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AWARDS
- ICS, Inc is now an ALL-STEINWAY SCHOOL!
- Dr.Balabanova has been awarded TOP TEACHER in SEATTLE in 2021, 2022, 2023!
- Dr.Balabanova received STEINWAY TEACHER HALL OF FAME AWARD !
2025
FRENCH INTERNATIONAL
GRAND PRIX- OWEN and BRIAN WU
GOLD-BRIAN WU, COURTEMY TAM
SILVER-ELIANA CHO, MIYAKO BERMAN, JOYCE YE
BRONZE- YUXIN SUN, BRANDON YANG
CHOPIN COMPETITION
GRAND PRIX CONCERTO-JOYCE YE
SIMON_FISET COMPETITION
1st PLACE STATE RECITALIST- JIMMY HUANG
BEST FIRSTTIMER-YUXIN SUN
SCMTA SONATA FESTIVAL
GOLD MEDALS: PERRIE LAM-DOUBLE GOLD,
BRANDON YANG, SUNNEY SHI, ELLA CHUNG, ELIANA CHO, GAVIN XI
SILVER MEDALS: CLAIRE SHAN,FARAH BEYDOUN, AISHA BEYDOUN, KEVIN FAN
SCMTA SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION
1st PLACE-6th GRADE-BRANDON YANG
1st PLACE-7TH GRADE_YILING SUN
1st PLACE-9TH GRADE-RADMILA SABIROVA
1st PLACE 10TH GRADE-KEVIN FAN
KMA COMPETITION
GOLD MEDAL-JIMMY HUANG
SILVER-COURTNEY TAM
SYAMFA CONCERTO FINALS
MIYAKO BERMAN-ALTERNATE WINNER PERFORMS with PHILHARMONIA NORTHWEST!
SYAMFA GOLD SEALS FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT:
MIYAKO BERMAN_SOLO and CONCERTO
JOYCE YE-SOLO and CONCERTO
ALLISON LIN-SOLO and XCONCERTO
RADMILA SABIROVA-SOLO and CONCERTO
COURTNEY TAM-CONCERTO
CLARA WELLS NATONAL SCHOLARSHIP
COURTNEY TAM
SEATTLE PIANO INSTITUTE
YILING SUN, BRANDON YOUNG
ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF CANADA SUMMER INTENSIVE
YILING SUN
CHICAFGO MUSIC INSTITUTE SUMMER IMTENSIVE
BRIAN WU
2024:
In the 2024 September-December our class has won:
10 STUDENTS won BEST of FESTIVAL in the EMTA MUSIC ERA and JAZZ -
13 STUDENTS won Gold Medals in Time Era, Pacific Northwest, Bellevue Symphony concerto, German International
8 STUDENTS won Silver Medals in German International, Bellevue Symphony Concerto, Russian,
3 STUDENTS performed in Carnegie Hall as Protege/Virtuoso WInners
2 STUDENTS performed Concerti with Pacifica Chamber orchestra and Mukilteo Orchestra
Jimmy Huang won Alernate in the Junior MTNA
Courtney Tam won HM in the Senior MTNA
10 students won Gold, Silver and HM in Concerto competitions
CONGRATULATUIONS TO ALLSION ON WINNING THE FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND THE MATTHAY CONFERENCE AT PEPPERDINE
UNIVERSITY
JIMMY ON WINNING THE SPOT TO ATTEND OBERLIN SUMMER PROGRAM
JOYCE ON WINNING ONE OF THE 24 SPOTS TO ATTEND CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC SUMMER SEMINAR
AND
SEATTLE PIANO INSTITUTE
CONGRATULATIONS to Winners of
EXCELLENCE IN MUSiC AWARDS!
Courtney Tam 1st Place
Kevin Fan 1st Place
Pacific Northwest International Competition
Brandon-Most Memorable Performance Award
Gold medals
Allison
Brandon
Brian
Silver Medal
Miyako
Courtney
Radmila
Bronze medal
Yiling
Sanford WErtight Chamber Music Competition
Gold Medals:
Aisha and Farah,
Aisha and Miyako,
Eliana and Olivia,
Jaden and Claire,
Yiling and Yuxin,
Ella and Elijah,
Jaden and Lucas
Joyce and Elijah!
