Jessica is 12 years old, and she has been learning piano for 6 years. Her current teacher is Dr. Rixiang Huang. Jessica enjoys playing piano and has won many awards including 2022 US New Star Competition 2nd Prize, 2022 Pacific Stars International Piano Competition Bronze Prize, 2022 American Protégé International Piano Competition 1st Place, 2021 Satori Piano Competition 1st Place and many more. She also got invited to play in the Carnegie Hall. Other than playing piano, Jessica enjoys reading and singing.

Starting violin at the age of 6, Minji Choi is a 13 year old violinist studying under Chloe Chiu. She has earned the Young Artist Award in Singapore Violin Festival and first place in American String Teachers Association (ASTA) where she went up to the State round. She also won first prizes at Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition, ‘Salzburg’ Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition, and other local competitions. Minji participates in Chamber Music OC where she plays with her trio, and she is the current concertmaster for Sierra Vista Middle School Chamber Orchestra. She is the concertmaster for Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings, and got chosen as a member of the Pacific Symphony Santiago Quartet. Aside from dedicating her time playing violin, Minji likes to spend time with her family and friends, play the guitar, sing, read, and learn about history.

Juhan Lee (Tony) is 11 years old and has been studying trumpet since the age of eight. At the 2020 6th New York International Music Concours, he was awarded both first place and the grand prize. At the 2020 Manhattan International Music Competition, he again achieved first place, and won the Exceptional Young Talent Special Prize. He won first place at the 2021 New York Masters International Competition and was the 2021 Visiting Artist at Seoul International S&C Rising Star Concert in Seoul. He also participated in the ITG (International Trumpet Guild) conference in 2022 and was awarded a special award at the lowest age of the competition. In the summer of 2022, Tony was at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and played principal trumpet for the junior band. He also played principal trumpet for JCM (Junior Chamber Music) in Irvine, CA since 2021. Tony has been the principal trumpet for the San Diego Youth Symphony (SDYS) since 2022 and has recently played at the Carnegie Hall (New York) in December 2022. He has also won the Bellflower Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition and performed with the Bellflower Symphony Orchestra in April of 2023. His current mentor is Matthew Kim, an international trumpeter.

Charlotte Collins-Williams has the music in her. The 13-year-old award-winning vocalist and pianist comes from a long line of musicians. Her great grandmother was a music teacher and her great grandfather, a successful trumpet player and composer whose work infused the soundtracks of films produced by the Indian film industry.

Charlotte herself began formal singing lessons a mere four years ago at the age of nine, studying with European operatic leading lady, Kathleen Martin. Under Kathleen’s tutelage, Charlotte has received top honors in both classical and musical theatre performance. In addition to taking first place in the category of Prodigy Vocal in SoCalPhil’s 2022 Young Artist Competition (leading to the 2023 performance), Charlotte has placed at three NATS competitions, including Los Angeles and Cal-Western, and state-wide, at VO-CAL.

And although her love of music, evident even as an infant, may be fueled by the guiding influence of genetics, Charlotte remains proportionately dedicated to her academic studies, her coaching sessions with Vera Calábria and Bill Vendice, her OC GRIT teammates (with whom she trains and competes in cross country and track), her family, and last, but certainly not least, her Cockapoo, Harrison. The honor student with music in her DNA simply wouldn’t have it any other way.

