A Banner Year

Khai West is headed to UCLA to study with David Kaplan, capping a remarkable turnaround: he started with Chetan Tierra in 2023 barely playing seriously, and within seven months was winning prizes with Beethoven. See how far he's come, from Beethoven's Third Concerto to a 2026 competition sweep before college.

sdpa students swept all three top prizes in the 15-18 category at the Southern California State Concerto Competition. Read how Luna Lee's win sets up a full-circle final against a student of her teacher's own mentor.

Four sdpa students placed at the February 2025 San Diego Concerto Competition, one of the toughest local contests for pianists. See who placed, what they performed, and the concertos that took them there.

Four sdpa students had a strong spring in 2024: Khai West and Luna Lee placed at the San Diego Chopin Contest, Luna also won the Encinitas Youth Competition (with a Beethoven concerto performance to come), Arianna Gago earned an ABRSM Distinction, and Lochlan debuted his first original composition to a first-place win. See what's next for each of them.

Luna Lee, Khai West, and Yoyo Wu placed at the 2024 San Diego Concerto Competition, one of the toughest local contests for pianists, all while on the younger side of their divisions. See what they performed and what it signals for what's next.