NEP Young Artist Competition Winners
Ayaan Ahmad | 2022 Young Artist Competition Winner
Jean Sibelius, Violin Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Mvt. 1
Ayaan Ahmad is a 16-year-old Bangladeshi-American violinist from Sharon, Massachusetts. He began studying the violin at the age of four with Daniela Rubenstein. and continued his studies with Jan Mark Sloman of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Ryan Meehan of the Calidore String Quartet. In 2015, Ayaan won 1st Prize at MMTA’s Bay State Competition. In November of 2020, he won 3rd prize in the senior division of the 2020 Sejong Virtual Music Competition, and the award for best interpretation of Korean music. In November of 2021 Ayaan won the 2nd prize in the same competition. In 2022, Ayaan won the Ehlers Young Artist Concerto Competition and made his orchestral debut at the age of 15 with the Concord Orchestra, playing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto. Outside of playing the violin, Ayaan enjoys playing the guitar, ultimate frisbee, and is passionate about math and history.
Olivia Lee | 2022 Young Artist Competition Winner
Claude Debussy, Danses Sacrée et Profane
Olivia Sunim Lee, age 16, is from Boston, Massachusetts and has studied the harp for eight years with Krysten Keches. She won first prize in the American Harp Society’s National Competition (Junior Division) in 2019 and second prize at the Young Artist’s Harp Seminar Competition (Preparatory Division) in 2018. She is also a first prize winner of the 2022 Charleston International Music Competition (18th Century Music division). In 2020, Olivia performed solo on National Public Radio’s “From The Top” at Jordan Hall. An avid orchestral musician, Olivia performs as the principal harpist with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and plays with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Olivia is currently a sophomore at Buckingham Brown & Nichols School.
Ella J. Kim | 2021 Young Artist Competition Winner
Camille Saint-Saëns, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor
Ella J. Kim, age 16, is excited and honored to perform as soloist with the New England Philharmonic as the winner of the NEP 2021 Young Artist Competition. Ella began learning the violin at age five, quickly developing a love for music. She has won top prizes in numerous competitions, most recently having been selected as Grand Prize Winner of the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition, leading to a solo performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall. Ella also won top prizes at the American Protégé International Concerto Competition (Judge’s Top Prize and First Prize), leading to a solo performance at Carnegie Hall; Rivers Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, resulting in a solo performance with the Philharmonia Orchestra; Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition, for which she was invited as soloist with the orchestra; and the Roman Totenberg Young Strings State Competition. She has also received the Rivers Conservatory String Department Prize, and she has been selected as one of the top violinists in the nation to perform for the All-National Honors Orchestra.
Ella has served as concertmaster of the Weston High School orchestras, Boston Youth Symphony senior orchestra, Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Eastern Junior and Senior District Orchestras, and the MMEA All-State Orchestra. She enjoys giving back to her community as a musical volunteer for Continuo Boston, Weston elementary schools, Weston Brook Apartments, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital. At the start of the pandemic, Ella organized her fellow student musicians in a virtual fundraising concert to benefit families in need. She is a former student of Magdalena Richter and she currently studies with Peter Zazofsky. Ella, an eleventh grader at Weston High School, enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as playing tennis.
Fionn O’Connor | 2019 Young Artist Competition Winner
Edward Elgar, Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85, 4th mvt.
Fionn O’Connor is 17 years old and currently a Senior at Newton South High School in Newton, MA.
Fionn began playing cello at the age of five. He currently studies with Eugene Kim at the New England Conservatory Prep. Previous teachers include Ashima Scripp and Deborah Thomson. During the summer of 2019, Fionn studied under Steven Doane and Paul Katz at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
Fionn has served as principal cellist in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and as a member of the Massachusetts All-State and Northeastern district orchestras. He currently plays with the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Luke Henderson | 2018 Young Artist Competition Winner
Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64, 1st mvt.
