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 to 1980. Originally offering a single “Marlin-Engel prize,” the competition today offers awards in both piano and instrumental categories and three age divisions: Junior (up to age 9), Intermediate (ages 10-13), and Senior (ages 14-18). The first-place prize for piano is the Ida Canter Prize, established by Dr. Jane Loeffler and her family as a tribute to her grandmother.
The 2024 Competition took place on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Each participant performed two solo works or movements that contrast in style and period.
Congratulations to all the participants, their teachers, and their families!
Awards
Congratulations to all the finalists and their extraordinary teachers!
Piano Junior Competition
First place: Felicity Zhang, student of Gloria Youn
Second place: Benedict Chen-Bianchetti, student of Artur Aksenov
Honorable mention: Riley Ding, student of Darya Gabay and Olivia Lee, student of Gina Hong
Instrumental Junior Competition
First place: Chloe Chu, student of Virgilio Joven and Ronin Wong, student of Henry Stubbs
Second place: Sebastian Cakaj, student of Maxfield Wollam-Fisher
Honorable mention: Francesca Alexander, student of Mia Pomerantz
Piano Intermediate Division
First place: Anne Valerie Ter, student of Darya Gabay
Second place: Neel Perdue, student of Artur Aksenov
Honorable mention: Minjae Jeon, student of Jinha Park
Instrumental Intermediate Division
First place: Zoe Chu, student of Christina Gullans and Chloe Robertson, student of Kenneth Stilwell
Second place: Philip Thankachan, student of Susan Katsarelis
Honorable mention: Thomas Larsen, student of Douglas Rogers, Abigail Reid, student of Henry Stubbs, and Ani Veeraraghavan, student of Will Hurd
Piano Senior Division
First place: Davanee Li, student of Wenyin Chan
Second place: Jessica Wang, student of Sam Post
Honorable mention: Yuhan Li, student of Wenyin Chan
Instrumental Senior Division
First place: Ishaan Banerjee, student of Maxfield Wollam-Fisher
Second place: Jeffrey Tan, student of Virgilio Joven
Honorable mention: Sofie Dardzinski, student of Franco Platino
Special thanks to: Aaron Percy, Recording Engineer; Maxfield Wollam-Fisher, competition organizer; Darya Gabay and Irina Kats, collaborative pianists, Emily Baltzer, Elizabeth Hill, Troy King, and Lachezar Kostov, competition judges; and Levine campus staff.
This program has been made possible through the generous support of the Marinus and Minna B. Koster Foundation, Inc.