, Jerome Lowenthal, Joseph Kalichstein, Fabio Bidini, Arnaldo Cohen, Alan Chow, Alvin Chow, Douglas Humpherys, and Sean Chen.
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Picture of Malvyn LaiMalvyn Lai
Malvyn Lai is a sophomore from San Diego who started piano at age 5 and currently studies with Prof. Ning An. At age 10, he made his orchestral debut with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra in Russia. He has since performed with the Danube Symphony in Hungary, ToruĊ„ Symphony Orchestra in Poland, Culver City Symphony in California, Grossmont College Symphony in San Diego, Temecula Valley Symphony in California and Concert Festival Orchestra in NY. Malvyn has won many awards and scholarships; his recent competition accomplishments include the 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Finalist in Classical Music: Piano, first prize in piano of the 2020 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the Milton H. Saier. Memorial Award as the winner of the 2020 La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition, 2020-2021 Chopin Foundation of United States Scholarship recipient, the winner of the 2020 California Music Center Spotlight Merit Award, the OC International Steinway & Sons Competition, the Lee Piano Festival Competition, and many other scholarships and competitions.
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Picture of Brian LinBrian Lin
Brian Lin, age 13, is an 8th grader at William Hopkins Junior High School in Fremont, California. He was raised in NYC but now resides in Fremont, California. He started playing the piano at the age of 6 and has been studying Piano with Ms. Peyhwan Kuan since May of 2016. Brian has won numerous piano competitions including Grand Prize and 1st Prize of the 2020 Chicago International Piano Competition, 1st Prize of the 2020 Elevato International Piano Competition, 1stPrize of the 2019 James Ramos International Video Competition, 1st Prize of the 2019 Sylvia M. Ghiglieri Piano Competition, and he was the Winner of the 2019 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition of the Peninsula Symphony, Junior Division. He is also the 1st Prize Winner of the 2019 EBMF Piano Competition and the Contemporary Special Prize winner. In addition, he was also a prize winner for the Pacific Musical Society Competition, San Francisco District and State of CAMPT honor competition, Brian has performed in Masterclass for Ruth Slencynska, Dr. Sasha Starcevich, Mikhail Lidsky, Vladimir Khomyakov and Polina Fedotova. Aside from playing the piano, Brian plays competitive basketball and is passionate about mathematics. He is also an enthusiast for the culinary arts!
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Picture of Katherine LiuKatherine Liu
Katherine Liu, 16, has received top prizes in numerous piano competitions, including Grand Prix at the VI Chopin International Piano Competition in Connecticut and the Soloists of New England Competition, and First Prizes at the III Krystian Tkaczewski International Piano Competition, Steinway Society Piano Competition, NEC Preparatory Concerto Competition, Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, and Lowell Philharmonic Concerto Competition, among many others. Katherine has performed as a soloist with several orchestras, including the Rivers Symphony Orchestra and the Brockton Symphony Orchestra. Katherine is also the bronze medalist at the Yamaha USASU International Piano Competition and a National YoungArts winner in Classical Music.

Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2015, Katherine has performed in the Cartoon Festival at Boston’s Symphony Hall several times and was featured on WCRB 99.5. Katherine 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 second-year recipient of the Chopin Foundation scholarship.

Katherine has worked with great musicians such as Alexander Ghindin, Valery Kuleshov, Krzysztof Jablonski, Alexander Kobrin, Piotr Paleczny, Ewa Poblocka, and Sean Chen. She currently studies with HaeSun Paik at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
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Picture of Katie LiuKatie Liu
Katie Liu, 18, is a senior at Montour High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A student of Natasha Snitkovsky since the age of 5, Katie has won numerous top prizes at various competitions, including the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Claudette Sorel International Piano Competition, and the Pennsylvania Music Teachers’ Association Piano Competition. She was also the winner of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerto Competition, where she will have the opportunity to play with PYSO in Heinz Hall.

Katie has performed locally, nationally, and internationally, most notably in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Frost Chopin Academy (Miami), Sala dei Notari in Perugia, Italy, and Beijing, China. She is a four-time US Chopin Foundation full-scholarship recipient and was selected to participate in the Tenth National Chopin Competition in Miami, Florida in February 2020. She has had masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Dang Thai Son, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron, and Ilana Vered.

Besides piano, Katie also plays the violin with Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra and is part of a full-tuition fellowship quintet group in the orchestra’s chamber music program.
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Picture of Hyeonuk ParkHyeonuk Park
Hyeonuk Park started studying piano at the age of five. Notable awards to date include winning first prize at the 2012 National Music Contests with Daegu Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2015, he gave his first solo recital in St. Petersburg where he earned the Grand Prix at St. Petersburg International Young Art Premium Competition.

Since moving to the United States he won first place in the NEC Prep Concerto Competition in 2017 and soloed with the NEC Prep Youth Repertory Orchestra at Jordan Hall in 2018. In 2019, he won second prize at the 9th West Virginia International Piano Competition and Festival, and at the 6th MostArts Festival Young Pianist Competition. He was selected as a recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States Second-year Scholarship. Hyeonuk was the winner in the Juilliard Pre-College Piano Concerto Competition in 2020 and soloed with Juilliard Pre-College Symphony Orchestra in Peter Jay Lincoln Theater. Hyeonuk has also competed in Hilton Head International Piano Competition in 2020. Hyeonuk will be competing in the E-Piano Junior Competition in 2021.

At the NEC, he studied with Wha Kyung Byun. He is studying with Hung-Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone in Juilliard.
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Picture of Andrew ShiAndrew Shi
A student of Rufus Choi, Los Angeles native Andrew Shi has won numerous awards in state, national, and international piano competitions. Andrew was the first prize winner of the San Jose International Piano Competition and the recipient of the “Most Promising Young Talent” award. He was also a three-time first place winner of the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) State Piano Solo and Concerto Competitions and was newly inducted to the 2021-2026 Young Artist Guild of California.

Andrew’s other recent accolades include the first prize winner of the 2020 ENKOR International Music Competition, the 2020 and 2021 National YoungArts winner, the 2019 and 2020 Spotlight winner, and two-time first prize winner at the Los Angeles International Piano Competition. He has received top prizes in more than a dozen music competitions, including the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, American Fine Arts Festival, Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Piano Competition, among many others. He has performed in master classes with Oxana Yablonskaya, Vadim Monastyrsky, Sergey Schepkin, Lucinda Carver, and Eugene Alcalay.

As the first prize winner of both the Gail Newby Concerto Competition and Robert Turner Piano Concerto Competition, Andrew performed with the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra and the Antelope Valley Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Andrew received top prizes in the MTAC State VOCE Competition. He was accepted by prestigious competitions and music festivals such as the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, the Southeastern Piano Festival and Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, and the Tanglewood Music Festival.

Andrew currently is a junior at Diamond Bar High School (DBHS), where he is the vice president of the DBHS Performing Arts Academy. He started playing piano at the age of five and, at six, performed at Carnegie Hall. His passion for music has driven him in all aspects of his academic studies and extracurricular activities. Andrew is a two-time silver medalist of the British Biology Olympiad and an American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) qualifier. To help younger kids continue learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, he founded and served as the president of Aerovate-DB. In December 2020, he successfully fundraised for students in remote areas of the Philippines. He hopes to not only impart his passion for music and academics but also spread optimism and character for life.
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Picture of Christopher ShinChristopher Shin
Christopher Shin is a fifteen-year-old pianist from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He began studying the piano at the age of six, and currently studies with Prof. Veda Zuponcic of Rowan University.

During his young musical career, Christopher has been awarded a number of prizes at various piano competitions, including the First Prize at the 2019 MTNA/NJ Junior Performance Competition and Alternate of the Eastern Division; multiple first-prize awards in the NJMTA State-level Young Musicians Competition. Most recently, he has advanced to compete in the Semi-final round of the 2021 Gina Bachauer Junior International Piano Competition; was a full scholarship recipient of the 2020 National Chopin Foundation Scholarship; and he was named as a winner in the 2021 National YoungArts Foundation competition.

In past years, Christopher has performed concerti with the Rowan University Orchestra, Northern Lights Music Festival (NLMF) Orchestra, GMP All-Star Orchestra in Carnegie Hall.

