Sophia performs on Show 456.

Sophia Shao (piano), 16, from New York, New York, has been studying piano with Natela Mchedlishvili since enrolling in Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School at the age of five.

In February of 2023, Sophia won second place in the 2024 US National Marine Band Concerto Competition. In March, her trio was accepted into the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Musicians Program and performed in Alice Tully Hall for the 40th Annual Young Musicians Concert. That same month, Sophia performed Florence Price’s Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Symphony during a concert held in honor of Women’s History Month.

Sophia was a winner of the 2023 Special Music School High School Concerto Competition and performed with the Park Avenue Symphony. She won first prize in the 2022 and 2017 Kaufman Music Center International Youth Piano Competition and 2022 KMC Concerto Competition. In 2021, she won Absolute Prize and Young Talent Award in the International Franz Liszt Center Piano Competition. She was Grand Prize Winner of the 22nd New York Music Competition in 2019, and was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. She also won first prize in the 2019 and 2017 Cremona International Music Competition, 2018 Steinway & Sons New York Piano Competition, and 2018 and 2016 International Grande Music Competition.

Sophia has performed in venue, including Merkin Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York City, the Violin Museum in Cremona, Italy, and Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. She is a co-author of “Who Is Florence Price?”, a picture book written and illustrated by the Special Music School’s Middle School. Since its publication in 2022, she and her schoolmates have continued to shed light on Price’s story, and have shared excerpts from the book and performed Price’s chamber music in libraries and music halls.

Sophia has participated in multiple music festivals, including PianoSummer at New Paltz, Kaufman Music Center’s StringFest and SummerFest, and the Cremona International Music Academy and Festival. During these events, she participated in multiple chamber groups, including piano ensembles, piano trios, clarinet trios, violin duets, and cello duets.

Sophia enjoys academic work and is an active member of her school community. She was co-captain of the Special Music School Debate Team for the ‘23-‘24 season, and is a grade representative on Student Government, a Student Ambassador of Kaufman Music Center, and Creative Director of the school newspaper, Ragtime. She is also a member of the SMS math team, the literary magazine, Euphonium, and the executive officer of the Music For All club—a club that organizes performances at assisted living facilities and community centers.

Santiago performs on Show 430.

Santiago Del Curto (Clarinet), 15, hails from Long Island City, New York. He studies clarinet with Pavel Vinnitsky at the Special Music School in New York City. His former teachers are Katherine Cooke and Liam Burke. He has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Festival de Musica dos Capuchos in Portugal, the Stowe Tango Music Festival, Aston Magna Music Festival, the Salida Aspen Concerts, Blue Note, and the National Theater Concert Hall in Taiwan. His solo engagements include concerts with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. Santiago’s recent highlights include a solo performance of Florence Price’s “Adoration” with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in March 2023, a performance of Mozart Clarinet concerto as a winner of 2022 Kaufman Music Center Concerto Competition, and a performance at Carnegie Hall as a member of NYO2. After hearing Santiago’s kindergarten concert, the latin jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera wrote a piece for him called “Blues for Santi”. Since then, Santiago has performed with Mr. D’Rivera at the Montclair Jazz Festival, at the Martina Arroyo Foundation Gala, and at the Blue Note in New York City. He also was featured on the Vandoren’s Commercial with Mr D’Rivera. Santiago’s live performance from Aspen Music Festival has been aired multiple times throughout the United States on the Peabody Award-winning classical music radio program, Performance Today. He is featured on a recording of Astor Piazzolla’s “Oblivion” on the award-winning album Live at the 2016 Stowe Tango Music Festival. In 2020 and 2021, Santiago participated in the Clarinet Maestro Festival where he studied with Yehuda Gilad, Afendi Yusuf, Eric Abramovitz, and other faculty. He also had masterclasses with Stephen Williamson, Anthony McGill, and Ricardo Morales. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Santiago started composing electronic music under the artist name 27 Diamond. His compositions have thousands of streams on Spotify and other online music streaming platforms. Outside of music, Santiago enjoys building and fixing computers and playing soccer.