FINALIST BIOGR APHIES Young Artists Division-Pianists Josephine Chan 13, piano, San Francisco, CA Josephine is a scholarship student in the Pre-College Division at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying piano performance with Corey McVicar. She was a prizewinner in the 2015 Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, 2015 Enkor International Piano and Violin Competition, 2015 Pacific Musical Society Scholarship Competition, 2013 American Protégé International Piano Competition and 2012 San Francisco Chopin Competition. She was also chosen to participate in the 2011 and 2013 Junior Bach Festival. Performance highlights include: Ojai Music Festival at Libbey Bowl, Ojai at Berkeley Zellerbach Hall, American Protégé Competition Winner’s Concert at Carnegie Weill Hall, SF Conservatory Classical Kickoff Recital, Fanfare Luncheon and Lang Lang 101 Pianists Workshop. In her spare time, Josephine enjoys drawing, reading, travelling, swimming, listening to music and roller coaster rides. Ophir Horovitz 15, piano, Los Altos, CA Ophir is a homeschooled sophomore, in Los Altos, California. He began piano lessons at the age of 6 and currently studies with Tilly Tan. Ophir has received top prizes in numerous categories from the 2012–2015 US Open Music Competition, 2013 Sylvia M. Ghiglieri Piano Competition, 2014 US New Star Piano Competition, 2015 MTAC Santa Clara Branch Concerto/ Ensemble Music Festival Competition, and 2015 MTAC Northern California Concerto Competition, and he performed at Carnegie Hall as a winner of the 2014 American Fine Arts Festival Piano Competition. Ophir has had masterclasses/coaching with Hans Boepple, Greg Anderson, Namik Sultanov, Frank Wiens, Douglas Humphreys, Michael Coonrod, Thomas Lymenstull and Gwendolyn Mok. Ophir is a competitive diver, loves math and listening to music, and trying new cuisines. Christopher Richardson 17, piano, Danville, CA Christopher was the featured soloist with several orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, Federal Way Symphony, Pacific Orchestra and Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra. He was one of the top prizewinners in numerous national and international piano competitions, including the 2015 International Keyboard Institute and Festival, 2011 Virginia Waring Concerto, Tureck International Bach, 2012 LA Liszt International Competition, 2011 Seattle International Piano, and International Russian Competitions. He has attended numerous music festivals and was selected as a scholarship winner at the National Chopin Foundation of the US in 2013 and 2015, and a winner at the National YoungArts Foundation. He appeared on NPR’s From the Top, and recently spoke about and performed piano at the TEDxYouth@Redmond conference in Washington. He will perform across Europe in the next year, and has a recording plan for three CDs with KNS Classical Spain.
Shiyi “Andy” Sheng 17, piano, San Jose, CA Andy has been studying piano for 11 years. He has also performed internationally including a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto K488 in A Major (complete) with the Vienna Neustadter Orchestra in Austria and five solo concerts in the U.S, Austria, and Poland. Throughout Andy’s music studies, he has also participated in many international music festivals including the Austrian International Piano Seminar, the Colburn Music Festival in Los Angeles, the Schlern International Music Festival in Italy, and European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) in Paris. In these festivals, he performed and studied in masterclasses with many teachers. Parker Van Ostrand 12, piano, Sacramento, CA Parker is a 7th grader at Merryhill School in Sacramento, California. He began studying piano at the age of 4. He performed at Carnegie Hall at age 5 after winning gold in the AADGT Competition. Since then, Parker has performed in numerous recitals and 10 piano concerts, including concerto appearances with the Merced Symphony and the Stockton Youth Symphony. He currently studies with Linda Nakagawa and Natsuki Fukasawa. Parker’s other interests include swimming, running, painting, and building with Legos. He is also studying Japanese. Elizabeth Zietz 14, piano, Irvine, CA Born in California, Elizabeth is a sophomore at Northwood High School. She began studying the piano at the age of 6 and currently studies with Ethan Dong. At the age of 7, Elizabeth made her debut performance at the Nixon Library. She made her concerto debut at age 13 with the Orange County Symphony. Elizabeth has won Grand Prize at the Glendale Piano Competition, first prizes at the CAPMT Young Musician’s Concerto Competition, CAPMT Sonata Festival, Lansum International Music Festival, and 1st Alternate at the MTAC Southern Region State Concerto/Solo Competition. She has also won first prizes in the open categories of the Southwestern Youth Music Festival for six consecutive years. She has received merit scholarships to the Tanglewood Institute, Warsaw Piano Institute, and Lansum International Music Festival.
Young Artists Division-Instrumentalists Cameron Alan-Lee 17, violin, Sherman Oaks, CA Cameron began violin studies at the age of 4. He was a member of The American Youth Symphony Orchestra this past year. At this time, he has a quartet at The Colburn School and Pasadena Conservatory of Music. His piano trio was a semifinalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in 2013. He was a first place winner pre-college division of ASTA, and semi-finalist of Music Center’s Spotlight 2015. He has participated in various summer music festivals such as Gold Coast Chamber Music, Montecito Music Festival, YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION
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