Aside from piano, Christopher plays lead trumpet in his school jazz band, and he founded a music club named East Musicians on Call (EMC) at his school, which spreads music to benefit the local community–one of his strongest passions.
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Picture of Ryan ShengRyan Sheng
Ryan Sheng is a prizewinner of international and regional competitions, including the 1st prize and the special prize at the 10th Rosario Marciano International Competition, 3rd prize at the 2019 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, 2nd prize, the Audience Award, and the Young Jury prize at the 2019 Emory Young Artist Piano Competition, and the 1st prize at the 2018 Pacific Music Competition. Most recently, he won 1st prize at the 2021 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition, the 2020 Ross McKee Foundation Award, and the 2020 GSYO concerto competition. He was one of the 24 contestants of the 2016 Gina Bachauer International Competition. In 2017, he made his Belgium debut, giving a solo recital at the Brussels Music Festival.

Ryan has also participated in renowned festivals with full merit scholarships, including the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition Festival and the PianoTexas Young Artist program. As a winner of the PianoTexas Concerto Competition, Ryan performed Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21, K. 467 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Ryan is studying with Mr. Frank Levy. His former teacher is Mrs. Anna.
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Picture of Mi-Hyun SuhMi-Hyun Suh
Mi-Hyun Suh, 17-year-old pianist, resides in Rowland Heights, California and attends Diamond Bar High School. She began studying piano at age 5 and is currently under the tutelage of Rufus Choi. Receiving many accolades at numerous competitions, Mi-Hyun was the first prize winner of the Korean Times Music Competition, the MTAC OC Theme Festival and Concerto Competition, and the CAPMT Concerto Competition. She was also the winner of the Diamond Bar High School Concerto Competition, the MTAC OC Concerto Competition, and the Edith Knox Performance Competition. Mi-Hyun has appeared as soloist with the Diamond Bar High School Symphony Orchestra and the Orange County Symphony Orchestra. More recently, she was names a National YoungArts winner and a semifinalist for both the 2020 and 2021 Music Center's Spotlight Program. She is also a laureate of the Radda Rise International Piano Competition, the Odin International Music Competition, the Citta di Massa International Music Competition, the Euregio Piano Competition, and the Los Angles International Piano Competition. She has received masterclasses from Grace Fong, David Lisker, Oxana Yablonskaya, Daniel Lessner, Lucinda Carver, Ory Shihor, and Rieko Aizawa, as well as private instruction from Christopher O'Riley and Ick Choo Moon.
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Picture of Spencer TsaiSpencer Tsai
Canadian-born Spencer Tsai, currently sixteen years old, is equally accomplished as a pianist, violinist and composer. He began his studies in violin from the age of five and piano from the age of seven. At the age of ten, he became one of the youngest performers in history to attain two ARCT Diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music, for both violin and piano.

Already an experienced soloist, Spencer has performed piano and violin concerti with orchestras in the Greater Vancouver area more than twenty times. These include the West Coast Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, Abbotsford Orchestra, Delta Symphony and Neoclassical Symphony. Beyond Canadian orchestras, Spencer has also performed as a soloist with the international orchestras, such as the Tianjin Opera Symphony in China (in 2019) and the Perugia University Symphony (in 2019) in Italy. The piano concerti he has performed include Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20, all in their entirety.

