On Saturday’s live broadcast, we feature 3 pianists from Sueanne Metz’s studio: Derek Chung, Sophia Li, and Colin Choi. These young pianists founded 88Keys to Cure, a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of others through music. The students organize performances to benefit local charities of their choice. 88Keys to Cure has raised $11,500.00 for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. They also raised $2,800.00 for the Evangelical Covenant Church Domestic Disaster Relief Fund to support victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
Derek Chung is a senior at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He recently won first place at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior Piano Competition, Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, Luminarts Cultural Foundation for Classical Music, and the Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition. He was also a prize winner in the Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. He will attend Stanford University in the fall of 2018.
Sophia Li is a senior at Vernon Hills High School. She won first place at the 2016 Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition. In 2013, she was the winner of the American Fine Arts Festival Russian Concerto Competition, and as a result, she performed with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra in Moscow. She was also an honorable mention at the 2015 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition. Sophia will attend the University of Michigan in the fall of 2018.
Colin Choi is a junior at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois. He won first place in the International Youth Praise Festival at age 7, and as a result, performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2014, he was the Illinois prize winner in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Piano Competition. Recently, he was named first alternate in the 2018 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition.