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Music International Grand Prix Winners 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE?
April 29, 2025
Music International Grand Prix Announces 2025 Winners
The Music International Grand Prix is thrilled to announce the winners of its 2025 competition, culminating in a spectacular Winners Concert held at Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center in New York City on April 26, 2025. This year's competition showcased exceptional talent across various categories, celebrating musicians from around the globe.?
Grand Prix Winner and Audience Favorite
The prestigious Grand Prix Award, accompanied by a $5,000 cash prize, was awarded to Chanhee Jin, a 14 year old violinist and student at Juilliard Pre-College who captivated both the judges and the audience with his outstanding performance. In addition to the Grand Prix, Chanhee also received the Audience Favorite Award, highlighting his remarkable artistry and connection with the audience.? Chanhee studies under the guidance of Mr. Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard Pre-College on a full scholarship. He has garnered acclaim through solo competitions, winning awards such as the 1st Prize in the KCO Music Competition, Yookyoung Music Competition, Music Education Newspaper Competition, The Boys Korea Times Concours and Music International Grand Prix. He served as a principal in several concerts of Juilliard Pre-college String Orchestra, and he will serve as concertmaster on an upcoming concert of Pre-college Symphony. His trio team of the Juilliard School was selected to perform at the Kaufman Music Center hosted by the Interlochen Arts Academy in 2023. Chanhee has received prestigious scholarships, including the Heart Foundation Music Gifted Scholarship and the Konkuk University Foundation Music Scholarship. He has benefitted from masterclasses with renowned professors such as Kyunghee Yoon at Sejong University.
Special Performance Awards and Scholarships
Several distinguished organizations recognized participants with special awards:?
- International Conductor Manuel Campos extended an invitation to Chanhee Jin for a solo performance with the Orchestra Philharmonic Guayaquil in Ecuador.?
- The Chinese Musicians Association of North America offered a concert appearance to Salon Trio, acknowledging their exceptional ensemble performance.?
- AIMS in Graz awarded a scholarship to Luisa Tarnawski, supporting her continued musical development.?
- The Berlin Opera Academy granted scholarships to Yisheng Lin and Haley Sicking, recognizing their vocal excellence.?
- The Interlochen Summer Program offered scholarships to all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the Youth and Teen Categories, fostering the growth of young musicians.?
Winners
The competition celebrated top performers across multiple categories:?
Youth Classical Voice
1st Place Talem Sosa
2nd Place Adelina Michel
3rd Place Megan Wang
Teen Classical Voice
1st Place Maria Palencia
2nd Place Zhaohong “Niu Niu” Zhang
3rd Place Cole Bellorgey
Adult Classical Voice
1st Place Julia LoRusso
2nd Place Haley Sicking
3rd Place Emily Quartermont
Youth Popular Voice
1st Place Trina Hannah Shihoko Lee
2nd Place Rene Takahashi
3rd Place Ava Hammaker
Teen Popular Voice
1st Place Elizabeth Sahakyants
2nd Place Keegan Owen
3rd Place Cole Bellorgey
Adult Popular Voice
1st Place Amanda Marie
Youth Piano
1st Place Trina Hannah Shihoko Lee
2nd Place Sophia Zhong
3rd Place Anthony Avram
Teen Piano
1st Place Amalia Zampa
2nd Place Anna Margherita Zampa
3rd Place Polina Strela
Adult Piano
1st Place Mijeong Lee
2nd Place Zhixin Qi
3rd Place Yan Chao
Teen Strings
1st Place Chanhee Jin
2nd Place Katherine Jung
3rd Place Darren Cai
Adult Strings
1st Place Alex Tuan
2nd Place Runqi Weng
3rd Place Joas Erasmus
Teen Winds & Brass
1st Place Xifan Mao
2nd Place Jayden Lee
3rd Place George Crowe
Adult Winds & Brass
1st Place: Benno Alderink
Youth Composition
1st Place Tiger Shen
Teen Composition
1st Place Cynthia Liu
2nd Place Richard Shao
3rd Place Guru Sashank Aroul
Adult Composition
1st Place Olga Amelkina-Vera
2nd Place Joseph Davila
3rd Place Bradley Robin
Youth World Music
1st Place Justin Yan
2nd Place Ellie Bao
3rd Place Alexandra Zhong
Teen World Music
1st Place Tianyue (Joyce) Yan
2nd Place Yijia Bao
3rd Place Shipeng Qi
Adult World Music
1st Place Beitong Liu
2nd Place Hiu Man Chan
3rd Place Ji-Sian Chen
Ensemble
1st Place Echoes of China
2nd Place Salon Trio
3rd Place Trio Astera
About the Music International Grand Prix:
The Music International Grand Prix is a global competition open to musicians of all ages and genres, including Voice (Classical and Popular), Piano, Strings, Winds/Brass, Original Composition, Ensembles, and World Music. The competition aims to discover and support talented musicians worldwide, providing them with performance opportunities, scholarships, and recognition.?
The competition was founded by Elysabeth Muscat and Rafik Hegab in 2020, and celebrated its 5th Anniversary with the 2025 Concert. Each year, musicians of all ages from around the world enter the competition to compete for the ultimate award. The first round is a video Quarterfinal. The second round is a live Semifinal Zoom audition in front of a panel of esteemed judges who provide scores and helpful comments. The third round is the live Final in NYC. The 1st place winners then perform the following day at Merkin Hall to compete for the $5000 Grand Prix Award.
This year’s Grand Prix Judges were: Mark Cortale, Broadway Producer; Joy Hermalyn, Opera and Musical Theater Star; Stefania deKenessey, Award Winning International Composer; Manuel Campos, International Conductor and Pedagoguge, Jin Yang, Pipa Concert Artist and Founder of the Chinese Musicians Association of North America.
This year’s Semifinal and Final Judges were: Gina Perregrino, Deborah Thurlow, Liu Xiaodon, Manuel Campos, Stefania deKenessey, Steve Rainbolt, Kevin Michael Murphy, Keve Wilson, Hayoung Cho, Dan Qiao, Charles Wood, Xia Jing, Jiuri Yu, Irina Voro, Elena Zorozhkina, Kelly Glyptis, Jessica Bowers, Michelle Stebleton, Leesak Ko, Zitian Wang, Suzanne Snizek, Tyler James, Katherine Wenyi Xiong, Jia Yi Lee, Kevin Beavers, Junwen Liang, and Hyun Ju Jang . The Master of Ceremonies was Jae Jin, Global Recording Artist.
Former Grand Prix Winners:
2024 Sacha Jorba-Yu, Violin
2023 Joe Baran, Saxophone
2022 Jodi Brielle Brown, Piano
2021 Kelly Glyptis, Voice
Media Contact:
info@musicinternationalgrandprix.com
www.musicinternationalgrandprix.com
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