Luke Henderson, age 15, lives in Andover, Massachusetts, and began playing violin at the age of 3. His teachers are Mr. Paul Biss of the New England Conservatory and Ms. Annie Rabbat of A Far Cry and concertmaster of the Boston Lyric Opera. Luke made his solo debut as Laurette of the Samuel Fordis Young Artist Competition with the Georgia Philharmonic in 2015 at age 12, performing Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto. He attends school at Phillips Academy in Andover, where he participates in the Phillips Academy Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and is an active chamber musician. A first violinist in the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Luke went on tour this summer with BPYO to stages in Berlin, Salzburg, Budapest, Pecs, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Jihlava. Luke is a member of the Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. In 2017, Luke was the winner of the Elfrida Halbig Memorial Award for the most beautiful and best presented performance at the North Carolina Bach Festival. He was a winner in the 2015 and 2016 American Fine Arts Festival’s Golden Strings Competitions, and has performed in recital at Carnegie Hall twice. Luke attends several intensive music festivals and camps each summer, including the Meadowmount School of Music in New York.
Keila Wakao | 2017 Young Artist Competition Winner
Pablo de Sarasate, “Zigeunerweisen” (Gypsy Airs), Op. 20
Keila Wakao, 11, of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts began studying the violin at the age of three and developed rapidly, catching the eye and the ear of the late Mr. Joseph Silverstein who accepted Keila as a student at the age of six. She currently studies with Donald Weilerstein, Soovin Kim, Anait Arutunian and Keisuke Wakao.
Despite her young age, Keila has proven herself as a serious and competitive violinist. At the age of seven, she won the Forte International Music Competition in New York, followed by a 1st place win at the 8th Yokohama International Music Competition in Japan. Other recent accolades include: winner of Waltham Symphony Orchestra Young Artist String Competition and winner of the New England Conservatory Prep Concerto Competition.
Keila has performed with the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra, the Waltham Symphony Orchestra, the Ogaki Chamber Orchestra in Japan and performed as a soloist with the NEC Junior Repertoire Orchestra in Boston’s Jordan Hall. Keila was also selected to participate in Julia Fischer‘s violin master class and played at the final concert in Tutzing, Germany.
This year she was invited to perform and to speak at TEDx BeaconStreet which will be held in November, 2017.
In her spare time, Keila enjoys reading, drawing, fashion design, and studying the Japanese language.
Khoi Le | 2016 Young Artist Competition Winner
Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22
The New England Philharmonic, under the direction of Richard Pittman, has announced the winner of their 22nd Young Artist Competition, 13-year-old Lexington native and pianist Khoi Le. “Khoi impressed us with his very mature phrasing of the music, for his over-arching concept of the movement, and for his very clear, firm tone on the piano. He’s a compelling soloist,” said NEP Music Director Richard Pittman, who presided over the competition.
Le has been invited to perform the first movement of Camille Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor at NEP’s annual Family Concert on December 11 at 3 p.m. at the Tsai Performance Center.
Le’s musical journey began at the age of five when his parents introduced him to the piano. It was love at first sight. His immediate connection with piano and his early successes have been encouraged by his parents and teachers. At the young age of 13, he has already taken first prize at the San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, and he is a recipient of the Nafisa Taghioff Award in the Fremont Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition. He has performed in the Berkeley Junior Bach Festival in California as well as with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra.
While the piano is his main instrument, Le enjoys playing the violin, cello, bassoon and percussion and currently serves as the percussionist at the William Diamond Middle School band and orchestra, Tufts Youth Philharmonic and the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra. He also enjoys composing music and is taking music theory and composition seminars at the New England Conservatory of Music.
COMPETITION RUNNER-UPS:
1st Runner-up: Joe MacDonald, violin
2nd Runner-up: Hayden Idson, cello
Amir Siraj | 2015 Young Artist Competition Winner
Franz Liszt, Piano Concerto No. 1
The New England Philharmonic (NEP) has named 15 year-old pianist Amir Siraj from Brookline, Massachusetts winner of their 21st Annual Young Artist Competition. Siraj performed Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the NEP under the direction of Richard Pittman, at their annual family concert Musical Characters on December 13 at 3 p.m. at the Tsai Performance Center. The concert also featured Rob Kapilow’s Elijah’s Angel featuring David Kravitz and Dana Whiteside, baritones and the Boston City Singers as well as John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby, and George Atheil’s Tom Sawyer Overture.
