First Prize
Second Prize
Third Prize
Best Solo Award
Discretionary Awards
Young Jury Award
Derek Chung, First Prize
Derek Chung is freshman at Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL. He studies piano with Sueanne Metz. Derek’s recent accomplishments include first prizes at the Luminarts Cultural Foundation for Classical Music, DePauw University Young Artist, US New Star Piano, the American Fine Arts International Concerto, and the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competitions where he was awarded overall Best Romantic Performance. He won second place at the Aloha International Piano, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano, and the Crain-Maling Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competitions. He was also a winner of Best Early Music Award at Walgreens National Concerto Competition and the bronze medal winner at Seattle International Piano Festival Competitions.
Derek has had the honor of performing in musical venues such as Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Bennett-Gordon Hall at Ravinia, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. He has participated in master classes with Robert Shannon, Scott McBride-Smith, Haewon Song, Steven Spooner, Stella Sick, Jack Winerock, and John Bayless. Outside of music, Derek enjoys reading books and running cross-country. He is also a member of the elite mathematics team for Stevenson.
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Jonathan Reichenberger, Second Prize
Jonathan Reichenberger is 14 years old and in the 8th grade. Since 2006, Jonathan has received numerous local and state awards and honors in the Florida Federation of Music Clubs (FFMC) and Florida State Music Teachers Association (FSMTA). In the Pompano Beach Children in the Arts Piano Competition, Jonathan was a first place winner for six consecutive years, winning the final category, Advanced II, in February 2013 at the age of 12. In May 2011, he was the first place winner in the FSMTA State concerto competition in Tallahassee in the Intermediate division (ages 13-15). Jonathan was the first place winner of the Florida District VI Concerto Competition, Senior Division in 2012. In March 2012, Jonathan was a winner of the International Young Musicians Festival and performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York. At the 2013 MTNA Southern Division Junior Piano Performance Competition in North Carolina, Jonathan was awarded Alternate. At the 2014 and 2015 MTNA Southern Division Junior Piano Competition, he was awarded HM. This past October, Jonathan was the first place winner in the Louisiana International Piano Junior Competition. Jonathan and his brother recently were awarded Alternate in the MTNA Southern Division Senior Duet Piano Competition.
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Avery Gagliano, Third Prize Winner
13-year old Washingtonian Avery Gagliano is a Jack Kent Cook Honors recipient and a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. At age nine she had her orchestral debut with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO) at Strathmore Concert Hall and performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. The following year, Avery was invited to performed on the National Public Radio’s (NPR) From The Top. Among her honors are her most recent wins of First Prize at the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC and Grand Prix at the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2013, Avery studied and performed at the Aspen Music Festival under the direction of Dr. Veda Kaplinsky. In 2014, she performed as a soloist with the Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Symphony Orchestra at the renowned Ravinia Pavilion in Chicago. In the recent past, Avery has collaborated with the Capital City Symphony and The National Chamber Ensemble. She has performed at major concert venues including, Greene Space at WQXR, the United Nations Headquarters, the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, the Atlas Performing Arts Center and Ward Recital Hall at the Catholic University.
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Baron Cao, Discretionary Award Winner
Baron Cao 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. Baron also won third prize at The 3rd International Chopin Piano Competition in CT, USA (2012). He is an alumni of the Aspen Music Festival and School (2014), and received master classes from Garrick Ohlsson 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 currently studies with Dea Baba.
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Vincent Liu, Discretionary Award Winner
Vincent Liu, 16, a sophomore at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, California, currently studies piano with Professor Hans Boepple of Santa Clara University. As a concerto competition winner, Vincent has performed with the Livermore-Amador Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, the Palo Alto Philharmonic Orchestra, and the El Camino Youth Symphony. Vincent has also won the Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition, the San Jose International Piano Competition, the US Open Music Competition, Music Teacher Association of California (MTAC) all state Concerto Competition, and California Association of Professional Music Teacher (CAPMT) state Honors Audition and CAPMT all state Concerto Competition, the Menuhin-Dowling Competition and three times (2008, 2010, 2013) 1st place at East Bay Music Festival Solo Competition. In 2012, he attended Colburn School Young Artists Summer Academy.
An excellent athlete, Vincent plays competitive soccer for a club team and his high school varsity team. This year, he is a state Olympiad Development Program (ODP) player. He also excels in school, and received a Distinguished Honor Roll for scoring top 1% nationally at the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) and was two times qualifier for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME).
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Kevin Takeda, Discretionary Award Winner
Kevin Takeda, 16, is a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy. He has been a prizewinner in many competitions such as the the Riverside Young Artists Competition, MTNA, the EMF Concerto Competition performing Prokofiev's 3rd Concerto, and was a finalist in the Mondavi National Young Artists Competition. At age 15, Kevin was the youngest person to ever win the EMF International Solo Competition. Recently, he won 2nd Prize in the David Dubois National Piano Competition. Other than solo works, Kevin has performed many other ensemble works, most notably Prokofiev's Third Concerto, and many pieces for chamber ensemble. Kevin has performed on Interlochen Public Radio several times and has performed in venues such as the Detroit Symphony Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He has attended, on scholarship, Interlochen Arts Camp, Eastern Music Festival, Texas State International Piano Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, the Southeastern Piano Festival and Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, and recently was invited to study at Aspen Music Festival and School. He has performed for and worked with many world reknowned musicians such as Nelita True, Vadym Kholodenko, Boris Slutsky, William Wolfram, Jonathan Biss, and Jeremy Denk. He currently studies with Dr. Thomas Lymenstull.
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Avery Gagliano, Best Solo Work Prize
13-year old Washingtonian Avery Gagliano is a Jack Kent Cook Honors recipient and a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. At age nine she had her orchestral debut with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO) at Strathmore Concert Hall and performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. The following year, Avery was invited to performed on the National Public Radio’s (NPR) From The Top. Among her honors are her most recent wins of First Prize at the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC and Grand Prix at the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2013, Avery studied and performed at the Aspen Music Festival under the direction of Dr. Veda Kaplinsky. In 2014, she performed as a soloist with the Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Symphony Orchestra at the renowned Ravinia Pavilion in Chicago. In the recent past, Avery has collaborated with the Capital City Symphony and The National Chamber Ensemble. She has performed at major concert venues including, Greene Space at WQXR, the United Nations Headquarters, the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, the Atlas Performing Arts Center and Ward Recital Hall at the Catholic University.
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Vincent Liu, Young Jury Award Winner
Vincent Liu, 16, a sophomore at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, California, currently studies piano with Professor Hans Boepple of Santa Clara University. As a concerto competition winner, Vincent has performed with the Livermore-Amador Symphony, the Peninsula Symphony, the Palo Alto Philharmonic Orchestra, and the El Camino Youth Symphony. Vincent has also won the Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition, the San Jose International Piano Competition, the US Open Music Competition, Music Teacher Association of California (MTAC) all state Concerto Competition, and California Association of Professional Music Teacher (CAPMT) state Honors Audition and CAPMT all state Concerto Competition, the Menuhin-Dowling Competition and three times (2008, 2010, 2013) 1st place at East Bay Music Festival Solo Competition. In 2012, he attended Colburn School Young Artists Summer Academy.
An excellent athlete, Vincent plays competitive soccer for a club team and his high school varsity team. This year, he is a state Olympiad Development Program (ODP) player. He also excels in school, and received a Distinguished Honor Roll for scoring top 1% nationally at the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) and was two times qualifier for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME).
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