Announcing the Winners of our 2025 Concerto Movement Competition
The Palo Alto Philharmonic is pleased to announce the Winners of our 2025 Concerto Movement Competition, listed in alphabetical order:
| Sara Flexer, cello | Bloch: Schelomo | |
| Jina Han, violin | Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19 (1st mvmt) | |
| Bridget Hoang, piano | Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F# minor, Op. 1 (1st mvmt) | |
| Kayla Lee, violin | Korngold: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (1st mvmt) | |
| Elijah Reyes, soprano sax | Villa-Lobos: Fantasia for Saxophone in Bb (1st mvmt) | |
| Celicia Thendean, piano | Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (1st mvmt) |
These 6 winners will perform their chosen works with the Palo Alto Philharmonic in a concert on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Cubberley Theatre, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA. Winners will participate in rehearsals on the following dates: 4/21/2025, 4/28/2025, 5/5/2025, 5/12/2023 and dress rehearsal on 5/16/2025 (all rehearsals start at 7:30 PM).
The purpose of the competition is to recognize outstanding talent and provide an invaluable learning experience to music students. For additional information or questions about the competition or the orchestra, visit our web site at www.paphil.org.
In addition to these Winners, the Palo Alto Philharmonic would also like to congratulate the following 4 Alternates on their excellent performances at the Live Auditions
| Hannah Lee, violin | Daniel Strebulaev, piano | |
| Jacob Rockower, piano | Riona Zhu, violin |
21 Finalists were heard during the Live Audition round, chosen from 65 applicants. They are listed here in alphabetical order:
| Colin Breshears, viola | Martinu: Rhapsody-Concerto, H. 337 (1st mvmt) | |
| Samantha Cheunkarndee, violin | Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (1st mvmt) | |
| Hiroshi Corro, piano | Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 (1st mvmt) | |
| Sora Corro, piano | Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 (1st mvmt) | |
| Sara Flexer, cello | Bloch: Schelomo | |
| Jina Han, violin | Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19 (1st mvmt) | |
| Bridget Hoang, piano | Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F# minor, Op. 1 (1st mvmt) | |
| Jennifer Kang, viola | Bartok: Viola Concerto (1st mvmt) | |
| Casey Kim, cello | Herbert: Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30 (1st mvmt) | |
| Unyew Kim, violin | Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K. 216 (1st mvmt) | |
| Hannah Lee, violin | Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A minor, Op 37 (1st mvmt) | |
| Kayla Lee, violin | Korngold: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (1st mvmt) | |
| Ethan Li, piano | Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (1st mvmt) | |
| Elijah Reyes, soprano sax | Villa-Lobos: Fantasia for Saxophone in Bb (1st mvmt) | |
| Jacob Rockower, piano | Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto in Bb minor, Op. 23 (1st mvmt) | |
| Calliope Smith, violin | Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen | |
| Daniel Strebulaev, piano | Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 (1st mvmt) | |
| Celicia Thendean, piano | Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (1st mvmt) | |
| Nathan Zhang, piano | Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb, Op.83 (2nd mvmt) | |
| Madelyn Zhu, violin | Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 (1st mvmt) | |
| Riona Zhu, violin | Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35 (3rd mvmt) |
The Palo Alto Philharmonic would also like to congratulate the following 5 Honorable Mention applicants on their excellent entries during the recorded submission phase.
| Jessie Shang, violin | |
| Tristen Chen, piano | |
| Anya Finsterle, cello | |
| Nolan Woo, cello | |
| Tiffiny Chan, cello |
We regret that we can only accommodate a limited number of Winners, Alternates, Finalists and Honorable Mention applicants. All of the entries into this year’s competition exhibited fine musicianship and artistry, and show the broad depth of outstanding talent within the Bay Area — including numerous younger musicians who are clearly on track to become Finalists and Winners in our future competitions. We encourage all applicants to continue their musical studies and their artistic growth.
For additional information or questions about the competition or the orchestra, write us at info@paphil.org, call the Palo Alto Philharmonic at (408) 395-2911, or visit our web site at www.paphil.org.
Many thanks to J.W. & H.M. Goodman for underwriting the competition and concert!