2023 Finalists

Karl Baumgartner, age 16, is a 5th generation Ventura County native and a 10th grade honor student at West Ranch High School. He began playing violin at five years old and currently studies violin with Alexander Treger.

Karl is a prize winner in violin competitions and performs violin and piano recitals for the elderly in convalescent homes. He is a member of the California Young Artists Symphony and West Ranch High School Orchestra. 

Karl holds a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo and Hapkido.  He practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and trains in Ono-Ha Itto-Ryu, a16th century classical Samurai swordsmanship. 

Academically, Karl is intensely fascinated with history, archaeology and philosophy.  He finds math and science both profound and intriguing.

At leisure, Karl ponders over 17th century Dutch landscapes and seascapes paintings.  He enjoys horseback riding, scuba diving, skiing, and of course, playing computer games. 

Beatrice Jiang is fifteen years old and a 10th grader at Westlake High School.  She started violin lessons at the age of 6 and has been studying with Mrs. Shuwei Liu since 2017.  She has participated in various music programs and received honors for her playing. 

She has served as the head violin for her school strings orchestra from elementary to high school. She also served as the associate concertmaster of the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra in 2017-2018. 

In 2016, she was the featured soloist with the Westlake Village Symphony Orchestra at their summer Gala concert. In 2019, she won the 10th Henry Schwab Violin Competition Honorable Mention and was reported as the youngest finalist by the VC Reporter News.  She also won the Gold Medal Honor for the Advanced Contemporary Music Festival. 

In 2021 and 2022 she won the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic Concerto Competition and was selected as the soloist in the Opus Concert 57 & 61.  In 2023 she won Second Place in Pelican International Music Competition and the Grand Award of the United Stars Music Competition.

Beatrice is an active chamber music player and was invited to attend the Junior Chamber Music Honor Tour to Germany in 2022 and Italy in summer 2023.  She also enjoys playing as a first violinist in the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic and Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and performing in many concerts.

Beatrice is a straight A student with two Presidential Awards.  Other than music she is interested in computer programming, scientific research and hanging out with pets. She just had her first international technical conference on engineering paper published. 

Skyler Lee is a senior at Newbury Park High School. His was first introduced to the violin in his elementary school strings program in 3rd grade. Soon after, he started lessons with Teresa DiTullio. Skyler currently studies violin under Sam Fischer at Colburn School.

Skyler is a concertmaster of the Conejo Valley Youth Orchestra (CVYO) and a member of the California Young Artists Symphony. He has served as a co-concertmaster at California All State Junior High Orchestra. Skyler has won 1st place Conejo Valley branch MTAC VOCE violin competition from 2017-2019 and 3rd place ENKOR International Music Competition in 2020. He was selected as a Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra Young Artist in 2020, and he performed a full concerto at the 11th annual Henry Schwab violin competition and won 2nd prize in 2021, and won 1st prize in 2022.

In February 2022, Skyler had a solo performance with Thousand Oaks Philharmonic in Opus 58 concert, and he was then chosen as a rising star of Ventura Music Festival.

Skyler enjoys playing for people in local communities such as: churches' homeless dinners, veterans’ homes, retirement centers, and hospices. He tailors his music performances to the audiences’ likes and preferences. In his free time, Skyler likes to read, play chess and computer games, and listen to music.

Kyler Chu is a 6th grade homeschooler from Camarillo, who has been playing the violin since the age of 4. He began his violin studies with Gulia Gurevich, and currently studies with Shuwei Liu. Last summer, he won second place in the Henry Schwab Violin and Viola Competition and toured with the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Kyler also performed as a soloist with Thousand Oaks Philharmonic this April as part of the Appassionata program. Kyler is an avid tennis player, enjoys science and robotics, along with exploring the abundance of available outdoor hiking and biking trails in the Conejo Valley.

Since Carlos was born, he has been around music his entire life. His mom is involved in the performing arts, and his dad is a working musician. When Carlos moved to Ventura and began going to Balboa Middle School in 2017, that’s when he was introduced to playing in an orchestra. Choosing to learn violin was the best decision he has made.

Before he moved on to high school, he was awarded the “Director’s Award for Orchestra” in 2019 and was accepted into the string orchestra honors class his freshman year. At Buena High School he was recognized with multiple “Outstanding Performer” awards and has been given amazing opportunities such as performing a Bach solo at a concert, and performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in his senior year of high school.

Carlos was also given the honor to perform the national anthem at his graduation ceremony. Carlos has been playing for 7 years under no private instructor. His only teachers have been his school teachers, coaches provided by the school, YouTube, and his dad. He thanks everyone who has helped him get to where he is today. He couldn’t have done it without their guidance and support.

Leonora Vukovitz (age 12) is a student of her mother Deborah Vukovitz and has played the violin and viola since she was a toddler imitating her mom. She has participated in the LAYP orchestra since last year and performed as a soloist with the LAYP orchestra at Thayer Hall and Fairwinds West Hills Retirement Home.

Additionally, as a winner of the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic Opus Competition, she has been invited to solo with the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic at two Opus 63 concerts. She won first place in the CalASTA Competition as a violist in both the regional Los Angeles area competition and the state competition in Sacramento.

As a second prize winner of the American Virtuoso International Music Competition (Romantic Category), Leonora has been invited to perform as a soloist at Carnegie Hall. Leonora is home schooled through River Oaks Academy Charter and enjoys composing music, writing, fashion design and acting.