FIRST AGE CATEGORY (THROUGH 9)

First Prize: Spencer Cha
Second Prize: Maika Minamimoto
Third Prize: Fiona Tsang
Honorable Mention: Kelvin Jiang


SECOND AGE CATEGORY (10-12)

First Prize: Catherine Huang
Second Prize: Anna Guan
Third Prize: Joshua Kusher
Honorable Mention: Leo Jergovic
Honorable Mention: Angela Tsang


THIRD AGE CATEGORY (13-15)

First Prize: Amanda Mac
Second Prize: Erin Chen
Third Prize: Kyle Fang
Honorable Mention: Andrew Lin
Honorable Mention: Erika Shen

Bio:

Spencer Cha is a 9-year-old who has been taking lessons with Lena Grozman for the past two years. He placed second in the Treasury of Baroque Junior and third in the Showcase Piano Solo Elementary group at the 2014 US Open Music Competition. He was also first place alternate in the 2013 CAPMT Contemporary Piano Competition. He previously took lessons with Maria Setiawan-Gore at the Northern California School of Music, where he placed 1st in both Groups A (age 5) and B (age 7).

Maika Minamimoto began taking music classes at age 2 and started piano lessons at age 4 at the Yamaha Music School in Japan. The top prize winner in the Yamaha Yokohama Junior Competition in 2012, Maika was named as the Best Performance Award in the PTNA Piano Competition National Final in 2012 and in 2013 at Japan. Maika moved to the US in 2013 with her family and is currently studying piano with Mrs. Nagisa Ariza. Besides music, she likes to swim and play tennis.

Fiona Tsang, age 8, is a 3rd grader at Milpitas Christian School in San Jose. Fiona has been studying piano since five, and her current piano teacher is Peyhwan Kuan. Fiona won 3rd place at 2014 USOMC in both Treasury of Russian Junior Category and Instrumental Solo Junior Category. Fiona is an active member of Bay Area Youth Music Society and performs regularly for charity. Besides piano, Fiona enjoys playing cello, reading, drawing, travelling, and playing tennis. Fiona won numerous awards in various ACSI events including Math Olympics, Spelling Bee, and Speech Meet.

Kelvin Jiang, age 9, is a boy who goes to 4th grade in Palo Verde elementary, CA. He works at the Conservatory of Music, with Meikui Matsushima. Kelvin got selected for the Junior Bach competition, and played in one of the concerts. As he grew up, he liked many different composers such as Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt. He has many different interests, such as chess, baseball, soccer, golf, math, and Rubik’s Cubes.

Catherine Huang, age 12, is a sixth grader at Miller Middle School in San Jose. She started learning piano at the age of four and is currently studying with Prof. Hans Boepple. Catherine has won a number of competitions including the 3rd place at the 2011 San Francisco Chopin Competition, the 2011 Menuhin/Dowling Competition, 2012 USOMC Showcase Solo, and 2012 Pacific Musical Society Competition, honorable mention in the 2013 Marilynn Mindell Piano Competition, first place at the MTAC State Piano Concerto Competition, and 2nd Alternate at the MTAC Northern California Regional Solo Competition. She also performed at the Junior Bach Festival in 2012 and 2013. Other than piano, Catherine enthuses in playing flute in the school band. Resolving math problems, reading, and dancing are her all-time favorites.

Anna Guan is ten years old and is a 5th grader in San Ramon, California. She has been studying and playing piano since April, 2009 with Ms. Liza Yasnogorodsky. Anna won 3rd place ( Young Musicians Category ) of the American Protege International Piano & Strings Competition 2014, and is going to perform in the Winners' Recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City in November, 2014. She won 3rd place in the Showcase Piano Solo Junior Category at the United States Open Music Competition (USOMC) 2014; 3rd and 2nd place in Showcase Piano Solo Elementary category at USOMC 2013 and 2012; 1st place in the Music Teachers' Association of California-San Francisco( MTAC-SF) piano competition 2011; gold winners in the Bay Area Music Association (BAMA) Competitions. She has participated in numerous recitals and festivals sponsored by MTAC-SF and BAMA mainly including the First Latin America/Spanish Music Festival Gala 2013, and the Russian Music Festival 2012.

Joshua Kushner was born on Jan 21st, 2002. He is attending 6th Grade at Bret Harte Middle School in San Jose Unified District. He started piano lesson in October, 2007. Joshua studied piano with Mrs Celia Mendez from October 2009 to June, 2013. Since September 2013, he has been studying piano with professor Namik Sultanov. In 2012 he won the second place in CMTANC International Youth Music Competition. Joshua has also performed in recitals sponsored by the MTAC,CAPMT, and San Jose Intl’s Piano Competition.

