Success Stories

Alumnus Ziqing Guo (BM ’18, MM ’20) has been appointed to the violin section of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO). He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music, studying with Sylvia Rosenberg and Nicholas Mann, and more recently a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Ziqing has been a guest violinist with Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Festival, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra.

Click here to learn more about Ziqing.

Korean pianist and coach Ye In Kwak (MM ‘24) is in her second year in the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Met Opera in New York, where she will make her Met Music Staff debut as an assistant conductor in Eugene Onegin on April 20. The production runs through May 16. This season, Ye In will also perform in the Program’s Patron Concert of opera scenes and annual spring recital series held at Merkin Hall.

“Congratulations, Ye In! And toi, toi, toi to the rest of the cast and crew!” writes the Lindemann program on social media.

Watch our video interview with Ye In Kwak in 2024 when she was named to the Lindemann Program here.
Ticket information about Eugene Onegin can be found here.

MSM violin faculty member Lucie Robert has been asked to return for to the international jury for the 11th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists being held in Weimar, Germany from November 7 to 29, 2026. It will be her second time on the jury.

Founded in 1995 at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, the International LOUIS SPOHR Competition for Young Violinists helps promote highly gifted musicians. The competition focuses on talented young musicians up to the age of 21, giving young talents an opportunity to attract the attention of an international jury at an early stage.

Learn more here.

MSM classical piano alumna Elzbieta Bilicka (PS ’23) will launch her and collaborator Mateusz Mikołajczak’s new Classical Piano Salon series at their inaugural gala and concert on April 8 at 7:30 PM at the Kosciuszko Foundation. The evening will feature performances by Nicolas Namoradze, Elsie Lu, and Haowen Deng.

Click here for tickets.

Click here to learn more about Elzbieta.

MSM classical piano alumnus Zheng Yue (MM ’25), a former student of MSM Piano Co-Chair Dr. Inesa Sinkevych (PS ’06, DMA ’10), recently completed a tour of Mainland China cities Tianjin, Quanzhou, Chengdu, and Shanghai (Shanghai Symphony Hall’s Chamber Hall) in collaboration with Shanghai Conservatory Cello Professor Dr. Weiping Chen.

The program, entitled Gallery by Ear, featured a unique cross-genre selection, ranging from classical character pieces to original works by Dr. Bo Li and contemporary transcriptions. This repertoire was curated to reflect the milestones of Dr. Chen’s musical journey.

Current MSM students Seiran Tozlian (BM ’26), piano, and Angelina Tozlyan (BM ’28), violin, as well as alumni Diana Gabrielyan (MM ’23), piano, and Karina Vartanian (PC ’21, BM ’25), soprano, will perform at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. They are all recent recipients of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Performing Arts scholarship and will join their fellow recipients for a program of traditional Armenian and Western classical music, dance, and poetry readings.

Tickets are currently available on the Carnegie Hall website as well as the box office at (212) 247-7800.

Photo collage: Diana Gabrielyan (top left), Seiran Tozlian (bottom left), Angelina Tozlyan (bottom middle), Karina Vartanian (bottom right)

MSM classical piano alumnus Dmitry Yudin (BM ’23, MM ’25) was awarded one of four 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grants. This highly prestigious $25,000 award recognizes four young artists whose careers exhibit significant accomplishment and exceptional promise. Awardees do not apply and do not know that they are under consideration. They are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

From St. Petersburg, Dmitry moved to New York City in 2019 to study at MSM. He is a prizewinner of competitions including the 15th International Scriabin Piano Competition, the International Classical Music Festival and Competition for Young Pianists, Astana Piano Passion, and the Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition.

Click here to read The Strad announcement.

Wynton Marsalis‘s new cello concerto premiered on March 7 with Yo-Yo Ma on cello at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. It was performed again on March 10 in Detroit featuring MSM faculty member cellist Tommy Mesa (DMA ’23) performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Tommy Mesa worked closely with Wynton Marsalis and Yo Yo Ma in preparation for the touring series of four concerts conducted by Cristian Măcelaru; the composition was also performed in Philadelphia on March 13 and Boston on March 15, with Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

Listen to the performance here.

MSM Jazz Piano faculty member Ted Rosenthal (BM ’81, MM ’83) will release the latest installment of his Trios in 4 Acts tetralogy, this one entitled The Good Old Days (TMR Music) on May 1. Leading two different trios, he puts a contemporary twist on early jazz styles. The late, great clarinetist Ken Peplowski additionally appears on two of the album’s tracks.

Click here to learn more about Ted, his other albums, and upcoming performances.

MSM classical flute alumna Janet Axelrod (MM ’87) has released a new album, entitled Act One: New Works for Flute & Piano, on the Freedom Road Records label. The album is comprised entirely of instrumental classical commissions from composers with a background in musical theatre. The result is new repertoire with a breadth of stylistic influences. Each piece was written with the concert stage in mind and showcases a distinctive voice.

An integral member of New York’s commercial and classical scenes, Janet is equally comfortable in a Broadway pit, studio session, or chamber ensemble. She also enjoyed a two-decade tenure as the flute and piccolo chair in the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra.

Click here to learn more about Janet.
Click here to read the EarRelevant review.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) opened its 2026 Spring Season at the David H. Koch Theater with Lar Lubovitch‘s Othello: A Dance in Three Acts on Friday, March 6, 2026. This revival of the 1997 Shakespearean adaptation features an original score by Academy Award-winning composer and MSM alumnus Elliot Goldenthal (BM ’77, MM ’79).

Elliot received a Bachelors degree at MSM studying trumpet with Mel Broiles, and a Masters degree studying composition with John Corigliano.

The performances of Othello: A Dance in Three Acts run through March 20, 2026.

More about the production here.

The PBS show Great Performances is featuring MSM Flute and Chamber Music faculty member Valerie Coleman and her music in a new series, Chasing Crescendos, that focuses on The New World Symphony in Miami. All segments are airing online; the first segment was broadcast in late February on PBS stations all across the US. In that episode, Valerie is featured working closely with violinist Allison Taylor (the two in photo above) who is performing Valerie’s composition Umoja, Anthem of Unity with The New World Symphony. Umoja, Anthem for Unity was chosen by Chamber Music America as one of the “Top 101 Great American Ensemble Works” and is now a staple of woodwind literature.

Valerie Coleman is regarded by many as an iconic artist who continues to pave her own unique path as a composer, GRAMMY-nominated flutist, and entrepreneur. Highlighted as one of the “Top 35 Women Composers” by The Washington Post, she was named Performance Today’s 2020 Classical Woman of the Year, an honor bestowed to an individual who has made a significant contribution to classical music as a performer, composer or educator.

Watch the program here.
Learn more about Valerie Coleman here.

Church Street School for Music and Art’s Director of Programs and longtime faculty member Dr. Tereza Lee (BM ’05, MM ’07, PS ’10, DMA ’20) will be honored at the school’s upcoming annual gala, “THE EVENT,” on Monday, March 9, at the Roxy Hotel in Manhattan’s Tribeca area.

Born in Brazil to parents displaced by the Korean War, Lee grew up undocumented and impoverished in inner-city Chicago. After earning a full scholarship to the Merit School of Music as a teenager, she won notable regional competitions but was initially barred from college due to her status. With the advocacy of Merit Director Ann Monaco and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Lee became the namesake of the “Tereza Lee Bill,”  which enabled her to attend college (at MSM) and later informed the DREAM Act. Dr. Lee is now an esteemed musician, educator, and immigration activist, as well as a U.S. Citizen and mother of three.

Click here to view the event flyer and to learn more about Dr. Lee.

MSM classical composition alumnus and software engineer Luis Andrei Cobo (BM ’94, MM ’96) has developed an application, called “Nerves of Steel: Focus Trainer,” for the purpose of preparing its users for the distractions that inevitably transpire during performances and auditions.

The app simulates multiple types of distractions, and of variable frequency. The app has two modes: Practice Mode adds controlled, randomized distractions so users can recover quickly, while Performance Mode creates a virtual concert space where users can run their performance program in a realistic, audience-like environment, before hitting the stage.

Click here to learn more about Nerves of Steel.
Click here to learn more about Luis.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters has given awards to 20 recipients of its 2026 Awards in Music to honor both established and emerging composers. The 300 members of Arts and Letters nominate candidates for awards, and a rotating committee of composer members selects the winners.

