Congratulations to Northern California Viola Society's 2022 Young Violists Competition Winners:
Andrew Ahn, 16, from Atherton
Andrew Hwang, 14, from Palo Alto
Chanhee Park, 16, from San Jose
Meet our finalists, 3 young violists from Northern California:
Andrew Ahn, First Place and Best Performance of Micro Suite, entered the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre College Division as a violist in 2016 where he currently studies with Pei-Ling Lin. He has been a member of Young Chamber Musicians since 2020, performing in masterclasses with Chris Costanza of the St. Lawrence Quartet and Eric Chin of the Telegraph Quartet. As a soloist, Andrew has won multiple awards including 3rd place in the USIMC 2020 and 2nd place in the KAMSA 2021, and has performed in a masterclass with Paul Yarborough of the Alexander String Quartet. Andrew attended the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in 2020, and the Bowdoin International Summer Music Festival in 2021. Outside of music, he enjoys playing video games with his friends and studying chemistry.
Andrew Hwang, Second Place and Best Bach Performance, is a freshman at Henry Gunn High School, where he is principal violist in the orchestra. He started playing the viola at age 9 under Sujung Seok, and has been studying with Minji Kim since 2020. He is a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and of the Young Chamber Musicians led by Susan Bates. Andrew has won numerous competitions including 2nd place at the 2021 United States International Music Competition, and 4th prize at the 2021 Houston International Music Competition. In addition, he received the Grand Prize in the 2021 Silicon Valley Music Competition, 1st prize in the 2021 KAMSA Competition, and was a winner of the 2021 Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition where he had been a member for three years. Andrew has been a member of the 2020 and 2021 California All-State Junior High Orchestra, and of the High School Symphony in 2022. He participated in the 2021 Heifetz PEG program studying with Bela Horvath, and in the 2021 Bowdoin Music Festival with Che-Yen Chen. Andrew has been performing for Red Cross Disaster Relief in Nahnoom Benefit Concerts since 2017.
11th grader Chanhee Park, Third Prize Winner, attends Archbishop Mitty High School. He started piano in 1st grade, and that led to his interest in viola 3 years later, under his current teacher Yunsun Kim. Says Chanhee' "She taught me everything and fed my interest in competitions, ensembles, and orchestra." Chanhee joined the Silicon Valley Youth Symphony as a 7th grader, and became a principal of the viola section soon after. Chanhee has participated in many competitions and won first place in the Silicon Valley Music Competition and the United States International Music Competition. He has also participated in a variety of ensembles including a trio and a quartet; these groups have found some competitive success as well. "Music has shaped my life and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things as COVID hopefully dies down."
