2026 Young Musicians Competition Results for Voice

CHAIR, Wennie Nai-Yueh Niu

Division Award Student Teacher
15–17 (Senior) 1st Ryan Wang, age 15 Henry Chen
2nd Iris Quinones, age 17 Lisa Villamaria Casia
3rd Bowen Liang, age 15 Henry Chen
13–14 (Junior) 1st Lyla Rose Cabrera, age 14 Lisa Villamaria Casia
2nd Eva Landron, age 13 Lisa Villamaria Casia
3rd Anaya Bhandari, age 14 Lisa Villamaria Casia
HM Ritvik Mohanty, age 13 Lisa Villamaria Casia
12 & Under (Elementary) 1st Nicolas Kontorinis, age 12 Lisa Villamaria Casia
2nd Victoria Morales-Leventis, age 8 Lisa Villamaria Casia
3rd Caitlyn Dennis, age 9 Lisa Villamaria Casia
HM Clementine Wu, age 12 *

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2026 Young Musicians Competition Results for Piano

Age GroupAwardStudent nameTeacher
5HONORABLE MENTIONChloe ZhouWenyan Han
HONORABLE MENTIONRina Kang*
6FIRST PLACELeo Lu*
Song of the Calvary, Op.27 by D. Kabalevsky
SECOND PLACEIcelyn Lum-Yuan*
THIRD PLACECarol LiangSimeng Wu
HONORABLE MENTIONRachel Yu*
7FIRST PLACEDavid FangYevgeny Morozov
Sonata Hob. XVI 35 Finale: Allegro by F. J. Haydn
SECOND PLACEAudrey MaYang Liu
THIRD PLACEElaine WuStella Xu
HONORABLE MENTIONHana Rhee*
8FIRST PLACEKatheryn Xu*
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No. 1 by F. Chopin
SECOND PLACEChonghe LiMichael Brailovsky
THIRD PLACESelah Kang*
HONORABLE MENTIONMan-Mi (Ida) Li*
HONORABLE MENTIONHayne HongGrace J. Yang
9FIRST PLACELawrence WongSherry Kim
Sonata in F major, Hob XVI:23, 1st mvt by F. J. Haydn
SECOND PLACEAllen GaoXiyu Deng
THIRD PLACEAlexander Yulin ZhangIngrid Clarfield
HONORABLE MENTIONBella LuoWenyan Han
10FIRST PLACEOlivia Li*
Concert Etude S.144 No.3 “Un Sospiro” by F. Liszt
SECOND PLACEAndrew ZhangChiu-Tze Lin
THIRD PLACEDaya WilliamsStella Xu
HONORABLE MENTIONManning XiaHwei-Lan Luo
HONORABLE MENTIONJoseph Zhang*
11FIRST PLACESylvie ChiuQi Zhang
Piano Sonata NO.15 K533/494 I allegro by W. A. Mozart
SECOND PLACEAnshuo PingStella Xu
THIRD PLACEElena XieAziza Khasanova-Madaski
THIRD PLACEJayden LiTomoko Harada
HONORABLE MENTIONTai WangSuet-Nie Ang
12FIRST PLACEBryan WuVitalii Khairutdinov / Veda Zuponcic
Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 by P. I. Tchaikovsky / M. Pletnev
SECOND PLACENolan WangAziza Khasanova-Madaski
THIRD PLACEIsabella XuStella Xu
THIRD PLACERoy KimStella Xu / Veda Zuponcic
THIRD PLACEHarris DongStella Xu
HONORABLE MENTIONClaire Li*
13FIRST PLACEElla WangStella Xu
Rondo Brillante , Op.62 by C. M. Weber
SECOND PLACEAiden KimYu Xi Wang / Veda Zuponcic
THIRD PLACEGrace HwangStella Xu / Veda Zuponcic
THIRD PLACEJeremy BirdIngrid Clarfield
HONORABLE MENTIONTatyana AtanasovaYevgeny Morozov
HONORABLE MENTIONLucia HuStella Xu
HONORABLE MENTIONEmma LiChiu-Tze Lin
14FIRST PLACEKyle ZhuJulia Lam
Sonata No. 21 in C major, Opus 53 "Waldstein", III. Rondo: Allegretto-Prestissimo by L. v. Beethoven
SECOND PLACELuke YeonStella Xu
THIRD PLACEKyle JiangYevgeny Morozov
HONORABLE MENTIONLuen-Yo Lawrence GuoAziza Khasanova-Madaski
15FIRST PLACEJaden LiuGrace J. Yang
Sonata No.1 Mvt I by C. Vine
SECOND PLACEBowen LiangStella Xu
THIRD PLACEConan YangYu Xi Wang / Veda Zuponcic
THIRD PLACESharon XueStella Xu
16FIRST PLACEEmily WuGrace J. Yang
Five Bagatelles by C. Vine
SECOND PLACEEric FengGloria Chu
THIRD PLACEMaximus WuTomoko Harada
HONORABLE MENTIONAndrew LiStella Xu
HONORABLE MENTIONOlivia HuaQi Zhang
17FIRST PLACEAngela ZhangChiu-Tze Lin
Variations on a Theme from Carmen Fantasy by Bizet arr. Horowitz
SECOND PLACETyler ReedJulia Lam
THIRD PLACECherie XuGrace J. Yang
HONORABLE MENTIONHannah ZouIngrid Clarfield
CollegiateFIRST PLACEAlice Siqi WanStella Xu
Der Rosenkavalier: Ramble on the last love duet by Strauss-Grainger
Age GroupAwardStudent nameTeacher
Duet 10 & UnderFIRST PLACEOlivia Li / Amanda Zheng*
Hungarian Dance No.1 by J. Brahms
SECOND PLACEAudrey Ma / Madison DaiYang Liu / Yujia Shen
HONORABLE MENTIONSelah Kang / Susie Wu*
Duet 11-14FIRST PLACEClaire Li / Sophia Zhong*
Macabre for 4 hands, Op.40 by C. Saint-Saens
SECOND PLACESean Wu / Clementine Wu*
THIRD PLACENolan Wang /
Luen-Yo Lawrence Guo		Aziza Khasanova-Madaski
HONORABLE MENTIONMrinalini Prasad /
Anh Van Dang Vu		Lana Ivanov
HONORABLE MENTIONAlex Shih / Cassia WatsonIngrid Clarfield
Duet 15-17FIRST PLACEAthena Liu / Sophia LiuHwei-Lan Luo
Fantasiestucke, op.73 by R. Schumann
I. Zart und mit Ausdruck (Tender and with expression)
II. Lebhaft, leicht (Lively, light)
III. Rasch und mit Feuer (Quick and with fire)
SECOND PLACEAmy Chu / Natalie QianChiu-Tze Lin

