2019 Seattle International Piano Competition Winners
Winners, Finalists, and Semi-finalists of the 2019 Competition
Professional
Gold Medalist: Hyejin Joo (South Korea)
Silver Medalist: Aleksandra Kasman (Russia/USA)
Bronze Medalist: Nathan Cheung (USA)
Audience Favorite Award: Xiting Yang (China)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Narae Lee (South Korea)
Professional Concert Engagements Awarded by the President of the Jury: Xiting Yang (China)
Juergen Ronneburg Memorial Presidential Prize: Nathan Cheung (USA)
2019 Professional Finalists: Nathan Cheung (USA), Hyeseon Jin (South Korea), Hyejin Joo (South Korea), Aleksandra Kasman (Russia/USA), Soojung Kim (South Korea), Narae Lee (South Korea), and Xiting Yang (China)
Instructors of the Finalists: Natalya Antonova, Yong-Hi Moon, Roberto Plano, Logan Skelton, Boris Slutsky, and Mayron Tsong
Top-Ranking Semi-Finalist: Jason Chiu (USA)
Unranked Professional Semi-Finalists: Anchie Donn (USA), Olena Haviuk-Sheremet (Ukrainey), Yixiang Hou (China), Chenxing Huang (China), Rixiang Huang (China), Tzu-Yin Huang (Taiwan), Julian Jaeyoung Kim (South Korea), Alison Lee (USA), Aoshuang Li (China), ChingYi Lin (Taiwan), Yu-Hsien Lin (Taiwan), Xiaoya Liu (China), Hyejin Pak (South Korea), Kyung-Jun Joseph Park (South Korea), Jie Ren (China), Fahrettin Eren Yahşi (Turkey), and Yin Zhang (China)
Instructors of the Semi-Finalists: Mark Anderson, Paul Barnes, Bernadene Blaha, Wha Kyung Byun, Robert Hamilton, Christopher Harding, Christopher Harding, Jeffrey Kahane, Kyung Kim, John O’Coner, Paul Rutman, Alexander Shtarkman, Logan Skelton, and Mikhail Yanovitsky
Collegiate
Gold Medalist: Robert Yan (USA)
Silver Medalist: Katherine Benson (USA)
Bronze Medalist: Christopher Richardson (USA)
Audience Favorite Award: Millicent McFall (USA) and Robert Yan (USA)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Millicent McFall (USA) and Robert Yan (USA)
Professional Concert Engagements Awarded by the President of the Jury: Robert Yan (USA)
2019 Collegiate Finalists: Katherine Benson (USA), Aaron Kurz (USA), Millicent McFall (USA), James Palmer (USA), Christopher Richardson (USA), and Robert Yan (USA)
Instructors of the Finalists: Ian Fountain, Chih-Long Hu, Alexander Kobrin, Mack McCray, Menahem Pressler, and Logan Skelton
Unranked Collegiate Semi-Finalists: Amanda Camille Andrishak (Canada), Jacob Nydegger (USA), Qishan Shi (USA), Douglas Rowan (USA), Leonardi Joewono (Indonesia), Brandon Zhou (USA), Soo Yeon Cho (South Korea), William Chiang (USA), Simon Karakulidi (Russia), Haeun Jun (South Korea), Jane Liu (Australia), Jaeyoung Kim (South Korea), Yan Li (China), and Yong Murray (USA)
Instructors of the Semi-Finalists: Eugene Alcalay, Joseph Banowetz, Jeffrey Cohen, Terence Dawson, Inna Faliks, Arthur Greene, Randall Hodgkinson, Stanislav Ioudenitch, Phillip Kawin, Leslie Kinton, Alexander Korsantia, Joanne Polk, Daniel Shapiro, and Andre Watts
Youth, Ages 14-18
Gold Medalist: Adrian King (USA)
Silver Medalist: Michelle Jia Yun Xu (Canada)
Bronze Medalist: Joshua Hahn (Canada)
Audience Favorite Award: Joshua Hahn (Canada)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Joshua Hahn (Canada)
Best Performance of a Transcendental Etude by F. Liszt: Celine Chen (USA)
2019 Youth, ages 14 to 18 Finalists: Celine Chen (USA), Joshua Hahn (Canada), Adrian King (USA), Esther Pham (USA), Steve Silverberg (USA), and Michelle Jia Yun Xu (Canada)
Instructors of the Finalists: Kenneth Broadway, Oksana Ezhokina, Julia Lee, Peter Mack, Ralph Markham, Nobuyo Nishizaka, and Tamás Ungár
Unranked Youth, ages 14 to 18 Semi-Finalists: Frederick Chiu (USA), Kameron Malachi Duncan (USA), Tarje Grover (USA), Angela Lee (USA), Mina McKenzie (Canada), Janet Park Phang (USA), Zixu (Daniel) Qin (Canada), Richard Sheng (USA), Justin Wahby (USA), Warren Xu (USA), and Zacharias Yeo (Singapore)
