2022 Prize Winners

(Professional Category)

Artists (Ages 19-32)

SERGEY BELYAVSKY Born in Moscow into a family of musicians, Sergey was only 11 when he won his first international competition. Since that his concert performances have spanned the globe. Already by age 24 Sergey has toured and performed in 28 different countries all over the world. Since 2005, Sergey became a multiple prize winner of more than 30 competitions and festivals, including Bronze Medal at GINA BACHAUER International Artists Competition, Salt Lake City, USA, 1st prize at International Piano Competition “JURIES IN COMPETITION” Salzburg, Austria; Second & Audience Prizes at FRANZ LISZT International Piano Competition, Budapest, Hungary; winner of Second & Audience Prizes at MARIA CANALS International Piano Competition, Barcelona, Spain, etc. In March 2022 Sergey has participated in a very special event “Ukraine Peace Benefit Concert”, held in St. Paulus Church in Frankfurt organized by City of Frankfurt am Main and the International Piano Forum Frankfurt, condemning the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Sergey honed his mastery with: Eliso Virsaladze, Arie Vardi, Lev Natochenny, Marian Rybicki; currently Sergey is polishing his musicianship at the Park University in Kansas City, Missouri (USA) with Golden Prize Winner of the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Prof. Stanislav Ioudenitch.

Anfisa Bobylova is Ukrainian pianist who has performed internationally in Europe and USA including playing at such festivals as Sommerfestival Orpheus, Piano Extravaganza , Lato z Chopinem, Scriabin Concert Series, Khmelnytskyi Kammer Fest, Haydn Festival and others. She has won over 20 prizes in international piano competitions including first prizes at Fausto Zadra Piano Competition, Chopin Piano Competition in Hartford, CT, Premio Città di Padova Music Competition, Gustav Mahler Prize Piano Competition, France music competition, International Artist Award Competition, International Piano Competition Citta di Albenga. Anfisa collaborated with such conductors: Andrea Barizza, Giuseppe Bruno, Mariusz Smolij, Yuriy Bervetskyi, Taras Martynyk, Sergiy Rabiychuck. Anfisa is a member of Lemberg Piano Trio and performs as duo with the violinist Tetiana Lutsyk, winning prizes with both formations. Anfisa composes her own music and performs it at the concerts. She is interested in historical performance and plays both the harpsichord and fortepiano. Anfisa was giving masterclasses in Italy, Ukraine and Austria and is currently a piano instructor in the Johann Josef Fux Conservatoire and Art University in Graz, Austria.

2nd Prize, 32, South Korean
Pianist Chungho Lee was born in Seoul, Republic of Korea. At the age of 15, he debuted for a solo recital at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. He has performed in solo and chamber recitals around Europe and Asia including Chiang-Mai Music Festival, Music Alp Festival and Yeon-eum Piano Festival. He also performed at Chosun-Ilbo debut concert as a top student for graduation at Seoul National University which is the most renowned University in Korea. In addition, he performed in many public concerts as the pianist of the Korea Army Band. He is a prize-winner of numerous competitions, including Marian Garcia International Piano Competition, Thaviu-Isaak Piano Competition, Music Association of Korea Competition, Bechstein-Samik Piano Competition, Suri Music Competition, Seoul National Symphony Competition, Segye-Ilbo Music Competition, Seoul Young Chamber Music Competition, and Korea International Duo Competition. He studied at Seoul National University for his Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to earn his Master of Music from The Juilliard School under the guidance of Professor Matti Raekallio and Hung-Kuan Chen. In the spring of 2021, he earned his Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale School of Music. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Northwestern University with Professor Jose Ramon Mendez.

Anthony Ratinov began playing piano at the age of four under the teaching of his grandmother, Edit Ratinova, who taught at the renowned Gnessin Music School in Moscow, Russia for 45 years. Anthony was recently a medalist and jury special prize winner at the 2022 Hilton Head Piano Competition, and received the 1st prize at the 2021 Canada International Artists Piano Competition. He also won the Pianists' Award, sponsored by Bösendorfer, at the International Summer Academy in Austria in 2021 and 2019, and the silver medal at the 2022 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition with his piano trio, Trio Ondata. Anthony has performed extensively both in the United States and in Europe, including a recent solo concert tour across the Netherlands, and has given recitals and performances at such notable venues as The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the ORF RadioKulturhaus performance hall in Vienna, and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C. Anthony is currently a masters student at the Yale School of Music studying with Professor Boris Berman. Anthony previously studied at Yale University, where he majored in chemical engineering and graduated with honors, in addition to studying piano with Professor Wei-Yi Yang.

