Stephanie Pizza, YMC Coordinator
Young Musicians Contest 2025 Winners
The 2025 Young Musicians Contest (YMC) was held on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at the School for Strings. First held in 2008, the contest is intended to foster the development of pre-collegiate flutists by exposing them to a healthy competitive environment and constructive comments from the area's professional flutists. This year's 50 contestants comprised a mix of new and returning players.
Congratulations to the six winners who are scheduled to perform at the Flute Fair YMC concert on March 30, 2025. Many thanks to YMC coordinator Stephanie Pizza and judges Victoria Carchietta, Dana Leigh Nix Giannone, Ginevra Petrucci, Dennis Rendleman, Anjali Shinde, and Jackie Traish.
Our 2025 Winners
Age 8 and under: Fabian Bachelis
Fabian Bachelis has been playing flute for exactly two years at Special Music School. He also enjoys singing and is very creative. He is a student of Valerie Holmes.
Ages 9-11: Lauren Lee
Lauren Lee, age 10, attends fifth grade in the Upper School at Englewood Cliffs, NJ. She began her flute training at age eight as a hobby after trying out other musical instruments. Then she fell in love with the flute. She studies with Soo-Kyung Park and has been participating in orchestra and woodwind ensemble for the last three years. She won second place for her age group at the Camerata Artists International (CAI) Competition in 2024 and 2025 and achieved ABRSM grade 5 in 2024.
Ages 12-14: Chloe Carrano
Chloe Carrano, age 14, is a ninth grader at Newton (MA) South High School. She has been a student of Barbara Nakazawa for five years. Chloe is a member of New England Conservatory's Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble and placed principal chair in MMEA district festivals. An active chamber player, she has attended Greenwood Music Camp, participates in NEC’s chamber music program, and is in her school’s honors wind ensemble. Chloe enjoys expressing herself through music as well as through creative writing. This year, she received Scholastic Art and Writing Regional Gold Awards for both memoir and short story works.
Ages 15-18: Sophia Yue and Angela Zhang
Sophia Yue, a 16-year-old junior at Dwight Englewood School, studies flute at Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division with Zara Lawler. Since beginning her flute studies six years ago, she has won three blue ribbons in the NYFC’s Young Musicians Contest. Sophia won first place in the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia’s Junior Competition (2022), second prize in the New Jersey Flute Society Competition’s High School group and the Intermediate group of the American Protege Woodwinds and Brass competition (2023), and the gold prize in the Canadian International Music Competition and Euro Elite Competition and first place in the UK International Music Competition (2024).
Angela Zhang, age 16, is a junior at Syosset High School on Long Island, New York. She started playing the flute when she was nine and quickly fell in love with it. Angela is a student at the Juilliard Precollege program, where she is studying with Carol Wincenc. Angela has won numerous awards, including the New York Flute Club Young Musicians Contest in 2023. She also enjoys performing amongst other musicians and has been a member of several Long Island youth orchestras. She also plays piano, viola, and saxophone.
