2021 Winners Biographies

Starla Breshears began cello lessons at age three with Yoshie Muratani. At the age of six she started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under Jean-Michel Fonteneau. Additionally Starla is coached by her accompanist, Ayke Agus, and by cellist Christine Walevska. Starla has soloed with seven different orchestras since the age of six. She has won numerous solo competitions, including the Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, 1st Place in the ASTA State Competition finals, 1st Place in the U.S. International Music Competition, 1st Place in the U.S. Open Music Competition, 1st Place in the Livermore-Amador Symphony Concerto Competition, 1st Place in the CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, and 1st Place in the DVS-HNU Strings Competition. Starla has participated in master classes with Amit Peled, Darrett Adkins, and Bonnie Hampton. She is principal cellist of the SFCM Pre-College Division String Orchestra. Starla is a Beare's International Violin Society artist and recipient of a ½ size Lorenzo Ventapane cello, 1808 generously on loan by J & A Beare Ltd., London.

Valery Breshears began violin lessons at age two with David Mallory. At the age of five Valery started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under William Barbini, and currently studies with Zhao Wei. Additionally Valery is coached by her accompanist, Ayke Agus. Valery has soloed eight times with six different orchestras since the age of six. She has won numerous solo competitions, including the Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, the Fremont Symphony Nafisa Taghioff Award, and 1st Place in the U.S. International Music Competition, the ASTA-Sacramento Competition, the CAPMT-Sacramento competition, the DVC-HNU Strings Competition, and the Classical Masters Competition. In addition to her solo achievements, Valery is a member of the acclaimed Stars Aligned Siblings Trio & Quartet (formerly Little Stars Trio), which has toured and appeared on national and international television in the United Kingdom, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States. The all-sibling ensemble is coached by Ayke Agus, protégé and accompanist to Jascha Heifetz for 15 years. Valery is principal 2nd violin of the SFCM Pre-College Division String Orchestra. Valery plays a ½ size Josef Guadagnini violin generously on loan by Kenneth Warren & Son, Ltd., Chicago.

Fiona Huang currently studies with Jonathan Koh. This spring, she will be performing on NPR’s From the Top national radio show. At the age of eleven, Fiona made her solo debut with the HNU Symphony Orchestra after winning Grand Prize at the DVC/HNU Young Artist Competition. She was also previously invited to perform at the Presidio Concert Series in San Francisco and the Junior Bach Festival. Fiona has won first prizes in cello competitions including KAMSA, USIMC, MTAC VOCE SF, AFAF, and Music Legacy. She also received top prizes at the MTAC VOCE State, MTNA State, CalASTA State, and USOMC competitions. Fiona was invited to participate in Music @Menlo’s Young Performers Program in the summers of 2020 and 2021. Outside of music, Fiona loves playing soccer and with her puppy.

Dustin Breshears began violin lessons at age four with David Mallory. At the age of seven, he started studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Pre-college Division under William Barbini, and currently studies with Zhao Wei. Additionally Dustin is coached by his accompanist, Ayke Agus. Dustin has soloed with four different orchestras since the age of six. He has won numerous solo awards, including winner of the Parnassus-San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition and 1st Place in the MTAC State VOCE Competition, the U.S. International Music Competition, the U.S. Open Music Competition, the ASTA-San Francisco Competition, the ASTA-Sacramento Competition, the CAPMT-Sacramento Competition, the DVC-HNU Strings Competition, and the Classical Masters Competition. Dustin is concertmaster of the SFCM Pre-College Division String Orchestra.

Matthew Sakiyama is a senior at the Nueva School. He began studying violin at age five with Dr. Ondine Young, and currently studies with Elbert Tsai at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) Pre-College, where he has been a student for eight years. He has won first prizes at local and international violin competitions including the US Open Music, US International Music, and ENKOR International Music Competitions. Matthew made his solo debut with orchestra at thirteen with the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Orchestra. At fourteen, he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the National Youth Orchestra 2 and violinist Gil Shaham. Matthew toured Europe with the SF Youth Orchestra in 2019, and this year Matthew will be joining the National Youth Orchestra of the USA for his fourth consecutive summer. In his free time, he enjoys running, solving Rubik’s cubes, and volunteering at his local dog shelter.

Angela Sun has been studying under the tutelage of Adelle Akiko Kearns for seven years. She became the Associate Principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in 2020 and won the VOCE state competition in 2019. She has also won awards in Nova Vista, USIMC, USOMC, PACO, and KAMSA. In previous summers she attended the Tanglewood Music Festival and Boulder Cello Festival, and will be attending Yellowbarn in the summer of 2022. 

Grace Feng is an eighth grader from Folsom. She began her piano lessons at the age of four.

Grace is the 1st Place winner of numerous competitions including the MTAC Northern California Piano Concerto Competition, CAPMT Honors Competition State Final, CAPMT Concerto Competition State Final, USOMC Showcase Piano Solo, and USIMC Young Artist Award. She is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Auburn Symphony Young Artists Competition. Grace made her Carnegie Hall debut at the age of eight. She returned to Carnegie Hall in 2018.

At age nine, Grace made her orchestral debut with the Folsom Lake College Youth Chamber Orchestra performing the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9. In 2019, she performed the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Florence Conservatory Orchestra in Italy.