Young Artists

(Ages 15-18)

Yungyung Guo has performed at many renowned venues such as Basilica Di San Pietro Concert Hall in Italy, National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Hangzhou Grand Theater, He Luting Concert Hall at SHCM, Shangyin Opera House, Ningbo Concert Hall and Hongtai Concert Hall in Xiamen. She has also appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at many festivals around the world and given an acclaimed performance of Beethoven’s second concerto with orchestra. Yungyung has captured top prizes from international competitions, such as the Golden Medal with High Distinction from the Manhattan International Music Competition, 1st Prizes from the G-Clef International Music Competition and Orbetello International Piano Competition, 2nd Prizes from the NextGen International Piano Competition and WPTA Spain International Piano Competition, Platinum Award from the WPTA Singapore International Piano Competition and 3rd Prize from the Sviatoslav Richter International Piano Competition. She has been awarded the People’s Scholarship and the Shanghai Scholarship. Born in Hong Kong, Yungyung is currently studying with Moye Chen at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Elsie Lu is a grade 11 Magee Secondary School SPARTS program student from Vancouver Canada. She began studying piano with Mrs. Rada Bukhman and immediately fell in love with classical music. As a current pupil of Dr. Sasha Starcevich, Elsie has been led to a broader perspective and is eager to pursue music as her career. After winning the American Protégé Competition, Elsie attained the opportunity to perform in Carnegie hall at the age of nine. She has won 1st place at the 2021 63th Canimex Canadian Music Competition, 14th Luigi Cellitelli International Competition, and VII Paderewski Piano Competition, and Platinum prize at the 2022 Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition. In addition, she was the Gold Medalist at the US Northwest Chopin Festival, Seattle Pacific NW Piano Competition, Steinway Canada Young Artist Competition, and winner of the 50th SYAMFA concerto competition, 6th North West International Piano Ensemble Competition, 2019 Steinway Junior Piano Competition, 2021 Chicago International Music Competition, and 2022 Young Euregio International Piano Competition.
Most recently, Elsie received the Fazioli Trophy and Scholarship at the CDMF festival, and as a representative of this festival, she won 1st prize of Provincial Excellence Class for the 2022 BC Performing Arts Festival. Elsie was awarded the Jury Discretionary Award for the 2022 Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition. Furthermore, Elsie was chosen as a one of the six Festival Students to perform in the master classes and concert at the 2022 Gina Bachauer International Piano Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah. Elsie has appeared with various orchestras including the Bruensis Virtuosi, Orchestra of MusicFest Perugia, Bellevue Symphony and Philharmonia Northwest. Music festivals, such as the Vivace festival, Southeastern Piano Festival, and Gina Bachauer Festival have given her many opportunities to connect with peers and engage in masterclasses with renowned professors such as Robert McDonald, Alexander Braginsky, Boris Slutsky, Ursula Oppens, Arthur Greene, Ilana Vered, Alexander Kobrin and many other pianists.

Megumi Maekawa (Megumi Margaret Kenevan), daughter of an American father and a Japanese mother, was born and grew up in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated with high honors from the junior music academy affiliated with Japan’s Toho College of Music (2004-2019) and is currently a student at Futaba High School in Tokyo. Megumi studies piano under the primary tutelage of Yukio Yokoyama.
She has participated in several of Japan’s most well-known music festivals and has attended many master classes led by internationally renowned pianists such as Cyprien Katsaris, Andrzej Jasinski, Katsurako Mikami, Hibiki Tamura and Ayako Uehara. She recently won gold (high school division) and silver (solo artist division) medals in the 2021 Chopin International Piano Competition in Asia.

Junior Artists

(Ages 11-14)

11-Year-Old Thannapas Luanpitpong was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Thannapas has won numerous first prizes in several national and international music competitions more than 10 Countries such as USA, Canada , Italy, Austria,Japan,Malaysia,Macau, Hongkong,Singapore, UK, and Korea.
Currently at the age of 11, Thannapas is a Music Scholar in Year 8, a Secondary Music Ambassador at Regent’s International School of Bangkok. Thannapas is currently a student of Dr. Pornphan Banternghansa and Dr. Christopher Janwong Mckiggan and Mr. Panatpong.

Meining Wu is a 13-year-old pianist living in California USA. She started first piano lesson at six and is studying with Professor Hans Boepple. Meining has won numerous top prizes in prestigious competitions including 1st place in 2022 CAPMT Honors District 2 (3rd place in State Final), finalist in 2022 Weatherford College International Piano Competition, 1st places in 2021 International Competitions including Young Verona, Windsor, Chopin Avenue (concerto category), Grand Prize of Rising Star category in 2021 Chicago, 1st Alternate in MTAC PCS Northern Regional Competition Solo, as well as 2nd places in 2021 Bellagrande, Harmonium Online Plus and USIMC Concerto Category, ENKOR, and Top Tier finish in 2021 Orbetello International Competitions; 1st places with "Young Artist Award" in 2020 USIMC, KAMSA, US New Star and US Open Music Competitions, Finalist in 2020 Pacific Musical Society & Foundation Annual Competition, 2nd place in Marilyn Mindell 2020 and 2021 Piano Competitions, as well as 2020 Steinway Virtual Piano Competition US and Canada. Meining was selected to 2020 San Jose International Piano Competition Workshop and studied with Professor Antonio Pompa-Baldi. She has performed in Master Class with Professor Emerita Lenora Brown. Meining was also invited to 2022 Vivace Piano Festival.