Sonafest:
Gold: Yuxin, Aisha, Brian, Yiling
Siver: Eliana, Miyako, Brandon, Jimmy, Courtney
Bronze: Perrie, Claire
Honorable Mention: Sunney, Jaden
Ana Rollins Scholarship
Allison 1st Place
Jaden 1st Place
Gavin 2nd Place
SYAMFA CONCERTO PLAY-OFFS
JIMMY-WINNER
BRANDON-WINNER
Peformance with PHIHARMONIA NORTHWEST symphony orchestra
International French Competition
Outstanding Performance: Gold medalss plus performance at the Meydenbauer Center
Aisha
Miyako
Joyce
Brian
CHOPIN COMPETITION 2024
CONCERTO-GOLD MEDAL Courtney
GOLD MEDALS:
Jimmy
Joyce
Radmila
SILVER -Miyako
Bronze-Courtney
Honorable mention Allison
SCMTA SONATA?SONATINA
16 GOLD MEDALS!
SYAMFA
GOLD SEALS:
Joyce, Brandon, Courtney, Jimmy, Radmila
CONCERTO WINNERS:
JIMMY, BRANDON
American Protege
1st place Brian Wu
SUMMER PROGRAMS:
OBERLIN-JIMMY
CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC-JOYCE
CLARA WELLS FULL SCHOLARSHIP -ALLISON
ROYAL CONSERVATORY of CANADA Exams
ARCT COUNTERPOINT JImmy
ARCT HARMONY JIMMY
ARCT ANALYSIS JIMMY
LEVEL 10 PERFORMANCE KEVIN
Fall 2023:
EMTA TIME ERA BAROQUE FESTIVAL
15 GOLD MEDALS!
BEST of FESTIVAL
Yuxin, Joyce, Radmila, Gavin
EMTA JAZZ FESTIVAL
13 GOLD MEDALS!
BEST OF FESTIVAL
Brandon, Radmila, Joyce, Miyako, Owen G., Jaden
BELLEVUE SYMPHONY CONCERTO COMPETITION
Platinum Award -Jimmy
Bronze-Radmila, Allison
SCMTA CONCERTO COMPETITION
GRAND PRIX Courtney
WINNERS
Joyce, Yiling, Brandon
PERFORMANCE with MUKILTEO ORCHESTRA
Brandon, Joyce, Yiling
PERFORMANCE WITH EVERETT PHYLHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Courtney
PERFORMANCE with THE CASCADE SYMPHONY
COMPLETE CONCERTO
Jimmy
Charleston International Competition
2nd place Miyako
1st place Brian
2nd place Owen Wu
AMERICAN VIRTUOSO COMPETITION
1st place Brian Wu
!st place Owen WU
Carnegie Hall performance
Dr.Balabanova has been names TEACHER OF THE MONTH TWO YEARS in a row by the CHARLESTON INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION!
SANFORD WRIGHT CHAMBER MUSIC COMPETITION
DOUBLE GOLD MEDALISTS in Classical and Non Classical
AIsha Beydoun and Miyako Berman
Yiling and Yuxin Sun
SANFORD WRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Yiling and Yuxin Sun
Silver Medals
Jaden and Claire Shan
Owen and Jesse Greene
AMERICAN VIRTUOSO WINNERS
PERFORMANCE at CARNEGIE HALL
Allison Lin
Brian Wu
Courtney Tam
NORTHERN LIGHTS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
GOLD MEDAL IMPRESSINISTIC CATEGORY
COURTNEY TAM
SIlVER MEDAL CONTEMPORARY
COURTNEY TAM
LONDON INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
GOLD MEDALS
Brian Wu
Owen Wu
CONGRATULATIONS to JImmy Huang on making the prestigious SYAMFA Concerto play-offs on his first try!
SONAFEST Competition Bellevue:
GOLD Medals:
Yuxin, Brandon, Jimmy, Yiling, Kevin, Allison
Silver: Courtney
Bronze: Julian, Miyako, Joyce
Honorable Mention: Perrie, Sunney. Harper, Jesse, Shan Wey
SCMTA SONATA/SONATINA festival results:
GOLD Medals-Yixin, Aisha, Kevin, Gavin, Courtney, Jimmy, Joyce, Perrie, Allison, Yiling, Brandon, Julian
Silver Medals: Miyako, Sunney, Harper,
Bronze: Jesse
CONGRATULATIONS TO COURTNEY TAM, FInalist in the SEATTLE SYMPHONY Young Artists auditions!
Chopin NORTHWEST Festival and Competition:
GRAND PRIX CONCERTO WINNER-JIMMY HUANG!
