Darin Nguyen began playing the piano in 2015, and has been studying under Youngsook Park since 2019. Through the years, Darin has won 3 gold medals at the Southern California Junior Bach Festival, Second Prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, 2 First Prizes in the Southwestern Youth Music Festival open solo category (although he believes it should be 3), the Grand Prize Scholarship at the Amici International Music Competition, and many more First Place finishes at smaller branch and state level competitions. He is also an MTAC Young Artist Guild finalist and has participated in masterclasses from Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Antoinette Perry, and Inna Faliks.

Darin has been heavily involved in Portola High School's music program, playing violin and piano in the Philharmonic Orchestra, playing marimba and xylophone in the marching band and winter percussion ensembles (before he quit), covering the lead keyboard for Portola's production of "High School Musical," volunteering as a violin teacher for 3 younger musicians, and co-producing the 20-minute soundtrack to his friend's award winning VR video game. Most notably, he has been performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Besides piano, Darin enjoys music production, biking through the Great Park, and going out for a game of flag football or basketball with his people. He intends to study biochemistry in college and continue to play piano for as long as his body (or sanity) will allow.

"If you ask me what I think about piano, I'd tell you that I recorded my Mozart Sonata for Young Artist Guild finals after getting smashed in the face by an e-bike on the way home from school. And that's all you'd need to know." - Darin Nguyen

Emily Shen is currently a junior at Fairmont Preparatory Academy, and she studies cello with CoCo Yana Hu. She is an active member of several orchestras, including the Orange County Youth Symphony (OCYS), where she serves as assistant principal cellist, as well as the All Southern California Honor Symphony Orchestra (SCSBOA) and the LA Youth Philharmonic
Orchestra (LAYPO).

Emily also participated in various competitions. She won the grand prize at the Satori Strings Contest with her cello trio, earned third place at the VOCE state finals with her quartet, and was a finalist in Cal-ASTA competition 2025. In addition, she performed as a soloist at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall after winning first place in the Golden Classical Music Award International
Competition.

Beyond performance, Emily is dedicated to sharing music within her community. As a founder and officer of the Tri-M Music Honor Society at Fairmont, she has participated in various community service initiatives aimed at spreading the joy of music. She also serves as president of the Born Gifted Club, where she tutors children with neurodivergent disorders through the
arts, helping them express themselves through mediums such as music.

Seaena Kim, 17, was born in Newport Beach, California and began studying the violin at age three. She studies under the tutelage of the acclaimed violinist David Lisker.  
Seaena has received top prizes in several international competitions including Grand Prize at the Satori Strings Contest, Grand and First Prizes at the International Liana and Ruben Cohen Music Competition and First Prize at the International Clara Schumann Music Competition. She was also a winner of the Young STARS of the Future Competition, appearing as soloist with the South Coast Symphony at the Soka Performing Arts Center.

She was selected as one of twelve violinists worldwide under the age of eighteen to attend the Aspen Music Festival where she studied with Masao Kawasaki. Her additional studies include work with Robert Lipsett, Danielle Belen, Fabiola Kim, and Ray Ushikubo at the Colburn School’s Sounding Point Academy. An active chamber and orchestral musician, Seaena has performed at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Segerstrom Concert Hall, Irvine Barclay Theatre, and Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University and has served as Concertmaster of California All-State High School Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra.