JUNIOR DIVISION		listen
2009 Grand Prize:	Alex Chien, piano	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Mozart: Sonata in D KV 567: Allegretto
2008 Grand Prize:	Stephen Waarts, violin	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op 37; Henri Vieuxtemps; 1st movement: Allegro non troppo (including Cadenza)
2008 Instumental Prize:	Clark Pang, cello	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Bach Unaccompanied Suite #2 in d minor, BMV 1008; Prelude
2007 Instumental Prize:	Stephen Kim, violin	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.

SENIOR DIVISION		listen
2009 Grand Prize:	Kevin Sun, piano	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Bach: Partita #2 in C minor I. Sinfonia
2009 Instumental Prize:	Evin Blomberg, violin	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Tartini: Sonata in G minor "Devil's Trill" Allegro Assai
2008 Vocal Prize:	Nicole Raynor, soprano	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.
	Dearest Mama (Ballad of Baby Doe): Douglas Moore
2007 Grand Prize:	Kenric Tam, piano	This text will be replaced by the flash music player.

Alex Chien, age 10, started taking piano lessons when he was four years old. He has performed in many musical events, including the Junior Bach Festival, the Steinway Society Young Artists Concert, Listening Hours at San Jose State University, Pacific Music Society Christmas Gala, Beshoff Mercedes-Benz Concert and the Piano Fantasia Concert honoring Robert and Margaret Mondavi at Pacific Union Colleage. In 2008, he won the first place award and the “Most Promising Young Talent” special award in the 9th International Russian Piano Competition in the Young Musician category, the first place award in 2008 MTAC Piano Concerto Competition (Division I), the Menuhin-Dowling Young Musicians Award, the James Denver Gary Piano Award in Pacific Music Society Annual Competition and the Nafisa Taghioff Prize in the Fremont Symphony's Young Artist Competition.  Alex was also the first place award winner at the 2008 U.S. Open Music Competition in the piano concerto and solo categories, and he was selected as the Gold of Golden Medalists in the Gold Medalist Showcase Recitals. Last year, Alex performed in master classes by Lang Lang, Jon Nakamatsu, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Ruth Slenczynska and Pascal Nemirovski.  Alex attends the Harker School in San Jose. In addition to music, he loves writing and computers.

Fifteen-year-old Kevin Sun is a tenth grade student of Mira Loma High School in Sacramento. He is currently studying piano under Dr. Lorna Peters. He started piano at age five, first with Ms. Sylvia Hsieh and later with Ms. Tien Hsieh. From the age of eight, Kevin has competed annually in competitions, beginning with the U.S. Open Music Competition held in Oakland, where he won twelve gold medals in the course of five consecutive years. He went on to compete in several state competitions, winning the 2004 CAPMT Bartók and Contemporary Music Piano Competition, the 2006 MTAC State Piano Solo Competition, and the 2007 Second Annual Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition (Junior Division). Most recently, he won the University of the Pacific’s 2009 Henry & Carol Zeiter Piano Competition. He has also spent time performing, with his first recital at age eight. Kevin has aimed to benefit the community with his piano playing; thus, he has performed a public concert at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sacramento, a Sierra College music department benefit concert in Rocklin, and a concert in Nevada City to raise scholarship funds for the Gold Country Piano Institute. He also participates in the “Lifting Spirits with Music” program, which regularly gives student recitals in Sacramento senior residences, cancer centers, and children’s hospitals. His piano events have led him to be interviewed on Sacramento’s KXJZ: Insight and featured in the Sacramento Bee.

Evin Blomberg, age 14, began her music studies when she was about two and a half years old. Previously, Evin was a member of the El Camino Youth Symphony, and has performed with ECYS as a soloist five times since the age of seven. In 2004, she was chosen as a winner to perform for the East Mountains Artists Series in New Mexico. She also participated in the ECYS Senior Symphony performance tour of Central Europe the summer of 2005. In the 2007-2008 season, Evin was awarded Grand Prize for the Middle School Division at the Korea Times Youth Music Competition, as well as Overall Grand Prize at the Silicon Valley Korean-American Alliance Youth Music Competition. In addition, she won the 2008 Menuhin-Dowling Young Artists Competition in her category, and performed at the winners’ recital. Evin also performed as a soloist for the 2008 Junior Bach Festival. In May 2008, she was chosen as a winner to perform for the American Fine Arts Festival at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) in New York. Evin has also performed in recitals and concerts held by the Steinway Society, including the “Young Music AllStars” recital, and the 2008-2009 Young Artists Concert. Currently, Evin is a student of Davis Law at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (Preparatory Division), and also works with Alexander Barantschik, Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony. Along with performing as a soloist, Evin enjoys playing violin duets with her sister, Yale.

STEPHEN WAARTS
Stephen Waarts, age 11, studies violin with Li Lin of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Recent awards include first place in the 2008 Young Artist Competition of Diablo Symphony Orchestra,  winner of the Taghioff Prize, the 2007 Fremont Symphony Young Artist Competition,  and the 2007 Menuhin - Dowling Young Musicians' String Competition.

Stephen was selected to perform in the 2007 Junior Bach Festival and the  Music at Menlo 2006 and 2007 Summer Institutes, where he performed in various ensembles. In 2004 he participated in Soesterberg International Music Festival in the Netherlands and was chosen to play in the Festival Showcase recital. In his free time Stephen likes reading, math, gymnastics, biking, drawing and playing with his twin brother and his younger sister.

CLARK PANG
Clark Pang, age 12, made his Carnegie Hall debut at age 10, televised on PBS nationwide. As state representative for MTNA's national divisionals, he performs in New Mexico and will tour Ukraine performing as soloist with orchestra and recitals as first place winner of Individualis International Competition. Clark appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and will perform Elgar Concerto as soloist with Oakland East Bay Symphony Fall 2008 as winner of their Young Artist Competition. Clark is a student of Jonathan Koh at San Francisco Conservatory, Prep Division and a 7th grader at Orinda Intermediate School.

NICOLE RAYNOR
Nicole Raynor, age 16, is a student in the Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley, where she studies with David Tigner. She has performed at the White House as a recipient of the 2007 Coming Up Taller Awards, and was a first place winner of the National Association of Negro Musicians in 2007 as well as the 2007 Junior Bach Festival. She plans to attend a music conservatory upon graduation. Nicole is in the 9th grade at the Maybeck School.

Stephen Kim, age 11, began his violin studies at the age of 3. He currently studies with Bettina Mussumeli at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Stephen made his debut last year as the winner of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, and in May 2006 became the youngest winner of the San Francisco chapter of the American String Teachers Association competition. Stephen has performed in numerous recitals at the San Francisco Conservatory, the Legion of Honor, the Pacific Musical Society, Stanford University and Santa Clara University.  He volunteers to perform for many community-service organizations including the Stanford University Hospital, the Veterans hospital, senior center, and elementary schools. Stephen is a 6th grade student at Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino.

Kenric Tam, age 16, made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Concert Hall last April as the 1st prize winner of the 2006 Kaper Awards. Recently, he was named the 1st prize winner of the “Individualis” International Competition in Ukraine, and in summer 2006 he was awarded the 2nd prize at the Eastman International Piano Competition in Rochester New York. He will be the featured soloist on the San Jose Youth Symphony’s Eastern European tour in 2007. Kenric has won numerous state and regional competitions; as 1st prize winner of the 2005 Palatino Solo Piano Competition, he was presented with a grand piano. Kenric is a junior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto and studies piano with Hans Boepple.