Emilia Diaz Delgado, 14, is a prizewinner in the Guitar Foundation of America’s  2022 International Youth Competition. She has been featured on NPR’s radio program From The Top five times. She has been a soloist in recitals presented by Austin Classical Guitar, the South Bay Guitar Society, Odeon Guitar Series, and Omni Foundation’s Dynamite Guitars series. Emilia studies with Scott Cmiel at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. In her free time, Emilia enjoys memorizing Stravinsky pieces and watching arthouse movies. An aspiring filmmaker recognized nationally in top festivals, she studies abstract and experimental film making at San Francisco Art & Film.

Laurel Harned, 17, is from Redlands, California. She began her music studies at age 9 with Susan Graves, and recently, with Barry McNaughton. She has had the opportunity to meet and perform for many accomplished musicians, including Ana Vidovic, the Beijing Guitar Duo, William Kanengiser, and more. She will also attend the 2023 Celodonio Romero Guitar Institute in June. She recently completed the highest level of Certificate of Merit theory and performance exams with state honors and was invited to audition for the Music Teacher’s Association of California’s Young Artists Guild. In addition to guitar, Laurel enjoys teaching beginner students, baking, and outdoor activities.

Tae Kim attends Bell Academy in Bayside, New York. He has studied classical guitar with Robert Miller at the California Conservatory of Music and currently studies with Gohar Vardanyan. Tae was a prize winner at the 2020 Guitarlab International Guitar Competition, the 2021 Altamira International Guitar Competition, and the 2022 Guitar Foundation of America International Youth Competition. He was selected to perform in master classes conducted by David Russell and Eduardo Fernández. Outside academics and music, Tae is one of the New York City-United Nations Junior Ambassadors.

Allen Liu, 16, is a sophomore at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas. He has played guitar for ten years and is currently studying with Stephen Krishnan at the Orpheus Academy of Music and Adam Holzman at the University of Texas,  Austin. Allen has won competition prizes in the 2021 Southern Guitar Festival in North Carolina and 2023 Texas Guitar Festival in Dallas. He is also a member of the Orpheus Honors Guitar Quartet, which in 2023 was a finalist for the NPR radio show From the Top. In addition to playing classical guitar, Allen enjoys building mechanical keyboards, robotics, and Chinese yo-yo.

Micah Montgomery is a 7th grader at Bret Harte Middle School. He began studying classical guitar at age five. Currently he studies with Robert Miller at the California Conservatory of Music. Micah placed second in the 2021 Kithara Project Virtual Guitar Competition. He has also passed level six and seven in the Royal Conservatory of Music Examinations with high remarks. Micah is grateful to be a part of the Guitar Foundation of America's Mentorship Program this year, as well as the GFA Orchestra. He has taken one master class with Meng Su. When he’s not playing basketball, Micah enjoys playing the drums and bass for his church’s worship team.

Lukas Murdych, 17, is a junior at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota. He has played guitar since he was three and a half at Macphail Center for Music in Minneapolis, and studied under Brent Weaver, Jean Seils, Dr. Radovanlija at the University of Minnesota, and Alan Johnston. He has participated in master classes conducted by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Berta Rojas, David Crittenden, Ana Vidovic, Antigoni Goni, Sharon Isbin, and David Madsen. Lucas played in the 2nd Street Guitar Quartet 2015-2021, and currently plays with the Macphail Guitar Quartet. He swims competitively for a club team and his High School.

Andrei Orasanu, 14, is a freshman at Norwalk High School in Connecticut. He began playing classical guitar at the age of five. For the last six years he has been studying with Dr. Tudor Niculescu-Mizil. He participated and won over twenty prizes in competitions such as Boston Guitar Fest, Mid Maryland Guitar Festival, Sinaia International Guitar Festival, Altamira International Guitar Competition, International Fringe Virtual Competition, and the Guitar Foundation of America Youth Competition (3rd prize). Andrei has worked in master classes with prominent guitarists including Gabriel Bianco, Rene Izquerdo, Benjamin Verdery and Joao Luiz. His other hobbies are jazz, saxophone, tennis, gaming, and graffiti.

Reade Park, 18, is a student in SFCM’s Pre-College, studying classical guitar with Scott Cmiel and composition with Robert Chastain. He won 1st place in the 2022 GFA IYC, Senior Division; 2nd place in the 2022 James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition; and Honorable Mention in the 2022 and 2023 National YoungArts Foundation Competition. He performed on NPR’s From the Top in 2021 and in master classes for Manuel Barrueco, Marcin Dylla, Eliot Fisk, Judicaël Perroy, Meng Su, Ben Verdery, and Jason Vieaux. Reade also won 1st place in SFCM’s 2021 Kris Getz Composition Competition and was a finalist for ASCAP’s 2022 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.

Trent Park, 15, attends the math-based Proof School, in San Francisco. He studies classical guitar with Scott Cmiel in SFCM’s Pre-College, where he plays in the advanced guitar quartet and is finishing the highest level of the program’s music theory curriculum. He was a semifinalist in the 2022 James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition and has performed in master classes for Julian Gray, Judicaël Perroy, Meng Su, Scott Tennant, Ben Verdery, and Jason Vieaux, among others. Trent has completed Level 9 of the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program in guitar and Level 8 of the MTAC Certificate of Merit program in classical piano.

Penelope Shvarts, 17, is a high school senior and played both classical and flamenco guitar for thjirteen years, having studied with teachers Gohar Vardanyan, Elysa and Jason Hochman, and Grisha and Dmitry Goryachev. She has a plethora of accolades from competitions like the National High School Guitar Competition and the GFA IYC. In April of 2023, Penelope will be presenting the Emerging Artist Showcase concert at the Long Island Guitar Festival. While studying music, Penelope has worked with organizations such as Strings4Smiles, Notelove, and Midori & Friends, where she helps to promote free music education. Additionally, Penelope enjoys reading and crocheting gifts for her friends.

Mei Yin Steadman, 17, is a junior in high school from Austin, Texas. Growing up in her parents’ music school, Orpheus Academy of Music seeing kids taking music lessons every day, she expressed her desire to learn to play music as soon as she could talk. She began taking guitar lessons with her dad at the age of four, and now studies under Professor Adam Holzman. She has won prizes in the solo divisions of the Southern Guitar Festival, Texas Guitar Festival, Houston Guitar Festival and the Asian American Competition. In addition to solo playing, she is part of the Orpheus Honors Guitar Quartet, which has placed in the ensemble division of the Southern Guitar Festival and been a finalist in NPR's From the Top radio program.