The future is now, or at least a healthy musical slice of it.

Four young classical musicians have been chosen as winners of the inaugural Young Artists Professional Development Competition, held at Portland State University, where competitors played a solo piece of their own choosing and sat with professional musicians to read through an excerpt from the Mozart piano trio K.502.

The four winners each received a Lewis-Goldstein $1,000 Scholarship Award, and each will perform at chatterPDX, the weekly Sunday morning classical performance series, with members of the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Orchestra or Portland Opera Orchestra, along with other chamber music artists. Performance dates and repertoire will be announced later.

The winning young musicians are:

Emily Liu, piano. Liu, 15, is a student at Camas High School and a music student of Dr. Thomas Otten. She’s appeared with the Central Oregon Symphony, and among her several musical honors she is the Grand Prize Award winner of Portland Choir & Orchestra’s 2025 Youth Musician Scholarship program. Emily also plays the oboe, and was the principal oboist in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Concert Orchestra.

Kristen Kim, cello. Kim, 16, is a student at Westview High School, and began playing cello at age 6, currently studying with Hyun-Jin Kim. She made her solo debut at age 12 with the Oregon Mozart Players Orchestra, and has performed as a soloist with ensembles including the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and the Oregon Sinfonietta. She’s played at Carnegie Hall as a winner of the American Protégé International String Competition, is co-principal cellist of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and was the principal cellist of the 2025 All-State OMEA (Oregon Music Education Association) Orchestra.

Kaylee Nah, violin. Nah, 15, is a student at Sunset High School and studies violin with Hae-Jin Kim. She’s co-concertmaster of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, in which she’s played since 2018, and was concertmaster for the OMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra in 2024 and 2025. Among her several musical awards, she is the two-time winner of OMEA’s state championships for solo violin. She’s served as concertmaster of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, has recently been selected to join the 2025 National Youth Orchestra, and is the musical director of Project Prelude, a nonprofit group that provides cost-free instrumental education to underserved elementary schools.

Sponsor

Andrew Lee, violin. Lee, 17, is a student at Sunset High School and studies violin with Carol Sindell. He’s been a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic since 2021, is co-founder of the Euphonos Ensemble, and has performed with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Mozart Players Symphony Orchestra, and Jewish Community Orchestra, among others. He’s won several musical competitions, and was associate concertmaster of the 2023 Oregon All-State Orchestra and a member of the 2023 All-Northwest Orchestra.

Judges for the Young Artists Professional Development Competition were chief judge Niel DePonte, former principal percussionist of the Oregon Symphony; Oregon Symphony and chamber music violinist Gregory Ewer; concert pianist and chamber musician Maria Garcia; concert pianist and chair of PSU’s piano department Julia Lee; and James Shields, principal clarinetist for the Oregon Symphony and co-artistic director of chatterPDX.

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