2009 Seattle International Piano Competition Winners, Finalists, and Semi-finalists

Professional
Collegiate
Amateur
Youth, Ages 9 and Under
Youth, Ages 10-13
Youth, Ages 14-18

Professional

Ilia Radoslavov, Bulgaria (2009 Professional Gold Medalist)
A native of Bulgaria, pianist Ilia Radoslavov obtained his Doctoral Degree in Piano Performance as a Paul Collins Distinguished Graduate Fellow, an award celebrating outstanding performing ability and musicianship, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied with Christopher Taylor. Dr. Radoslavov has graduated with high distinction and holds degrees in Piano Performance from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he worked with Wilfred Delphin, and the State Conservatory of Music, Sofia, Bulgaria. He has also worked with world-renowned Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, and Ann Shein. The list of recognitions in Dr. Radoslavov’s name includes awards from the Missouri International Piano Competition, Joplin, Missouri; The Hague International Piano Competition, the Netherlands; and first prizes from the UW-Madison Concerto Competition, UW-Madison Beethoven Piano Competition, Saint Louis Artist Presentation Society, National Mozart Competition, Sofia, Bulgaria, and National Piano Competition, Provadia, Bulgaria. Throughout his career, Dr. Radoslavov has been welcomed warmly and with accolades by audiences and critics alike, while appearing in numerous solo and chamber performances in prestigious venues in the United States, Europe, and Mexico. His performances have been broadcast on WSIU TV 8, Illinois, and the Bulgarian National Radio. At present, Dr. Radoslavov is piano faculty at University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Sun-A Park, USA (2009 Professional Silver Medalist)
Pianist Sun-A Park has performed throughout the United States as well as Korea, Japan, China, and Italy. She has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Newark Symphony, Plainfield Symphony, Glens Falls Symphony, American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at Aspen, Summit Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Chioggia, and the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra. Her performance this season includes Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Park is the winner of the William Garrison – Franz Liszt Competition. She also won first prizes at the Pacific International (Vancouver, Canada), Kingsville International, and Orchestra Sinfonica del Festival di Chioggia (Italy) competitions. She is also the top prizewinner at the California International Young Artists, Gina Bachauer International Junior, Corpus Christi International, Oberlin International, Eastman International, New York, and the New Jersey Young Artists Audition piano competitions. Born in 1988 in Pusan, Korea, she began her piano lessons when she was four under her mother’s instruction. She is currently studying under the tutelage of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio at the Juilliard School, where she is the recipient of the Susan Rose Piano Fellowship.

Christopher Atzinger, USA (2009 Professional Bronze Medalist)
Pianist Christopher Atzinger has performed in Austria, Italy, France, Spain and Canada in addition to performances throughout the United States highlighted by concerts in New York at Carnegie Hall (Weill), New York University, St. Paul’s Chapel, Liederkranz Hall; in Chicago at the Dame Myra Hess Series; and in Washington, D.C. at the Phillips Collection. He has performed at the Banff International Keyboard Festival, Brevard Music Festival, and the Chautauqua Institution, in addition to giving lectures and masterclasses across the country. A medalist of the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, and the Nina Plant Wideman International Piano Competition, Atzinger has been praised by critics for his “personal interpretive vision” and “virtuoso aplomb”. He has recorded for MSR Classics and Centaur Records and will record works of Judith Lang Zaimont for Naxos in 2010. In addition to degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan, Atzinger earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He counts among his teachers Julian Martin, Robert McDonald, Anton Nel, David Renner, and Carolyn Lipp. Mr. Atzinger teaches at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Other Awards and Honorable Mentions
Audience Favorite award: Lixia Li
Teachers’ Favorite award: Christopher Atzinger
Best Performance of a sonata by D. Scarlatti: Ji Soo Seo
Best Performance of a work by K. Szymanowski: Sun-A Park

Professional Finalists
Christopher Atzinger (USA), Ai-Ying Chiu (Taiwan), Lixia Li (China), Sun-A Park (USA), Ilia Radoslavov (Bulgaria), Ji Soo Seo (Korea)

