2022 NYYVC winners

Kevin Jin, 15, Piano

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

           Kevin Jin is a tenth grader from Basking Ridge, NJ. He attends Delbarton School in

Morristown, New Jersey. He was inspired to play the piano by his older sister and has

been studying the piano with Gloria Chu for the past 10 years. Kevin has performed and

participated in many competitions and recitals in the New Jersey/New York areas. In

addition to his passion in the performance aspect of the piano, Kevin is also interested

in music history and theory and their correlation to compositions in different time

periods. The highlights of his pianistic achievements include First Place winner at the

NJMTA Young Musicians Competition and First Places at the NJMEA Annual Piano

Competition in the solo, duet, and concerto categories. He has also received top cash

prizes at the PTCNY Honors Recital Auditions. Last summer, Kevin attended the

Philadelphia International Music Festival program, where he participated in

masterclasses with Grammy-nominated pianist Mark Livshits. Besides studying the

piano, Kevin is part of his school’s a cappella choir, mock trial team, and student

newspaper. In his free time, he enjoys reading and rock climbing.

Yosef Kogan, 11, Violin

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Yosef Kogan is 11 years old and a student of Viktor Basis at the Special Music School in New York City. He has performed in Merkin Hall and in the Prague String Festival in the Czech Republic in 2019 and 2022. He won first prize in the 2022 Young Soloist International Music Competition. Yosef is thrilled to make his Carnegie Hall debut, and thanks his teacher, Mr. Basis, and pianist Vilija Naujokaitis. He also thanks his family for their love and support.

Isabelle Son, 14, Viola

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Isabelle Son started playing the violin when she was five years old and began learning the viola at age 11. She was accepted into Juilliard Pre-College at age 13, where she currently studies with Molly Carr and Yi-Fang Huang. She resides as the Pre-College Symphony’s principal violist at Juilliard. In addition, she is a part of New York Youth Symphony. She has won numerous awards, including prizes at the International Grande Music Competition, the Prima Volta Music Competition, the Vivo International Music Competition, the Anselmo International Youth Music Competition, and the National Artists Competition. In her free time, she enjoys reading and running including participating in 5K races.

Mina Kim, 14, Cello

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Seung Hee(Sunny) Rhew, 17, Clarinet

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Seung Hee (Sunny) Rhew is a senior at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey. She began her clarinet studies at the age of nine under the direction of her mentor, Seungho Choi. She has participated in masterclasses with Anthony McGill, Ayako Oshima, and Toyin Spellman-Diaz. She has also been a member of the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Program since 2019. Traumerei, her ensemble group, won a silver medal in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2020, was a finalist at NPR’s From the Top last year, and received the NYYS Chamber Director’s Award. In addition, she has won prizes in the American Protégé International Woodwinds and Brass Competition, VIVO International Music Competition, Manhattan International Music Competition, Prima Volta Music Competition, North International Competition, King’s Peak International Music Competition, and Camerata Artists International Competition. Moreover Sunny has been accepted in the Bergen County Band, Northern NJ Region Band, along with the NJ All-State Band. She shares her passion for music and for helping others through playing in the Camerata Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, which had fundraised to support children battling leukemia, provided healing to the elderly in nursing homes and hospitals, and held walk-a-thons to help children in Ukraine.

Fiorela Miria, 17, Voice

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Fiorela Miria, 17 years old, is a Vocal music student at Laguardia High School of Music and at The Juilliard Pre-College. Operatic roles include Genoveffa in Suor Angelica, Chorus in Cavalleria Rusticana, Annina/Gypsy in La Traviata and 1st Lady in The Magic Flute with Hudson Lyric Opera, Children's Chorus in Carmen with the  New Rochelle Opera, Cherubino arias with the Northern Westchester Symphony Orchestra, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro with New York Lyric Opera Theater Summer Program, and Giuseppina in La Traviata with New York City Opera. Fiorela won 2nd place in the 2019 Junior High New York Lyric Opera Competition, 1st place in Voice for the Little Mozarts Crescendo Competition, with a solo performance of O Mio  Babbino Caro at Carnegie Hall, 1st place in the NATS competition in both Classical and Musical theatre, 2nd prize in the 2020 eVoco Young Artist Award, 1st place in the 2020 Talente Hunt Competition with the Omega Fraternity-The Rockland Ques, 1st place in the  2021 International Grande Music Competition, 1st place in the NATS NYC in the Lower High School Classical division, 1st place in the NATS Eastern Region in the Lower High School Treble Voice Classical division, 1st place in the 2022 Talent Hunt Competition with the Omega Fraternity-The Rocland Ques, scholarship prize from The George London Foundation, 1st prize in the 2022 eVoco Young Artist Award, 1st place in the 2022 Lew York Laureate International Music Competition, and the 1st place in the 18th Centrury Charleston International Music Competition.

Echo Quartet, 15-16, Ensemble 
Janice Lee, Isabella Jung, Yumi Park, Ava Choi  (4 violins)

$300 Young Virtuoso Prize Winner

Violinists Janice Lee (Gr. 11), Isabella Jung (Gr. 11), Yumi Park (Gr. 10), Ava Choi (Gr.11) have participated in the Echo Summer Music Festival and School since 2016 to present, and performed at the Echo Summer Music Festival and School in 2022. They learned chamber music as a group under the tutelage of Dr. Yu Jeong Lee.

In the summer of 2022, each musician took part in the Saarburg music festival and school in Germany and enjoyed performing as chamber musicians.