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YPCNJ and CJSO Present the Winners of "Le Petit Orchestre" Competition

2014 Winners of the “Le Petit Orchestre” Division (YPCNJ) will appear as soloists with the Central Jersey Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Avagliano on June 20, 2014 at 7:00 PM at the Nash Theater, Raritan Valley Community College.  This is an annual event for the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey, but this marks the first collaboration with the Central Jersey Symphony Orchestra, currently in residence at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC).  Anthony Strong, Associate Professor and Music Coordinator at RVCC, and Chairman of YPCNJ’s Board of Directors will host this unique event.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Joey Huang (8 years old) has been studying the piano since the age of five.  Joey’s competition awards include:  First Place in the 2011 & 2012 Mid Atlantic Music Teachers Guild’s Spring Festival, YPCNJ’s 2014 Ensemble Division, 2014 Two-Time Best Performance Award from YPCNJ’s Workshop Recital, the 2014 New Jersey Music Teachers Association High Honors Award, and the 2014 YPCNJ’s Solo Division.  Joey performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York City. Joey was born in 2005 in Somerset NJ and currently resides in Bridgewater, NJ.  He is studying the piano with Ms. Lana Ivanov

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Evan Lu (8 years old) has been studying the piano since the age of five.  Evan has been a First Place Winner at the 2013 YPCNJ ‘s Solo Division and a Third Place Winner of the 2012 Little Mozarts Competition (sponsored by the Crescendo International Competitions).  He was also a finalist in Young Artist Competition (sponsored by the World Piano Competition) in Cincinnati, OH.  Most recently, Evan was once again a winner of the 2014 YPCNJ’s Solo Division.  Evan has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Born in Boston, MA, Evan is a third grade student at the Arrowhead Elementary School in Collegeville, PA.  He is studying piano with Ms. Ieva Carucci.

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Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Amanda Noh (9 years old) began to study the violin at the age of seven.  Amanda also began playing the piano at the age of five and studies with Yuri Kim from the Mannes College.  Amanda won the First Prize in Piano and the Second Prize in Violin at the 2013 Little Mozart Crescendo Competition.   She has performed on the piano and the violin at the Manhattan School of Music, Hunter College, the Mannes College, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, WMP Recital Hall, and Steinway Hall.  Amanda currently resides in New York City and attends the Brearley School in Manhattan, where she also plays the violin in the school’s orchestra.  Amanda studies the violin with Elizabeth Faidley from the Manhattan School of Music.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Mia Oehm (7 years old) began violin lessons one and a half years ago in London. Mia is a First Prizewinner of the 2013-2014 Crescendo Competition and she has performed at the Manhattan School of Music, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and St. Peter's Church in New York City.  She currently resides in New York City and atends the Japanese Children’s Society School.  Mia studies violin with Elizabeth Faidley.

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Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Sarah Ouyang (9 years old) has been studying piano for four years.  She participated in numerous competitions and has been a winner at the Talented Young Musician Association’s Russian Music Festival Competition (2011-2012), the MAMTG Spring Festival (2011), the Crescendo Music Competition (1st Place Winner 2011), Cecilian Music Club’s Young Artist Competition (2011), the New Jersey Music Teacher’s Association Spring Piano Festival (2012-2014), Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey’s Le Petit Orchestre Competition (2013), Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey’s Young Artist Competition (2013), New Jersey Music Teacher’s Association’s Young Musicians Competition (2013), and Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey’s Ensemble Division Competition (2014).  Sarah has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (2011 and 2013), Steinway Hall, NYC (2014), Kirkpatrick Chapel at Rutgers University (2013), and Bart Luedeke Arts Center at Rider University (2014), NJ.  In the summer of 2013, Sarah won Third Place in the International Solo Competition, Junior Division, at the Musica in Laguna Festival in Chioggia (VE), Italy, and performed with the Orchestra Sinfornica del Festival di Chioggia, under the direction of Pietro Perini.  Currently, Sarah resides in Basking Ridge, NJ and studying the piano with Ms. Yelena Ivanov.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Jon Reed (10 years old) began to study the violin at the age of six.  Jon’s recognitions include Honorable Mention in National Young Maestro Competition and  “Silver” recognition in a Prima Artist Competition.  In 2014, he received the Second Place in both Rondo Young Artist Festival and Olympic Challenge Competition.  He has also performed as a member of the Manhattan String Orchestra in New York City.   Jon resides in Tenafly, NJ and studies the violin with Elizabeth Faidley.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Katya Shchukin (10 years old) has been studying the piano since 2009. Katya has been a prizewinner at several piano competitions including the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (Ensemble Division in 2011, 2012, 2014 and Solo Division in 2012 and 2013); the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Annual Audition (2011, 2012 and 2014), the Piano Teachers Congress of New York (2011) and the Russian Music Festival (2010, 2011 and 2012). She has performed at Raritan Valley Community College, Rider University, Renee Weiler Concert Hall, Steinway Hall and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Katya resides in Basking Ridge, NJ and studies the piano with Ms. Yelena Ivanov

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Isabella Valcuha (9 years old), began her violin studies at the age four. Isabella was the First Prizewinner of the Little Mozart Crescendo Competition and had her Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall debut in the spring of 2011. Since then she has been a prizewinner and finalist of numerous competitions: The Prima Artist, The Forte, The National Young Maestro's, Rondo Young Artists Festival, and Olympic Challenge. She has performed in many venues including Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall in NY and Baruch Performing Arts Center in NJ. Isabella is driven by the music of her Slovak heritage.  She is a concertmaster of the Slovak Acoustic Cimbalom Orchestra -"Llama Band" which toured Slovakia in the summer of 2011, performing a few times at PNC Bank Art Center in NJ, Bohemian National Hall in NY, Slovak and Czech Festivals throughout the country and finally, as a First Prizewinner of the Crescendo International Competition, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2012.  Currently, Isabella resides in Belleville, NJ, and studies the violin with Elizabeth Faidley of the Manhattan School of Music.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Jessica Wang (7 years old) has been studying the piano since the age of five.  As one of the winners of the YPCNJ’s Solo Division, Jessica first performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2012.   In 2013, she participated in the Young Artist Competition (sponsored by the World Piano Competition) in Cincinnati, OH and was a Gold Prizewinner of the Golden Key Music Festival, and will return to perform at Weill Hall.  Jessica currently resides in Lansdale, PA and studying the piano with Ms. Ieva Carucci.

Winner of the 2014 “Le Petit Orchestre” Division of the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey (YPCNJ), Sarah Zong (10 years old) first started to learn to play the keyboard at the studio “Keyboard for Young Beginners” at the age of seven. In 2013, Sarah was the Second Place Winner at the Tenth Russian Music Competition.  Sarah is currently a fourth grader and resides in Westfield, NJ. She also plays the violin in her school.   Sarah has been studying the piano with Ms. Lana Ivanov since 2012.

For tickets and further information on the concert, please visitwww.youngpianist.org and www.cjso.org or call RVCC Box Office at 908-725-3420, www.rvccarts.org.

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