Instructors of the Finalists
Yoheved Kaplinsky (Sun-A Park), Michael Lewin (Ai-Ying Chiu), Eugene Pridonoff (Lixia Li), Barry Snyder (Ji Soo Seo)

Professional Semi-finalists
Jerfi Aji (Turkey), Kai-Ching Chang (Taiwan), Anastasia Dedik (Russia), Renato Fabbro (USA), Amy Gustafson (USA), Jin Han (Korea), Narae Joo (Korea), Michi Kawai (Japan), Sun Min Kim (Korea), Saori Kondo (Japan), Jungmin Lee (Korea), Jin Hwa Lee (Korea), Tzu-Feng Liu (Taiwan), Katherine Minakova (USA), Junko Nagaya (Japan), Thomas Nixon (USA), Myung-Jin Paik (Korea), Sha Wang (China), Brett Waxdeck (USA), TingTing Zhang (China)

Instructors of the Semi-finalists
Natalya Antonova, Panays Lyras, Arthur Greene, Julian Martin, Robert Hamilton, George Kern, Julian Martin, Daniel Pollack, Eugene Pridonoff, Santiago Rodriguez, Alexander Svyatkin, Nelita True, Sato Yoshiko

Collegiate

Christopher Janwong McKiggan, United Kingdom (2009 Collegiate Gold Medalist)
Christopher, a British National of Thai/English heritage has received a number of awards, including second prize solo division and third prize senior concerto division from the “Kingsville International Music competitions presents Isabel Scionti International Piano Competition”, first prize winner in the Buono and Bradshaw International piano competition, winner in the UMKC concerto/aria competition 2009, 1st prize of the MMTA Piano Collegiate Lower State Level Competition, 2nd prize in the Jefferson City Piano Concerto Competition, Gold medal in the Fifth Thai National Youth Music Competition among others. Christopher has participated in master classes with great artists including Jerome Lowenthal, Frederic Rzewski, Anthony de Mare, and Konstantine Lifshitz. He has also collaborated with the great composers of today including Claude Baker, Paul Lansky, Zhou Long, James Mobberly, Narong Prangcharoen, John Sharpley, Tison Street, and David Vayo. He has attended numerous festivals including Music Academy of the West, Bowdoin International music festival, Lanna Music festival among others. Christopher recorded the solo piano work “Three Minds” by Thai composer Narong Prangcharoen, and the recording that was released by Albany records. He is currently studying at the UMKC as a piano performance major with Dr. Robert Weirich.

Tianyi Bai, China (2009 Collegiate Gold Medalist)
Pianist, Tianyi Bai, began her piano studies at the age of four, studying with Professor Jiayun Cao—Director of the Competition at the Shenyang Conservatory Academy. At age eleven, she was accepted into the class of Professor Jifang Deng and entered the Academy attached Middle School. She then pursued further studies with Professor Zhang Jin, Head of Piano Studies at the Central Conservatory in Beijing and was placed first in the high school entrance audition. Ms. Bai is currently a student of Tamás Ungár, and has won many top prizes in competitions within China such as the Asian Toyama Cup, Schumann Cup International Piano Competition, and an ‘Excellent’ prize in the Gulangyu Music Festival. In 2006, she obtained the Gold Prize at the 3rd German Beethoven Music Festival. As a result of her success, she was invited back to the festival in September to perform.

Patrick Kreeger, USA (2009 Collegiate Bronze Medalist)
Patrick Kreeger has enjoyed a versatile career as a pianist and organist. Beginning piano at age three, his teachers have included Dr. Gerson Yessin, Dr. Henry Doskey, and Colin Andrews. Kreeger has been featured in concert at numerous venues in the United States and Canada including Dohnanyi Hall (FL), Meymandi Symphony Hall (NC), Verizon Hall (PA), and The Riverside Church (NYC). A first prize winner of the 2007 Bradshaw & Buono International and 2009 American Protégé International Piano Competitions, Patrick also won first place in the 2006 N.C. Symphony Concerto Competition, first place in the 2009 Augustana/Reuter National Organ Competition, first place in the 2007 and 2008 East Carolina University Piano & Organ Competitions (respectively), and was a national finalist in the 2007 MTNA senior solo piano competition. Patrick holds the Mrs. Cary William Bok Fellowship Chair of music studies at the Curtis Institute of Music where he studies piano with Susan Starr and Annie Petit and organ with Alan Morrison.

Other Awards and Honorable Mentions
Audience Favorite award: Marshall Ian Cuffe
Teachers’ Favorite award: Tianyi Bai
Best Performance of a prelude & fugue by F. Mendelssohn: Marshall Ian Cuffe
Best Performance of a nocturne by F. Chopin: Patrick Kreeger
Best Performance of a work by G. Fauré: Albert Lau

Collegiate Finalists
Tianyi Bai (China), Marshall Ian Cuffe (USA), Patrick Kreeger (USA), Albert Lau (Hong Kong), Christopher Janwong McKiggan (United Kingdom), Edith Widayani (Indonesia), Joshua Wright (USA)

Instructors of the finalists
Anthony Padilla (Marshall Ian Cuffe), Susan Starr & Annie Petit (Patrick Kreeger), Karen Shaw (Albert Lau), Tamás Ungár (Tianyi Bai, Edith Widayani), Robert Weirich (Christopher Janwong McKiggan)

Collegiate Semi-finalists
David Baker (USA), Christopher Goodpasture (USA), Haejin Om (USA), Ashlee Young (USA)

Instructors of the semi-finalists
Dorothea Cromley, Norman Krieger, Lori Piitz, Vera Watanabe

Amateurs

Dong June Kim, Korea (2009 Amateur Gold Medalist)
Twenty year old pianist Dong June Kim was born in Seoul, Korea. He currently resides in Fremont, California, where he attends the American High School. He began his piano studies at the age of five, and fell in love with the instrument right away. June became serious about his piano studies when he was accepted into the Korean National University Art Prep School in the year 2000. In 2005, he also studied for a semester at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, before moving to California. Among his prizes include the California Youth Symphony Young Artist (2008), Korean Philharmonic Orchestra Young Artist (Grand Prize; 1999), Sejong University (2000), Music Association (First Prize; 2002), Junior Chopin (2002), Spring-Autumn (2003), Ehwa Gyung Hyang (2004), Ewon (First Prize; 2004), Juilliard Scholarship Award (2004), Suri International (Grand Prize; 2005), Kamsa Concerto (First Prize; 2007); Korea Times (Grand Prize; 2007), and the Silicon Valley Orchestra Concerto (2008) piano competitions. June is a student of award-winning concert pianist and teacher, Michelle Lee, of San Jose, California. This aspiring young pianist’s other hobbies include, basketball, and going to the operas. Someday, he hopes to give concerts all over the world.

Daniel Chow, Canada (2009 Amateur Silver Medalist)
Pianist, Daniel Chow, unique among his generation, has delighted audiences in the USA, Europe, and China. Making his solo debut with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Symphony Orchestra in 2001 at the Chan Center of the Performing Arts, Daniel was featured on CBC’s Westcoast Performance in 2005. Daniel has collaborated with such recording artists as Sarah Chang (EMI Classics), Howard Zhang (Naxos), and Song artist, Denis Djokic, as well as cellist, Ashley Sidon, on an NPR broadcast. While studying at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Daniel learned and performed virtually all chamber music for orchestral instruments with piano. A Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, multiple BC Arts Council Grants, Vancouver Foundation Grants, and prizes from the Canadian Music Competition and the BC Festival of the Arts are among his honors. Mr. Chow’s degrees include a Bachelor of Music from UBC, Master of Music and Artist Diploma from CC-CM, and Diploma (Advanced Accounting) from the BC Institute of Technology. Daniel now works for Manning Elliott LLP, a mid-size accounting firm in Vancouver, and is working toward becoming a Chartered Accountant in June 2011. Hiking, weight training, and extreme sports fill the remainder of his interests.

Other Awards and Honorable Mentions
Audience Favorite award: Dong June Kim (Korea)
Best Performance of an étude by F. Chopin: Juliette Shin (Korea)
Best Performance of a nocturne by F. Chopin: Yuka Michitaka (USA)
Best Performance of a work by K. Szymanowski: Juliette Shin (Korea)

Amateur Finalists
Daniel Chow (Canada), Dong June Kim (Korea), Thomas Maurice (Canada), Yuka Michitaka (USA), Juliette Shin (Korea)

Instructors of the finalists
Ivona Kaminska (Juliette Shin)

Semi-finalists
Mary Chandler (USA), Jeanie Walker (USA)

Instructors of the semi-finalists
Robert Swan, Eugene Watanabe

Youth, Ages 9 and Under(semi-competitive; listed in alphabetical order)

Ryan Leung, Hong Kong (Gold Medal, Audience Favorite, Teachers’ Favorite)
Ryan was born in December, 1999 in Palo Alto, California. He then returned to his parents’ home town in Hong Kong. He started playing piano when he was four with his mother as his first piano teacher. Ryan has perfect pitch and quickly demonstrated that he could easily perform pieces by memory at a very young age. He received formal music teaching at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, beginning his enrollment at the age of six. He is currently a student in the Junior Music Program of the Academy with major in piano. His current piano teacher is Mr. Kinwai Shum. Ryan was selected to perform in the Open Day Concert of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2009. Despite his young age, Ryan has won awards in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Hong Kong-Asia Piano Open Competition, and Young Musician of the Year 2008. Apart from piano, Ryan also plays violin. He is currently a sixth-grader in the Kowloon Junior School of Hong Kong.

Alexander Lu, USA (Gold Medal, Best Performance of an étude by F. Chopin, Audience Favorite)
From Redmond, Washington, nine-year-old Alexander carries a music résumé that would be the envy of someone twice his age. Most recently in June, Alex and his brother Chris (2008 SIPF Junior 1st Prize winner) were featured in an MSNBC story “Making Sweet Music is Kid’s Play for Prodigies” and the accompanying video “Musical Talent Beyond Their Years”. Alex started piano at five and half with Mr. James Chen and has studied with Dr. Peter Mack since 2006. At age seven, Alex was featured in the 65th episode of “Musical Encounter” TV series by Sylvia Kunin. At eight, Alex gave his debut solo recital at Seattle’s Horizon House. In February 2008, Alex became the youngest winner ever of Northwest Chopin Festival. Only two months later, he went on to win the entire Elementary Concerto Division of Eastside Performing Arts Festival (PAFE). Alex also placed first in CWU Sonata, Seattle Bach, Seattle Russian Music, and PAFE Solo Competitions. An active performer, Alex appeared in six solo concerts and special events in the past year alone, including most recently a concert in Seattle Sherman Clay’s “Lunchtime Concert Series”. Alex attends Bellevue Children’s Academy and enjoys ping-pong, biking and play dates with friends.

Celine Pao, Canada (Gold Medal, Best Performance of a Sonata by D. Scarlatti)
Eight-year-old Celine Pao has a deep love of the piano that was demonstrated from the beginnings of her studies. At the age of six, she began her piano studies and currently studies under Lorraine Ambrose in Vancouver, British Columbia. In April of 2009, Dr. Steven Spooner from the University of Kansas strongly recommended Celine to play in the Honors Concert with other finalists of the BC Provincials on behalf of the Coquitlam Music Festival. He also gave Celine very supportive comments, including, “…just everything was really excellently played.” Between December 2007 and May 2009, Celine received numerous highest-marks awards at local music festivals. Besides the piano, she enjoys dressing up and has a good sense of fashion. She currently attends an elementary school in Langley, BC.

Andrew Sung, USA (Gold Medal, Best Performance of a nocturne by F. Chopin)
Andrew was born in September 2000 in Yorba Linda, California. He began playing the piano at age five when he joined OPUS 119 School of Music. Andrew has been studying under his current teacher, Ms. Jenny Shin for two years and is currently an OPUS 119 Conservatory Program student. With the great influence of his teacher he has grown to appreciate music, and the works of the romantic era are his favorite. Andrew has been awarded the first place winner in Open Division categories (Open American and Open Duet) of 2009 Southwestern Youth Music Festival, and 2008 Chinese American Annual Young Pianist Competition. As the youngest participant in 38th Korea Times Music Competition (age group 14 and under) he was awarded as a second place winner, as well as in the 2008 California International Young Artists and 2009 MTAC Los Angeles Scholarship Piano Competitions. Besides piano, Andrew enjoys his TaeKwonDo lessons. He has earned his first degree Black Belt at age 7, and is currently working towards his second degree. Andrew will be celebrating his ninth birthday and will be a fourth-grader at Lakeview Elementary School Fall of 2009.

