Alice Yip Wai Ping (Hong Kong) is a pianist and experienced piano teacher whose musical journey reflects the healing and empowering nature of music. Diagnosed with autism in childhood, Alice found the piano to be a source of comfort and self-expression. Despite challenges, she graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2013 and has since balanced a career in both performance and teaching.

Since late 2023, Alice has pursued independent piano study, embracing the challenges of self-guided learning. Most notably, she undertook the demanding task of learning Liszt’s Norma Reminiscences entirely on her own within two months. This dedicated effort led to her receiving the Second Prize at the Virtuoso Music Competition and First Prize in the professional category at the New York Classical Music Competition, both awarded in June 2025. Alice is deeply grateful for these recognitions, which she regards as a testament to persistence rather than innate talent alone.

Her earlier achievements include Third Prize in the Professional Artist Category and First Prize in the Professional Composer Category at The Royal International Piano Competition and Festival at Juilliard (October 2024), as well as Second Prize at the New York International Music Competition (March 2024). She has performed in esteemed venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center at Lincoln Center in New York.

In addition to performing, Alice is committed to social impact through music education, working with the Heep Hong Society to support individuals with autism. With over 20 years of teaching experience, she has been honored with the Outstanding Teacher Award at the 2011 Hong Kong Asian Piano Competition and the Best Teacher Award at the 2020 International Youth Music Competition. Many of her students have earned top honors and diplomas in local and international competitions.

Through humility, dedication, and passion, Alice strives to inspire others, demonstrating that challenges can be overcome with perseverance and a genuine love for music.

Dana Zhang, 14, (Chicago, Illinois) is a ninth-grade student at the Oak Park and River Forest High School, Illinois, U.S.A. She studies piano with Sueanne Metz.
She won First Place of the International Mozart Competition Vienna (2026), the International New Star Piano Competition (2026), the Illinois State Music Teachers Association (ISMTA) Piano Competition (2025), and the Elevato Stanza Junior Piano Competition (2025). She was awarded First Alternate in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Piano Competition-Illinois State Level (2025). Her other top international prizes include First Prize at the Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition (2024), Top Gold Medal at the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition (2023), and First Prize at the IX Odin International Music Online Competition (2022). She won a Gold Medal at the North Shore Music Teachers Association Sonata-Sonatina Festival (2024).

She also received awards from the Fox Valley Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition (2026), the DePaul National Concerto Competition for Young Performers (2025), the Carmel Klavier International Competition (2023), and the London International Music Competition (2022). Dana was a winner of the American Fine Arts Festival Competition (2022) and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. She performed with the orchestra at Music Fest Perugia in Italy in 2025.

In addition to piano, Dana plays violin and is a member of Violin I in the Concert Orchestra of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. She is a co-director of 88KeysToCure, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing hope and inspiration to local communities and hospitals through benefit concerts.

Carol Wu (b. December, 2015) is a gifted young pianist currently residing in Great Neck, Long Island. A student of the esteemed pianist Mr. Han Chen, Carol began her musical education at the age of five. Under Mr. Chen’s mentorship, she has cultivated a technical foundation and artistic maturity that distinguish her as a standout talent of her generation.

Musical Achievements
Carol’s dedication to her craft was notably demonstrated in 2025 when she achieved a perfect score on the NYSSMA Level 6 examination—the highest tier of the state’s evaluation system. An evocative performer, she has held recitals at Steinway Hall, where she is recognized for her poise, technical clarity, and deep musical sensitivity. Her recent accolades include winning Second Prize at the 12th Camerata Artists International Competition (2026) and Third Prize at the XVII Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford (2026).

Cultural & Creative Breadth
A fluent speaker of Mandarin, Carol draws significant inspiration from her Chinese heritage. She is an avid practitioner of Chinese calligraphy and painting, finding a natural parallel between the fluid brushstrokes of traditional art and the expressive phrasing of the piano repertoire.

Intellectual Interests
A multifaceted talent, Carol is a dedicated problem solver who enjoys the technical challenge of the Rubik’s Cube—a hobby that sharpens the pattern recognition and precision vital to her musicianship. Her artistic interests are further rounded out by a passion for fashion design and runway modeling, reflecting a unique blend of analytical depth and creative expression.

