The 2025 Music Scholarship Competition

Winners Announced!

1st Piano: Dutch Dodge, CSUN

Dutch Dodge is a graduate student pursuing a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance at California State University, Northridge. He studied with Hak Soon Swiatkowski before college, and is currently studying with Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov. At the age of 15, he made his debut with orchestra performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Duarte Performing Arts Center. In addition to performing in the United States, he has also performed in Japan and Korea, including performances at the Seoul Arts Center, the Symphony Hall in Osaka, and Yamaha Hall in Tokyo. Among his accomplishments at CSUN are receiving Honorable Mention in Division VI of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, performing at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts with the CSUN Symphony after winning the annual Concerto and Aria Competition, and being named outstanding student in the piano department in 2023. He is honored to be among the winners of the 44th Annual Scholarship Competition of the Pasadena Alumnae Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, and hopes to further pursue a career in music as a pianist.

1st Voice: Jingyi Han, CSUN

Jingyi Han, a soprano from Binzhou, China, discovered her love for music through her grandfather’s erhu and organ playing. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Qingdao University, where she was awarded the National Merit Scholarship twice and won first prize in the Zhongsin International Music Competition (China region). In 2019, she moved to the United States and is currently completing her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at California State University, Northridge. Her operatic roles include Mathilde (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Adalgisa (Cenicientaaa...!), Lisa (Das Land des Lächelns), First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and Lucy (The Threepenny Opera). She was a featured soprano soloist at the 2024 International Trumpet Guild Conference and a district competitor in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Passionate about cross-cultural vocal interpretation, she continues to refine her artistry through both performance and pedagogy.

2nd Voice: Leilah Telon, CSUN

A native of Los Angeles, soprano Leilah Telon is recognized as a "hard-working, driven performer." She earned her BM in Vocal Performance from California State University, Northridge, in Spring 2023 and is finishing her MM degree, graduating in Spring 2025.

As a first-generation college graduate, Ms. Telon made her debut at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, performing with the LA Master Chorale High School Honor Choir for its 28th anniversary. This led to opportunities to perform across California and internationally in Europe at renowned venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, UCLA Performance Theater, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral, Bodrum Castle, CASA 0101, Bank of America Performing Arts Center, and Plaza del Sol. She has also collaborated with esteemed organizations, including the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles, LA Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, CSUN Opera, and the Vocal Academy of Opera in Bodrum.

Winners’ Recital will be held
March 8th, 2025 at 1:30pm

Interested in supporting our Scholarship Competition?
Use the button on the right to donate to SAI PAC, and don’t forget to mention that you want your donation to go towards the Scholarship Competition.

Eligibility

  • Applicant must be currently enrolled as a music major at a college or university, a college-level music conservatory, or a community college in Southern California [Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties].

  • Past winners of an SAI Pasadena Alumnae Music Scholarship Award are not eligible to apply.

Competition Requirements

  • Perform a ten-minute (maximum) audition for a panel of three judges.

  • Enrolled as a collegiate music major between 18 to 30 years old on the day of the competition.

  • Proof of enrollment as a collegiate music major, such as a current class schedule or unofficial transcript.

  • $25.00 Refundable application fee to reserve an audition: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SAIPAC.

  • Application fee will be refunded for applicants who complete an audition or applicants who contact the Scholarship Chair (saipacscholarship@gmail.com) to cancel up to seven (7) days before the competition.

  • Winners must be able to perform at the Winner's Recital at California State University Northridge (CSUN) on Saturday, March 8, 2025 (1:30pm to 3pm).

Scholarship Awards 

  • Scholarships, awarded at the discretion of the judges, are given in piano, voice, and instrumental categories. Decisions of the judges are final. 

  • Winners must be able to perform at the Winner's Recital on Saturday, March 8, 2025 (1:30pm to 3pm).

  • Winners receive a cash award ($1,500 for first place and $750 for second place) at the Winner's Recital.

Application and Deposit Deadline


Wednesday, January  29, 2025

Competition Date and Location


Saturday, February 8, 2025

California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330

After the application deadline, applicants will be notified of their scholarship audition time. Audition slots are between 9am to 3pm.

Repertoire 

(10-minutes maximum)

Piano/Instrument

  • Two selections must be chosen from major 17th to 21st century repertoire and demonstrate contrasting style periods and tempi. All music must be written in musical notation and no improvisation. No popular music.

  • Note: Only one piano is available in the hall, so piano concerti cannot be accommodated. Instrumental concerti are accepted.

Voice

  • Selections must be chosen from the major 17th to 21st century repertoire and demonstrate contrasting style periods and tempi. No popular music.

  • Two or three selections may be sung.

  • One selection must be an operatic aria or art song.

  • One selection must be sung in a foreign language.

  • One selection may be music from a Broadway musical or light opera.

  • All music must be written in musical notation and no improvisation.

Applicant must provide an accompanist and bring physical copies of music for each of the three (3) judges. 

All applicants who complete an audition will receive a copy of comments from the judges.

Spaces are limited; you may be notified if you are on the waiting list for the competition.

Questions?


