ANNOUNCEMENT: 7th Steinway Youth Piano Competition – Advanced Class Semi Finals Results
May 24, 2025
Advanced CLASS: SEMI FINALS RESULTS
Steinway Boutique Manila is proud to present the following young talents who have successfully advanced to the Finals of the 7th Steinway Youth Piano Competition, scheduled to take place on June 1, 2025. Please stay tuned for your official acceptance email and further instructions, which will be sent to the email address you used during application.
The names of the contestants are as follows:
CATEGORY 1
John Elijah Bendicion
CATEGORY 2
Megan Zhiyan Phuan
Leanna Kristin Tan
Cid Maximus Co
CATEGORY 3
Nathan Zachary Yu
William Matthew Lim
Julio Laoang
*Results are not in order of merit
We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to our esteemed panel of judges for generously sharing their time and expertise. We are confident that the invaluable insights provided by these distinguished pianists and educators will greatly inspire and guide our young participants in their piano-learning journey.
OUR HONORABLE JUDGES
RICHELLE RIVERA
Richelle Rivera is a full-time faculty member at the Philippine Women’s University and served as Dean of the School of Music from 2016 to 2019. She also teaches at the UP College of Music and actively serves as jury member for PTGP, NAMCYA, and other local competitions.
A magna cum laude graduate of the UP College of Music, she holds two Master of Music degrees, including one from Northwestern University as a Fulbright scholar. She is currently a PhD candidate at the UP College of Education, working on her dissertation.
DR. MICHELLE NICOLASORA
Michelle Nicolasora studied Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of the Philippines and Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano at the University of Memphis. While in college, she was a scholar of the Camerata dell’arte Foundation and a full graduate assistant in her graduate studies. She studied piano with Prof. Pia Balasico, Dr. Victor Asuncion, and Ms. Felucille Veraque. Michelle was a 3 rd prize winner of the National Music Competition for Young Artists in 2001 and a 3 rd laureate of the Ultimate Pianist Competition in 2006. She previously taught at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music and at St. Paul University College of Music and Performing Arts,
and a former staff pianist of the UP Voice, Music Theater, and Dance Department. At present, she is an assistant professor at the UP College of Music.
AGOT ESPINO
Augusto “Agot” Espino is a pianist, pedagogue, chamber musician, composer, arranger, and choral conductor. He finished his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music where he was a consistent scholar and recipient of the Rosario Lopez Garcia Scholarship in Piano. He recently retired as full professor for Piano and Piano Ensemble in the same institution, where he taught for over four decades.
Prof. Espino debuted as a piano soloist with the Philippine Youth Orchestra under the baton of Prof. Sergio Esmilla. He was featured as a concerto soloist with the Metro Manila Symphony Orchestra, the UP Jazz Orchestra for the 24th Bamboo Organ Festival, UP Symphonic Band, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He had seven performances as piano soloist for “Concert at the Park”, the first of which was on the special occasion of its very first television coverage on PTV 4.
Sir Agot is a sought-after assisting artist, receiving special recognition for accompanying dozens of contestants playing different piano concertos in the Piano Concerto Competition held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as well as in the Beethoven Piano Concerto Competition held at the UP Abelardo Hall, both during the ‘80s. He has performed extensively as a collaborative artist all over the country, as well as in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
He has been recognized as the “Pinakamahusay na Alagad ng Sining” (Musical Arts Category) during the Gawad Chanselor of the University of the Philippines in 2000, recipient of the UP College of Music Centennial Award “Gawad Regalado Jose” in 2016, and honored with the Gawad Gintong Duyan Award during the 50th Foundation Day of his hometown, Batangas City, in 2019, all in recognition of his excellent performances through the years, and his numerous creative works for piano, voice, and chorus that have been widely performed as part of Filipino concert repertoire all over the world.