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2026 Advanced Master Class Performers Selected

Student NameTeacher
SelectedKyle Zhu, Age 14Julian Lam
Sonata No. 21 in C major, Opus 53 "Waldstein", III. Rondo: Allegretto-Prestissimo by L. v. Beethoven
Emily Wu, Age 16Grace J. Yang
Five Bagatelles by C. Vine
Audrey Xu, Age 13Gloria Chu
Jasmine Flower Fantasie by Wanghwa Chu
Averie Wu, Age 16Ingrid Clarfield
Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky arr. Pletnev
AlternateTatyana Atanasova, Age 13Yevgeny Morozov
Papillons, op. 2 by R. Schumann
Angela Zhang, Age 17Chiu-Tze Lin
Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata"I.Allegro assai by L. v. Beethoven

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2026 Young Musicians Competition Results for Woodwinds

Christine Kang, Chairperson

Judges: Karen Demsey & Gregory Marsh

DivisionAwardStudentTeacher
11 & Under (Elementary)1stOlivia Li, Flute, age 10Amy I-Yun Tu
G. Donizetti, Sonata for Flute and Piano in C
2ndJade Fang, Flute, age 10Amy I-Yun Tu
12-14 (Junior)1stKatherine Lee, Flute, age 14Amy I-Yun Tu
K. Hoover, Masks: I. Tempo 1, II. Presto, VI. Allegro vivo
2ndStephen Junyoung Lee, Clarinet, age 14Gi Lee
3rdVictoria Yong, Flute, age 13Eunsook Choi
HMClaire Li, Flute, age 12Amy I-Yun Tu
12-14 (Junior Ensemble)1stConstantine Choi, age 13, Pramis Choi, age 12, ClarinetsGi Lee
F. Mendelssohn, Concert Piece No. 2 in D minor, Op. 114 Mvt. 1
15-17 (Senior)1stPauline Maren Tang, Clarinet, age 15Gi Lee
L. Bassi, Rigoletto Fantasie
2ndIan Lee, Alto Saxophone, age 16Wonki Lee
3rdAlexander Chen, Clarinet, 15Gi Lee
HMGaeun Lee, Flute, age 16Eunsook Choi

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2026 Young Musicians Competition Results for STRINGS

STRINGS CHAIR: Hyojin Lee

 

Third prize winners and honorable mention recipients are listed in alphabetical order according to their last names.

DivisionAwardStudentTeacher
10-under (Elementary)1stIsabelle Zhao, Violin, age 10Yousun Kim
A. Vivaldi, Summer, from The Four Seasons, Op. 8, No. 2, RV 315, I. Allegro non molto
2ndCharlotte Iff, Cello, age 6Marnie Kaller
3rdIsabella Tang, Violin, age 10Tunde Gaal
3rdYaming Wang, Violin, age 10Alexandra Neglia
HMDeven Goel, Cello, age 9Hyojin Lee
HMElodie Wu, Violin, age 7Patricia Licetti
11-14 (Junior)1stElizabeth Zhang, Viola, age 14Yifang Huang
Rebecca Clarke, Sonata for Viola and Piano, I. Impetuoso – Allegro ma non troppo
2ndIsabella Gopal, Violin, age 12Katarzyna Powichrowska
3rdHenry Toettcher, Cello, age 12WanYi Pan
3rdAnnabelle Zhao, Violin, age 13Yousun Kim
HMAlice Qian, Violin, age 11Tunde Gaal
HMCharlotte Shen, age 12Tunde Gaal
15-17 (Senior)1stLuke Liu, Cello, age 17Hyojin Lee
D. Shostakovich, Cello Concerto no.1 in E flat major, Op. 107, I. Allegretto
2ndLeilani Gopal, Violin, age 16Katarzyna Powichrowska
3rdElie Kuan, Cello, age 17Hyojin Lee
HMAarav Gupta, Cello, age 16Hyojin Lee
HMAndrew Li, Cello, age 16Hyojin Lee
Ensemble2ndRayansh Phirke, Flute, age 15Inessa Gleyzerova
Shreya Visvanathan, Violin, age 15
Annikka Visvanathan, Violin, age 12

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2026 Violin Master Class Performers Selected

Congratulations to Our 2026 Violin Master Class Performers!

These young musicians will have the opportunity to work with the Concertmaster of the New Jersey Symphony Eric Wyrick on November 14 and further develop their musical artistry under his guidance.

Important Reminders:

  • Performers are required to register for the Violin Workshop and stay for the entirety of the Master Class.

  • The performance order, as determined by the guest artist, is listed below:


Performers and Repertoire

No.StudentTeacher
1.Natalie TsaiKevin Tsai
Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22, I. Allegro moderato
2.Sophia LiuTünde Gaal
Dancla: Air varié No. 5, Op. 89
3.Yochin ChangTakuya Horiuchi
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, I. Allegro molto appassionato
4.Aurora SuNancy Wilson
Wieniawski: Scherzo-Tarantelle
5.Claire HodgsonKatarzyna Powichrowska
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole in D minor, Op. 21, III. Intermezzo: Allegro non troppo
6.Emma WangSharon Gayoung Cho
Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22, I. Allegro moderato
7.Prisha BagchiNancy Wilson
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, III. Finale
8.Lucille ChengTünde Gaal
Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, I. Allegro non troppo

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2026 MTNA Student Performance Competitions Results

Amy I-Yun Tu, Chairperson, Junior and Young Artist Coordinator

Wei-Yuh Christina Xie, Senior Coordinator

JUNIOR LEVEL

Piano Solo

Winner: Elena Wang                                          Teacher: Carmel Lowenthal
Alternate: Bryan Wu                                          Teacher: Vitalii Khairutdinov/Veda Zoponcic
Honorable Mention: Sylvie Chiu                      Teacher: Qi Zhang
                                  Grace Hwang              Teacher: Stella Xu/Veda Zuponcic

String

Winner: Catherine You, cello                             Teacher: Hyojin Lee
Alternate: Daniel Yoo, cello                               Teacher: Madeleine Golz
Honorable Mention: Joanna An, cello            Teacher: Hyojin Lee
                                   Owen Ren, cello             Teacher: Hyojin Lee