Lucie, age 16, is an eleventh grader at the Orange County School of the Arts. Lucie began taking piano lessons at age six and currently studies with Ariel Yang at Opus 119 School of Music.
Lucie made her Carnegie Hall debut at age nine and has won top prizes at numerous international competitions. Lucie received First Prize at the San Jose International Piano Competition along with the “Most Promising Young Talent Award,” Gold Medal at the Southern California Junior Bach Complete Works Competition, and First Prize at the Steinway Junior Piano Competition. She is a two-time First Prize winner at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, where she received a special prize for the “Best Performance of Etude de Concert,” and a Silver Medalist at the quadrennial Virginia Waring International Junior Solo Competition. She has won First Prize at the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, First Prize at the LISMA International Music Competition, First Prize at the Four Notes International Competition, Gold Medal at the Piano Star International Competition, First Prize at the Bellagrande International Music Competition, First Prize at the Bay Area Piano Competition, and First Prize at the Orange County School of the Arts Concerto Competition, where she will perform with the OCSA Orchestra this spring. Most recently, she won First Prize in the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic Piano Concerto Competition, where she will perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall this summer.
At the age of 12, Lucie independently organized and performed in a full solo benefit concert for Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). Since then, she has been actively using her passion for music by attending and performing at fundraising events to support the hospital as a CHOC ambassador. In 2019, Lucie received a special Congressional Recognition Award for her philanthropic and artistic endeavors. She gave a TEDx Talk in 2021 titled “Music Begins with a New Breath,” where she discusses how breathing affects music performance, and can influence the quality, mood and level of audience engagement.
Lucie has performed in masterclasses with world-renowned artists including Stanislav Ioudenitch, William Grant Naboré, Dang Thai Son, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, George Li, Robert Shannon, Bernadene Blaha, Angela Cheng, Alvin Chow, Haewon Song, and Dmitry Rachmanov. An avid chamber musician, Lucie is a member of JCM (Junior Chamber Music) of Orange County and was chosen as a Debut Artist of the program. In her spare time, Lucie loves to play golf with her friends and family and is a member of the Southern California PGA Junior Player’s Tour.

Rubi Lee (16) is a 10th grader at Orange County School of Art. She started her violin when she was 8. Since then, she is very active musician. Rubi is the member of Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra, quartet, All-State Symphony Orchestra, Piano Trio at Junior Chamber Music and Christian Youth String Ensemble.

Rubi has received many prizes in numerous competitions. Awards include: SoCal Philharmonic Concerto Competition, Young artist winner (2022); American String Teacher’s Association, State winner (2022); OCSA concerto competition, Winner(2022); Concerto Competition of California Association of Professional Music Teachers, First Place(2022); American Protege International Concerto competition, First place(2021). She has appeared on NPR’s radio program From The Top show 413 in 2022.
Rubi performed 3 times at Carnegie Hall, and she will join the National Youth Orchestra – USA and tour North America this summer 2023. Beside Music, she loves to eat yummy food and enjoys running.

Esme, 17, made her solo orchestral debut at 10 with the Oistrakh Symphony and has since then continued to make solo performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Fairbanks Symphony, Sinfonia da Camera, Kishwaukee, MYA, Fox Valley, Chicago Arts, Ottawa Chamber, Lincolnwood Chamber, Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni and the Civic (of Chicago) orchestras as well as solo recitals at The Peninsula Music Festival, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 92Y New York, Musikferien am Starnberger See, Germany, and Palácio Foz, Portugal. She has also been featured several times on WFMT’s “Introductions” as well NPR’s “From the Top”. First place awards include Walgreens National, International Young Artist, Fox Valley, Sphinx, Enkor International, New York International Artist Association, Sejong, Confucius, DePaul Concerto Festival, Illinois MTNA Competition and most recently the ASTA, Arthur D. Montzka, Musicians Club of Women, Minnesota Orchestra’s and the Southern California Philharmonic concerto competitions. She has had Masterclasses with Hilary Hahn, Midori Goto, Julia Fischer, Ian Swensen, Vadim Gluzman, Kirill Troussov, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Paul Huang, Grigory Kalinovsky, Mihaela Martin and Ilya Kaler. She has upcoming concerto performances with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Southern California Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra and the Chicago Arts Orchestra. Esme is currently studying with Robert Lipsett. Previous teachers include Almita Vamos and Betty Haag-Kuhnke.”Esme is performing on a violin by Alfredo Contino 1920, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Chicago.

Grace is a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts in the Classical Voice Conservatory. One of the highlights of her senior year was going to Chicago for the 2022 CS Music Vocal Convention and Competition. Another core experience was being selected to sing a solo at the Musco Center of the Arts as a participant in the Chapman University Choral Camp 2022. Grace is also active in theater, playing roles such as Tessie in “Annie”, and Flounder in “The Little Mermaid”. She loves being in Leadership; hosting events for students at school as well as helping out in her community.

Elizabeth Solis, Soprano from Redlands, California currently resides in Long Beach, California where she attends the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, CSULB. The 21-year-old currently studies classical voice under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Sung and previously studied under the direction of Dr. Alexander Hahn, Director of Vocal Studies at CSULB. This year, Elizabeth was classically trained in Trossingen, Germany, as part of the CSU Summer Arts: Romantic Lied in Germany Program. She has been cast in works of The Redland’s Inland Opera, The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music Opera Program, and will soon appear as ‘Almirena’ in Handel’s ‘Rinaldo’ along with singing in the chorus of Bizet’s Carmen, both in partnership with Chicago Summer Opera. The Soprano plans to chase her artistic endeavors far past undergraduate studies, in hopes of an operatic future.

Viveka Saravanan is a sophomore in the Classical Voice Conservatory at the Orange County School of Arts (OCSA).  A soprano, she studies voice under the expertise of Kathleen Martin at the Voice Classics studio in Laguna Niguel and has won several competitions including the Mount Saint Mary’s University (MSMU) Competition for solo voice, MTAC VOCE and NATS Cal-Western. Viveka was recently a part of the production of Magic Flute at OCSA and is extremely passionate about performing on stage. She aims to attend a four-year university for classical voice and aspires to pursue a career in classical voice performance.

Mia Baron is a junior at Orange County School of the Arts, (OCSA), in the Classical Voice Conservatory where she participates in Opera Scenes, Chamber Singers and Bel Canto. She studies voice privately with Kathleen Martin, William Vendice, and Vera Calabria, and is indebted to all of them for their love and expert training. She would also like to acknowledge her amazing teachers and mentors at OCSA. Honors in 2021-2022 include 1st place Voce Southern Regional, Spotlight Semi-Finalist, OC Register Young Artist of the Year Semi-Finalist in Classical Voice, 3rd place NATS Cal Western in musical theater, 3rd place NATS-SEP classical, 1st place SoCal Philharmonic Young Artists, Completion of level 10 Certificate of Merit.

Grace Hahn is an 18-year-old Mezzo-Soprano and is finishing up her final year of High School. She has been performing since the age of six and has loved it ever since. Grace has been studying under the guidance of Kathleen Martin since her freshman year. Along with vocal competitions, she has participated in productions with LA Opera’s Summer Opera camps, 90012 Ambassador program, and Community engagement operas. Additionally, she performed in productions such as Oliver the Musical and The Little Princess in Laguna Playhouse’s Youth Theater.
Music has been a major part of Grace’s life. She is excited to have the “opera tunity” to share it with others who have a passion for the arts, whether that is alongside them onstage or performing for them.

Leila Woodward just turned 13 years old and is living life to the fullest. Leila’s second home has been the stage since she was five years old. She studies privately with acclaimed soprano Kathleen Martin and distinguished coaches Bill Vendice (diction) and Vera Calábria (acting). Leila also sings with the renowned Voices of Hope Children’s Choir under the direction of Sarah Grandpre. Leila performs in plays and community theater, and she was honored to play Matilda in Attic Community Theater’s 2019 production of Matilda. She has been studying piano for the past three years and enjoys performing in recitals and at local events.

In 2021, Leila began participating in vocal competitions. She placed first in classical voice and second in musical theater at NATS Los Angeles, third in classical voice at NATS Cal-Western Region, and first in musical theater at VoCal. In addition to vocal competitions, Leila co-wrote and co-directed a short film with one of her best friends and won first place in the Films for a Young Audience choice award at the 2020 MY HERO International Film Festival and won the grand prize for Artistic Elementary at the 2021 California Student Media Festival.

Outside of performing, Leila enjoys baking for her family and friends, swimming, jiu jitsu, reading and drawing. Leila is from Newport Beach and is a seventh grader at Orange County School of the Arts in the Classical Voice Conservatory.

Alisa Huang is currently eight years old and has been studying the piano for two and a half years. She has won numerous awards including the Golden Classical Music Award, from the Southwestern Youth Musical Festival (SYMF), and International New Star Piano Competition. Alisa made her solo concerto debut with the Vicente Chamber Orchestra in 2021 and was invited to perform in Carnegie Hall in New York as well as the Solitär Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Alisa currently studies under the tutelage of Ethan Dong at Opus119 School of Music and studied previously with Ana Maria Eckstein. Alisa participated in a Masterclass with pianist Alpin Hong, winner of “Concert Artist Guild” and a special lecture class on ‘Stylistics of Mozart’ with Maestro William Grant Nabore, director of International Piano Academy of Lake Como, Italy.

