2022 Fall STRINGS WINNERS - GROUP A 5-7,B 8-10

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 Andrea was born in Australia in 2016. Growing up she enjoys singing,  dancing and playing musical instruments. She started her violin journey  at age of 4. She loves performing at concerts and also playing for her  friends at school. At home, she likes to teach daddy and younger sister  how to play violin.  

Christina Luo was born in Sydney Australia in Dec. 2014. She started learning violin when she was 5 years old and she just passed the AMEB Grade 2 exam earlier this year. Practicing violin every day is a hard job for her, but she really enjoys playing music to people, especially when the audience admires her performance.

 Lynn Song is a 7-years-old girl from Melbourne, Australia. She has been  taking violin lessons for 16 hours online (30 minutes/ week) with her  great violin instructor Tingting Wang who lives in California, USA. This  is Lynn’s first time attending international competition. Besides  violin, she also likes playing piano, traveling and walking her dog. 

 Evan was born in  Edmonton of Canada 2015. He started to play cello at  the age 4 with Mrs Diana since 2019. He is a member of the Edmonton  Endpin and often performs in the Edmonton area. Evan is studying with  the Baroque and contemporary Cellist-Josephine van Lier since 2022.  He  also has great potential in playing harp, drum and piano, and his  improvisations “Sound of the Island ”have also been successful in harp  concerts this summer. Beside music, Evan has a wide range of interests  and is enthusiastic about public welfare. He likes reading and singing  French song at his school ,He also likes horse riding, hockey, fencing  and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, etc. Evan loves music and believes that the  power of music can help more people. This summer Evan held a garage sale  with his cello solo at his community.The performance came to raise and  donate money for Ukrainian children, and also won praise and affirmation  from the Cellist-Ian Maksin.  

 Evan was born in Canada in April 2015.He interested in play Harp from  this year 2022. Evan has joined the 5 Days Summer camp and learn how to  play Harp with the Harpist-Jacquie McNulty at Winspear Centre in July  2022. Evan independently composed a harp piece “Sound of The Island ”and  performed it at a harp concert,and his first improvisation has also  been successful in harp concert.Evan also love to play cello. He is a  member of the Edmonton Endpin cello group and often performs in the  Edmonton area. Evan is currently studying with cellist Josephin van  liver.  He has great potential in playing musical instruments ，such as  Drums , Piano and rain stick,etc.In addition to music, Evan has a wide  range of interests and is also enthusiastic about public welfare. He  likes horse riding, ice hockey, fencing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, etc. He  loves music and believes that the power of music can help more people.  This summer Evan held a charity sale and cello solo. The performance  came to raise and donate money for Ukrainian children, and won praise  and affirmation from cellist Ian Maskin. 

 Scarlett is a 9 year old girl who loves music. She has been learning the  violin since she was 5. She feels strongly for her music and tries her  best to bring out her emotions. She has also attained distinction for  her ABRSM Grade 8 exam when she was 8. For the past few years, she has  participated and received numerous awards and trophies from various  competitions for both local and international for violin. She hopes that  her performances can bring joy to everyone. 

 8-year-old Isaac Yong has been playing the violin for slightly more than  2 years.  He started lessons when Australia went into a lockdown for  the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Isaac learns from his dad  (Chee Yong) who is a professional violinist/ teacher. Isaac has also started piano lessons since January 2022.  Other than  music, Isaac enjoys playing games on his Nintendo Switch and Roblox.   

 Eyan started learning violin at the age of 5+ at the Nanyang Academy of  Fine Art, School of the Young Talents, Singapore and also picked up 2nd  instrument, piano at the age of 6. He has since wanting to be a musician  one day, going around the world to perform. Hoping to use music to make  everyone around him happy.  

 My name is Katie Maben and I’m 10 years old from Texas. I’ve been  playing violin since I was 6 and piano since I was 5. My favorite  composer is Chopin and I especially enjoy his Etudes. I spent this  summer at the Colburn Academy's intensive piano program and have started  my 3rd season with the Youth Orchestra of San Antonio. My other  pastimes include writing, animation, reading, and spending time with my  friends and family.  