Leo Jergovic, age 10, is a 5th grade student at Fairmeadow Elementary, Palo Alto. He enjoys studying piano with Dr. William Wellborn at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division. Leo studies voice with Diane Squires, sings with Cantabile choir and is involved in musical theater. In 2013, Leo was a second prize winner in the International Russian Music Piano Competition, a first prize winner in the SFBAC NATS Singing Festival and received Achievement Award for Musicianship level 2 at SFCM. At age 7, he received honorable mention in the San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. Leo loves reading, water-polo, traveling.

Angela Tsang, age 10, is a 5th grader at Milpitas Christian School in San Jose. She started learning piano at age five and gave her 1st piano solo recital at age six. She is currently studying under Peyhwan Kuan. Angela was the first place winner of the 2012 US Beacon-Stanislaus International Piano Competition, 2013 CAPMT Honors Auditions District II and 2014 USOMC-Treasury of Popular Favorites Intermediate category. She has won numerous awards including Sylvia M. Ghiglieri Piano Competition, USOMC-Showcase Piano Solo category, the CAPMT Honors Audition State Competition, and the 18th SF Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. Angela is an active member of Bay Area Youth Music Society and performs regularly for charity. She was selected to perform piano solo at 2014 BAYMS Charity Concert and the 2014 Typhoon Relief Benefit Concert. Besides piano, Angela enjoys playing violin, reading, hiking, traveling, and playing tennis. She won gold medals in ACSI Math Olympics two years in a row.

Amanda Mac, 14 years old, is a freshman at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, CA. Amanda has been playing the piano since the age of 7. She is currently studying with Dr. Jed Galant. Amanda has been a participant and prize winner in events such as the MTAC Solo Competition, the East Bay Music Festival, and the Junior Bach Festival. She has also been invited to perform in numerous honors branch recitals and other showcases. In addition to piano, Amanda enjoys reading, writing, playing tennis, and spending time with family and friends. Her other interests are in the fields of mathematics, biology, and citizen law.

Erin Chen started taking piano lessons when she was six years old and has been studying piano for nine years at the Gingis Academy of Music under Professor Nataly Gingis. Erin has won many awards throughout the years; the State Winner in 2010 CAMPT State Bartok and Contemporary Music Competition, the 1st Alternate Winner in the 2009 MTAC Piano Solo Competition, the Third Place Winner in 2011 San Francisco Chopin Competition, the First Place Winner in 2009 and 2011 USOMC Showcase Piano Solo Category, the Second Place Winner in 2012 USOMC Open Concerto Advanced Category, Gold of Golden medalists selection in the Prize Winner’s Concert in 2009, the First Place Winner in 2012 CMTANC International Youth Competition, and the Second Place Winner in 2013 Bay Area Music Association Competition Advanced Category. She is also the First Place Winner of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition and the First Place Winner of the AADGT International Young Gifted Musicians Festival “Passion of Music” of 2013. Additionally, Erin has been invited to play in Carnegie Hall twice in 2013. Erin is currently a 9th grader in Monta Vista High School. She enjoys being a pianist for her school plays, playing the bassoon in her school band, and is one of the editors of the school yearbook team. She is also the former president of the Red Cross club at her school, and is an avid volunteer during her free time.

Kyle Fang is an eighth grade student from Walnut Creek. He is currently studying piano with Dr. William Wellborn at SFCM Preparatory Division. In summer 2013, Kyle attended the Austrian International Piano Seminar and won second place in the concerto competition. In 2014, Kyle received Honorable Mention from the Fremont Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition and was selected to perform as a soloist in the Junior Bach Festival concert. Aside from spending time at the keyboard, Kyle plays competitive soccer.

Andrew Lin is an 8th grader at Miller Middle School in San Jose. He currently studies with Dr. William Wellborn. Andrew received awards from USOMC Showcase Concerto and Solo, CAPMT Honors Auditions, CMTANC Youth Music Competition, MTAC Concerto Competition, San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, and International Russian Music Piano Competition. He was selected to perform in Junior Bach Festival and was chosen to perform with El Camino Youth Symphony as a piano soloist. In addition to playing the piano, Andrew also plays violin. In his free time, Andrew enjoys playing chess, solving math problems, hiking, and landscape photography.

Erika Shen, age 13, is a student of Zita Sandor. She is an 8th grader at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon. Erika has won numerous awards, including 2014 MTAC (First Place), 2014 & 2011 Pacific Musical Society (First Place), 2010 & 2009 San Francisco Chopin Competition (First Place) and the 2013 Young Artist Competition by the Oakland East Bay Symphony (Honorable Mention). In addition to piano, Erika also likes to dance, play the violin, and ski.