Shelby Wong, USA (Gold Medal)
Shelby Wong, 9, is a fifth grade GATE student at George White Elementary School in Laguna Niguel, California. She began piano study at age 4 with Aleli Tibay. Since then, she has performed more than 50 recitals, showcases, festivals and concerts. Just recently, Shelby started entering local competitions encouraged by her piano teacher Professor Pamela Worcester. She has won 1st Place at MTAC-OCC Contemporary Music Festival, Grand Prize at CAPMT-VIII Sonata/Sonatina Festival, and 1st Place in piano concerto competition at Southwestern Youth Music Festival. Besides piano study, Shelby also likes to play the violin. In February 2009, she joined Irvine Valley College Emeritus Symphony Orchestra under Conductor Valerie Geller. The exciting part of concert performances is playing violin side by side with her father. Shelby enjoys traveling around the world with her parents, Tony and Diana. The most memorable place was Cambridge, England where she participated in an International Young Musicians Concert last year. At school, Shelby has many wonderful teachers and good friends. She is an active member of the math team, chess club, and swim team. In her free time, Shelby loves reading, fine art painting, playing piano and the violin for local senior centers and hospital patients.

Robert Yan, USA (Gold Medal, Best Performance of a song without words by F. Mendelssohn)
Inspired by a stunning performance of Mozart by his gifted cousin, Robert Yan quickly discovered a love and affinity for the piano at an early age. Fascinated by the beauty of Mozart’s melody and the great talent of his close relative, he demonstrated his interest in the piano; and immediately after his cousin’s visit, he remarked in a serious tone to his parents, “I want to play the piano!” Robert began his studies at age six under the tutelage of Dr. Christopher Bowlby. Already at the age of nine, his many performances and recitals have dazzled audiences, and he has graced the stages of the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue and Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya in Seattle. A true lover of Classical music, Robert’s favorites include Mozart, Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven. Aside from the piano, Robert is also a well-rounded role model student who enjoys competitive basketball. His coach once commented that he held a “leading score by a mile.” Robert lives in Sammamish, Washington and has a younger brother who is also starting piano this year.

Alexander H. Zhou, USA (Gold Medal)
Alexander H. Zhou was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 25, 1999. In the summer of 2006, his family moved to Seattle, Washington, where he began piano lessons with Ms. Ni Liu. A year later, he attended his very first piano competition, placing the first in Level Two at the 2007 CWU Sonatina Festival in Ellensburg, Washington. Alexander’s love for music, artistry, and skills are consistently recognized by his teacher and piano judicators. In his 3-year piano career, Alexander has attended many local piano competitions. He participated at the much advanced Level Ten in 2008 CWU Sonatina Festival and ranked the second. In the 2008 Northwest Bach Festival and 2009 Northwest Chopin Festival, he received honorable mentions. In the 2009 Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside, he placed the second in his group, and also won 2009 SMTA Musical Excellence Award from Washington State Music Teachers Association. Alexander H. Zhou, a fourth grader, is now enrolled in Elementary Advancement Program of Northshore School District of Seattle. In addition to his music interest and school work, he is a regular swimmer of Northshore Swimming Team. He also plays chess, tennis, soccer, and computer games in his spare time.

Everlyn Zhou, USA (Gold Medal, Best Performance of a work by K. Szymanowski)
Everlyn Zhou started formal piano training when she was five years old from Mrs. Cecilia Wu in Vancouver, British Columbia. Having just turned the very young age of seven last June, she has been intensely involved in piano, ballet, Chinese, Kumon, and following the Canadian RCM theory program, where she received honors in the Rudiments 2 exam this past summer. For the past year, she has been a pupil of Dr. Ivona Kaminska and a student of the Competition Preparation Program at the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, Washington. In her brief, but intense start to her musical life, Everlyn has already performed in important venues, including the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington, and received recognition in local festivals. She is a home-schooled student and has achieved elementary grade five level, and Chinese Language Native School grade 3. Her favorite activity is to play the piano, train her dogs, and reading.