 My name is Konrad Martuszewski. I started learning to play the cello at  the age of 7. I attend the Zygmunt Noskowski Music School in Gdynia, I  am in the cello class of Mrs Jadwiga Rudka-Stefaniak. My public debut  took place in 2020 at the VI National Competition ,,Cello Miniature" in  Warsaw. It was a fantastic and successful experience for me, and after  this wonderful performance, playing the cello became an important part  of my everyday life.  I have participated in regional, national and international cello  competitions winning podium places including.  I took first place at the prestigious King's Peak International Music  Competition Summer 2021, the International Music Competition "Opus 2022"  - 1st place in Kraków, Europe Online Music Competition 2022- 1st place,  Geneva International Music Competition 2022 - 1st place, National Cello  Competition "Cellolove" in Kraków-I place, XXII Gdynia String Chamber  Music Competition I won the diploma of laureate of the Special Prize in  duo with violin, in June 2021, I won first place at the VII National  Competition ,,Cello Miniature" in Warsaw. I am a laureate of the 6th  National Presto Competition and was awarded the title of artistic  personality in 2022. I am a scholarship holder of the Mayor of the City  of Gdynia.  My passion is music and, of course, playing the cello. 

 My name is Eliza Chen. I am 10 years old, and I have been playing cello  for 3 and a half years. One of my interests other than cello is  badminton, and I also like reading science fiction books. My favorite  color is blue because my parakeet is blue. My favorite composer is Bach,  and my favorite piece is Suite No. 1, Gigue.  

 Shuyu Zhang. A junior in New Zealand primary school. Started playing  cello at age seven, passed ABRMS cello Grade 8 at this year. 

 Do Hoang Ngoc Yen is a 14-year-old violin student of Ho Chi Minh City's  Conservatory of Music under the guide of teacher Le Tri Toan and doctor  Chuong Vu. She was awarded Third prize in Virtual International Music  Competition ( VIMC ) and was a finalist of Chiang Mai Ginastera Music  Competition. She is also a brilliant student who has received  scholarships from the conservatory she is learning in.  

 Joel Sohn is 11 years old and a 6th grader in Virginia, USA. He started  his musical journey by learning piano at the age of five. He started  playing cello at the age of eight and has been studying with Sung-Hee  Choi since then. He is currently a cellist in the American Youth  Philharmonic Orchestras from 2021. He enjoys swimming, reading, and  practicing taekwondo during his free time and has recently found his  passion for yo-yoing. 

 Yuen-Chit, Chan is a twelve-year-old Cello virtuoso attending St.  Francis Xavier’s College in Hong Kong. He began by studying piano when  he was four and fell in love with the responsiveness of the strings,  then switched to cello at age of nine, started studying with his  teacher, Sit-Kan, Hui. Yuen Chit has proven his musical excellence throughout numerous  competitions including but not limited to, 2022-23 London Young Musician  S1 Silver Prize (Young Artist aged 12 & under), 2021 World  Classical Music Awards (Bronze Prize in Age 10-11), 3rd Place from  2021-2022 King’s Peak Music Competition (Winter season) among others. 

 Pakawat Poldetch was born in 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand, and is currently  a Grade 7 student at Ruamrudee International School. He studied the  classical guitar at age 9. He has won guitar competitions in Thailand  and abroad throughout the past two years. Including a Gold Prize in the  Thailand International Guitar Festival (2021), a Gold Prize winner in  the Global Genius Music Competition (2021), a Platinum Medalist in the  2022 Quebec Music Competition Online International, a First-Place winner  in the Red Maple Music Competition (2022), and a First Prize winner for  the International Music Competition (London Grand Prize Virtuoso). 

 Currently studying at Queen’s College, Carson started playing the violin  at the age of 5. Since 2017, he has joined a wide range of competitions  under the guidance of Prof Daria Kovtunova. In 2021, Carson won the  first-place violin (Age Group D) in the King’s Peak International Music  Competition judged by Professor Boris Kuschnir, and the third (junior  category) in Llanes International Violin Competition which is held in  Spain. In 2022, he is proud to have been awarded the second in American  Music Talent Competition. 

 I have been playing the violin for 9 years. I am learning to play the  violin in the class of professor Małgorzata Skorupa at the Secondary  Music School in Gdynia. I have participated in many violin masterclasses  with outstanding violinists of international renown: Prof. Janusz  Wawrowski (Poland), Prof. Piotr Tarcholik (Poland), Prof. Wiesław Kwaśny  (Poland), Prof. Marcin Baranowski. Since I debut on the big stage in  2018, I have performed regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and  orchestra member. I have collaborated with conductor, among others:  Monika Bachowska (Poland). I am a member of the Lusławice Orchestra of  Krzysztof Penderecki's Talents. I am a scholarship holder of the  President of the City of Gdynia. I am a laureate of many international  and national violin competitions. Recent competition prizes are: Laureate of the National Competition for Violinists, Violaists,  Celloists and Bassists in the framework of the 5th PRESTO Festival,  Poland § I Prize - International Tiziano Rosetti Music Competition, Switzerland § I Prize - International Music Competition, Vienna § I Prize - Muse International Music Competition, Athens. I love to play the violin. 

 I have been playing the violin for 9 years. I am learning to play the  violin in the class of professor Małgorzata Skorupa at the Secondary  Music School in Gdynia. I have participated in many violin masterclasses  with outstanding violinists of international renown: Prof. Janusz  Wawrowski (Poland), Prof. Piotr Tarcholik (Poland), Prof. Wiesław Kwaśny  (Poland), Prof. Marcin Baranowski. Since I debut on the big stage in  2018, I have performed regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and  orchestra member. I have collaborated with conductor, among others:  Monika Bachowska (Poland). I am a member of the Lusławice Orchestra of  Krzysztof Penderecki's Talents. I am a scholarship holder of the  President of the City of Gdynia. I am a laureate of many international  and national violin competitions. Recent competition prizes are: Laureate of the National Competition for Violinists, Violaists,  Celloists and Bassists in the framework of the 5th PRESTO Festival,  Poland § I Prize - International Tiziano Rosetti Music Competition, Switzerland § I Prize - International Music Competition, Vienna § I Prize - Muse International Music Competition, Athens. I love to play the violin. 

 My name is Mia Caroline Diaz Baez I am 16 years old and I live in  Havana, Cuba.I study at the "National School of Arts", doing my first  year of middle level.I started studying the Violin at the age of 8 doing  my elementary level at the Vocational School of Arts "Eduardo Abela" of  the province Artemisa.I develop in my instrument both at my school and  outside it participating in activities. I have received master classes  from Professor Irasema Jimenez. I am currently studying with my teacher  Verónica Reyes Toscaeva, a member of the National Symphony Orchestra. I  am part of the symphony orchestra of my school as first violin, directed  by Jorge Lopez Marín 

 Suvia Li is a 16-year-old violinist from San Jose, California. She began  playing violin at age 9 and has been a member of Palo Alto Chamber  Orchestra (PACO) since 2017. She was selected to solo with PACO this  year, playing Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole. Suvia has also won Second  Prize in the 2022 San Francisco International Innovative Music  Competition and was selected for the Junior Bach Festival in 2021. In  addition, she is a serves as a member in the San Jose region of the Back  to Bach Project. In her free time, she enjoys doing art, crocheting,  and watching TV shows.  

 Ava Park played the violin from age 6. Since then, she has won numerous  national and international awards. She has also been invited to perform  at many distinguished halls, including at the Seoul Arts Center and  Carnegie Hall. 

 Ryan started playing violin at the age of five, and has studied with  Kurt Sassmannshaus in Ohio and joined the Starling Project at the  Cincinnati Conservatory. He has performed at the Schuster Center as  concertmaster of the Dayton Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and has since  also performed at Carnegie Hall. After moving to LA, he began studying  with Joan Kwuon under Colburn Conservatory in 2022. He is now an 11th  grader at Harvard-Westlake and teaches music to younger kids frequently. 

 My name is Atena Buranicz. I was born in 2007 in Wrocław, Poland. I am  in the first grade in Karol Szymanowski Secondary School in Wroclaw in  the violin class of Mr. Tomasz Stocki. I have received several awards in  the following competitions: the 1st prize in the category “Music of the  20th Century” of the “Great Composer Competition”, the second prize in  the category “Artist of the Year”, the first prize in the ‘IMKA Music  Competition’, the first prize in MEDICI International Music Competition.  In the future, I would like to play the violin all around the world. 

