2024 Prizewinners
Piano
Group 1
1st prize – Benjamin LeSuer
2nd prize- Avery Armstrong
3rd prize – Juliana Wu
*Jury prize: Clive Terrence Wijaya
Group 2
**Tied 1st prizes – Giselle M. Wu & Oliwia Domagala
2nd prize – Joshua Tittiranonda
3rd prize – Andrew Lee
Group 3
1st prize – Charles Yeung
2nd prize – Edie Park
3rd prize – Jacky Zeng
Group 4
1st prize – Ryan Holder
2nd prize – Andrew Nguyen
3rd prize – Phil Lee
*Jury Prize : Cana Kashima
Chamber Music/String Solo
Group 1
1st prize – not awarded
**Tied 2nd prizes - Gia Shin, violin & XLS Woodwind Quintet (Jingyi Ning, Bassoon -Yuehu Zhou, Oboe - Ruofei Yao, Flute - Shili Tang, Clarinet - Jingyu Zhu, Horn)
3rd prize – not awarded
Group 2
1st prize - Meiyin Zhang, violin
2nd prize - Sydney Li Jenkins, violin - Elan Dorman Mackenzie, cello - Kamil Iny Woods, piano
3rd prize - Elliot Yun, cello - Chloe Yoon, violin
Group 3
1st Prize – Wroclaw Piano Trio (Katarzyna Schulz, violin - Stanisław Giłka, cello - Jakub Madyniak, piano)
2nd prize – Meissa Trio (Yuri Inoshita, Piano - Samyuktha Rajagopal, Violin - Sophie Ehling, Cello)
3rd Prize – Hanna Hrybkova, violin
*receives certificate and invitation to winner’s showcase
**Tied winners each receive the full designated award
MIMA Young Artist Competition
MIMA Young Artist Music Competition is open to classical musicians of all nationalities with the aim of instilling love and appreciation of music beyond the routines of practice and to allow music to become a gift to be enjoyed and shared with others. This year’s inaugural edition will be held online and is open in the following disciplines: piano, chamber music. Each discipline is divided into different age categories. A selected group of winners will be invited to give a concert in the winner’s showcase in June 2024 as well as receive monetary prizes. Travel stipend will be provided for prizewinners traveling outside of CA to participate in the winner’s showcase. A jury consisting of renowned international musicians will listen to all the candidates videos and select winners through the materials submitted, so travel is not required.
Categories & Repertoire
There are two categories in this year’s competition (online):
1. Piano
2. Chamber Music
PIANO
Repertoires requirement: 1 or 2 works from the Baroque to the 21st century. Individual/separate movements from larger works are acceptable.
All video recordings must be sent in Youtube or Vimeo link.
Group 1: born in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 - free program, no longer than 5 mins
Group 2: born in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 - free program, no longer than 7 mins
Group 3: born in 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 - free program, no longer than 13 min
Group 4: born between 2003-1997 - free program, no longer than 17 min (must include one movement from the Baroque or Classical period)
CHAMBER MUSIC/STRING SOLO
Ensemble requirement: any combination of ensemble or solo strings
Group 1: Elementary Division(Grade K-6) - one movement from a sonata, trio, or quartet; no longer than 7 mins
Group 2: Middle/High School Division(Grades 7-12) - one movement from a sonata, trio, or quartet; no longer than 7 mins
Group 3: College/Professional Division - two contrast movements from a sonata, trio, or quartet; no longer than 13 min
Prizes
The competition offers $10,000 in cash prizes for piano and chamber music categories, alongside scholarships towards tuition to the Montecito International Music Festival (MIMF), a 10-day summer session at Cal Lutheran Baptist Campus. MIMF gathers faculty from 30+ esteemed colleges, conservatories, and professional orchestras like the LA Philharmonic. Winners can choose a teacher of their choice to study and participate in concerts, masterclasses and workshops for a musically rigorous and enriching summer. For more information on the festival, check out the MIMF website or reach out to info.mima.ca@gmail.com.
PIANO
Group 4
1st prize: $1000 ($300 cash, $700 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $700 ($200 cash, $500 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: $300 ($100 cash, $200 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
Group 3
1st prize: $700 ($200 cash $500 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $500 ($100 cash, $400 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: $100 cash, certificate + winner’s showcase
Group 2
1st prize: $500 ($100 cash 400$ scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $300 ($100 cash 200$ scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: $100 cash, certificate + winner’s showcase
Group 1
1st prize: $500 ($100 cash, $400 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $300 ($100 cash, $200 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: certificate + winner’s showcase
CHAMBER MUSIC
Group 3: College/Professional Division
1st prize: $1500 ($500 cash, $1000 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $700 ($300 cash, $400 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: $300 scholarship for the Montecito Festival + winner’s showcase
Group 2: Middle/High School Division(Grades 7-12)
1st prize: $1000 ($500 cash, $500 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $500 (200 cash, 300$ scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: $300 scholarship for the Montecito Festival + winner’s showcase
Group 1: Elementary Division(Grade K-6)
1st prize: $1000 ($500 cash $500 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
2nd prize: $500 ($200 cash, $300 scholarship for the Montecito Festival), certificate + winner’s showcase
3rd prize: certificate + winner’s showcase
Registration & Agenda
The competition is open to participants of all nationalities. Please fill in the competition registration form accurately and ensure the authenticity and validity. If there is any false information, the qualification will be canceled. Contestants need to accurately select the group according to their year of birth.
REGISTRATION FEE (non-refundable)
The application fee is $80 US dollars per applicant/group. ALL Montecito Festival Applicants are waived the application fee.
APRIL 15TH 2024 (11:59 PST), APPLICATION DEADLINE extended* (online):
Fully submitted online application form
Paid application fee of $80 per application
APRIL 20TH 2024, WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT: *due to a deadline extension, the announcement of the winners will be slightly delayed. Results will be shared via email and on the website. Thank you and we appreciate your patience!
The jury selects 3 prize winners from each groups. Contestants will be notified and prizewinners will be featured on website and social media.
LIVE WINNER’S SHOWCASE CONCERT:
The prizewinners from each group in both piano and chamber music categories will perform their submitted video performances live on stage.
Location and Date TBD
If you have questions regarding your application or you are looking for additional information, you can contact us by e-mail: info.mima.ca@gmail.com
Jury Committee
Marta Aznavoorian
Multi-Grammy nominated artist, Marta Aznavoorian, has performed to critical acclaim throughout the world as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and educator. Hailing from Chicago, she has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Sir George Solti and Michael Tilson Thomas, performing with notable orchestras like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony. Ms. Aznavoorian is a founding member of the Lincoln Trio and has frequented many festivals, including Tanglewood Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Marlboro Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Caramoor Festival, Hornby Island, Green Lake Festival, and Ravinia Festival. Aznavoorian is on faculty and recently appointed Artist in Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago and Piano and Chamber Music faculty at DePaul University School of Music. As a dedicated Educator and philanthropist, Aznavoorian has worked with many music programs to help create training pathways for students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds through her new foundation, Keynote Productions. Marta Aznavoorian is a Steinway Artist. 
John Perry
Distinguished artist and teacher, John Perry earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of Cecile Genhart. Recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, he continued studies in Europe for four years where he worked with Wladyslav Kedra, Polish concert artist and professor at the Akademie für Musik in Vienna. Mr. Perry has won numerous awards including the highest prizes in both the Busoni and Viotti international piano competitions in Italy and special honors at the Marguerite Long International Competition in Paris. He also enjoys an international reputation as a teacher, presenting master classes throughout the world. He often is a jury member at some of the most prestigious international piano competitions. Mr. Perry is professor at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, professor of piano at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and Professor Emeritus of the USC Thornton School of Music. In addition, he recently founded a music school, John Perry Academy of Music in Los Angeles, where he serves as Artistic Director. His recordings are available on the Telefunken, Musical Heritage Society, CBC, ACA and Fox labels.