Amir Siraj began piano lessons at the age of four. Hailed by TheaterJones as a “gentle” yet “passionate” interpreter, he has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall and Symphony Hall.
A top prize winner at local, national, and international competitions, he has been invited to perform by organizations including The Cliburn, the American Liszt Society, the Harvard Musical Association, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He has performed many world premieres including chamber works by Stephen Feigenbaum and solo works by Larry Bell, in addition to US premieres of Lera Auerbach. He has studied under the likes of Peter Serkin, Douglas Humphreys, Hung-Kuan Chen, and Bruce Brubaker. Amir is a student of Helena Vesterman, and also attends the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. He is currently a junior at Brookline High School. Other activities Amir devotes time to include rowing, choir, his mobile payments startup, and his high school’s Innovation Club, which he founded.
Austin Kwoun | 2014 Young Artist Competition Winner
Dmitri Shostakovich, Violin Concerto No. 1
The New England Philharmonic has named 14-year-old violinist Austin Kwoun from Belmont, Massachusetts, winner of their 20th Annual Young Artist Competition. Kwoun performed the Cadenza and Burlesque of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Opus 77 with the NEP, under the direction of Richard Pittman, at their annual family concert “All Aboard” on December 14th. The concert also featured the Boston premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s Night Train to Perugia; Rob Kapilow Chris van Allsburg’s Polar Express, featuring David Kravitz, baritone and Newton Public Schools’ All City Treble Singers; Arthur Honegger’s Pacific 231 and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ Little Train of Caipira & Toccata from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2.
Austin Kwoun began his musical studies on the violin at the age of eight under the tutelage of Ms. Jin Kyung Joen at the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School in Boston. Kwoun, now fourteen, is a member of the NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, a core member of the Boston Youth Music Charity Group, and performs in various local venues to raise money for UNICEF and Cradles to Crayons. As a young musician, Austin has garnered numerous awards and accolades, including: the 2013 Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra’s Director’s Choice Award at the Jeanne Selander Concerto Competition, first place at the 2013 Ellen Huff Powers Young Artist Competition, and first place at the 2013 Roman Totenberg Young Musician String Competition. Earlier this year he placed second at the American Protégé International Romantic Music Competition and performed at Carnegie Hall. He also attended the Foulger International Music Festival, where he was chosen to participate in a master class with Joseph Lin of the Julliard String Quartet and to perform at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Austin is currently a ninth grader at the Belmont Hill School. He is a passionate baseball player and fan, and follows every move of the Boston Red Sox. He is also an avid reader and writer, and enjoys squash and golf in his free time.
Sammy Andonian | 2013 Young Artist Competition Winner
Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E minor
Ilana Zaks | 2012 Young Artist Competition Winner
Pablo de Sarasate, Carmen Fantasy
Zlatomir Fung | 2011 Young Artist Competition Winner
Franz Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto in D Major
Mackenzie Melemed | 2010 Young Artist Competition Winner
Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 1
Jaclyn Freshman | 2009 Young Artist Competition Winner
Maurice Ravel, Tzigane, Rapsodie de Concert
Bobby Chen | 2008 Young Artist Competition Winner
Dmitri Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat
Daisy Joo | 2007 Young Artist Competition Winner
Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major
Julia Noone | 2006 Young Artist Competition Winner
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Violin Concerto
Jung Eun Yoon | 2005 Young Artist Competition Winner
Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 3
Larry Weng | 2004 Young Artist Competition Winner
Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G Major
Jacqueline Choi | 2003 Young Artist Competition Winner
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Variations on a Rococo Theme
Luis F. Ortiz | 2002 Young Artist Competition Winner
Frederic Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor
Lisa Rah | 2001 Young Artist Competition Winner
Franz Listz, Totentanz
Bronika Kushkuley | 2000 Young Artist Competition Winner
J. S. Bach, Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052
Young Artist Competition winner bios are up to date as of the year they performed with the NEP.