Rochelle Liebling Kahan Memorial Fund Competition

registration now open!

It's once again time to register for the Rochelle Liebling Kahan Competition! 
This popular competition is for young piano students ages 6 - 9 years of age. 
We will be accepting applications from now until March 1, 2024.
Information regarding the competition is available by clicking the forms below.

Application Form
Qualifications Form
 Poster
Judges Sheet

WHEN:  Saturday, March 3, 2023, 10:30 AM, sharp
WHERE: Houston Piano Company,
1600 West 13th Street, Houston, TX 77008

Please feel free to share this information with anyone whom you believe might be interested. 
We look forward to receiving your applications and hearing all participants!

 

2023 Winners and Honorable Mentions of the Kahan Competition

1st Place Winner, Elias Yuen plays for the
HTMC Spring Luncheon in April.

The Rochelle Liebling Kahan competition for child piano prodigies

The Rochelle Liebling Kahan Memorial Fund Competition for Child Piano Prodigies was established in 2005 in memory of Rochelle Liebling Kahan by her family. Rochelle was a past president of HTMC, and was herself a former child piano prodigy. Her family chose to have the competition presented under the auspices of our organization. The contest is open to Houston area children between the ages of 6 and 9. It has proven to be enormously popular with students and teachers. The level of talent shown by the participants is astonishingly high. Many of our young winners are already beginning to make their mark as musicians. The first prize is entirely underwritten by the Liebling Kahan family; a second and third prize has been added by the club. The three winners perform each year at the HTMC annual Spring Luncheon in April at The Junior League of Houston, where they receive their monetary prizes and award certificates from Dr. Kara Liebling Kahan, Rochelle’s daughter.

For more information, contact Suzanne Marion.

The application form and qualifications information can be found on our Resource page.

Suzanne Marion and Susan Fischman, Co-chairs

CONGRATULATIONS 2023 WINNERS!

This year’s Kahan Competition did not disappoint. We had several young students participate in our competition this year, which made it a wonderful day, getting to hear some amazing young talent. This year’s place winners were:

First Place: Elias Yuen, Age 9
Second Place: Julian James, Age 8
Third Place: Eliana Tan, Age 9

Honorable Mentions:
Emma Li
Elaine Chen

Photo Below: 2023 Winners from left to right, Elias Yuen, Julian James, Elaine Tan, Emma Li and Elaine Chen

Past winners

 

2022

First Place: Olivia He, student of
Dr. Matthew Loudermilk
Second Place: Julian James, student
of Jing Han
Third Place: Katherine Huang, student of Jing Han
Honorable Mentions:
Audrey Wu, Linda Shao, Kao Kawabata

 

2018

First Place: Brayden Cheang, student of Dr. Susan Groves
Second Place: Tianwei (Ting Ting) Yao, student of Dr. Matthew Loudermilk
Third Place: Brendon Crowley, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Honorable Mentions: Zide Chen, Daniel Pan, Rena Wong

 

2014

First Place: Bryant Li
Second Place: Estelle Yan
Third Place: Michelle Chen

 

2010

First Place: Yaya Cherie Qu
Second Place: Allen Wang
Third Place: Alina Dong

 

2006

First Place: Nathan Lo
Second Place: Elysia Gao
Third Place: Aida Lu

2021

First Place: Carl Rubly, student of Dr. Chien-Jung, Music Academy of Houston
Second Place: Biyun Jiao, student of Dr. Matthew Loudermilk
Third Place: Lillian Bai, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Honorable Mentions:
Sophia Li, Minya Tang, Emma Muto

 

2017

First Place: Takaaki Suzuki, student of Dr. Kana Mimaki
Second Place: Seung Hyun (Christine) Choi, student of Shu Hao Pao
Third Place: Seoyoung (Trinity) Yun, student of Katarina Loudermilk

 

2013

First Place: Tonya Hu
Second Place: Rachel Yang
Third Place: Joann Shi and Kyle Tsai

 

2009

First Place: Daniel Whatley
Second Place: Tomas Jonsson
Third Place: Clio Sun

2020

First Place: Wendy Zhou, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Second Place: Hiroaki Suzuki, student of Dr. Kana Mimaki
Third Place: Nadia Weaver, student of Christian Restrepo

 

2016

First Place: Leia Walker, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Second Place: Danial Hendi, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Third Place: Tiffany Zhang, student of Anna Golka
Honorable Mentions: Takaaki Suzuki, Katharine Yao

 

2012

First Place: Victoria Chiang
Second Place: Gaon Kim
Third Place: Joann Shi

 

2008

First Place: Liana Wang
Second Place: Clio Sun
Third Place: Daniel Whatley

2o19

First Place: David Li, student of John Weems
Second Place: Chanya Methaprayoon, student of John Weems
Third Place: Zide Chen, student of Dr. Ying Zhang
Honorable Mentions: Wendy Zhou

 

2015

First Place: Sohpia Si, student of John Weems
Second Place: Michael Wu, student of Dr. Amy Wang
Third Place: Sonia Zhang, student of Kana Mimaki

 

2011

First Place: Allen Wang
Second Place: Vi Nguyen
Third Place: Joann Shi

 

2007

First Place: Esther Liao
Second Place: Aida Lu and Elysia Gao
Third Place: Jason Tan

2005

First Place: Mia Nishikawa
Second Place: Kana Tanaka
Third Place: Joey Sliepka and Lulu Chang