Honors Program Winners - pianoteacherscongress.org

PRIZEWINNERS 2025

Program and Repertoire - 2023

Pieces to be performed are selected by the judges. Rulings by judges cannot be contested.

Group I

First Prize: Opal Garg
Student of Joan Forsyth

Second Prize: Francesca Asmar
Student of Tomoko Uchino

Third Prize: Julian Magnus
Student of Eileen Buck

Honorable Mention: Claire Benson
Student of Marko Stuparevic

Group II

First Prize: Elena Wang
Student of Carmel Lowenthal

Second Prize: Hannah Chandarlapaty

Student of Eileen Buck

Third Prize: Alexander Jovanovic

Student of Irina Nuzova

Honorable Mentions: Jeremy Bird and Surui Fang

Students of Ingrid Clarfield and Snow Wilson

Group III

First Prize: Nolan Granros

Student of Eileen Buck

Second Prize: Chloe Tseng

Student of Eileen Buck

Third Prize: Sophia Fulton

Student of Golda Tatz

Honorable Mentions: Dennis Ji and Leo Sommerheil

Students of Ingrid Clarfield and Tatjana Rankovich

Group IV

First Prize: Sergey Yanovsky

Student of Svitlana Fiorito

Second Prize: Jason Zielinski

Student of Renee Guerrero

Third Prize: Sebastian Utomo

Student of Svitlana Fiorito

Honorable Mention: Somerset Seidenberg

Student of Golda Tatz

Regina Rubinoff 20th/21st Century American Composer Award: Natalie Guard
Student of Enriqueta Somarriba

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award: Hannah Chandarlapaty
Student of Eileen Buck

Dina Koston Women Composers Award: Opal Garg

Student of Joan Forsyth

PAST PRIZEWINNERS

Pieces to be performed are selected by the judges. Rulings by judges cannot be contested.

PRIZEWINNERS 2024

Group I

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
J.S. Bach: Invention No. 4 in D Minor, BWV 775
Maya Nedelchev, student of Claudia Knafo

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelle in E-flat Major, Op. 33, No. 1
Alex Shih, student of Ingrid Clarfield

Third Prize – Lester B. Major Award
Frédéric Chopin: Waltz Op. 69, No. 1
Mila Bax, student of Eileen Buck

Honorable Mentions
J.S. Bach: Praeludium BWV 999
Aahaan Banerjee Das, student of Pedro Zenteno

Group II

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
G.F. Handel: IV: Air and Variations from Suite No. 5 in E Major, HWV 430, The Harmonious Blacksmith
Elizabeth Levine, student of Yukimi Song

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1 I. Allegro molto e con brio
Serina Kobayashi, student of Santiago Lomelin

Third Prize – Adele Velo Award
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Étude-tableau Op. 33, No. 8 in G minor
Lillian Ji, student of Ingrid Clarfield

Honorable Mentions
J.S. Bach Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971, I. Allegro
Isaiah Shin, student of Adrienne Kim

Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Surui Fang, student of Snow Wilson

Valerie Capers: Portraits in Jazz: Canción de La Habana, Bossa Brazilia
Anna Sophia Hyczko, student of Enriqueta Somarriba

Group III

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water
Zachary Chang, student of Snow Wilson

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Maurice Ravel: Sonatine III. Anime
Tony Bello, student of Ingrid Clarfield

Third Prize – Vera Wills Award
F. Chopin: Grande Valse Brillante in E-flat major, Op. 18
Sophia Fulton, student of Golda Tatz

Honorable Mention
F. Chopin: Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
Christopher Ramos, student of Carmel Lowenthal

Liszt: Concert Etude No. 2, S. 144 La Leggierezza
Nolan Granros, student of Eileen Buck

Brahms: Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 79, No. 1
Raphael Sutiono, student of Elena Belli

PRIZEWINNERS 2023

Group I

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Kevin Li
Student of Golda Tatz

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Sylvia Hwan
Student of Eugenia Betman

Third Prize – Lester B. Major Award
Scarlett Zhang
Student of Margarita Rovenskaya

Honorable Mentions
Surui Fang
Student of Snow Wilson

Group II

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Lauren Kang
Student of Lora Tchekoratova

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Averie Wu
Student of Ingrid Clarfield

Third Prize – Adele Velo Award
Elizabeth Levine
Student of Yukimi Song

Honorable Mentions
Alice Maria Sorochan
Student of Golda Tatz

Group III

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Kayla Kaushansky
Student of Rimma Agami

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Christopher Ramos
Student of Carmel Lowenthal

Third Prize – Vera Wills Award
Owen Smith
Student of Golda Tatz

Honorable Mention
Teddy Liu
Student of Marina Obukovsky

Hannah Zou
Student of Ingrid Clarfield

Zachary Chang
Student of Snow Wilson

Group IV

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Avery Cotton
Student of Svitlana Fiorito

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Benjamin Wien
Student of Julian Martin

Third Prize – Beverly Shea Award
Evan Lin
Student of Ingrid Clarfield

Honorable Mention
Ziyang Nancy Wang
Student of Golda Tatz

Arthur You
Student of Li-Chen Hwang

Kevin Jin
Student of Gloria Chu

Regina Rubinoff Living Composer Award
Sylvia Hwan
Student of Eugenia Betman

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Benjamin Wien
Student of Julian Martin

20th/21st American Prize
Hannah Zou
Student of Ingrid Clarfield

Group IV

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Chopin: Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39
Effie Li, student of Ingrid Clarfield

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Dmitri Kabalevsky: Rondo, Op. 59
Sarah Li, student of Tomoko Harada

Third Prize – Beverly Shea Award
R. Schumann: Schumann Faschingsshwank Aus Wien Op. 26, Allegro
Jordan Manasse, student of Marina Obukovsky

Honorable Mention
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2
Whitney Lin, student of Golda Tatz

D. Scarlatti: Sonata in D minor, K. 1
Vivi Zeng, student of Esma Pasic-Filipovic

Balakirev: Islamey, Op. 18
Yun-Hsuan Chiang, student of Hung-Kuan Chen

Regina Rubinoff Living Composer Award
Anna Hyczko

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Elizabeth Levine

20th/21st American Prize
Zachary Chang

PRIZEWINNERS 2022

Group I

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Lilian Ji

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Elizabeth Levine

Third Prize – Lester B. Major Award
Not Awarded

Honorable Mentions
Hannah Zheng
Liam Zalben

Regina Rubinoff Living Composer Award
Karuna Aikawa

Group II

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Maggie Miao

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Isabella Tse

Third Prize – Adele Velo Award
Averie Wu

Honorable Mentions
Eric Feng
Olivia Hu

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Not Awarded

Group III

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Daniel Haiduc

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Kayla Kaushansky

Third Prize – Vera Wills Award
Caleb Sharkey

Honorable Mention
Benjamin Wien
Katharine Luo

Regina Rubinoff 20th/21st-Century American Composer Award
Serena Li

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Caleb Sharkey

Group IV

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Alyssa Xu

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
(in honor of Gloria Hieger and Lillian MacManus)
Arthur You

Third Prize – Beverly Shea Award
Nupur Ballal

Honorable Mention
Not Awarded

PRIZEWINNERS 2020

Group I

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Brooklyn Kim
student of Isabel Keleti

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
Nolan Granros
student of Eileen Buck

Third Prize – Lester B. Major Award
Not Awarded

Regina Rubinoff Living Composer Award
Lauren Kang
student of Walter Aparicio

Group II

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Sarah Chen
student of Ingrid Clarfield

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
Eric Feng
student of Gloria Chu

Third Prize – Adele Velo Award
Taksh Gupta
student of Ingrid Clarfield

Honorable Mentions
Max Slonim
student of Genia Betman

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Eric Feng
student of Gloria Chu

Group III

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Ben Wien
student of Marija Ilic

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
Amber Wang
student of Ingrid Clarfield

Third Prize – Vera Wills Award
Alyssa Xu
student of Ingrid Clarfield

Honorable Mention
Kevin Jin
student of Gloria Chu

Regina Rubinoff 20th/21st-Century American Composer Award
Amber Wang
student of Ingrid Clarfield

Dorothy and Sidney Morrow Baroque Composition Award
Sarah Ouyang
student of Gloria Chu

Group IV

First Prize – Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs Award
Vincent Jiang
student of Gloria Chu

Second Prize – Pauline Styler Award
Ava Turner
student of Edith Sullivan

Third Prize – Beverly Shea Award
Albert Zhou
student of Wayne Weng

Honorable Mention
Jennifer Liu
student of Ingrid Clarfield