Author: Music and Stars Awards

“My name is Nil Çalış, and I was born in Turkey in 2016. I am currently in my first year of study at METU College. One year ago, I began taking violin lessons from my teacher, Semra Fayez, in Ankara CAKA.

My preferred composer is Mozart, and I enjoy practicing every day.

Typically, I start my practice routine with scales and arpeggios and work for an average of 45 minutes daily.

In preparation for an upcoming competition, I worked closely with my violin teacher, Semra Fayez, to select a favorite piece to perform. Additionally, I collaborated with my piano teacher, Meral Mete, to perfect the accompanying piece. These experiences with my teachers have intensified my love for classical music and inspired me to pursue my dream of performing in concert halls worldwide.

Ultimately, my aspiration is to become an enlightened musician, sharing my passion for music with audiences worldwide. I strongly believe that music has the power to unite people from all walks of life.”

Keita Goto is a 10-year-old boy residing in Tokyo, Japan. His passion for music was sparked at the age of 4, when he started attending various music classes, including violin, piano, and cello with his mother. It was during this time that he was introduced to the violin, and he decided to pursue it.

Last summer, Keita decided to challenge himself and applied for a competition for the first time. He was delighted and surprised to have won the second prize at the “International Junior Music Competition” in Tokyo and the third prize at the “Junior Classical Music Competition” in Japan. Performing in front of a large audience was an enjoyable experience.

At present, Keita is studying Bruch’s Violin Concerto and Mozart with Ms. Megumi Morishima, his teacher since last year. He looks forward to his weekly lessons as he enjoys learning and discovering how his playing improves each time. He devotes about 2 to 4 hours on weekdays and approximately 6 hours on weekends to practice. Half of his practice time is dedicated to basic exercises such as scales and etudes.

When preparing for competitions, Keita practices intensely, focusing on every sound, to ensure he plays beautifully. His dream is to play music with people from different countries and to make friends through music.

Meet Sara Nishino, a talented young violinist from Tokyo, Japan. Born in 2011, Sara started playing the violin at the age of 5 after falling in love with a fractional-sized violin she found in a music store. Since then, she has made remarkable progress in her career.

At the age of 6, Sara participated in her first competition and has since won numerous awards, including first prize at the “All Japan Junior Classical Music Competition” and recognition from the “Tokyo Metropolitan Government Board of Education”. In 2022, she won second prize at the “International Junior Competition” and participated in the “Student Music Concours of Japan.” She also performed as a child performer in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra’s “Subscription Concert for Children” in December 2022.

Sara’s love for music is largely due to the support and encouragement of her teachers. Ms. Megumi Morishima taught her the basics and instilled in her the joy of playing music. Currently, Sara is taking lessons from Ms. Mayuko Kamio, a world-renowned violinist and a professor at Tokyo College of Music. Ms. Kamio’s passionate and exciting lessons always inspire Sara to learn something new.

Even with her busy schedule as a student, Sara always finds time to practice the violin at home. She loves singing and playing other instruments too, but her goal is to continue to love and enjoy music while improving her skills as a violinist. She hopes to be able to perform various songs in the future and make a name for herself in the music industry.

“My Name is Lucia Boeck, I am from Austria and I study classical saxophone concert stu dies and pedagogical studies in master program under the direction of Christian Maurer  at University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. I have a YouTube channel  Just4Sax that combines different genres of saxophone music (classical music, contem porary music, jazz and crossover) with animated and self-filmed videos that I love to edit.  I also compose music for saxophone and I am self-trained in Video editing.

I love classical music, contemporary music, Austrian folk music, jazz, and pop music.

I study under the direction of Christian Maurer. My saxophone professor plays classical and jazz music and he is a role model in different styles he taught us to play different genres on the saxophone.

I would like to make music with my saxophone in combination with editing music videos for bands, TV, orchestra projects, and so on.

If I had to choose a humanitarian project to sustain, I would choose a project to help poor animals.”

