Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition
For over a decade the legacy of Marilyn Mindell has lived on in this competition. Marilyn was a tireless and passionate advocate for music education in San Mateo County and was a supporter of PSO for many years.
The Competition features both junior (10-14 years old) and senior (15-18 years old) divisions. In addition to cash prizes, the winner of the senior division performs a concerto movement with the Peninsula Symphony on our Family Concert each Spring, and winners of the junior division perform their solo selections in a recital format prior to the orchestra's performance that afternoon.
Spring Performance: Sunday, April 7th, 2024 at Aragon High School Theatre
Applications for the 2025 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition will be open Fall 2025.
2024 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Senior Division
First Prize & Best Sonata - Xinran Shi
Second Prize - Benjamin Park
Third Prize - Meining Wu
Xinran Shi
Benjamin Park
Meining Wu
2024 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Junior Division
Winners (left to right) -
Chloe Ding, Andrew Lee, Victoria Huang
Honorable Mentions (alphabetical) -
Chloe Chan, Amber Chen, William Chen, Isaac Choi, Aiden Shim, Paxton Radityo
2023 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Senior Division
First Prize & Best Sonata - Ryan Wang
Second Prize (tied) - Crystal Cheng
Second Prize (tied) - Celicia Thendean
First Prize / Best Sonata - Ryan Wang
Second Prize / Crystal Cheng
Second Prize / Celicia Thendean
2023 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Junior Division
Winners (in alphabetical order):
Bridget Hoang, Meining Wu, Isabella Xue
Honorable Mentions:
Chloe Chan, Bella Chen, Valerie Cheng, Leo Denizen,
Aiden Kwon, Andrew Lee, Irene Xu, Aiden Zhou
2022 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Senior Division
First Prize / Best Sonata - Spencer Cha
Second Prize / Ariel Chien
Third Prize / Jeston Lu
1st Prize / Best Sonata: Spencer Cha
2nd Prize: Ariel Chien
3rd Prize: Jeston Lu
2022 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Winners
Junior Division
Winners (in alphabetical order):
Riko Ando, Peter Parra, Jacob Rockower
Riko Ando
Peter Parra
Jacob Rockower
Honorable Mentions:
Chloe Ding, Roger Guo, Irene Hwang,
Victoria Huang, Aidan Kwon,
Ivy Wang, Irene Zhang
2021 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition Results
The 2021 Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition was held via online video submission during February 2021. The Jury included Peninsula Symphony Music Director Mitchell Sardou Klein, Stanford University Professor Fred Weldy, Peninsula Symphony Assistant Conductor Hoh Chen, and Dorian Ho. The competition is directed by Heidi Hau.
Here are the winners of the Junior and Senior competitions:
2021 SENIOR DIVISION WINNERS
Ryan Sheng - 1st Prize Winner, Senior Division
Yejin Song - 2nd Prize & Best Sonata Winner,
Senior Division
Spencer Cha - 3rd Prize Winner, Senior Division
Ryan Wang - 3rd Prize Winner, Senior Division
2021 JUNIOR DIVISION WINNERS
Katelyn Deng, Junior Division Winner
Wesley Ng, Junior Division Winner
Daniel Strebulaev, Junior Division Winner
Honorable Mentions:
Munan Cheng, Aaron Tu, Jacob Winefeld, Chloe Ding, Roger Guo, Meining Wu, Sophia Chen, Peter Parra
For general information and inquiries please contact Competition Director Heidi Hau at mmpc@peninsulasymphony.org.
Check out our live streamed event that took place on Tuesday, December 8th at 8pm featuring Heidi Hau, MMPC Artistic Director, previous Marilyn Mindell winner Solomon Ge, and former PSO Assistant Conductor Hoh Chen!