Grace is currently studying with Carol Chuang and Ilana Vered. Besides piano, Grace loves swimming and ballet. She also plays viola.

Xinran Shi lives in San Jose. She started playing piano at four-and-a-half, and currently studies with Hans Boepple. Xinran is a 2020-2022 Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation.

In 2020, Xinran was the 1st Prize winner of the Steinway Virtual Piano Competition Regionals, PYPA Virtual Piano Festival competition, Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition and Enkor International Music Competition, winner of the Grand Prize and the Best Mozart Performance at the V Paderewski International Piano Competition, and winner of the Steinway Virtual Piano Competition for the United States and Canada. She was also invited to perform in the showcase of the 2020 Aspen Virtual Music Festival. Among her previous honors were 1st Prize in the China Grand Canal Piano Art Festival, the Pacific Music Society & Foundation 2019 Competition, and the Steinway Junior Piano Competition.

Besides playing piano, Xinran loves dancing, reading, swimming, and travelling.

Benjamin Jiang has been studying piano since the age of five, and currently studies with Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa. His accomplishments as a pianist include winning the United States Open Music Competition, the Auburn Symphony’s Young Artists Competition, and receiving 2nd Prize in the US New Star Piano Competition. He has also won top prizes in the United States International Music Competition and Bellagrande International Music Competition. As a concerto competition winner, Benjamin performed with the Merced Symphony in 2019.

Benjamin is in eighth grade at Pinkerton Middle School in Elk Grove. In addition to sharing music with the community alongside the state-wide organization Lifting Spirits with Music, he also enjoys playing tennis and pursuing a deep knowledge of math.

Jacob Rockower began studying piano at the age of three, and currently studies under the direction of Professor Hans Boepple. Jacob has won various awards including Finalist in the Pacific Musical Society & Foundation 2020 Competition, 1st Place in the 2021 California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT) Honors Competition District 2, 1st Place in the 2021 CAPMT Contemporary Music Competition District 2, 1st Place in the 21st Annual San Francisco Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, 1st Place in the 2015 CAPMT Contemporary Music Competition State Final, 1st Place in the 2017 CAPMT Contemporary Music Competition District 2, 1st Alternate in the 2020 Music Teachers’ Association of California (MTAC) State Concerto Solo Competition Regional Audition, 2nd Place in the Pacific Musical Society & Foundation 2019 Competition, 2nd Place in the 2020 CAPMT Honors Competition District 2, and Honorable Mention in the 2020 MTNA Performance Competition California.

Jeston Lu is a sophomore at Valley Christian High School. His musical journey started when he was five, and he is currently studying with Professor Hans Boepple. He has participated in various competitions and received numerous awards including at the 2021 Seattle International Bach Festival, 2021 Canadian International Music Competition, 2020 KAMSA Competition, 2019 Kaufman International Piano Competition, 2019 US New Star Competition and the Top Performer Award, 2019 East Bay Piano Competition, 2018 Chopin San Francisco Competition (Third Age), 2018 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition (Junior), and CAPMT Competitions. He is the founder of U.T.M (United Through Music), a school club which unites music enthusiasts together to share and collaborate music. In his spare time he loves composing, playing violin, web designing and hiking. Besides, he enjoys playing music for others and was a regular performer in a senior center before COVID-19.

Parker Van Ostrand began studying piano at the age of four. He has performed at Carnegie Hall three times and in numerous recitals throughout the United States, Singapore, and Japan. As a competition winner, he has performed with the Merced Symphony, the Central Valley Youth Symphony, the California Youth Symphony, the Auburn Symphony, and the Frost Symphony Orchestra, and was invited to perform with the Symphony Parnassus in 2017 and the Camellia Symphony in 2019. In 2017 he won the MTAC Concerto State Finals Competition, and in 2018 the Mondavi Center National Young Artists Competition. During the summer of 2018 he was invited to tour with the California Youth Symphony with performances in the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, performing the Gershwin Concerto in F. In the summer of 2019, he attended the Frost Chopin Piano Festival and Academy in Miami, and the Philadelphia Young Pianists’ Academy where he won first place and the Best Concerto Prize in the Philadelphia International Piano Competition. In February 2020 he participated in the 10th National Chopin Piano Competition, where he received 3rd place along with the Best Sonata Prize. He was also a 2021 National Young Arts Finalist in Classical Music, 1st Place winner of the 2020 National Steinway Virtual Piano Competition, and 2nd Place winner of the 2021 Canada International Piano Competition, and was recently selected as a 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts nominee. Parker will participate in the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021. He is currently a senior at C.K. McClatchy High School.

Justin Wahby began studying piano at the age of four and currently studies under Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa and Professor John McCarthy. He has studied at the SFCM Pre-College for the past three years. Justin has received accolades in over 30 international, national, and regional competitions. Most recently he was named a 2020 National YoungArts Honorable Mention in Classical Music. Other accolades consist of top prizes in the Cecilia Mendez Beethoven Society Competition, U.S. International Music Competition, Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, Mondavi Young Artists Competition, Los Angeles Liszt, and MTAC Piano Solo to name a few.

Additionally Justin has performed in masterclasses under John Perry, Paul Lewis, Alan Chow, Boris Slutsky, and Nelita True. In 2019 he appeared as a soloist with the Sacramento Youth Symphony. To further his studies in music, Justin has attended the John Perry Piano Academy and Orfeo International Music Festival among others.