MSM Classical Composition faculty member Ashkan Behzadi (in photo on left), along with three other musicians, have each received an Arts and Letters Award of $10,000. The award acknowledges composers who have arrived at their own voice, and an additional $10,000 grant is given to each winner to be used toward a recording of one work.

MSM alumnus Rand Steiger (BM ’80) (in photo on right) received the Otto and Catherine Brunson Luening Award of $20,000 each for two composers who have not yet been accorded due recognition.

For more information on the American Academy of Arts and Letters, please visit this link.

Koshiro Takeuchi (BM ’28) is one of 24 violinists chosen to compete in the Montreal International Violin Competition this coming May, 2026. He was selected from among 250 applicants.

Mr Takeuchi is a prize winner of the Paganini and Long-Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competitions, as well as grand prize winner of the inaugural Ion Voicu International Violin Competition.

At MSM, he is a student of Koichiro Harada and Lucie Robert.

Violinist Siyi Li (MM ’26), a student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada has been invited to perform a series of concerts this summer by the Jiade Art Center Management.

He will be performing in Shanghai, Wuhan, Suzhou, Hongzhou and at the Jiade Artistic Center.

MSM Vocal Arts alumni Shelén Hughes Camacho (BM ’18, MM ’20), soprano (in photo on right), and Haolun Zhang (MM ’24), countertenor (on left) have advanced to the semi-finals of the respected The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, which take place on March 15.

The competition discovers promising young opera singers and helps boost their careers; some of today’s greatest singers got their start with it.

Learn more here.

Violinist Risa Hokamura (BM ’24, MM ’26, in photo on top left), an MSM student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada, was featured in a Young Concert Artists on Tour chamber ensemble performance at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City on February 5.

The Young Concert Artists series presents the debuts of exceptional young musicians, all winners of the annual YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. In addition to Washington, D.C., and New York debuts, YCA winners are awarded ongoing management services, career guidance, education and community engagements, and concerts across the United States.

On Risa’s February 5 program: JOSÉ ELIZONDO – Latin American Dances, ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI – Serenade for String Trio in C Major, Op. 10, and FRANZ SCHUBERT  –  String Quartet in C Major, D. 956.

“This extraordinary chamber ensemble performs repertoire in unique instrumentation that spans a rarely heard range of musical styles and genres,” writes the concert organizers.

More information and tickets here.

MSM alumna and mezzo-soprano Hannah Jones (MM ’24) sings the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly on Jan 9, 13, 17, 21, 24 and Mar 10, 14, 18, 21, 27 at the Metropolitan Opera. She will then perform the role of Annina in La Traviata on Apr 3 and May 6, 9, 13, 16.

Hannah Jones is in her second year of the Met Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

More information about Hannah Jones here.

Deborah Simpkin King, the Director of Choirs at MSM, was recently featured on the website of Chorus America, spotlighting her work as Artistic Director and Founder of the New York/New Jersey-based ensemble Ember Choral Arts.

“Rehearsal with Deborah is like being in a yoga class,” says Ember chorister Alyson Navarro in the article. “It’s a practice. It’s a discipline.”

Deborah is also the Director and Founder of PROJECT : ENCORE™, Ablaze Composer Lab and Ignite Ensemble; Director of Music and Arts, Trinity Episcopal Church, Asbury Park, NJ; and Chair of the New York Choral Consortium.

Read the article here.

MSM alumnus and baritone Kyle Miller (MM ’07) will be performing the role of Papageno in The Magic Flute taking place at LA Opera from May 30 to June 21, 2026.

More about Kyle Miller here.

Chia-Yu Kao (BM ’29), a student of MSM faculty member Lucie Robert, was a grand prize-winner of the Victory Solo Competition, and was invited to perform the Korngold Violin Concerto in D Major, op 35, on December 20, 2025, with the Victory Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Yi-Jen Wen.
The performance took place in the Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei.

MSM Trustee and classical piano alumnus Dr. Scott Dunn (MM ’97) released two albums in January. The first was Scott Dunn: Hollywood Film Music, Vol 1, released on January 16 on the Platoon label, and features music Scott and the Scott Dunn Orchestra performed recently in their Hollywood Modernists program at The Wallis Beverly Hills. The album was recorded in October 2024 at Air Studios in London, with Scott and the Britten Sinfonia performing  his arrangements and original scores of  some of the finest Hollywood film music.