Instructors of the Semi-Finalists: Gary Amano, Theresa Bogard, Natsuki Fukasawa, Corey Hamm, Shang Jin Cherie Khor, Peter Mack, John McCarthy, Susan Ouyang, Irina Prilipko-Morgan, Jenny Shin, Henri-Paul Sicsic, and Ariel Yang
Youth, Ages 10-13
Gold Medalist: Hajun Chang (Canada)
Silver Medalist: Yechong (Eric) Shan (China)
Bronze Medalist: Ryan Wang (Canada)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Yechong (Eric) Shan (China)
2019 Youth, ages 10 to 13 Finalists: Hajun Chang (Canada), Andy Chen (USA), Lucie Kim (USA), Yechong (Eric) Shan (China), Megan Tandar (USA), and Ryan Wang (Canada)
Instructors of the Finalists: Ana Maria Eckstein, Ivona Kaminska-Bowlby, Sun Sung Kong, Youngsook Park, Lee Kum Sing, Vera Watanabe, and Ariel Yang
Unranked Youth, ages 10 to 13 Semi-Finalists: Riko Ando (Japan), Pravin Balasingam (USA), Crystal Cheng (USA), Munan Cheng (China), David Choi (USA), Yuheng Fang (China), David Gatien (USA), Matthew Hahn (USA), Krittin Hirunchupong (Thailand), Trinity Jantarach (Thailand), Ruoxin Jia (China), Adrienne Frances Lee (USA), Kaitlyn Gia Lee (USA), Grace Wanzhu Li (USA), Brian Lin (USA), Austin Ng (Canada), Tasha Piyabongkarn (USA), Avery Pun (USA), Olivia Qi (USA), Matthew Scott (USA), Rebecca Sun (USA), Darren Tsai (Canada), Daniel Yim (USA), Jeffrey Zhao (USA), Wenxuan Zhao (China), and Jonathan Zheng (USA)
Instructors of the Semi-Finalists: Pornphan Banternghansa, Hans Boepple, Rina Dokshitsky, Ana Maria Eckstein, Nancy Jang, Ivona Kaminska-Bowlby, Sharon Kim, Peyhwan Kuan, Ni Liu, Faye Lu, Peter Mack, Maria Maltseva, John McCarthy, Alex McDonald, Christopher Janwong McKiggan, Ekaterina Melkamini, Eiko Nagano, Allan Park, Sandra Wright Shen, Jiajia Shi, Hyun-ju Sung, Christina Tio, Konstantyn Travinskyy, Christopher Wallace, Megan Wallace, Matt Wang, Peggy P. Yip, and Libby Yu
Youth, Ages 9 and under
Top Medalists: Cecilia Chen (Canada; gold medal), Victoria Lahee Han (USA; gold medal), Xinran Shi (China; silver medal), Papitcha Vejmongkolkorn (Thailand; silver medal), and Taige Wang (China; gold medal)
Audience Favorite Award: Cecilia Chen (Canada)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Xinran Shi (China)
Instructors of the Medalists: Pornphan Banternghansa, Hans Boepple, Cindy Liu, Sunsung Kong, Konstantyn Travinskyy, and Ariel Yang
Youth, Ages 9 and under Semi-Finalists: Zoe M Aldana (USA; a pupil of Elena Fomicheva), Brayden Cheang (USA; a pupil of Susan Groves), Eny Chen (USA; a pupil of Christopher Bowlby), Julia Gentry (USA; a pupil of Ana Maria Eckstein), Yuxiao He (USA; a pupil of Xue Gong), Hadassah G Ho (USA; a pupil of Peter Mack), Leighton W Ko (South Korea; a pupil of John McCarthy), Joshua Kwan (USA; a pupil of Peter Mack), Ariel Yixuan Liu (Canada; a pupil of Angela Wai), Svari Teya Tejacharoenanan (Thailand; a pupil of Pornphan Banternghansa), and Yishan Xia (Canada; a pupil of Clarisse Chen)
Outstanding Amateurs
Gold Medalists: Ardith W. El-Kareh (USA), Yueqi Guo (China), Eugene Lee (USA), Jon Lee (USA), Sarah Merten (USA), and Qi Wang (China)
Audience Favorite Award: Eugene Lee (USA) and Jon Lee (USA)
Teachers’ Favorite Award: Jon Lee (USA)
Best Performance of a Work by Isaac Albéniz: Yueqi Guo (China)
Best Performance of a Transcendental Etude by F. Liszt: Qi Wang (China)
Instructors of the Medalists: Marian Hahn, Yoshikazu Nagai, Thomas Otten, Marianna Prjevalskaya, Alexander Tentser, and Temirzhan Yerzhanov
Outstanding Amateur Semi-Finalists: Dheenadhayalan Janarth (USA; a pupil of Yelena Uzlaner-Mascotti), and Xiaobei Yu (China; a pupil of Kay Yeh)