“My name is Olivia Sun and I was born in Oakville in 2016 which is a small town near Toronto, Canada. I began my journey in music at the age of four when I followed my big sister’s path to learn piano.

When I was almost five, I showed a lot of interest in violin and started to learn violin with Ms. Svetlana Filippova. During the past 15 months,  Ms. Svetlana not only teaches me violin techniques, but also how to express my thoughts and emotions through the strings.

After school, I normally practice for one hour a day on weekdays and two hours a day on weekends. I have also started to learn singing and dancing recently. I think their rhythms and movements help me understand music from a more dynamic area and help me add some unique colors to playing the violin.

I have competed at local music festivals and competitions and won first prizes. This is the first time I played in an international competition and being awarded the prize is great progress for me.

I will continue to passionately explore the music world and discover more beauty and joy. “

Fong Ching, a talented young pianist, was born in Hong Kong at the age of 14. He began his professional piano studies at the age of four under the tutelage of concert pianist and conductor Professor Andy Tung Yee Tsun. With a solid foundation in finger technique and a sensitive touch on the keyboard, Ching is quickly becoming one of the most promising classical pianists in the world. He approaches each performance with a poetic sense of musical thought, striving to convey a sense of perfection to his audiences.

In addition to his remarkable talent, Ching has also been the recipient of numerous international awards, showcasing his musical prowess on a global stage. His exceptional skills and dedication to his craft have set him on a path towards becoming one of the greatest pianists of his generation.

“My name is Gülce Hanişoğlu. I was born in Istanbul in 2007.

I have been studying in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory for 5 years with Bengü Gülöksüz.

I have won the soloist auditions in 2019 when i was 13 years old to perform in a concert with the school orchestra.

I got the opportunity to attend masterclasses of Albrecht Mayer, Lucas Macias Navarro, and Gregor Witt in Istanbul /Turkey in 2022. I have learned that I need to use my instrument like part of my body and the important thing is to feel the music and reflect the same feeling to the people.

In 2022 I have skipped from 9th grade to 11th grade.

I practice around three hours a day.

My first online competition is CAKA Music Competition with 2nd price in 2021 and i got 4th price in London Classical Music Online Competition and i got 2nd price in International Global Art Competition in Antalya-Alanya.

I’m so happy that I got 1st prize Music & Stars Awards Online Competition in 2022.

My dream is to play on world-famous stages as a soloist and part of an orchestra.”

My name is Savanna Chen. I was born in United States in 2017. I started learning the flute since April 2022 with my teacher Ya-Jung Chuang from Taiwan and I absolutely love it ever since.

This is the first competition that I have entered and I am thrilled that I got the Gold Star Award. This means a lot to me as I have always loved music and enjoying playing music for my family and friends. Apart from flute, I also play other instruments such as piano and french horn. 

This year, I have entered the competition with my favorite song “twinkle twinkle little star”. I have been practicing 4-5 hours a week with different tempo and accompaniment along with 2 online flute lessons with my teacher.

My flute teacher Ya-Jung Chuang. We have 1 on 1 online classes twice a week. She was very patient and provided lots of encouragement throughout my journey, she helped me developed a strong interest in music. has always been very patient and provided lots of encouragement throughout my journey. She has inspired me, helped me developed a strong interest in music and helped build my confidence.

My dream would be to bring people joy through music in the future.”

“My name is Aidan Lu and I am 10 years old. I was born in Canada. I started playing the piano at the age of 5 and currently a student of Dan Morin. I have performed at local recitals since young age. Over the past years, I have participated in several national and international competitions, and I was honoured to be awarded First Place and Second Place. 

I love music from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras and my favourite composers are Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin. Recently, I love listening to Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor. 

I practice piano for 1 to 2 hours a day. Since the age of 8, I started to learn one concerto every year. I love playing a piano concerto with the accompanist.

Playing concerto gives me an opportunity to work with different accompanists and learn from them. 

Besides piano, I love drawing, reading, snowboarding, and playing basketball with my brother. My dream is to be a pianist when I grow up. “