Yue (York) Xia, age 14, resides in Sammamish and attends 9th grade at Eastlake High School. He began his flute studies at age 7 under his teacher, Jia Lu. He was a Gold Medalist at the 2022 Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle Competition, Gold Medalist of the 2024 American Protégé International Music Competition, and Bronze Medalist of the American Virtuoso International Music Competition, culminating in his recent debut at Carnegie Hall. Currently, York performs with the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra as principal flute of the Philharmonia Orchestra. York has a passion for flute and is studying conducting and composition.
Rei Yamazono, age 11, was born in Tokyo and is a 6th grade student at Tyee Middle School. She began studying piano at age 4 with Aya Tani and currently studies with Nino Merabishvili. She has won first prizes and gold medals at the Simon Fiset piano competition, Bach Festival International, Pacific NW Piano Competition, Sonafest Seattle, and the Willard Schultz Scholarship Competition. She has also won prizes at the Bellevue Symphony Concerto Competition, Chopin NW Piano Competition, and Seattle Russian Competition, and was selected as an honor student in The Music Artistry Program and performed at the EMTA Honors Recital for two consecutive years. Rei was also an alternate winner for the 2024 SYAMFA. Outside of school and piano, she is a member of a local dance team and she studies the Japanese education and cultural curriculum at the weekend Seattle Japanese School. She is bilingual in Japanese and English. Rei dreams of becoming a pianist who can inspire people with her performances. She also wants to be a part-time Japanese sour plum pickle taster.
Anthony Kim, age 13, was born in the U.S. and grew up in Basel, Switzerland until 2017. At the age of 4, he began studying piano with his mother, and at age 5 he began learning the cello, currently studying with with Dr. Kevin Krentz in Seattle. Anthony has been a first prize winner in numerous international and local competitions. He has been invited to perform at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Loe Concert Hall in Seoul, and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. At age 10, he made his orchestral debut with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra, and at age 11, he showcased his outstanding concerto performance with the Northwest Philharmonia as a Seattle Young Artist Festival Concerto Winner. This past year, Anthony performed at Benaroya Hall after winning the Grand Prix prize from the KMA Competition, and his musical talents have been recognized with four Grand Gold Awards at the Music and Awards Competition in Spain. He has been honored with the esteemed KNS Classical Prize while eagerly preparing to publish his highly anticipated first official digital CD. In his free time, Anthony loves skiing and playing basketball.
Young Soloists 2024
Patrick Yoon, age 14, began taking piano lessons at age 5 with his teacher, SH Youn. Patrick is the reigning Concerto Grand Prix Winner of the 2023 Russian Chamber Music Competition and recently performed Prokofiev Concerto no. 3 with Tacoma Collaborative Orchestra. His past orchestra engagements included performing Kabalevsky Piano Concerto no. 3 with Mukilteo Orchestra. His other prizes include: 1st place prizes at the Virtuoso Artist Festival, SCMTA Concerto Festival, Sanford Wright Chamber Music, and Gold Medal at the Bellevue Symphony Concerto Competition, winner at the SCMTA State Recitalist Competition, and was an alternate winner at the MTNA State Competition. Outside of music, Patrick is a freshman at Jackson High School. He is a diligent student, earning a 4.0 GPA during his middle school years and receiving outstanding remarks from his teachers. For fun, Patrick loves being active in sports as much as music. He enjoys playing basketball and has recently picked up pickle ball as his newest activity.