CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Celebration of the Arts participants!
COTA Competition and Festival is a fundraising event for the NBSCMI, a 501(c)(3).
Everyone’s playing was at an extremely high level, and the judges were amazed and touched by the dedication of the students and their beautiful playing! Click here to read the extraordinary bios of our judges. Our students had the rare opportunity to have judges of the highest international caliber, who judge big international competitions!
Watch the exciting solo performances of some of our students from the Winners’ Concerts at Neumann University in February 2023, as well as the breathtaking collaborative performances with the dancers from the “International Ballet Classique” in Malvern and artwork from the “Main Line Art Center.” (Scroll down to see a full documentary of the Celebration of the Arts PROJECT with interviews and clips of performances.)
We thank both of those institutions for our inspiring collaboration!
Please see below the list of all of the winners of the Solo and Concerto Competitions.
COTA Concerto Competition Results
Judged by: Professor Faina Lushtak | Dr. Timothy Blair | Elina Kalendarova
Concerto Competition WINNERS
Congratulations to our Concerto Competition winners! Five students were chosen by our judges to perform on June 4 with the Ambler Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jack Moore. See below the winners and the concertos they will be playing!
Yonatan Gartenberg (Violin): Accolay Concerto in A Minor
Apollo Murray (Cello): Elgar Cello Concerto, 1st Movement
Sasha Murray (Piano): Saint-Saens Concerto, 3rd Movement
Ben Sessions (Piano): Shostakovich Piano 2nd Concerto, 1st Movement
Ian Sun (Piano): Chopin 2nd Concerto, 2nd Movement
Concerto Competition 2nd & 3rd Prize Winners, Honorable Mentions
STRINGS/WINDS
2nd Prize: Miles Zhou (Violin)
3rd Prize: Ben Roses (Violin)
1st Honorable Mention: Zoe Zhang(Violin)
2nd Honorable Mention: Suri Ahn (Violin)
3rd Honorable Mention: Ryan Ye (Violin)
PIANO
2nd Prize: Michelle Dou (Piano)
3rd Prize: Andrew Li (Piano)
1st Honorable Mention: Andrew Yu (Piano)
2nd Honorable Mention: Chloe Chen (Piano)
3rd Honorable Mention: Torsten Fras (Harpsichord)
COTA Solo Competition Results
Judged by: Professor Faina Lushtak | Dr. Timothy Blair | Elina Kalendarova | Dr. Nathaniel McEwen
PLATINUM
Daniel Adibi (Piano)
Emma D’Erasmo (Piano)
Michelle Dou (Piano)
Vincent Gao (Piano)
Emma Heckman (Voice)
Claire Kim (Violin)
Benjamin Andrade (Voice)
Ben Sessions (Piano)
Caleb Uy (Piano)
George Zhang (Piano)
GOLD
Suri Ahn (Violin)
Dishan Bhattacharya (Piano)
Eshan Bhattacharya (Piano)
Sophia Cui (Piano)
David Gartenberg (Violin)
Ethan Ha (Piano)
Melina Intzes (Piano)
Charlotte Li (Piano)
Emily Lu (Piano)
Nolan McGrane-Moffitt (Cello)
Jack Nazarian (Violin)
Madeline Nazarian (Viola)
Angela Piao (Piano)
Luis Romano (Violin)
Theo Silio (French Horn)
Chaseton Simons (Violin)
Preston Simons (Violin)
Jaden Tan (Piano)
Sviatoslav Voznyi (Flute)
Benjamin Vuernick (Piano)
Elaina Wang (Piano)
Max Zabolotski (Piano)
Ryan Zhang (Piano)
SILVER PLUS
Claire Kim(Piano)
Victoria Laabs (Oboe)
Benjamin McGrane-Moffitt (Cello)
Kat Kat Moore (Violin)
Dmitry Mueller (Piano)
Chaseton Simons (Piano)
Preston Simons (Piano)
Evelyn Silio (Violin)
Carissa Uy (French Horn)
Abigail Vuernick (Violin)
Olivia Park Yang (Piano)
Artem Yermolenko (Cello)
SILVER
Anushka Chakraborty (Piano)
Don Schuerman (Piano)
Meet our Illustrious Judges for the Celebration of the Arts Competitions!
Faina Lushtak: Steinway Artist, Chair of Downman Trust Fund at Tulane University, International Competition Judge.
Dr. Timothy Vance Blair: Steinway Artist, Senior Partner & Distinguished Professor with Alexander & Buono International of New York.
Elina Kalendarova: Member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2002
Dr. Nathaniel McEwen: Voice Instructor at NBS
Watch the Documentary of Last Year’s Celebration of the Arts!