Gold Medal-Brandon Yang
Silver Medal-Joyce Ye
Silver Medal-Kevin Fan
Bronze Medal-Yiling Sun
Bronze Medal Concerto-Courtney Tam
French Music Inaguaral Piano Competition
Gold Medal-Brandon Yang
Silver Medal-Courtney Tam
Silver Medal-Jaden Shan
Silver Medal-Miyako Berman
Silver Medal-Yuxin Sun
Silver Medal-Aisha Beydoun
AMERICAN VIRTUOSO 1st Prize WINNER in the Young Artist Category-COURTNEY TAM!
Holiday recital at Steinway Gallery Seattle was a huge success!
Congratulations to Jimmy Huang, Ruohan Huang, Allison Lin on winning the highly selective SCMTA Concerto competition!
2022 European International Piano Competition
Brian Wu, 1st Prize
CONGRATULATIONS to RUOHAN HUANG, Seattle Symphony Young Artists Audiitons WINNER! RUOHAN performed Mozart Concerto K.453 with Seatlle Symphony at Benaroya Hall Mark Taper Auditorium!
Pacific Northwest competition 2022:
Gavin-Gold,
Brandon-Gold,
Joyce-Silver,
Brian-Silver,
Jimmy-HM,
Courtney-Gold
Time Era Festival 2022:
Jimmy-Best of Festival
Joyce-Best of Festival
Owen Wu-Best of Festival
Gavin-Medal of excellence
Courtney-Medal of excellence
Andrew-Medal of excellence PLUS
Kevin-Medal of excellence
Jaden-Medal of excellence
Claire-Medal of excellence
Yiling-Medal of excellence
Perrie-Medal of excellence
Miyako-Medal of excellence
Brian-Medal of excellence
Aisha-Medal of excellence
Pacific Concerto Competition 2022
Jimmy Huang-GOLD Medal, will perform on March 5 with Bellevue Chamber Orchestra
Ruohan Huang-Silver Medal
Courtney Tam-Silver Medal
Gavin Xi (10)-performed and recorded Bach Concerto in F Minor
Brandon Yang-(9) performed and recorded Haydn Concerto in D Major
These students worked extra hard during summer and early fall! Congratulations on the work well done!
Seattle Chamber Music Academy Jimmy Huang and Courtney Tam have been accepted into this highly selective program and are studying full time with the best Faculty from UW and principal musicians from Seattle Symphony
Jazz, Rag and Blues Festival
Courtney Tam-Best of Festival in Rags, Senior division
Gavin Xi-Best of Festival in Rags, Junior Division
Yiling Sun, Alternate Best of Festival in Jazz, Junior Division
Aisha Beydoun, Alternate Best of Festival in Blues, Junior Division
Gold Star recognition for Excellence
Jessie Greene, Harper Chang, Myako Berman, Owen Greene, Claire Shan, Jaden Shan ,Kevin Fan ,Joyce Ye CONGRATULATIONS to ALL!
!ICS students earned OUTSTANDING RECORD-BREAKING 13 MEDALS at the CHOPIN COMPETITION 2021!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL ON BEAUTIFUL PERFORMANCES!
Congrats to TILMAN SEIDE on wining the BEST of JAZZ festival 2021!
CONGRATULATIONS to ANDREW JIANG on passing the Royal Conservatory LEVEL 10 Piano Performance test!
OUR HOLIDAY COOKBOOK is here! See section below.
Dr. Yelena Balabanova received the prestigious TEACHER OF DISTINCTION 2020 AWARD from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Canada!
Dr.Balabanova is recognized by the Recognition Certificate for Outstanding Professionalism and Artistic Mastery by the World Piano Teachers Association!
Six students receive the Best of Festival Awards in EMTA Time Era Festival! Plus, multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
5 Students are awarded the Best Beethoven Performance in the Pacific Northwest competition!
Plus, Ruohan Huang won Silver and Jimmy Huang won Bronze in the Concerto Division!
Lucas Tam, Courtney Tam, Ruohan Huang and Jimmy Huang, win top Prizes in the Singapore International competition!
Lucas tam and Courtney won Silver and Bronze in the Steinway Virtual Regional Competition! Jimmy Huang won the Gold!
Congratulations to Courtney Tam, 12, on passing with First Honors the level 10 Complete Practical Exam from the Royal Conservatory of Music! This is the most comprehensive and challenging international test for piano students.
Dr, Yelena Balabanova is featured in the Toastmasters International Magazine, June 2020:
https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2020/june/music-a-universal-language
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