THE YOUNG MUSICIANS COMPETITION
2024 Young Musicians Competition Winners
First Prize: Joshua Cisneros
Second Prize: Kayla Lee
Third Prize: Olivia Park
Honorable Mention: Casey Kim, Ian Cheung, Xinyan Shi
2023 Young Musicians Competition Winners
First Prize/James McAuliffe Memorial Prize
Christopher Wu, violin
Second Prize (tied)
Joshua Cisneros, violin
Second Prize (tied)
Cadence Liu, flute
Honorable mention: David Hsieh, marimba | Michelle Kuan, flute
Previous WINNERS OF THE YOUNG MUSICIANS COMPETITION
First Place (2022)
Cassandra May, violin
Second Place (2022)
Elliott Kim, cello
Second Place (2022)
Esther Luan, violin
First Place (2021)
Harrison Kim, clarinet
11th grade, Branham High School
Second Place (2021)
Emily Hwang, viola
10th grade, Gunn High School
Third Place (2021)
Eunseo Oh, violin
10th grade, Lynbrook High School
First Place (2020)
Ajay Mallya, violin
11th grade, Bellarmine College Prep
Second Place (2020)
Adelyn Chen, violin
12th grade, Design Tech High School
Third Place (2020)
Esther Luan, violin
10th grade, Saratoga High School
THE YOUNG MUSICIANS COMPETITION
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
● Applicants must be high school sophomores, juniors, or seniors in San Francisco, San Mateo or Santa Clara County school districts.
● Applicants must be participating in their school music program.
● All orchestral instruments accepted (non-piano).
HOW DO I AUDITION?
● Applications and video recorded auditions must be submitted by deadline.
● A non-refundable $60 application fee is due with the application, payable by credit card.
➢ Application form and link to the application fee can be found below
● Auditions should be submitted by video recording. Detailed information can be found here
● Total audition time is 10 minutes per applicant. Auditions should be unaccompanied and cuts are suggested to conform to the time limit.
WHAT SHOULD I PLAY?
● One solo unaccompanied work (Bach unaccompanied, major étude, etc.) and
● One unaccompanied movement of a concerto or major work that can be performed with a symphony orchestra. Concertos must be approved in advance by Peninsula Symphony’s Artistic Director. Please email jenny@peninsulasymphony.org as soon as possible to get approval.
● Both works together must be approximately 10 minutes.
WHAT CAN I WIN?
● FIRST PRIZE - $500, certificate and a possible in-person solo appearance with the Peninsula Symphony (Concerts are subject to scheduling by mutual agreement and pending venue availability. Possible in-person solo appearance with the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra at the June 8, 2024 Summer Concert.)
● SECOND PRIZE - $200, and certificate
● THIRD PRIZE - $100, and certificate
For concerto approval and any questions email: jenny@peninsulasymphony.org
A prior winner of the Young Musicians Competition performs with PSO
For general information and inquiries please contact:
jenny@peninsulasymphony or call 650-941-5291.