Spencer Tsai currently attends Magee Secondary School in Vancouver. He studies piano with Dr. Wayne Weng and violin with Dr. Jonathan Der. His previous principal teachers include Nicholas Rada, Sarah Ho, KC Foong.
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Picture of Luke TurnerLuke Turner
Luke Turner, 17, 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 (Senior Piano, 2020 - 3rd place; Junior Piano, 2018) and a two-time first prize winner in the Lois Pickard Concerto Competition, sponsored by the Alabama Symphony (2020, 2017). He is a 2021 YoungArts Winner and a 2020-21 Chopin Foundation Scholarship Recipient. Most recently, Luke won second prize in the 2021 East Carolina University Piano Competition Senior Division and the 2021 LaGrange Symphony Orchestra Competition. He 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 chosen as a participant in the Cliburn International Junior Piano Festival. He received Honorable Mention in the 2020 Emory University Young Artist Piano Competition 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, Peter Frankl, and Jack Winerock.
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Picture of Justin WahbyJustin Wahby
Justin Wahby, age 17, began studying piano at the age of four, and currently studies under Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa and Professor John McCarthy. He has studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College for the past three years. Justin has received accolades from over 30 international, national, and regional competitions. Most recently he was named a 2020 National YoungArts, Honorable Mention in Classical Music as well as a winner of the 2021 Pacific Musical Society Competition. Other accolades consist of top prizes in the Cecilia Mendez Beethoven Society Competition, U.S. International Music Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Mondavi Young Artists Competition, Los Angeles Liszt International Competition, and MTAC Piano Solo Competition to name a few.

Additionally, Justin has performed in masterclasses under John Perry, Paul Lewis, Alan Chow, Boris Slutsky, and Nelita True. In 2019, Justin appeared as a soloist with the Sacramento Youth Symphony. As a chamber music musician, Justin has had 1st place appearances at the MTAC VOCE competition and the 2017 Chamber Music Competition sponsored by the Sacramento Chamber Music Society. To further Justin’s studies in music, he has attended the John Perry Piano Academy and Orfeo International Music Festival among others.
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Picture of Adrian ZaragozaAdrian Zaragoza
Adrian has taken piano lessons since age four. He is a student of Professor Richard Cionco at California State University, Sacramento, and Professor John McCarthy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has previously studied the piano under Mrs. Marjoree McBee, Mrs. Lara Downes and Dr. Lino Rivera. Adrian has also studied the harpsichord with Dr. Lorna Peters and Dr. Phoebe Craig. He has won top prizes at several local and international competitions, such as the Orfeo International Music Competition, Sylvia M Ghiglieri Piano Competition, Singapore International Piano Competition, Henry and Carol Zeiter Piano Competition, Golden State Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, American Protege International Piano Competition, United States Open Music Competition, and the Solano Symphony Concerto Competition. He was honored to perform Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor Op.16 with the Solano Symphony Orchestra. Next year, Adrian is scheduled to perform as a soloist with the Golden State Youth Symphony and at Carnegie Hall. Outside of music, Adrian also speaks French and Spanish fluently, enjoys swimming, biking, going to amusement parks, and spending time with his family, friends and his two dogs Sachi and Sia.
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Picture of Nathaniel ZhangNathaniel Zhang
Nathaniel Zhang started learning piano at the age of 5. He currently studies with Dr. Sasha Starcevich and previously studied with Tien Hsieh.

Nathaniel had his first piano solo recital at the age of 10. He made his orchestral debut with Florence Conservatory Orchestra at Music Festival Perugia, Italy. Nathaniel is the 1st place winner of the 2018-2019 MTNA National Junior Performance Competition and Chopin Award, 2019 Waring International Junior Solo Competition and Junior Concerto Competition. His other achievements include 1st place winner of 2018 Pacific Musical Society Competition, 2019 CAPMT Concerto Competition State Final, and 2018 & 2015 CAPMT Honors Competition State Final. He is the gold medalist of the 2019 Chopin Foundation Northwest Council Competition.

Nathaniel loves sharing music with all ages and enjoys public performance. He participated in the Junior Bach Festival in 2017 and 2018. He played piano for first-graders in the elementary school during lunchtime and his story was featured on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, segment “America Strong”. Nathaniel loves playing chamber music too. He appeared in the “Rising Stars of Chamber Music” concerts in 2018 and 2019.
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Picture of Jeslyn Zhu Jeslyn Zhu
15-year-old Jeslyn Zhu Cai has already distinguished herself as one of the most promising young musicians of her generation. She demonstrated enormous talent at this young age. Jeslyn has won international, national, and state competitions, as a pianist and a violinist. Recent international acclaim includes first prize in the 2021 Cap Ferret Music Festival Competition and the 2021 Glory International Piano Competition. In her home state of Washington, she was awarded first prizes in the 2020 Washington State Outstanding Artist Competition (OAC) and the 2019 MTNA Competition.
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