2026 COMPETITION SEMI FINALISTS: CONCERTO DIVISION

City/Country: Englewood, Colorado, USA
Age: 15
Performing: Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467

Semifinalist in Solo Level B and Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Lucy (Yuze) Chen began studying piano at age six and has received classical training in both China and the United States. She currently studies under Ms. Jasmine Lee Steadman. Lucy has earned numerous awards in major competitions. In 2024, she won 1st and 3rd place in both the Yamaha Competition and the Rising Star Competition, and was also a semi-finalist in the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival (2024). In 2025, she received 1st Place in the MTNA Colorado Competition and advanced to the regional level,serving as an alternate in the Western Hemisphere. She also won 1st Place (Concerto) and 3rd Place (Solo) at the Carmel Klavier International Competition (2025), and was an invited performer with the CU Boulder Orchestra. In 2026, she again placed in both the Yamaha Competition and the Rising Star Competition (3rd Place). Beyond performance, Lucy serves nonprofit organizations as a co-founder and music director of Inspire Movement Arts; a board member of For Change; and organizing concerts at senior centers, children’s hospitals, Musicians Unite, and local communities. Through music, she seeks to connect communities and express the depth of human emotion and cultural understanding.

City/Country: New York, New York, USA
Age: 17
Performing: Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35

Semifinalist in Solo Level B and Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Elle is an accomplished pianist and composer. Most recently, she won the Concerto Competition at Special Music School with Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 and will be performing it with the Park Avenue Symphony in June. Elle is a Special Music High School junior focusing on piano. She also studies composition at the Juilliard Pre-College program. At 17 years old, she completed a musical, Kid of New York, on commission by the New Music Theatre Project, which is set to premier at 54 Below in September. Elle has previously appeared on the theater stage and on screen. She won accolades and rave reviews for her solo role in Marnie at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

City/Country: Morgan Hill, California, USA
Age: 17
Performing: Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No.1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1

Semifinalist in Solo Level B and Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Bridget Hoang is an incoming senior at Ann Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, California and currently studies piano with Olya Katsman. This year, she was inducted into the selective 2026 Young Artist Guild of the Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC). She has performed as a soloist with the Palo Alto Philharmonic, the GSYO’s Camilla Kolchinsky Orchestra, the Coeur d’Alene Symphony and the Central Texas Philharmonic. Among her awards are winner of the 2026 and 2025 Northern Region CAPMT Concerto Competition, the 2025 Celia Mendez Young Pianists Beethoven Competition, the 2025 Creative Artist Review Panel Award from the Bay Area Creative Foundation, the 2025 Henry and Carol Zeiter Piano Competition, and the 2024 MTAC State Solo Competition. Bridget has participated in many summer piano festivals including PianoTexas, Southeastern, TSIPF, Vivace Music Foundation, and Bay Piano Fest. She has had master classes with Alexander Kobrin, Michelle Cann, Boris Slutsky, Marina Lomazov, and many more. Besides piano, Bridget also loves reading, writing, and poetry. She enjoys making connections between the music she plays and the literature she reads.

City/Country: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Age: 13
Performing: Mendelssohn, Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25

Semifinalist in Solo Level A and Junior Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Fengtian Wang studies piano with Charlotte Hu. She is a winner of the 2024 Philadelphia International Piano Competition and was invited to perform both solo and concerto repertoire at the 2025 PYPA Music Festival. She received First Honorable Mention at the 2025 West Chester University Pre-Collegiate National Piano Competition. At the age of 10, she was admitted to the MSM Precollege as a recipient of the Rochlis Family Foundation Scholarship (2023). Fengtian began her piano studies with her mother at the age of four. She has received awards in competitions, including the Shanghai Open Competition, Mendelssohn International Piano Competition, Pearl River–Caesarburg International Piano Competition, Xinghai National Elite Competition, and Huaxia International Piano Open Competition. She has performed at major venues worldwide, including the Sydney Opera House, the Melbourne International Music Festival, Gordon K. and Harriet Greenfield Hall at the MSM, the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, and Shanghai Symphony Hall.

City/Country: Shanghai, China
Age: 16
Performing: Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488

Chinese pianist Shizhe Zhu born in 2009 is a student at the Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he has studied under Professor Natalia Filippova since 2023. His playing is marked by a communicative approach that seeks to uncover the emotional depth and structural clarity of each work. Zhu draws artistic inspiration beyond the piano, particularly from the symphonic universe of Gustav Mahler and the complex dramatic language of Richard Wagner. He believes that these influences enrich his interpretive perspective on the standard piano repertoire. He won the fourth prize in the junior professional division of the 11th Boya Piano Festival in August 2025. He successfully held a recital on May 29, 2026, at the Music Middle School affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

City/Country: Nacogdoches, Texas, USA / China
Age: 21
Performing: Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73

