2021 National Young Virtuosi Recital Competition Winners’ Biography

HENRY TUSHMAN

Henry Tushman, 14, studies piano with Sandra Hebert at Rivers School Conservatory, where he twice won Rivers’ Piano Department Award. For the past four summers, Henry has attended Cremona International Music Academy. Most recently, Henry won first prize in the Grand Prize Virtuoso London Competition and was chosen as Massachusetts State Alternate in the 2020 MTNA Junior Piano Competition. He has won first prize in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, Martha B. Sosman Concerto Competition, Cremona International Piano Competition, American Protégé International Concerto Competition, MMTA Bay State Piano Contest, and American Fine Arts Festival. Henry has performed in Boston Symphony Hall, Shalin Liu Performance Center, and Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi in Italy. He has premiered pieces written for him by award-winning composers Amy Reich and Whitman Brown, played chamber music in the Boston Music Institute, and performed in master classes for Victor Rosenbaum, Derek Chiu, and Esther Ning Yau.

ALYSSA XU

15-year-old Alyssa Xu is a sophomore. After getting inspired by her sister’s piano practice, she started piano lessons with Dr. Zhong Chen. After moving to New Jersey in 2017, Alyssa studies with Professor Ingrid Clarfield. She has won a series of piano competitions including First Place at Sixth Camerata Artists International Competition, First Prize in V Future Stars International Piano Competition, Second Prize at XI Chopin International Piano Competition, Alternate at MTNA (NJ) Student Performance Competitions, and a Finalist in The Claudette Sorel Piano Competition & Fellows Program. She has performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Kaufman Music Center. One of her recordings was also aired on the Kids on Keys program at WWFM Classical Network. In addition to participating in competitions, Alyssa has dedicated herself in the last three years to co-organize Performathon for CHOP – an annual fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

SERENA LI

Serena Li is a 9-year-old fourth grader from New York. She studies cello with Maxine Neuman at Hoff Barthelson Music School and piano with Rie Matsumoto. She also plays clarinet in her school band. She has won several music awards in the past year for both cello and piano.

Outside of music, Serena is interested in art and math. Her artwork has been accepted for publication and she got platinum medal in Kumon Math for the past academic year and was well placed in the Math Kangaroo Competitions. For sports, Serena enjoys swimming and playing tennis.

CLAIRE JIANG

Claire Jiang is from New Jersey and currently attends the Lawrenceville school. Music has always been her passion, and she started playing the piano at age seven. She has attended various competitions, performing at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, and is an International Young Artists Competition Grand Winner. Outside of piano and school, Claire is an avid reader, writer, and singer. Her piano instructor is Grace Junghee Yang.

SOPHIA KIM

Sophia Kim is a fifteen-year-old musician from Wayne, New Jersey. She studies at the Pre-College Program at The Juilliard School with Hung-Kuan Chen. Sophia is a multiple time first prize winner of the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition and the Music Educators Association Competition, both of which she has been competing in since she was in the first grade. She is also a silver medal recipient of the 2018 Bravura Philharmonic Young Artists Concerto Competition, a second prize winner of the 2018 Camerata Artists International Competition, and the second prize winner of the 2020 Steinway Piano Competition. She was the first prize winner of the 2018 Juilliard Concerto Competition, 2019 Steinway Piano Competition and the Gold Medalist of the 2020 International Young Artist Competition, and a finalist of the 2020 West Virginia International Competition and 2021 Lyra Competition.

SAMMI LI

Sammi Li, 16, started piano at the age of three and has been studying with Professor Ingrid Clarfield since the age of ten. Sammi has won numerous awards since then, including first place for the NJMTA Young Musicians Competition, the West Chester University Annual Pre-Collegiate Piano Competition, the Piano Teachers Congress of New York Honors Program Competition, the New York Debut Young Musicians Competition, and the Greater Princeton Steinway Society Piano Scholarship Competition. In 2019, Sammi was a semi-finalist in the Kaufman Youth International Piano Competition. She was also awarded second place while being the youngest contestant in the Joseph Israel Bookstaber Memorial Competition, Honorable Mention in the XI International Chopin Competition at Hartford, Ct, and Honorable Mention in the state division of the MTNA Junior Category. Sammi has had the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, NJPAC, Lincoln Center, and in masterclasses with John Perry and Alessio Bax.