Bongshin Ko
Hailed by critics for her “most perfect playing” (Internet Cello Society) with “great warmth and beauty” (The STRAD), cellist Bongshin Ko has appeared worldwide as a soloist with such groups as Television and Radio Symphony of Moscow, Munich Chamber Players, the KBS Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, and Central Broadcasting Symphony of China to name a few. As a member of the European-based Tritton Cello Quartet she can be heard on the Musica Columna label. Ms. Ko’s Haydn and Saint-Saens concerti, recorded with Munich Chamber Players in Germany, can also be heard on the SONY Classical label. As a recipient of over 30 international prizes and awards, including the highest performance award in her native Korea and the Crossroad Award in the US for her “superior teaching,” she is on popular demand as a teacher as well as a performer around the globe. Serving as Professor of Cello and Vice Director at Cal State University Fullerton School of Music she is also active in supporting young talents and promoting cello art through Greenhouse Foundation & Festival.
Mari Kimura
Mari Kimura is a violinist/composer, entrepreneur, and a leading figure in interactive computer music. She is world-renowned for Subharmonics—the production of pitches that sound up to an octave below the violin’s lowest string—and her dynamic performances as an interpreter as well as an improviser. She received numerous awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Fromm Commission Award from Harvard University, a residency award at IRCAM in Paris, and from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Educated at Toho School of Music, Boston University and The Juilliard School, Mari is a Professor of Music at UC Irvine and at Juilliard. In 2017, She developed a motion sensor prototype MUGIC®, a small WIFI device which can be worn as a ‘wearable tech’ or attached to objects. Commercialized in 2020, MUGIC® is now used by musicians, artists and beyond and in numerous conservatories and universities around the world such as Harvard, Juilliard, Univ. of Toronto and University of Arts in Berlin. As an entrepreneur, Mari received the Certificate of Recognition from the House of Representatives and the California State Assembly in 2020. She’s a co-founder of MIMA.
Suejin Jung
Suejin Jung is a co-founder of MIMA, dedicated to designing meaningful art forms and realizing their hidden potential through collaboration. Her multimedia project, "Breathmark,” received first prize at the Goodmesh Concours and is showcased in her debut album released by the TRPTK label. As a collaborative pianist, Suejin has been featured at festivals such as Music Academy International, Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, and New York International Piano Competition. A recipient of bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, Suejin furthered her studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar of the Fondation des États-Unis. She completed her Doctorate in Piano Performance from Rutgers University. Her performances have been broadcasted and live-streamed on PBS, NPO Klassiek, and The Strad. As an educator, she has served as a faculty at Drew University, Rutgers University Extension Division and New York Music School. Suejin teaches at the Montecito International Music Festival and is a member of the Music Teachers Association of California.
Jean Ferrandis
Flautist and conductor Jean Ferrandis enjoys an international career that takes him throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. He has presented recitals, performed chamber music, and appeared as soloist with orchestra in such prestigious concert halls as the Salle Pleyel and Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Tapei Arts Center, Wigmore Hall in London, La Fenice in Venice, Hamarikyu Hall in Tokyo, the Vigado in Budapest, the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, and the Moscow Tschaikovsky Conservatory, under such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Tibor Varga, Laurent Petitgirard, and Yoram David. He has been invited to numerous festivals, including the Lanaudière in Canada, Switzerland's Sion Festival, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Midem Festival in Cannes, and the Berlioz Festival in Lyon. Chamber music collaborators have included Gidon Kremer, Ivry Gitlis, Jean Philippe Collard, and Emile Naoumoff. His appearances at the 2006 National Flute Association convention in Pittsburgh, an event attended by three thousand flutists, included a gala headliner concert in Heinz Hall and a master class. Jean Ferrandis currently teaches at l'Ecole Normale in Paris and at California State University-Fullerton.