Alisa also plays the Cello and enjoys performing cello duets with her mother who is studying along with Alisa. One of her favorite weekend activities is organizing and participating in ‘Chamber music play dates’ with her friends. Aside from playing music, Alisa loves reading, drawing, and swimming. Her artwork has been selected for the “Young Masters Art Show” by the Assistance League of Irvine in California.

Zirang Shao is a third-year university student who has been playing the piano on and off since the age of five.

Zirang played his first recital at the age of 13 and has studied with Dr. Neil Galanter in Los Angeles for the past five years.

Zirang loves classical music and especially the music of Chopin and Beethoven. He hopes to compete further and play piano in more events.

Aaron Liu is 13 years old and has been studying the violin since the age of four. Currently, he is studying with Yuki Mori and Min Jung Park.  Under their guidance, he has won first prize in various competitions.  Apart from playing the violin, Aaron enjoys photography, filmmaking, and spending time with his family and cats.

Estella Sky Keyoung, age 13, is in eighth grade at Orange County School of the Arts. Since the age of four, Sky has performed in multiple musical and concert productions throughout Southern California. She fell in love with classical voice when she began studying voice with esteemed Ms. Kathleen Martin two years ago. Sky has won multiple classical and musical theatre vocal competitions, including Finalist in classical voice at the 2021 Hal Leonard National Vocal Competition, First Place in musical theatre at the 2021 National Association of Teachers of Singers’ Los Angeles Chapter, Second Place in musical theatre at 2021 National Association of Teachers of Singers’ Cal-Western Regional Conference, and Honorable Mention in musical theatre at 2020 National Association of Teachers of Singers’ Cal- Western Regional Conference.

In addition to singing, Sky has been studying the piano and violin since the age of five and has placed in several local music competitions over the years.

She was also a competitive dancer in jazz and tap. Currently, she performs in the Concert Chorus at Southern California Children’s Chorus and South Coast Repertory. FUN FACT: Sky is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and during her spare time, she enjoys Broadway tunes, hip-hop dance, calligraphy, video editing, reading dystopian novels, and analyzing Disney characters.

Malvyn Lai is a 15-year-old high school sophomore from San Diego who started piano at age 5 and currently studies with Professor Ning An. At age 10, he made his orchestral debut with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra in Russia. He has since performed with the Danube Symphony in Hungary, Toruń Symphony Orchestra in Poland, Culver City Symphony in California, Grossmont College Symphony in San Diego, Temecula Valley Symphony in California and Concert Festival Orchestra in NY. Malvyn has won many awards and scholarships; his recent competition accomplishments include the 2021 National Young Arts Foundation Finalist in Classical Music: Piano, first prize in 2021 Southern California Philharmonic Young Artist Competition, first prize in piano of the 2020 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the Milton H. Saier. Memorial Award as the winner of the 2020 La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition, 2020-2021 Chopin Foundation of United States Scholarship recipient, the winner of the 2020 California Music Center Spotlight Merit Award, the OC International Steinway & Sons Competition, the Lee Piano Festival Competition, and many other scholarships and competitions. FUN FACT: I enjoy watching chess playing, especially those matches played by chess masters. I found many resemblances between chess and piano playing. Both require a high level of mental and physical strength and coordination.

Lyndsey Lipscomb is 15 years old from Orange County, California. As a member of Pacific Symphony Santiago Strings for four years, she has regularly performed at Segerstrom Concert Hall and many other venues including in Costa Rica during their international concert tour. She has also enjoyed performing solos for local senior facilities and a daycare where she has volunteered for many years.

Upon completing an Advanced Level of Certificate of Merit Program, she won the Panel Finals Award by Music Teachers’ Association of California and was selected to perform a masterclass at its State Convention. She was the winner of Southwestern Youth Music Festival and Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition and will perform at Royal Albert Hall in London in 2022.