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2025 Arizona State Winners

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Arizona Chamber Music Strings

Competition in January 2026 (Division)

Arizona Chamber Music Winds

Competition in January 2026 (Division)

Arizona Elementary Composition

Representative: Kolbe Han, Etude #1: Butterfly Garden (piano), student of Lisa Fiorenza

Arizona Junior Composition

Winner: Lillian Tan, The Little Dolphin's Quest (flute & piano), student of Karalyn Schubring
Honorable Mentions: Vivian Nguyen, The Phoenix (cello & piano); Emily Oswald, The Peacock (piano 4-hand); Anjani Rege, The Sparkling of the Sea (cello & piano), all students of Karalyn Schubring

DIVISION COMPETITION: 1st Place - Lillian Tan, The Dolphin's Quest (flute & piano), student of Karalyn Schubring

NATIONAL COMPETITION: 1ST PLACE - LILLIAN TAN, THE DOLPHIN'S QUEST; STUDENT OF KARALYN SCHUBRING

Arizona Junior Performance Piano

Winner: Alexis Dyche, student of Ji-Young Kim
Alternate: Elaine Lin, student of Yali Luo
Honorable Mentions: Katherine Peng, student of Hong Zhu; Neal Qin, student of Svetlana Arakelova

Arizona Junior Performance String

Winner: Zachariah Ham (cello), student of Jamie Kellogg
Alternate: Jinyao Zhou (violin), student of Susanne Rothaar
Honorable Mentions: Cindy Chen (violin), student of Susanne Rothaar; Pierce Liu (violin), student of Susanne Rothaar; Keon Wong (cello), student of Tom Landschoot

Arizona Senior Composition

Winner: Iris Li, Birds in Paradise (small ensemble), student of Karalyn Schubring
Honorable Mentions: Israel Kim, OMBRA E LUCE (orchestra), student of Jamie Kellogg; Tony Liu, Firmament (orchestra), student of Karalyn Schubring; Lily Nguyen, Flow (piano), student of Karalyn Schubring

DIVISION COMPETITION: 1st place - Iris Li, Birds in Paradise (small ensemble), student of Karalyn Schubring

NATIONAL COMPETITION: 3RD PLACE - IRIS LI, BIRDS IN PARADISE, STUDENT OF KARALYN SCHUBRING

Arizona Senior Performance Piano

Winner: Katheryn Chan, student of Hong Zhu
Alternate: Mia Lucchesi, student of Baruch Meir
Honorable Mentions: Jessica Frolov, student of Qingqing Ye; William Shan, student of Qingqing Ye; Audrey Streeter, student of Karali Hunter; McKenna Vallejo, student of Olga Gorelik

Arizona Senior Performance String

Winner: Joshua Lee (violin), student of Jooyeon Han
Alternate: Justin Kang (cello), student of Jamie Kellogg
Honorable Mention: Alex Gong (viola), student of Susanne Rothaar

Arizona Young Artist Composition

Winner: GianCarlo Lay, Transcendence (saxophone ensemble), student of Christopher Creviston
Honorable Mentions: Curtis Hall, Cascade (orchestra), student of Jelena Vladikovic; Anna Olsen, Finis Origine Pendet (string quartet), student of Vanja Nikolovski

DIVISION COMPETITION: 1st Place - GianCarlo Lay, Transcendence (saxophone ensemble), student of Christopher Creviston

NATIONAL COMPETITION: 2ND PLACE - GIANCARLO LAY, TRANSCENDENCE; STUDENT OF CHRISTOPHER CREVISTON

Arizona Young Artist Performance Piano

Winner: Momoko Hoffman, student of Baruch Meir
Alternate: Hyeongji Choi, student of Baruch Meir
Honorable Mentions: Dabin Ha, student of Baruch Meir; Yumiko Hastings, student of Baruch Meir; Kunyu Lu, student of Cathal Breslin

DIVISION COMPETITION: Alternate - Momoko Hoffman, student of Baruch Meir

Arizona Young Artist Performance Woodwind

Winner: Wesley Taylor (saxophone), student of Christopher Creviston
Alternate: Nathan Valencia (saxophone), student of Christopher Creviston

DIVISION COMPETITION: Alternate - Wesley Taylor (saxophone), student of Christopher Creviston

Competition Judges

Composition:
Christopher Oill (AZ)
Jody Rockmaker (AZ)
James Winn (NV)
Piano:
Junior & Senior Piano: João Paulo Casarotti, Sung Chang, & Tiantian Liang
Senior Piano Duet: none (no competition)
Young Artist Piano: Sung Chang, Fanya Lin, & Radmila Stojanovic-Kiriluk
Strings:
Junior & Senior: Theodore Buchholtz (cello), Danwen Jiang (violin), & Jason Sah (viola)
Woodwinds: Patrick Murphy (saxophone)

All Arizona winners move on to the Southwest Division competition in January 2026 (video only). If the winner is unable to perform, the Alternate will take his/her place in the competition.

All Southwest Division winners will compete in the MTNA National Competitions in Chicago, IL on March 21-25, 2026 at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.

MTNA Competitions Coordinator: Terri Hlubek, Arizona Competitions Coordinator: Dr. Ji-Young Kim,