Starting 2025 on a High Note: Academy Students Shine
January 13th, 2025
The new year has arrived, and with it comes a wave of exciting achievements from Academy students! These talented young artists are earning recognition at prestigious competitions and thrilling audiences with their performances. Read on for some highlights of their incredible successes and upcoming milestones.
We are celebrating Emily Chen, student of MIC faculty members Injoo Choi and Almita Vamos, who advanced to the live rounds of the 2025 Cooper International Competition. The Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition brings some of the world’s most talented young musicians to the campus of Oberlin College and Conservatory.
Triple congratulations to violinist Lily Sullivan, student of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty member, Grigory Kalinovsky. Lily was named a semifinalist in the prestigious Johansen International String Competition, the International Young Artist Concerto Competition, and first-place winner of the Central Oregon Symphony Young Artist Competition. Lily is a senior in the Academy, and commutes each week from Indianapolis, IN. Tune in to watch Lily’s winning performance of Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, I. Allegro non troppo.
The Johansen International Competition for Young String Players Ages 13–17, established in 1997, takes place once every 3 years in Washington, DC. Lily will compete March 18–20, 2025.
The 2025 International Young Artist Concerto Competition, open to students internationally, 18 years of age or younger, invites applicants to submit one movement of a concerto performed on any instrument. Sixteen competitors have been selected to move to the semi-final round, including one student under the age of 13. Competitors that move to the semi-final and final rounds will be invited to perform with a professional orchestra in January, 2025. Four competitors will proceed to the final round with one ultimate winner.
Congratulations, again to Lily and Emily, IYACC semi-finalists! Performing January 25, 2025 with SEEN Worldwide Orchestra at Buntrock Hall, Symphony Center - Chicago Illinois.
Lily Sullivan - (Academy student of Grigory Kalinovsky) Brahms, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77: Movement 1, Allegro non troppo
Emily Chen - (Academy student of Injoo Choi and Almita Vamos) Korngold, Violin Concerto in D major, op.35: Movement 1, Moderato mobile
Neal Kotamarty Eisfeldt (MIC student of Almita Vamos) – Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto No 5 in D Major, Op 35, I. Allegro moderato
Leo Zupko (MIC student of Sang Mee Lee) - Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D minor, Op 47: Movement 1, Allegro moderato
Hats off to Neena Agrawal, viola student of Sang Mee Lee, winner of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest's Annual Concerto Competition 2024-2025. Neena will perform the first movement of Stamitz Viola Concerto in D major on the SOP concert on Sunday, February 16, 2025, and will also receive a cash prize. In 2013, Sameer Agrawal, now a student at the Curtis School of Music, won the same competition.
Cellist Lucy Wu, student of Stefan Kartman and violist Vivian Van de Sype-Cucu, student of Davis King, have both advanced from the semifinals to the Final Forte of the Bolz Young Artist Competition on March 5th. The Final Forte is a highly regarded statewide competition in which Wisconsin’s young musicians compete for scholarships and the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Four finalists will compete in The Final Forte, which will be broadcast on PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio. Each winner receives a $2000 scholarship and the Marian Bolz Prize for Distinguished Musical Achievement or the Steenbock Youth Music Award. The first-place winner will perform on the Spring Young People’s Concert for an audience of their peers on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Two Honorable Mention scholarships of $1000 will also be awarded.
Tristan Zhu, student of Almita Vamos and Davis King, has won the East Central Division of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior String Competition, and will be competing as a national finalist at the MTNA National Conference in MN in March! The MTNA National Competitions are the most successful and prestigious student competitions in the country. Each year, thousands of students compete for top prizes and national recognition.
The three-tiered Performance Competitions begin with State Competitions. States have the option to hold live or video competitions. The winners/representatives of each state’s competitions advance to a video-only Division Competition. Division winners/representatives will compete in person at the National Finals during the annual MTNA National Conference.
The state competitions are considered the primary educational level with the division and national levels showcasing outstanding performance and honoring significant pedagogical achievement. The two-tiered MTNA competitions begin with video-only nation-wide competitions. Seven finalists then proceed to the in-person National Competition Finals.
Tristan’s program:
Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor, V. Chaconne
Sibelius: Violin Concerto In D minor, I. Allegro Moderato
Roumain: FILTER for solo violin
From local stages to international competitions, our students continue to raise the bar for excellence. Here’s to a year of even more music, inspiration, and celebration of our Academy students!