2023-2024 Winner

Millie Bell, Violin

Millie Bell started studying the violin at the age of 3, ever since Elmo from Sesame Street serenaded her with the instrument. She currently studies with Elizabeth Faidley and is the concertmaster of the ISO at Third Street Symphony Orchestra for her 9th orchestral season.

Millie is a senior at Stuyvesant High School, and next year will attend the University of Chicago. When she isn’t practicing, Millie can be found spending time with her friends, exploring new coffee shops around New York City, or scouring the racks of a thrift store.

2023-2024 Winner

Kohana Henson, Violin

Kohana Henson is a Junior at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, and has been studying violin since the age of five. She’s been a member of the ISO community for eight years, and is currently in the ISO at Third Street Symphony Orchestra.

Last year, Kohana spent her summer at Interlochen Summer Arts’s orchestra program, working with top musicians from around the world. For the past 11 years, she’s been studying violin with her teacher, Benita Beneitez. Outside of music, Kohana competes in swimming and biology – her team won gold in the 2022 iGEM International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition in Paris. She also participates in and holds leadership positions in the school newspaper, Red Cross Club, and Model UN.

2023-2024 Winner

Kai Stokes, Guitar

Kai Stokes is originally from Shanghai and started studying classical guitar at Third Street Music School with Koh Kazama at the age of 8 when he arrived in the US. He currently also studies with Gabriele Leite. Kai was a featured soloist in several Third Street Music School Stowe C. Phelps Annual Concerts as well as at Alumni Hall at New England Music Camp in Sydney, Maine.

In 2023, Kai won 2nd prize in the classical guitar competition at Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Quebec, Canada. Kai is a senior at Millennium High School in Manhattan. He is a member of the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society where he performs regularly as well as the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. Outside of music he performs as an actor with the New York City Players’ Incoming Theater Division. He enjoys coding, reading, playing video games, and swimming.