Winners

A native of South Korea, Youjin Kim, had her first solo recital at 15 in Kumho Art Hall by winning the Kumho Prodigy Audition. She graduated Sunhwa Arts School and Sunhwa Arts High School with Artistic Excellence Scholarships. While studying at Sunhwa Arts High School, she won audition for Regular School Concert, and she performed at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall. She received top prizes in many competitions including 71st Wideman Competition, NSAL Competition, Jacobs Concerto Competition, Grand Prize Best Solo Performance Award at the Arizona International Music Competition, Grand Prize at Concert Artists International Competition and Grand Prize at New York Laureate International Music Competition. She recently had her debut concert in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in Washington. She earned Bachelor's degree at Seoul National University with Professor Hyoung Joon Chang and Master's degree with Arnaldo Cohen at Indiana University. She received full scholarship from University of Cincinnati, and she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of Dr. Dror Biran.

Katherine Jung, a 16-year-old violinist, currently studies at the Juilliard Pre-College program under Professor Masao Kawasaki. She received grand prizes at the New York International Classical Music Competition and the Prodigy International Music Competition. She is also the first runner-up for Mary G. Roebling Youth Concerto Competition, and the first prize winner of many music competitions such as the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition, the VIVO International Music Competition, the Prima Volta Music Competition, and the New York International Young Musician Competition. In 2022, she performed as a soloist with the Little Orchestra Society for a concert series to educate children about music. As a chamber musician, she performed commissioned works with her chamber group and New York Philharmonic musicians in 2023. She has participated in Heifetz International Music Institute (2022) and Meadowmount School of Music (2023) over the summers. Outside of music, she enjoys traveling and writing.

Manami loves to sing anytime, anywhere and has started learning to sing. She not only sings but also plays the piano. Her recent awards include the Gold Prize and Jury’s Special Prize at the Inzai International Music Competition (2023), the Outstanding Interpretation Special Prize and Platinum Prize at the Franz Schubert International Music Competition (2023), the Gran Premio (Top-ranking) at the Japan-Italia Concorso Music Arte (2023), the First Prize and Aoi Prize at the Aoi Music Competition (2023), the First Prize at the International Music Competition “Bonn” Grand Prize Virtuoso (2023), the First Prize at The First International Carol Competition (2024), the Young Talent Prize at Vienna New Year’s Concert International Music Competition (2024), and many other prestigious awards.