The Marlin Engel Solo Competition was established by the Board of Trustees of Levine Music in 1980 to honor Jackie Marlin and Diana Engel, the school’s founders and co-directors from 1976-1980.

The 2023 Marlin Engel Solo Competition took place on Sunday, April 16, 2023. Each participant performed two solo works or movements that contrasted in style and period. Contestants competed in piano and instrumental categories in three age divisions Junior (up to age 9), Intermediate (ages 10-13) and Senior (ages 14-18). The first place prize for piano is awarded the Ida Canter prize, established by Dr. Jane Loeffler and her family as a tribute to her grandmother.

Congratulations to all the participants, their teachers, and their families!

2023 Marlin Engel Solo Competition

Awards

Congratulations to all the finalists and their extraordinary teachers!

Piano Intermediate Division
First place: Anastasia Fitenko (Martin Labazevitch)
Second place: Minjae Jeon (Jinha Park)
Honorable mention: Jason Ding (Darya Gabay) and Sam Brose (Jamila Tekalli Hanner)

Piano Senior Division
First place: Evan Oberkirsch (Darya Gabay)
Second place: Pamina Burton (Cecilia Cho) and Isaac Seiken (Mikhail Volchok)
Honorable mention: Yuhan Li (Wen-Yin Chan)

Instrumental Junior Division
First place: Lucy Kessler (Kathleen Jacobi)
Second place: Joey Deal (Mia Pomerantz)
Honorable mention: Francesca Alexander (Mia Pomerantz)

Instrumental Intermediate Division
First place: Sofie Dardzinski (Franco Platino)
Second place: Ani Veeraraghavan (William Hurd)
Honorable mention:Akira Inoue (Maxfield Wollam-Fischer)

Instrumental Senior Division
First place: Eileen Maloney Cunningham (Erin Durham)
Second place: Tiimo Jeyarajah (Doug Rogers)
Honorable mention: Luis Nestares (Virgilio Joven) and Noah Wilkins (Dimitri Kostaras)

Levine Music gratefully acknowledges the support of D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts, and the Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation.