Student Accomplishments, March 2020

Violinist Madeleine Vaillaincourt

Conservatory alumna Madeleine Vaillancourt (PSC ’19) won second violin position with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany.

The Colburn Jazz Workshop’s Big Band and Thursday Night Band are both finalists for the 2020 Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival.

Conservatory bassoonist Elena Mateo Sáez (BM) won the Grand Prize in the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition.

Conservatory alumna Madeleine Vaillancourt (PSC ’19) won second violin position with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany.

Music Academy violinist Ronnie Zhang won the 2019 Parness Concerto Competition and will play with the Culver City Symphony in their 2020–21 season.

Community School cellist Omeed Almassi has been selected from applicants across America as a member of the national Honor Orchestra of America.

Conservatory violinist Dallas Noble was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2019 Parness Concerto Competition.

Daniel Bae, a Music Academy violinist, played Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

The Calidore String Quartet (AD ’14) have announced their debut at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as part of their 2020-2021 season in March 2021.

Esther Chae, a Music Academy cellist, won second place in the Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition.

Conservatory violinist Charlotte Marckx (PD) won first place in the Burbank Philharmonic Hennings-Fisher Young Artists Competition.

Community School cellist Amy Jong won the Diamond Bar High School Concerto Competition and will perform the first movement of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.

Community School violinists Sarah Liu, Gabriel Tsai, and Isabella Yuan all won first place in MTAC San Fernando Valley West branch VOCE Competition, and will advance to state finals.

Music Academy violinist Anais Feller soloed with the Plano Symphony Orchestra at their annual outreach program.

Community School violinist Avery Tracy was a winner of Santa Clarita Philharmonic’s sixth Annual Concerto Competition in January 2020. She will perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto on May 16 with the Santa Clarita Philharmonic.

Music Academy flutist Annie Li won first place in the Florida Flute Association Competition.

Community School oboist Mirae Lee was chosen as a first place winner of the 2020 American Protégé International Concerto Competition.

Community School pianist and guitarist Dylan Iskandar is one of the Grand Prize winners for the 2019–20 Google Code-in global competition. More than 3,500 students worldwide took part in this open-source software development competition.

Chi Ting (BM), a Conservatory flutist, was awarded second place in the Woodwind Division of the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition.

Community School chamber trio of Holly Lacey, Mira Kardan, and Caden Lin won first prize at the regional level in the junior division of VOCE, a prestigious competition for vocalists, strings, winds/brass, and chamber music at the Branch and State levels of the Music Teacher’s Associate of California. They will be moving onto state finals in April.

Derek Tywoniuk (MM ’15) will join the orchestra of The Industry’s latest experimental opera, Sweet Land through March 15.

Community School pianist Ryan Chun won second place in the Tenth Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Competition, Division III (for ages 18 and under). He also was a medal winner in the Southern California Junior Bach Festival (Orange County West).

Community School cellist Nathaniel Yue won first place at Bellfower Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition.

Claire Brazeau (AD ’14) recently served as judge and teacher at the Festival Universitario de Oboe in Mexico City.

Community School clarinetist Joshua Cho received a spot in both the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association All State Band and the California Band Directors Association All State Band.

Community School cellist Ryan Yang won second prize at fifth annual Enkor International Competition.

Community School violinist Jeannie Kim was selected for the Honors String Orchestra for Carnegie Hall’s Honors Performance Series.

Feng Bian (AD ’13) secured funding through Indiegogo for a documentary film featuring his improvisation duo, Derive.

Community School composer Apsara Kasiraman has been accepted to the Young Artist Conducting Seminar at Boston University Tanglewood Institute.

Marlon Martinez (MM ’15) and his big band, the Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, will perform at the Blue Whale in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 11. Martinez will be joined by vibraphonist Jake Chapman (Community School ’12).

Community School cellists Will Robles and Eiline Tai participated in the Young Artist Workshop as part of the 2020 Piatigorsky International Cello Festival.