 She was born in İzmir, 2006. She began her violin education between  2014-2016 at Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory. At 2017, she  continued her education with the lecturer Zeynep Simge Acunaz Eytemiz.  She trained at the class of Prof. Ildiko Zsuzsanna Moog for two years.  She attended the masterclass of Prof. Ildiko Zsuzsanna Moog, Prof. Cihat  Aşkın, Prof. Sevil Ulucan Weinstein, Prof. Çiğdem İyicil, Prof. Ahmet  Hamdi Zafer, Muhammedjan Turdiev and Anatoliy Bazhenov.  She won prizes at International Music Competitions. Currently, she continues her education with the lecturer Zeynep Simge  Acunaz Eytemiz as a 10th grade student at Dokuz Eylül University State  Conservatory. 

 I have started violin at 6 years old with my dad as my teacher, who is  also the Concertmaster of HCMC Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera, and a  teacher at HCMC's Conservatory. Recently, Dr.Chuong Vu, Concertmaster  of the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra in USA, has taken me in as his  student. Right now, I am a year 6 student at HCMC's Conservatory. I have  a big passion for performing in front of live crowds and I enjoy every  moment being a musician. 

 Elena Kobayashi, 16, is currently a junior at Henry M. Gunn High School  in Palo Alto. She began violin at age 7, studied with Hiroko Suzuki  Hagman in Sweden and currently studies violin with Yi Zhou, the  principal viola at the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She was a first-place winner at Crescendo International Music  Competition, earning her performances at Carnegie Hall and second-place  winner at San Francisco Innovative International Competition, Junior  Violin Division in 2020 season. She has attended the Wells Music Summer  School International Strings Week 2018. She was also a member of Golden  State Youth Orchestra in 2019-20. 

 Julianne Ma is a junior at The King’s Academy and has been playing the  cello for eight years. She currently studies with Vicky Wang. At the age  of twelve, she made her solo debut at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie  Hall, performing the third movement of the Haydn Cello Concerto as a  Gold winner in the International Young Artists Competition. In the last  few years, Julianne has won numerous prizes from competitions including  MTAC VOCE Solo, United States International Music Competition, ENKOR  International Music Competition, United States Open Music Competition,  KAMSA competition, CAPMT competition, International Young Artists  Competition, and Great Composers Competition. She has been invited to  perform for Junior Bach Festivals in the last two years, and in 2021 and  2022, she was awarded with Certificate of Merit Panel Master Class by  MTAC. Julianne is also part of the San Francisco Symphony Youth  orchestra. As an avid chamber musician, she has participated in C'est  Bon Chamber Music Academy and was invited to perform at its 10th  Anniversary concert. She is a member of the Juventus Piano Trio, which  has been coached by Rose Chen and Vicky Wang. Her chamber group has  received awards from 2019 and 2020 MTAC VOCE Chamber Music competition  and 2019 and 2020 United States Open Music Competition Ensemble  competition. In addition to her music studies, Julianne also enjoys  reading, writing, and copy editing. 

 Ocean Xie is a 17 year old from Corinth, TX. He has studied violin under  Dr. Chuong Vu since the age of 6. He has been a member of the Greater  Dallas Youth Orchestra for 6 years. He is the gold prize winner of the  London Young Musician International Competition (2022) and World  Classical Music Awards International Competition (2022), and he has won  the Outstanding Performer Award in the Texas All-State Solo and Ensemble  Contest (2021) 

 Zhao Junjie, a famous violinist, educator, Professor Tong Weidong, and  violinist, Professor Yue Lin. In 2013, he was admitted to the fourth  grade of the Affiliated Primary School of the Central Conservatory of  Music with excellent results, and in 2016, he was admitted to the  Affiliated High School of the Central Conservatory of Music,  participated in international and domestic master classes and  competitions for many times, and won prizes. 2018 Chief of China Youth  Symphony Orchestra 

 Jimin Koo, 17, is a senior at Cupertino High School. She currently  studies with Davis Law at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music  Pre-College Division, and serves as Assistant Concertmaster the  California Youth Symphony Senior Orchestra and as concertmaster of her  school’s Chamber Orchestra. She participated in the 2021 and 2022  California All State Symphony Orchestra. She also performed as a soloist  with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra in 2016 as a winner of the annual  concerto competition, and won awards in the Korea Times Music  Competition, KAMSA Competition, AFAF Romantic Music Competition, and  Silicon Valley Music Competition. 

