Sounds of Life 2024 Program Notes

Issac Won, 2024 Wind/Percussion Division Winner

A freshman at Winston Churchill High School, Issac Won has been playing the Trumpet for 6 years. Currently, he is in his second year of studies at the Juilliard School for the Performing Arts’ Pre-College Division as a student of David Krauss, Principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York. Issac is also in his fourth year as a member of the Los Angeles Brass Academy, mentored by Ohtae Kwon. Issac also has been playing the piano for 9 years, studying under Young Ji Kim. In this year, 2023-2024, Issac is also a part of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra Philharmonic and the New Life Foundation Philharmonic Orchestra in Maryland. Issac’s efforts to make music has brought many recognitions in competitions, such as winner of the 2023 National Trumpet Competition Junior Division and winner of the 2024 National Trumpet Competition High School Division, Londontowne Symphony Young Artists concerto competition 2023 winner, International Association of Professional Music Teachers 2023 competition grand winner, second place winner of the International Trumpet Guild, and Philadelphia International Music Festival 2023 division two winner.  

Ryan Chun, 2024 Strings Division Winner

Ryan Chun is currently a junior (11th grade) at McLean High School. He currently studies with Jing Qiao, first violinist of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), and has clinched the top spot at a multitude of competitions, including, but not limited to: American Youth Philharmonic (AYP) concerto competition, Charleston International, Crescendo International, and now the U.S. Army Orchestra Young Artist Competition. He also currently serves as the assistant concertmaster for AYP, concertmaster for McLean High School's Philharmonic orchestra, and first violinist for the Virginia All-State Orchestra. Ryan finds solace in writing poetry as a means of self-expression and reflection, which inspired him to write his poetry book, "Tonight the Galaxy is Balanced by Luck." In addition to his poetic pursuits, Ryan enjoys mathematical modeling. He is currently the Vice President of the Mclean Highlander Math League and is also an AIME (American Invitational Mathematic Examination) qualifier. Ryan is also actively involved in Hiking Heroes, an environmental organization where he played an integral role as a team leader in their yearly bulletin. Ryan is a co-founder of Python Pals, an organization dedicated to tutoring underprivileged kids in Java and Python in order to broaden their horizons. As a volunteer, he earned the President's Bronze Volunteer Award and teaches violin and math free of charge. He also is currently engineering an app called "AuditionMate" -- a deep-learning assisted audition feedback giver. It analyzes an audio recording, assesses the tone and intonation through spectrograms in order to give personalized feedback on the performance provided.