Call Tia Annis, SAI Scholarship Chair, at (818) 296-5358 OR email saipacscholarship@gmail.com

List of Winners 1980-current

1980 Gordon Halligan, CSUN; Nancy Bronder, CSUN
1981 Janet Steinberg, USC; Jennifer Nelson, USC
1982 Catherine Heusner, USC; Debbie Voight, CSUF
1983 Nico Abondalo, USC; Thomas Randle, USC
1984 Anna Maria Baeza, USC; Myra Wilkes, USC
1985 Charles Fernandez, UCLA; Peter Reilly, UCLA
1986 Karin Hoesli, CA; Jeanne Okrasinski, USC
1987 Sachiko Kato, CSUN; Laura Pallas, UCI; Steve Dunham, CC
1988 Piotr Anderszewski, USC; Tomasz Liebig, USC
1989 Nili Newman; Richard Bernstein; Linda Wang, all USC
1990 Anita Krause; Nicole Monahan; Alayne Faraone, all USC
1991 Lauri Mendes CSUF; Shira Adler, UCLA; William Wilson, CSUN
1992 Rei Hotoda, USC; Robin Bartunek, UCLA; Bongshin Ko, USC
1993 Mikhail Korzhev, USC; Andrew McQuery, OC; Kun Dong, USC
1994 Kiril Gliadkovsky, USC; Mary Beth Wright, UCI; Kristel Hayes, UCI; Serge Oskotsky, USC
1995 Robert Thies, USC; Jennifer Mathious, USC; Marek Szpakiewicz, USC; Wendy Lin, USC
1996 Erin Wood, UCLA; Tina Qu, USC; Deborah Buck-Mathews, USC
1997 Annie Lin, USC; Dante Hernandez, USC; Jacqueline Goldgorin, CSUF; Monique Donnelly, APU
1998 Sara Kleeman, CSUN; Sara Larsen, CSULB; PaNaoko Takada, CSUN; Laura Rigby, CSUF
1999 Shan Jiang, USC; Xiaomu Fang, USC; Michael Rochios, CC; Grace Fong, USC
2000 Jin Chei, CSUN; Gina An, CSUN
2001 Kazem Abdullah, USC; Mandy Burke, CSULB Gina Graziado, CSULB’ Yang Shen, USC
2002 Annie Chon, UCLA’ Lucy Chuang, USC; Gal Faganel, USC; Shushanik Hovakimyan, USC
2003 Anne Yoon, CSULB; Shira Thomas, CSUN; Marco Lipari, UCSB, Myroslava Khomik, CC
2004 Hosana Anjiki, B; Aneta Augustyn, CSLB’ Jennifer Jester, CA
2005 Yoo-Jung Chang, CSUN; Ryan Goessl, USC; Sara Sumitani, USC
2006 Jessica Gross, CSULB; Katherine Harris, APU; Laura Odegaard, USC
2007 Keith Colcough, P; Jason Issokson, USC; Anna Volovitvh, APU
2008 Iida Akane, USC; Yao Wang, USC; Katherine Trimble, CC
2009 Shishi He, USC; Lyndsey Hoh, USC; Lauren Michelle Criddle, UCLA
2010 Nathan Cottrell, B; Jennifer Juang, APU; Jonathan Sandberg, UCI
2011 Calista Hoffman, USC; Emilio Borhesan, USC; Alin Melik-Adamyan, USC
2012 Kyle Shafiee, USC; Leslie Cook, UCLA; Pedro Victorino, CSUF
2013 Andrew Harrison, USC; Emily Dyer, Chapman University
2014 Regina Ngo, USC; Vanessa Vasquez, UCLA; Christina Cheon, Chapman
2015 Dongni Xie, USC; Micah Wright, USC; Chelsea Chaves, USC
2017 1st Places - Ednaldo Alves, APU; Sean Tang-Wang, UCLA
       2nd Places - Hyojeong Kim, APU; Elise Solberg, USC
2018 1st Places - Kendall Harb, CSUF; Tiffany Chen, USC
       2nd Place - Yi Chang, PCC
2019 1st Places - Shota Homma, UCLA; Clayton Dungey, Biola University
2nd Places - Veola Sun, UCLA; Trevor Johnson, Biola University
2020 1st Places - Christopher Erling, USC ; Sidney Tovey, Violin, Azusa Pacific University
2nd Places - Chaiyoung Kim, USC; Star Mc Afee, Cal State Long Beach
2021 - Cancelled due to CoVid-19 Pandemic
2022 - Cancelled due to CoVid-19 Pandemic
2023 1st Places Sabrina Langlois, UCLA ; Rin Homma, UCLA ; Melanie Ooi, Violin, CSUN
2nd Places - Krystal Mao, UCLA ; Terry Hsu, UCLA ; Eder Hernandez, Clarinet, CSUN
2024 1st Places - Wing Sze Chan, CSUN; Lily Berthold, CSUN; Kaya Ralls, UCLA
2nd Places - Andrew Ngyen, UCI; Lauren Shafer, CSUN; James Day, CSUN
2025 1st Places - Dutch Dodge, CSUN; 1st Voice: Jingyi Han, CSUN
2nd Place - Leilah Telon, CSUN

For donations to the Scholarship Fund, please contact Tia Annis at saipacscholarship@gmail.com.

Final performances of competition winners are held at Shigemi Matsumoto Recital Hall located at California State University, Northridge 18236 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330