 My name is Ernesto Guevara Cordova. I started studying violin at the age  of 8 at the Eduardo Abela elementary school in San Antonio de los Baños  Cuba, my first presentation was at the age of 9 at the Lyric Theater in  Havana where I played for the first time as a soloist, then I performed  at festivals such as the Festival de la Buena Honda Biennale and the  Music Arte school festival I am currently a student of the National  School of Art (ENA) and I am playing in the charanga orchestra of the  school and in the Esteban Salas Baroque Orchestra, together with her I  have performed at the Sauto theater in the city of Matanzas and the Casa  del Alba in the city of Havana. 

 Skylar started playing the violin at age 6. She has studied at the Korea  National Institute for the Gifted in Arts. She has received the judges'  distinction award at the American Protege International Competition,  the first prize at the Rudolf Barshai International Compet-ition, and  numerous presti-gious awards at many international and national  competitions. Recently, she has been named a 2022 National YoungArts  Foundation honorable mentions winner. She has performed at several  distinguished music halls, such as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall  and the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall. She has performed with the  Cheongju Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seoul Academy Ensemble, and the  Asan Philharmon-ic Orchestra.  

 Born in Taiwan, Murphy Chuang has been studying the cello since the age  of seven and is currently studying in Massachusetts, USA.   Murphy has participated and won in numerous international competitions  including First Prize in “2022 Golden Classical Music Awards”; First  Prize in “The 9th HKYPAF Hong Kong International Youth Performance Arts  Festival” Final Round; Gold Award in "2020 Japan Osaka International  Music Competition” Junior Course; Silver Award in “2019 Brilliant Talent  Discovery Awards International Music Competition” and was invited to  perform in the Gala Concert at The Esplanade Recital Hall, Singapore.  

 My name is Teresa. I am 20 years old and I attend the Academy of Music  in Cracow, Poland. I have made numerous concert tours and, together with  other musicians, have executed in Poland and represented my country all  over Europe. I performed, among others, at the European Parliament in  Brussels, Belgium; at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vienna  and several times in the Netherlands, as well as in Germany, Norway and  Ukraine. I have been playing the violin for 13 years and music is my  greatest passion. 

 Anna Bodziak was born in December 1999, she is from Poland. She started  playing the violin at the age of 7. She graduated from the Secondary  Music School in Przemyśl. Currently, she is studying at the G. and K.  Bacewicz Academy of Music  in Łódź, in the violin class of Dominika  Przech, DA. She has taken part in master classes and in chamber and solo  competitions. She won 1st place in the 12th edition of the World Open  Online Music Competition in Belgrade (2021) and 1st place in the 3rd  International Online Instrumental Performance Competiotion in Vienna  (2022). 

 I've been playing the violin since I was four. I graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music this year 

 Wei Lu is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate and Graduation Assistant at  College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, where she  studies with Kurt Sassmannshaus. She received an Artist Diploma  Certification in Violin Performance from the Colburn School, Master of  Music Degree in Violin Performance from Juilliard, and a Bachelor of  Music Degree in Violin Performance from the Manhattan School of Music,  where she received a commencement award for outstanding violinist. Ms.  Lu was a top prize winner in major solo music competitions, including  the Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards, New York  International Music Competition, and the Schadt String Competition. Her  performance experiences include solo with the Starling Chamber Orchestra  in Cincinnati, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and Qingdao Symphony  Orchestra in China. She has participated in music festivals such as  Tanglewood Music Center, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music  Academy of the West, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Annual  National Arts Centre Summer Music Institute for Young Artists Program  in Ottawa. Ms. Lu has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Wall  Disney Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Scandinavia House.  

 My studies and experiences align well as a cellist starting with my  middle school life by attending the ‘Sunhwa art school’ and ‘Sunhwa art  high school’ by learning professionally and performing regular various  performance. Starting in 2015 autumn, I have started my bachelor's  degree program at the ‘Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre' and  graduated the Academy in June, 2018 and continued Master program 1st  year in 2018 autumn to June 2019. From September 2019, I started  studying cello at the Royal Conservatorie Antwerp (Koninklijk  Conservatorium Antwerpen) and graduated Master course as cum laude in  September, 2021 and graduated Postgtaduate instrumental concert soloist  course in June 2022.