2023 Music Award Winners

We are pleased to announce the awards for our top scoring contestants in our auditions held at Westminster Presbyterian Church on April 15th, 2023. We had an amazing group of 31 extremely talented young artists, with outstanding support from our own club members, an excellent team of judges and and a wonderful venue. We greatly appreciate all the contributions we received throughout the year to make all of this possible.

Click here to watch videos from our May 1st, 2023 Music Awards winners performances.

Thanks to all of our donors, we are pleased to award a total of $16,000 this year to the following contestants:

• Maggie Carter
• Jacob Nenow
• Courtney Lawrence
• Katie Liu
• Michael Hsu
• Noah Carr
• Trinity Goff
• Leo Trajano
• Fedor Chayka
• Charles A. Martin
• Alex Tran
• Emily Seo

Phillips Award for the best instrumental performance, (Bass). Maggie Carter is a 16-year-old Double bassist. She is a home educated junior and currently studies with Jordan Anderson, Principal Bass of the Seattle Symphony. She has been the principal bassist of the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s Philharmonic Orchestra since 2019. Maggie won the 2019 International Society of Bassists 14-and-under Solo Competition, the 2020 Oregon Mozart Players Young Soloists Competition, and the 2021 Oregon ASTA Solo Competition. She is the 2019 and 2021 runner-up and 2022 winner of the Portland Youth Philharmonic Concerto Competition and will perform Frank Proto’s A Carmen Fantasy with the orchestra in March 2022 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. In addition, she was selected as All Classical Portland’s 2022 Young Artist in Residence and has soloed with the Oregon Symphony. Most recently, in April 2023, Maggie was selected by the International Society of Bassists to receive the 2023 Jane Little Scholarship worth $10,000 and has been accepted to study at the Curtis Institute of Music. She has participated in summer programs including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Interlochen Arts Camp, and NYO2 National Orchestra and has performed for double bassists such as Edgar Meyer, Paul Ellison, François Rabbath, and John Clayton, among many others. Maggie is a passionate advocate for the power and positive influence of the arts in society and plans to pursue a career in music performance. Also a serious pianist, she’s in her ninth year of piano studies.

Colliver Award for the best piano performance. Jacob Nenow is 18 years old and is a senior at Jesuit High School. He is a piano student of Dr. Renato Fabbro and won first prize in the 2022 Oregon Sinfonietta Concerto Competition. Jacob also performed a Bach concerto with the Vancouver Symphony in 2021 and won the 2020 Coeur d’Alene Symphony National Young Artist Competition. He won first prize in the 2018 and 2019 Portland Steinway & Sons Piano Competitions and the 2018 Oregon MTNA Junior Piano Competition. In addition to piano, Jacob is a highly competitive cross country and track runner. His team was a two time cross country state champion in 2021 and 2022, and Jacob individually won the 2022 OSAA 6A Cross Country State Championship. Academically, Jacob has a love for math, and he looks forward to pursuing his passions in college.

Foster Award for the best vocal performance (Soprano). Courtney Lawrence has been singing since before she could talk. She began voice lessons in seventh grade with Alicia Garcia, and has been studying with Erin G. McCarthy and Richard Bower since 2020, doing a mixture of musical theater and classical singing. Now a senior in high school, Courtney discovered her passion for opera a year ago, and hasn’t looked back since! Courtney placed first in the soprano division at the Oregon State Solo/Ensemble competition this past spring, and was a national finalist at the CS Music Classical competition in Chicago in June of 2022. Courtney plans to study classical voice / opera in college beginning this fall. When not singing classical or performing musical theater, you can often find Courtney dancing classical ballet or Kpop, reading, or beating her Dad’s high score on Donkey Kong.