Woodwind

Winner: Claire Li, flute                                       Teacher: Amy I-Yun Tu
Alternate: Katelyn Park, clarinet                        Teacher: Bryan Rudderow
Honorable Mention: Victoria Yong, flute         Teacher: Eunsook Choi                               

SENIOR LEVEL

Piano Solo

Winner : Edward Ojard                                        Teacher: Yu Xi Wang/ Veda Zuponcic
Alternate: Angela Zhang                                      Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin
Honorable Mention: Bowen Liang                       Teacher: Stella Xu
                                   Patrick Song                       Teacher: Rita Shklar
                                  Conan Yang                        Teacher: Yu Xi Wang/ Veda Zuponcic
 Kyle Zhu                      Teacher: Julia Lam

String

Winner: Alice Hu, violin                                        Teacher: Brittany Sklar                                             Alternate: Elie Kuan, cello                                      Teacher: Hyojin Lee
Honorable Mention: Allison Chen, cello            Teacher: Hyojin Lee
                                    Andrew Li, cello                  Teacher: Hyojin Lee

Woodwind

Winner: Ian Lee, saxophone                              Teacher: Wonki Lee
Alternate: Katherine Lee, flute                              Teacher: Amy Tu

Piano Duet:

Winner: Amy Chu & Natalie Qian                           Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin
Alternate: Gloria Sun & Ivy Liu          Teacher: Chiu-Tze Lin/Hsin I Chou

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2026 Margaret Knight High School Scholarship Results

Richard Woo, Chair

Music Performance:

Recipient: Elie Kuan (cello, teacher HyoJin Lee)

Alternate: Andy Yeung (piano, teacher Julia Lam)

Music Education / Pedagogy:

Recipient: Dhalya Duran (voice, teacher Lisa Casia)

We thank all entrants for your hard work with your essays, past NJMTA participation, and auditions!

Essay Judges: Yining Wang and Betty Stoloff
Performance Judges: David Agia and Lourin Plant

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MTNA Student Composition Competition Results

Music Teachers National Association is pleased to announce the results of the composition competition for New Jersey.

Elementary:
Representative: Madhav Thirucherai, Student of Samuel Yulsman

Junior:

Winner: Ella Zhang, Student of Nancy Modell
Honorable mention: Lucia Hu, Student of Liang Liang
Honorable mention: Bofan Shang, Student of Kaori Tanioka

Senior:
Winner: Claire Yu, Student of Hong-Da Chin
Honorable mention: Jeffrey Li, Student of Jonathan Spitz
Honorable mention: Olex Donghao Li, Student of Yiming Wu
Honorable mention: Tianyue Yan, Student of Yiming Wu



This year, the New Jersey judges were:
Aiyana Braun
Ryan Brechmacher
Craig Levesque

Winning and representative compositions automatically advance to the division competition. The results of that competition will be announced in mid-December.

Congratulations to all of the participants in the competition! We hope that the comments you receive from the judges will be helpful to you and your teacher. Your efforts are to be commended and we hope that you will continue to learn and grow as a composer. Good luck with your musical studies!

Julia Kovalev, New Jersey Composition Coordinator

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2026 Commissioned Composer Competition Results

2026 COMMISSIONED COMPOSER:MATTHEW LIU

Results for CCC 2026

Elementary: Four Four Oh!

First place: Serena Chu, 8, student of Stella Xu

Second Place: Christian Jeong, 8, student of Stella Xu

Third Place: student of Dexter Chan, 10, student of Stella Xu

Honorable Mention: Olivia Xu, 10, student of Chloris Li

Intermediate: To Manhattan

First place: Julianne Wang, 12, student of Stella Xu

Second Place: Arav Gollapally, 15, student of Yevgeny Morozov

Third Place: Chloe Hua, 14, student of Chloris Li

Advanced: Tribute

First place: Elias Kusnadi, 16, student of Stella Xu

Second Place: Julianne Wang, 12, student of Stella Xu

Third Place: Kriti Narayanan, 15, student of Yevgeny Morozov

Honorable Mention: Claire Yu, 15, student of Julia Lam

Chamber Music: Rhapsody

First place: Gloria Sun, 16, piano student of Chiu-Tze Lin and

Stephen Shen, 16, violin student of Hua-Yi Wang

Second Place: Amy Chu, 15, piano student of Chiu-Tze Lin and

Annabelle Zhao, 13, violin student of Yousun Kim

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