International Institute for Young Musicians

The International Institute for Young Musicians (IIYM) Summer Music Academy is an internationally recognized summer camp for high-performing teenage pianists.

Founded in 1990 by University of Kansas professor Scott McBride Smith, the IIYM has grown to become an internationally renowned summer camp that attracts high-level teenage pianists from around the world, mostly from around the United States, China, and Canada. Many of the camp's students have won national and international piano competitions, performed with orchestras, and study at some of the top pre-college music programs in the United States. Since 2004, IIYM has included an annual International Piano Competition. 14 semifinalists are chosen through video prescreening rounds to compete in the live competition, with 6 contestants advancing into the finals. Prizes total up to $25,000. The prizewinners of the competition are immediately rewarded with performances in the local area. For students, day-to-day life at the camp includes piano practice, private lessons with faculty, and classes in music recording, music theory, and composition. Through the approval of faculty members, students are permitted to sign-up for student recitals, which take place in the late afternoons and evenings.

Many former students of the IIYM have continued their music studies at top-level conservatories, and achieved recognition at the National YoungArts, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Art Livre Competition in Brazil, the Hammamatsu Competition in Japan, Gina Bachauer Competition at Juilliard, the Chinese Arts Competition, and in contests sponsored by the American String Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association of the United States.

The summer camp takes place for 3 weeks at the University of Kansas each July, with over one hundred students in attendance. However, one can choose to sign up for only two weeks; either weeks 1 and 2 or weeks 2 and 3.

Faculty

 * Vladimir Valjarevic, Mannes College and Rutgers University faculty
 * John McCarthy, San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty
 * Jack Winerock, University of Kansas faculty
 * Fei Xu, private piano teacher from Phoenix, Arizona
 * Michael Kirkendoll, University of Kansas faculty
 * Scott McBride Smith, University of Kansas faculty
 * Chenggan Yang, Sichuan Conservatory of Music faculty
 * Jeremy Siskind, Western Michigan University faculty

2016
First Prize - Catherine Huang(CA, USA)

Second Prize - Jessica Zhang (AZ, USA)

Third Prize - Leah Deobald(WA, USA)

Audience Prize - Jessica Zhang(AZ, USA)

Finalist Prize - Collin Jinks(MN, USA), Noah Qiu (MN, USA), Hang Zhong(China)

2015
First Prize - Samuel Xu (AZ, USA)

Second Prize - Chi Barry Zhang (China/KS, USA)

Third Prize - Anastasia Magamedova (UT, USA/Tajikistan)

Audience Prize - Noah Qiu (MN, USA)

Finalist Prize - David Geng (NJ, USA), Millicent McFall (WA, USA), Noah Qiu (MN, USA)

Semifinalists - Justin Cai (USA), Seoyun Baek (USA), Hans Chan (USA), Audrey Cheng (USA), Shuheng Zhang (USA), Nathan Qi (Canada), Edison Tsai (USA), Kelin Wang (China)

Jury members - Jie Bu, Ingrid Clarfield, and Jack Winerock

2014
First Prize - John Wang (LA, USA)

Second Prize - Brian Le (MD, USA)

Third Prize - Guobi Liu (Sichuan, China)

Audience Prize - John Wang (AL, USA)

Finalist Prize - Ulises Magaña de la Paz (USA/Mexico), Litian Xie (Sichuan, China), Chi Barry Zhang (China/USA)

2013
First Prize - Evan Lin, HI, (USA)

Second Prize - Sarah Rasmussen, MO, (USA)

Third Prize - Luke Ratcliffe, VA, (USA)

Audience Prize - Evan Lin, HI, (USA)

Finalist Prize - Brian Le (VA, USA), Eric Lin (VA, USA), Patrick Pan (TX, USA)

2012
First Prize - Chaeyoung Park (USA/Korea)

Second Prize - Evan Lin (USA)

Third Prize - Rieko Tsuichida (USA)

Audience Prize - Chaeyoung Park (USA/Korea) )

Finalist Prize - Evelyn Mo (USA), Trenton Takaki (USA), Alice Zhu (USA)

2011
First Prize - Anna Han (USA)

Second Prize - Jonathan Mamora (USA) and Yangmingtian Zhao (China)

Audience Prize - Yangmingtian Zhao (China)

Finalist Prize - Lorranine Marie Chung (Australia), Chaeyoung Park (Korea) and Albert Wang (USA)

2010
Second Prize - Chelsea De Souza (India) and Frank Wu (IL)

Third Prize - Aileen Gozali (Singapore)

Audience Prize - Joseph Eisele (CO)

Finalist Prize - Kevin Ahfat (CO) and Jina Kim (South Korea)

First Prize not awarded.

2009
First Prize - Fantee Jones (CA)

Second Prize - Alan Woo (VA)

Third Prize - Rieko Tsuchida (CA)

Audience Prize - Alan Woo (VA)

Honorable Mentions - Christine Woo (MI), Pan Xiao (CO), Min Joo Yi (WA)

2008
First Prize - Anna Han (AZ)

Second Prizes - Dominic Cheli (MO), Kate Liu (IL), Micah McLauren (SC)

Audience Prize - Dominic Cheli (MO)

Honorable Mentions - Carolynn Cong (AZ), Sean Yeh (IL)

2007
First Prize - Rozalyn Chok (BC, Canada)

Second Prize - Alan Woo (VA)

Third Prize - George Fu (MD)

Audience Prize - George Fu (MD)

Honorable Mentions - Colin Barnett-Hart (CO), Yvonne Chen (VA), Christine Kim (CA)

2006
First Prize - Mi Eun Kim

Second Prize - Ronald Ho

Third Prize - Yi-Ju Lai

Honorable Mentions - George Fu, Monica Liu, Alec Tauscher

2005
First Prize - Charlie Albright

Second Prize - Veronica Shi

Third Prize - Erin Hales

Audience Prize - Veronica Shi

Honorable Mentions - Yvonne Chen, Yi-Ju Lai, Page Moon

2004
First Prize - Kwok-Wai Lio (Hong Kong, China)

Second Prize - Grace Ma (AZ)

Third Prize - Eric Chen (CA)

Audience Prize - Daniel Suo (MA)

Notable alumni

 * Charlie Albright - 2005 IIYM Competition Winner, currently an internationally renowned soloist
 * Kate Liu - 2008 IIYM Competition laureate, bronze medalist of the 2015 International Chopin Competition