$1,500 prize winner. Katie Liu, age 15, is a Sophomore at Westview High School. She has been playing the violin for 10 years and currently studies with Hae-Jin Kim. Katie has been with the Portland Youth Philharmonic Organization for 6 years and has served as co-concertmaster since she was 14. She also plays with the PYP Camerata chamber orchestra and enjoys volunteering as a mentor for the PYP’s Young String Ensemble. As an active performer, Katie has appeared as a soloist with the members of the Oregon Symphony by winning the MetroArts Young Artists Debut! Competition in 2021, and won again this year in 2023. She also has had the privilege to solo with Portland Youth Philharmonic by winning the PYP Concerto competition in 2022. Katie was the 1st place winner of the MTNA Senior String Performance Competition in Oregon State and was selected as the alternate winner at the Northwest Division level competition. She was a first-place winner of the American String Teacher Association Junior Division in 2022. Katie’s passion for music led her to the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where she was co-concertmaster of the Young Artists Orchestra. She was also selected to serve as the Concertmaster Assistant in the 2021 All-State Orchestra and as Concertmaster for the 2022 All-Northwest Orchestra.

$1,500 prize winner. Michael Hsu is currently in tenth grade. He began taking piano lessons when he was 6 and has studied with his current teacher, Dr. Thomas Otten since May 2018. Michael has received numerous awards and recognitions in OMTA annual Festivals. Besides the festivals, he participated in master classes. When he’s not playing the piano, Michael enjoys tennis, travels with family, reads history books, and tastes different cuisines while traveling abroad.

$1,000 prize winner. Noah Carr is a seventeen year old violinist and High School Junior from Portland, Oregon. He studies with Tomas Cotik, Professor of Violin at Portland State University. He performs as concertmaster with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s Symphony Orchestra and the MYSfits String Ensemble, a self-directed ensemble with an emphasis on exploring repertoire across genres. In 2022, Noah was selected and a Semi-Finalist in the 26th annual Sphinx Competition. Recent awards include 1st place in the senior division of the Oregon Mozart Players Young Soloist Competition, 1st place in the MYS Concerto Competition, and 1st place in the senior division of the Oregon ASTA Competition. In 2022, Noah served as a Young Artist Ambassador for the All Classical Portland radio station. He has performed solo with the Oregon Symphony and MYS Symphony Orchestra, and has an upcoming concert with the Oregon Mozart Players chamber orchestra in May. He attended the Sphinx Performance Academy during the summers of 2018 to 2021, and spent the summer of 2022 at the Meadowmount School of Music. Noah has performed in masterclasses with violinists including Areta Zhulla, Simone Lamsma, and Rachel Barton Pine. This summer, Noah looks forward to attending the Center Stage Strings summer program at the University of Michigan with the full tuition Starling Scholarship.  Noah performs on a 1900 Paul Bailley violin generously loaned to him by the Virtu Foundation.

$1,000 prize winner. Trinity Goff is a 21 year old pianist from Salem, Oregon. She has been a top prize winner in the Van Buren Concerto Competition and the Oregon Mozart Players Competition, was the silver medalist in the professional division of the Northwest Chopin Piano Competition and the National Steinway Competition, and has performed numerous times along the West Coast from Vancouver, B.C. to Pasadena, California. From 2018-2021, she attended the John Perry Academy of Music International Piano Festival, and in 2022, she attended MusicFestPerugia in Italy, performing Mozart’s 21st Piano Concerto with the Europa Musica Orchestra under conductor Alessandro Alonzi. She was also featured in an interview for On Deck with Young Musicians at All Classical Portland and the Corvallis-OSU International Piano Festival as a Rising Young Artist. In November 2021, she performed Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto under conductor Niel DePonte with members of the Oregon Symphony and Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestras. Most recently, Trinity opened a concert on the Grace Goudy Distinguished Artist Series featuring Grammy award winning composer and violinist, Caroline Shaw, performing her piano work Gustave le Gray, and performed in New York City at Merkin Concert Hall as a winner of the Outstanding Performance Award at the NTD International Piano Competition.  Trinity is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at Willamette University under the direction of Jean-David Coen. She has had additional masterclasses and lessons from renowned teachers and performers Ilana Vered, John Perry, Jerome Lowenthal, Janina Fialkowska, and Sasha Starcevich, among others. Trinity has also maintained a successful private studio of her own with over 25 students.