Letao Li, age 12, is a sixth-grader at Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School, a public K-12 music school in New York City. She studies piano with Dr. Natela Mchedlishvili. In 2022, Letao debuted her in-person piano competitions and won first prizes consecutively in the George Gershwin International Music Competition and Kaufman Music Center’s International Youth Piano Competition. In 2023, Letao won the grand prize in the Connecticut Hartford XIV Chopin International Piano Competition and first place in the third Barum Music Foundation International Virtual Piano Competition (professional youth category). In 2024, Letao performed Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Richmond County Orchestra in New York. Beyond piano, Letao is a math and coding enthusiast. She is a Davidson Young Scholar recognized by the U.S. Davidson Institute and was a national 9th-place winner in GAIM, the U.S. girls’ math competition in 2024.

Elizabeth Levine is a 12-year-old pianist and visual artist based in New York City. She studies piano with Yukimi Song and has performed more than 15 times at Carnegie Hall, including appearances at both Weill and Zankel Halls. In 2023, she made her orchestral debut with the Somerset Symphony Orchestra, and in 2024, she attended major international festivals, including the XXIX International Piano Festival “Chopin Summer” in Busko-Zdrój, Poland—where she was the youngest pianist invited to perform and participate in masterclasses, and the International Summer Academy at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria. Elizabeth will present a solo concert at the National Opera Center in New York, NY to benefit the World Wildlife Fund, perform at the Triumph of the Keys Gala in Galveston, Texas, and attend the Vivace International Music Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the summer of 2025.

Elizabeth has earned top prizes in more than 25 international piano competitions. Highlights include First Prize at the International Grande Music Competition; Gold Medal at the AADGT Album of the Young Gifted Performers; First Prize and the Baroque Award at the Piano Teachers Congress of New York Honors Program; Grand Prize at the New York Laureate International Music Competition; Grand Prix at the Glory International Piano Competition; First Prize at the Franz Liszt Center International Piano Competition; First Prize at the Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey; and the Golden Star Award and a perfect score at the Elite International Competition. She was awarded Second Prize at both the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Henle International Piano Competition. She received the Silver Medal in the Grand Final of the Piano League Piano Star International and Third Prize at the Spotlight International Piano Competition. She has performed in masterclasses with distinguished artists such as Eteri Andjaparidze, Dr. Michael Berkovsky, and Dr. Krystian Tkaczewski.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Elizabeth has performed chamber music with The Chamber Music Center of New York and has participated in summer chamber music programs led by faculty from the Mannes School of Music and musicians from the New York Philharmonic. She is also a member of the Youth Roster for Concerts in Motion, providing live and virtual performances for elderly and homebound individuals.

In addition to music, Elizabeth is a nationally recognized visual artist. Two of her flag designs were exhibited at Rockefeller Center as part of international art showcases, and a stamp she designed was selected for Easterseals’ 2024 national campaign, distributed to over 20 million households. Her artwork has also been featured in The Week Junior magazine and displayed at the American CLEANPOWER trade show. In April 2022, she appeared on The Today Show to speak about her artistic inspiration.

Praised for her “clearcut yet vertiginous velocity” and “natural musicality of expression” (New York Concert Review), New York City native Azalea Kelley has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Klavierhaus in midtown Manhattan, and Steinway both in New York and Chicago. In high school, she received the Chopin Foundation of the United States Scholarship in Miami; and her debut CD, “Azalea Kelley Plays Chopin” (Arabesque Records), was sponsored by the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Texas following her first prize win in 2022. Other awards include top prizes at the Royal Conservatory’s Music Lights the Way Competition in Toronto, the MTNA-Steinway Young Artist Competition in West Virginia, and the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra competition, which led to a performance of Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 on the orchestra’s subscription series. As a student at Troy University for her freshman and sophomore years, Azalea won several first prizes in Alabama, as well as the International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC: her performance of the IYAPC’s commissioned Chinese piece was broadcast during Lunar New Year on Robert Sherman’s “Young Artists Showcase” on WQXR-FM. She is currently pursuing her performance certificate at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, following her graduation from West Virginia University in 2025. Her teachers have included Rieko Aizawa, Lucy Mauro, Hui-Ting Yang, and Emily White.