Semifinalist in Solo Level C and Professional Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Antonio “Nio” Ajero has garnered many accolades, including the 2021 and 2022 National YoungArts Award for Classical Piano, as well as numerous piano, pedagogy, and collaborative scholarships from Oberlin College and Conservatory, such as the Howard Karp 3rd Prize Award at the 2024 Peter Takacs Beethoven Competition and The Deborah Lipton Hanna ’69 Endowed Collaborative Piano Prize. He has studied in masterclasses and lessons with renowned teachers such as Kirill Gerstein, Alexander Kobrin, Alexander Korsantia, Norman Krieger, Jeremy Denk, Logan Skelton, Julian Martin, Vadym Kholodenko, Yakov Kasman, Gilles Vonsattel, William Grant Nabore, and Alexander Moutouzkine. Nio earned his Bachelor's in Piano Performance at Oberlin College and Conservatory under the tutelage of 2001 Van Cliburn gold medalist, Professor Stanislav Ioudenitch. This fall, Nio will begin his graduate studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University under the guidance of Professor Hieyon Choi.

City/Country: Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Age: 25
Performing: Beethoven, Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73

Ashley Chua Kai Qian is an incoming first-year doctoral student in Collaborative piano at CU Boulder, where she will study under Dr. Nguyen and Dr. McDonald. She is a recent graduate of Texas Christian University (TCU), with a Masters in Collaborative piano. She graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) in Singapore in 2024 with Bachelor of Music (B.Mus), holding a double major in Piano Performance and Music & Society (MS), and a minor in Philosophy. Ashley has participated actively in a range of concerts and competitions, most recently placing 3rd in the Piano division of the YSTCM Concerto Competition 2022 and attaining a Special Mention in the TCU Concerto Competition in 2024. She was also a recipient of the Judith Solomon Award in Vocal Accompaniment in 2025, at the generosity of donors Mr. and Mrs. James Simon.

City/Country: Tallahassee, Florida, USA / South Korea
Age: 30
Performing: Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No.1 in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1

Dain Lee is a South Korean pianist from Seoul and a doctoral candidate in Piano Performance at Florida State University, studying with Dr. Heidi Williams. Active as both a soloist and collaborative pianist, she has performed throughout the United States and Korea in solo recitals, chamber music, and ensemble performances. In 2024, she appeared as soloist with the Masterworks Orchestra after winning the Masterworks Concerto Competition, performing Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Most recently, she won the 2026 Florida State University Doctoral Concerto Competition. Her additional awards include first prize in the 2025 American Soloist International Music Competition, performed at Carnegie Hall, as well as second prize in the 2025 Young Soloist International Music Competition. Lee has participated in festivals including the Texas State International Piano Festival, Knoxville International Piano Festival, and Ian Hobson Piano Festival. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Ewha Womans University.

City/Country: Westbury, New York, USA / South Korea
Age: 24
Performing: Saint-Saens, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22

Julie Yaesol Lee is a Korean American pianist based in New York. She began her musical studies at the age of four. After moving to the United States, she trained under Professor Jeffrey Biegel. Julie appeared as a soloist with the LaGuardia Symphonic Orchestra and the Santa Monica Orchestra. Julie is a winner of numerous competitions, including the Redlands Bowl Young Artist Concerto Competition, the New York Laureate International Music Competition, the National YoungArts Foundation, the New York Artists Guild International Music Competition, and more. She has received guidance from renowned artists during masterclasses with Gary Graffman, Pavel Nersessian, Andrew Tyson, and Renana Gutman. She has played in major performance venues such as Weill Recital Hall, Redlands Bowl, Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, and more. Julie is a graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music, pursuing a Master’s degree in classical piano performance under the guidance of Professor Inesa Sinkevych.

City/Country: Rochester, New York, USA / South Korea
Age: 28
Performing: Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2 C minor, Op. 18

Semifinalist in Solo Level C and Professional Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Sol Park, a native of South Korea, is a pianist pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland under the guidance of Alexander Kobrin. Beginning in fall 2026, she will continue her studies at The Juilliard School under Soyeon Kate Lee. Sol earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and previously studied with Jack Winerock at the University of Kansas after moving to the United States. She began piano studies at age five and, at eleven, made both her solo recital debut and concerto debut with the Busan Neo Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, she has appeared with ensembles including the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, Heritage Philharmonic, and TIMM Ensemble. Sol has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Jerome Lowenthal, Jeremy Denk, Boris Petrushansky, Robert McDonald, Alexander Korsantia, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

City/Country: Rochester, New York, USA / South Korea
Age: 28
Performing: Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Semifinalist in Solo Level C and Professional Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Sol Park, a native of South Korea, is a pianist pursuing a Master of Music degree at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland under the guidance of Alexander Kobrin. Beginning in fall 2026, she will continue her studies at The Juilliard School under Soyeon Kate Lee. Sol earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and previously studied with Jack Winerock at the University of Kansas after moving to the United States. She began piano studies at age five and, at eleven, made both her solo recital debut and concerto debut with the Busan Neo Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then, she has appeared with ensembles including the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, Heritage Philharmonic, and TIMM Ensemble. Sol has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Jerome Lowenthal, Jeremy Denk, Boris Petrushansky, Robert McDonald, Alexander Korsantia, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

City/Country: Los Angeles, California, USA
Age: 24
Performing: Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23

Semifinalist in Solo Level C and Professional Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Victor Shlyakhtenko’s recent debuts have included performances with the Panama City Symphony in Florida and the Delta Symphony Orchestra in Arkansas, and recitals for the Grand Piano Series in Naples and the Palm Springs International Piano Competition. He has appeared with over a dozen orchestras in concertos by Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, and Clara Schumann. His solo performances have brought him to Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and Leipzig Gewandhaus. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he began his training at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, continuing his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory. His teachers have included Fabio Bidini, Stanislav Ioudenitch, and José Ramón Méndez. Victor is an alumnus of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s Young Scholars Program and has performed in masterclasses for artists such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Niel Immelman, Marios Papadopoulos, and Bruno Canino.

City/Country: oston, Massachusetts, USA
Age: 20
Performing: Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35

Truman Walker is a pianist and composer from Eagle, Idaho. He currently studies with Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. He previously studied with Suzy Clive and HaeSun Paik. He has been studying composition with Daniel Felsenfeld since 2017. At age 4, he was a student in the young musicians program Let’s Play Music. Truman recently won top prizes in the Yamaha USASU and NEC Honors piano competitions. He has performed in Jordan Hall at NEC and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

City/Country: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Age: 22
Performing: Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Madison Yan is a passionate performer, teacher, and a recent graduate of the University of Miami under the studio of Kevin Kenner. As a semifinalist in the 11th National Chopin Competition (Miami) and the 6th Delegate International Chopin Competition (Tokyo), she has cultivated an artistry recognized on both national and international stages. She is a threetime recipient of the National Chopin Foundation Scholarship and has garnered top prizes at the William Knabe International Piano Competition, the International Chopin Competition (Hartford), and the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival. Madison has participated in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Maria João Pires, Alexander Kobrin, and Garrick Ohlsson. Her mentors are Sasha Starcevich, Richard Bosworth, and Irena Kofman. She currently serves as Artist-in-Residence at the A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts and has been invited to present masterclasses throughout South Florida. A multi-faceted artist, Madison enjoys writing, dancing, and martial arts.

City/Country: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA / China
Age: 27
Performing: Béla Bartók, Piano Concerto No. 3 in E Major, Sz. 119, BB 127

Liming Yang has received recognition in several national and international competitions. He was a prizewinner at the Liszt Memorial Prizes Hong Kong–International Piano Open Competition, winner of the CCM piano concerto competition, and has been a finalist in the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival Competition (2025). Additional early awards supported his continuing performance activity. Born in China, Yang began piano studies at an early age and later continued his musical training in the United States. He earned his Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Yang is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music (CCM) under Dror Biran.

City/Country: Lansing, Michigan, USA
Age: 27
Performing: Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Wanwan Yang is a Chinese pianist recognized for performances of both lyrical sensitivity and passionate virtuosity. She is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University, where she has served as a teaching assistant on a full scholarship since 2022, studying with Eric Zuber.

A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (B.M.) and the Peabody Conservatory (M.M.), Wanwan is the winner of the 2026 Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. She has also competed internationally, including appearances in the Premio Jaén International Piano Competition (Spain) and the George Enescu International Competition (Romania).

City/Country: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Age: 21

Semifinalist in Solo Level C and Professional Young Artist Complete Concerto Divisions.

Sunny Lin Kai Zhang has performed in some of the foremost venues in the world, including New York's Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall and Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage), Steinway Hall, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Beijing Concert Hall, Van Cliburn Concert Hall, Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Chan Centre, and Orpheum Theatre. He has performed with the Rimsky-Korsakov String Quartet, the Grosseto Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. His international achievements include First Prizes at the Seattle, Carmel Clavier in solo and concerto categories, Orbetello, and the Pacific International Piano Competition. He won top prizes at Fou Ts’ong, Steinway, San Jose, Sviatoslav Richter, Lancaster, and Enkor International Piano Competition, among others, and became a Steinway Young Artist at the age of 16. He recently graduated from The Juilliard School and will pursue a Master of Music at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Boris Slutsky. His former teachers include longtime mentor Eugene Skovorodnikov, Matti Raekallio, and Hung-Kuan Chen.