$1,000 prize winner. Leo Trajano,15, is a freshman at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro. He started violin lessons at the age of 8 with Kathy Boulton and has been a student of Kevin Lefohn for the past four years. He is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony where he has served as concertmaster and principal second violinist. As the winner of the 2023 MYS Concerto Competition, Leo recently performed the third movement of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the MYS Symphony Orchestra. He has also had the privilege of soloing with the Willamette Falls Symphony and the MYS Baroque Strings. Currently a member of MYSfits, his chamber music experience further includes Appassionato Chamber Ensemble in 2021-2022 and Portland Summer Ensembles in 2022. In recent years, he has participated in masterclasses with James Buswell, Csaba Erdélyi, and Soovin Kim. Also a pianist, Leo currently studies with Maria Garcia and was previously taught by Susan Todd. He was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2022 Oregon MTNA Senior Piano Competition, won the 2022 OMTA Cris Tapang Memorial Scholarship, and was a finalist at the 2020 Ten Grands Competition. Besides playing violin and piano, Leo enjoys going to school, hanging out with friends, and spending time with his family, especially when it involves food or travel.

$1,000 prize winner. Fedor Chayka is a senior at Summit Learning Charter, and  a PCC student through Early College. He began playing flute with Tatyana Mozdikova, then with Galina Yaroshevskaya, and now studies with Corrie Cook. He has been a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s ensembles for five years, advancing to PYP, and being the flute section leader of the Wind Ensemble. Participating in the PYP’s Peer Mentor Program, he teaches a middle school flutist. He studied in several summer programs, including Summer@Eastman and the Gnessin Summer School. Outside of music, he enjoys programming and electronics design.

$1,000 prize winner. Charles A. Martin is a seventeen year old composer and pianist. He is in love with piano and learning more about his art. When He was four years old Charlie began taking piano lessons with various teachers at Happy Valley Arts Academy, of which the  owners are his very own family. Because he comes from a long line of musicians, he has had many opportunities to perform in recitals, concerts, and even musical theater productions. In 2022, Charlie became serious about piano performance and composition. He’s been inspired through the teaching of Mrs. Kristy Moore, who lead him to participate in various events in preparation for solo piano and composition competitions. Martin was one of the National Finalists in the MTNA Senior Division Composition competition. As he is approaching his senior year, he is serious about continuing these areas of studies in preparation for college.

$1,000 prize winner. Alex Tran, 14 years old, is a 9th grader at Catlin Gabel  School, and currently studies piano with Dr. Renato Fabbro. Alex was the winner of the 2022-2023 Oregon Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior Piano Performance, 2022-2023 Northwest Division MTNA Junior Piano Performance Alternate Winner, and 2021-2022 Oregon MTNA Junior Piano Division Alternate Winner. He also won first prizes in the 2020 OFMC Suzanne Raines Young Pianists Scholarship Competition, the 2019 OMTA Oregon Sonata Festival, and in different divisions of Spokane Piano Competitions. He has played piano and violin at Portland Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Forest Grove Library Foundation, and Bb Clarinet in the middle school band. His other interests include math, computer programming, ballroom dancing, and composing music. Alex was awarded the prestigious nationwide Caroline D. Bradley scholarship in 2021.

$1,000 prize winner. Emily Seo is an eighth grader at Tumwater middle school. She started studying cello at the age of 5. She currently studies with Professor Hamilton Cheifetz at the Portland State University. Emily joined Portland Youth Philharmonic at the age of 8 and she has been with the organization for past six seasons and the last three seasons she has been playing in the top level PYP orchestra. 

Emily received an Artistic Merit Award of $2,000 and will participate 2023 Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer String Academy, where she will study with the University of Michigan and the Julliard School professor Richard Aaron and cellist Sarah Koo. She was a finalist for the 2023 Oregon Mozart Players Young Soloists Competition and 2023 Young artist debut by Metroarts. She was selected to play for the Prelude concert at the 2022 Chamber Music Northwest Summer festival and 2022 Oregon ASTA Honors Recital. Emily won a first prize in Oregon for the 2022 OPUS Music Competition and an honorable mention in 2022 Oregon MTNA Junior Strings Competition. She has performed in masterclasses for cellists including Norman Fischer, Peter Prosser, Dennis Parker. Emily was one of only three students in the Portland area chosen to participate in a masterclass with Johannes Moser in 2022. Besides cello, she enjoys reading books and cross-county.