Instructors of the winners
Lorraine Ambrose (Celine Pao), Christopher Bowlby (Robert Yan), Ivona Kaminka (Everlyn Zhou), Ni Liu (Alexander H. Zhou), Peter Mack (Alexander Lu), Jenny Shin (Andrew Sung), Kin-wai Shum (Ryan Leung), Pamela Worcester (Shelby Wong)

Youth, Ages 10-13

Phoebe Pan, USA (2009 Youth, Ages 10-13 Gold Medalist)
Phoebe Pan is a 7th grade GATE/HONOR student at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. She started her formal piano training at age seven under Jenny Shin of the Opus119 School of Music in Irvine. She has won numerous top awards, including the Grand Prize at the 2008 Tureck International Bach Competition for Young Pianists, first place at the 2009 International Russian Music Piano Competition, second prize at the 2008 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, as well as first place at 2008 California International Young Artists MusicFest Competition, to name a few. Phoebe gave her debut solo performance in May 2008 at Carnegie Hall in New York after being a first prize winner of Bradshaw & Buono International piano competition. Phoebe also gave her orchestral debut last August with the South Western Music Festival (SYMF) Orchestra after awarded the first place winner of the Young Pianist category. Outside the musical world, Phoebe enjoys math, reading, writing, and any research related project. Phoebe also swims competitively with Novaquatics swim team and enjoy her weekly fine art class. Phoebe aspires to become an artist or scientist when she grows up.

Auburn Lee, USA (2009 Youth, Ages 10-13 Silver Medalist)
Auburn Lee, 13 years old, has been studying piano for seven years. He has won numerous first prizes in piano competitions, including his most recent in the Slav Music International Piano Competition in France, which has led to an engagement to perform a solo recital in the Polish Embassy in Paris and Moulin d’Ande in France during July, 2010. He has performed in many recital halls including such prestigious recital ones as the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, the Cortot Concert Hall at Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris, and Stude Concert Hall at Rice University. He participated in masterclasses with such renowned pianists as Jose Feghali and Stephen Kovacevich. As a member of ASCAP composers, he has written national award winning compositions and has published several of his pieces. He also regularly performs his compositions at the Cortot Concert Hall in Paris where he has received lessons from teacher and composer, Narcis Bonet. Through continuous improvement, he hopes to project his music as a means of communicating his ideas. Currently, he lives in Houston Texas and studies piano with Mr. John Weems and composition with Dr. Philip Lasser of the Juilliard School.

Breanna Sung, USA (2009 Youth, Ages 10-13 Bronze Medalist)
Breanna, 10 years old, was born and currently lives in Yorba Linda, California with her parents and two younger brothers who also play piano. At age 6, she began her piano education at OPUS 119 School of Music under the direction of Ms. Jenny Shin. She is still learning under Ms. Jenny Shin as a student of the OPUS 119 Conservatory program. Her passion and determination has always continued to increase each year. A frequent participator in local and international piano competitions, her recent ones include first places in Open Division categories of 2009 Southwestern Youth Music Festival, and MTAC Los Angeles Scholarship piano competition. She has also garnered other noteworthy awards such as in 2009 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition and 2009 International Russian Music Piano Competition. Breanna will be a 5th grader at Lakeview Elementary School Fall of 2009. Aside from piano, she enjoys listening to classical music, going to the movies, playing video games with her brothers, and eating ice cream.

Other Awards and Honorable Mentions
Audience Favorite award: Phoebe Pan
Best Performance of a work by K. Szymanowski: Alex Camai

Youth, Ages 10-13 Finalists
Alex Camai (USA), Auburn Lee (USA), Phoebe Pan (USA), Breanna Sung (USA), Sarah Wright (USA)

Instructors of the finalists
Ivona Kaminka (Alex Camai), Jenny Shin (Phoebe Pan and Breanna Sung), Jelena Vladikovic (Sarah Wright), John Weems (Auburn Lee)

Semi-finalists
Bill Tang (China), Dashle Hodge (USA)