On January 23, a second album was released, featuring Scott on solo piano, performing his own arrangements for much of the same repertoire of the symphonic recording.

On January 17 at The Wallis Beverly Hills, the Scott Dunn Orchestra performed the music of iconic films of the ’70s such as Star Wars, The Godfather (I & II), Chinatown, The Sting, Diamonds are Forever, Chinatown, Taxi Driver, and Murder on the Orient Express.

For more information visit Scott’s website here.

Lecolion Washington (MM ’01) is the Executive Director of the Community Music Center of Boston. Writes Musical America: “With over 20 years as a performing bassoonist, 15 years as a music professor, and 10 years as an arts administrator, Lecolion Washington has been ‘paying it forward’ at the helm of the century-old Community Music Center of Boston. CMCB reports impacting over 3,000 students from pre-school to seniors every week — the largest external arts education provider to the Boston Public Schools.”

Read more here.

Operatic tenor Jonathan Tetelman (BM ’11) and jazz guitarist/NY Yankees Legend Bernie Williams (BM ‘16) headline an ambitious concert produced by All-Star Encore.

The two stars will be joined by 16 additional MSM alumni and current students in an expansive program uniting opera and jazz, music and sports, talented students and seasoned professionals.

“It’s so wonderful to see two distinguished representatives of MSM’s alumni community headlining this multi-faceted program,” says Manhattan School of Music President James Gandre, “not just because Jonathan and Bernie—and all those who will be joining them onstage—are exemplary talents, but because this very special evening will celebrate the intersection of music and sport, and the areas of skill, artistry, and determination that are common to high-achieving musicians and athletes. Of course, in Bernie Williams, the evening spotlights a pillar of excellence in both worlds.”

More info in our news release here.

On December 29 in Prague, Czech Republic, MSM alumnus Chase Park (PPD ’25; AD ’26) performed the Antonin Kraft (a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn) Cello Concerto in C Major, Op 4 with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Smetana Hall.

MSM President James Gandre met up with Chase after the performance (photo above).

MSM Musical Theatre faculty member Judith Clurman invited a handful of MSM Musical Theatre students to rehearse and perform with her Essential Voices USA for two sold out Carnegie Hall holiday concerts Merry and Bright on December 20 and 21.

“The students attended all the rehearsals, memorized the music & performed beautifully with the NY Pops, Jessica Vosk, & Santa Claus!,” says Judith about the event. “I conducted my piece, Eight Days of Lights with the orchestra, and looked into these kids faces while doing so. It was very special for me. They brought tears to my eyes; they performed beautifully and brought me personal joy and warmth!”

In photo above taken backstage at Carnegie Hall: Kate J, Sophia, Jake, Lauren, Gianna, Callie, Sophia, Hallie, Kate M, Bella R, Bella J., & Madison.

Vladimir Petrov (PPD ‘26) a student at MSM of Horacio Gutierrez and who has received high praise from critics internationally, won Second Prize as well as the Commissioned Work Prize at the prestigious 2025 Nashville International Chopin Piano Competition that took place on December 13 to 19, 2025.

Vladimir Petrov has won top prizes at numerous international competitions, including first prizes at events the Lotar Shevchenko Competition (Russia), Ciudad de Vigo (Spain), Jose Jacinto Cuevas–Yamaha Competition (Mexico), NTD Piano Competition (New York, USA), and the Neapolitan Masters Competition (Italy).

Petrov has released four solo albums, including Encores (2021, Mans label, Spain). His 2019 release, featuring Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes, was recorded in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. His latest album recorded in New York will be released soon.

With roots in Russia, Petrov was raised from the age of three in Mexico, which he affectionately considers his homeland.

More information on the winners here.

MSM alumnus Seth Schultheis has won first prize at the 2025  Deutsche Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn.

Seth studied at the Manhattan School of Music for many years. He completed his precollege training and began his undergraduate studies under the guidance of Philip Kawin, and later completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees with Dr. Solomon Mikowsky. He is currently based in London.

“He is regarded as one of the most outstanding piano students to have emerged from MSM, and his recent international success is a powerful reflection of both his artistry and his training at the school,” says MSM faculty member Jiayin Li.

More about Seth Schultheis here.