Instructors of the semi-finalists
Georgene Corey, Peter Mack

Youth, Ages 14-18

John Wen, USA (2009 Youth, Ages 14-18 Gold Medalist)
John Wen (age 15) of Iowa City has been studying piano for 10 years and has been a straight “A” student. Last summer John was accepted to study Ann Schein at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and was one of the selected few to play piano in two Aspen Festival Student Recitals. A student of Feilin Lin, John has performed on “From the Top” on National Public Radio in Daytona Beach, Florida last January, and won the MTNA Junior Division State Piano Competition in 2007 and 2008. John received first prizes in programs including the 9th Annual Chopin Youth Piano Competition in Milwaukee, and the 16th Young Artists Piano Competition at Missouri Western State University. John has given performances including the MTNA/IMTA Winners Conference, benefit concerts at the Englert Theatre, Iowa City for fund raising for flood relief, and at the Stephen Sondheim Center in Fairfield, Iowa, among others. Being passionate about classical music, John contacted senators and state officials to promote the funding of music programs. In addition to his piano and violin studies, John is also involved in orchestra and chamber music. He enjoys tennis, badminton, science, biking, and biological research.

Natalie Lo, Canada (2009 Youth, Ages 14-18 Silver Medalist)
Natalie Lo began playing piano at the age of four. Since then she has won numerous awards and scholarships at local, provincial and national music competitions. The more recent notable ones include two time recipient of the Gifted Youth Award, twice The Award for a Promising Performer, twice The Most Outstanding Performer Award, and five times The Highest Mark Awards presented by local competitions and academies. She was the winner at the 2009 BC Provincial Music Festival while nationally she was a prizewinner at the Canadian National Music Competition. Natalie was also a prizewinner at the 2009 Stravinsky Awards Piano Competition in North America. In 2007, Natalie made her debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performing as a piano soloist in April and again in June the same year playing Ravel’s Concerto in G. Natalie is currently studying with Lorraine Ambrose at the Vancouver Academy of Music, and participated in masterclasses with Jane Coop, Louis Lortie, and David Jalbert. Natalie has attained her ARCT performer diploma and is working towards her Licentiateship at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Besides piano, Natalie also plays violin and yang qin, a traditional Chinese instrument, also receiving numerous awards in competitions and exams.

Margaret Kim, USA (2009 Youth, Ages 14-18 Bronze Medalist)
Fifteen-year-old Margaret Kim began her formal studies at age 11 with Prof Jura Margulis at the University of Arkansas and is presently studying with Dr. Leonard Richter. She is a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Talent Development Award scholarship of $10,000 by the “From the Top” radio show on NPR. In 2007, she won the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition in NYC and was given the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. Margaret participated in many masterclasses with world-renowned pedagogues such as Vitaly Margulis, Malcolm Bilson, Andrzej Jasinski, and pianist Paul Badura-Skoda. She has performed numerous times as an active participant in the Internationalen Klavier Academie in Freiburg, Germany and at the Summer Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Margaret currently resides in Pullman, Washington and enjoys surfing YouTube videos in her spare time.

Other Awards and Honorable Mentions
Audience Favorite award: Natalie Lo
Best Performance of a Sonata by D. Scarlatti: Hyun Su Seo
Best Performance of a work by K. Szymanowski: Hyun Su Seo

Youth, Ages 14-19 Finalists
Holly Elizabeth Jurca (USA), Margaret Kim (USA), Joshua Lim (USA), Natalie Lo (Canada), Hyun Su Seo (USA), John Wen (USA)

Instructors of the finalists
Lorraine Ambrose (Natalie Lo), Judy Baker (Joshua Lim), Feilin Lin and Ann Schein (John Wen), Peter Mack (Hyun Su Seo), Leonard Richter (Margaret Kim). Roland Schneller (Holly Elizabeth Jurca)

Semi-finalists
Alison Chiang (USA), Daniel Hnatovic (USA), Danli Liang (USA), Jessica Ma (USA), Evan Pensis (USA), Max Wang (USA), Leo Wexler-Mann (USA)

Instructors of the semi-finalists
Irene Bowling, Ivona Kaminka, Pamela Mia Paul, Jenny Shin, Scott McBride Smith, Jelena Vladikovic, Paul Wirth