Charleston Competition Celebrates 75th Monthly Event with 2026 World Finalists

Milestone Competition Brings Together an International Community of Musicians as CIMC Expands Year-Round Resources Through Muselo

CHARLESTON, SC, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Charleston International Music Competition (CIMC) is celebrating a major milestone with the announcement of finalists for the 2026 World Music Competition, the organization's 75th monthly international music competition since 2020.

The World Music Competition reflects one of the defining qualities of CIMC's community: musicians are able to participate from wherever they live, study, and perform. Across six years of monthly events, CIMC has recognized more than 8,000 musicians representing over 100 countries, connecting performers, teachers, and families through a shared commitment to musical development.

The 2026 World Music Competition welcomed musicians across piano, strings, voice, winds, ensembles, and additional instrumental categories. Finalists represent different ages, levels of experience, educational backgrounds, and musical communities, demonstrating the many paths through which people pursue music today.

Rather than being defined by a single instrument, repertoire period, or stage of development, the World Music Competition celebrates the breadth of the international musical community and the dedication required to prepare and share a meaningful performance.

2026 World Music Competition Finalists
CELLO
Azra Agrawal-Farhana, Zara Agrawal-Farhana, Rebecca Du, Kailey Kim, Jason Li, Jonathan Song, Ashley Xu, Meriel Ye, Landon Yong

CLARINET
Andrew Wi

DOUBLE BASE
Rachelle Sandoval

ERHU
Kevin Zhang

FLUTE
Jasper Chen, Caitlynn Ye

GUZHENG
Leyi Ling, Grace Ma

HARP
Astele Liu, Hermione So

PIANO
Sasha Altschuler, Nikita Banov, Prathik Boppudi, Kimberly Cao, Alina Chen, Angela Chen, Jessica Chen, Yuxuan Cheng, Ishani Dasgupta, Kaitlyn DiFranco, Keilana Eng, Zharika Evangelista, Evdoxia Fotopoulou, Ruixuan Gao, Gabriella Geer, Giselle Goldenberg, Alexander Harfouch, Chunru Hu, Parshv Jain, Caleb Jeon, Ashley Jiang, Arya Kantak, Christine Kim, Dylan Kim, Lohith Konada, Justin Lee, Vienna Lee, Maxwell Li, Melody Liang, Rae Lim, Daniel Lin, Emily Lin, Kayden Lin, Kayla Ostrow, Iris Park, Rachel Pincus, Aditi Prasanna, Ludovico Rembert, Durray Ripley, Love Roitfarb, Elizabeth Ruan, Sanghyun Seo, Owen Smith, Esme Tran, Luke Wan, Anabelle Wang, Joaquin Wong, Lucas Wong, Matthew Wong, Zixuan Yang, Ivy Yao, Claire Yuen, Chenxin Zhang, Jeremy Zhang, Andy Zhao

SAXOPHONE
Patrick Rippeon

VIOLA
Hailey Hong, Daniel Kim, Jaden Song, Ellie Weil

VIOLIN
Arthur Bekdjanov, Ethan Chung, Leon Crisan, Jose Dominguez, Alayna Hong, Anna Huang, Grace Huang, Jayden Kim, Audrey Lee, Alice Li, Aithan Liu, Cheng-Xin Lu, Vivian Nguyen, Jacob Song, Izabela Wiktoria Oliwia Torfs, Charlotte Yao, Kailai Zhang, Linda Zheng

VOCAL
Shiven Gupta, Sumin Han, Carter He, Tanisha Joshi, Aaditha Kannam, Saanvi Kaza, Zoilita Lester, Xuanyu Liu, Tony Park, Yedam Seo, Lile Sun, Sophia Tian, Anya Vannarath, Sujin Yeun, Tenley Yeung

ZHONGRUAN
Jiahe (Fancy) Fu

ENSEMBLES
Alla Bell, Yuni Lee, Riley Routh, Isabella Yuan, Andrew Bren, Kayla Chong, Zoe Farh, Jaden Kim, Luke Lee, Dorie Liu, Eshana Sugathadasa, Shravan Tamilarasan, Ellen Zhao

Each finalist represents a different musical journey. Some are young students developing confidence and technique with a private teacher. Others are advanced musicians refining ambitious repertoire, adult performers continuing a lifelong relationship with music, or ensemble members learning to communicate and perform together.

What connects them is the process behind the performance: choosing a goal, preparing repertoire, practicing consistently, responding to feedback, and ultimately sharing the result with an international audience.
Official results for the 2026 World Music Competition will be published on September 10, 2026.

Music Without Geographic Boundaries
Online participation has made it possible for musicians in different countries and communities to take part in the same international musical experience without the geographic and financial barriers associated with international travel.
For CIMC, that accessibility is central to its purpose.

A musician does not need to live near a major concert center or travel internationally to set an ambitious performance goal, receive recognition for an accomplishment, or discover the work of musicians living thousands of miles away.
Through its monthly competitions, CIMC provides recurring opportunities for performers to prepare, participate, and be recognized while remaining connected to their own teachers, schools, studios, and local musical communities.

After 75 monthly events, that model has developed into a global network encompassing thousands of musicians and educators.

Supporting Musicians Between Performances: Muselo
CIMC's work with musicians over the past six years has also highlighted an important challenge: performances show the result of musical development, but they rarely capture the process that created it.
That is where Muselo comes in.

Muselo is a music education platform developed to give students and private teachers practical resources for the work that happens between major performances.

Students can use Muselo to track practice sessions, receive feedback on focused musical excerpts, work toward mastery, and build a long-term musical transcript that documents their progress over time.

They can also connect with their private teachers, creating a clearer link between individual practice and ongoing instruction.

A competition result may capture one achievement on one day. A musical transcript can show the larger journey: the repertoire studied, practice completed, sections mastered, progress made, and milestones reached along the way.

Muselo is now available to musicians and teachers at:
https://muselo.app

75 Monthly Competitions and a Growing Music Community
Reaching 75 monthly competitions represents more than a numerical milestone for CIMC.

Since its first events in 2020, the Charleston International Music Competition has developed a year-round calendar that gives musicians repeated opportunities to work toward new artistic goals rather than treating musical recognition as a once-a-year experience.

Different competitions emphasize different seasons, repertoire, instruments, and themes, but the larger purpose remains consistent: encouraging musicians to keep learning, preparing, performing, and sharing their work.

More than 8,000 musicians from over 100 countries have now been recognized through CIMC.

The community includes children beginning their musical education, teenagers preparing for auditions and academic opportunities, advanced performers pursuing demanding repertoire, adult musicians returning to instruments they love, private teachers guiding the next generation, and families supporting musicians throughout that process.

CIMC believes meaningful musical opportunities can serve musicians across this entire spectrum.

Discover Performances from the CIMC Community
Selected performances from the 2026 World Music Competition are available through the official Charleston International Music Competition YouTube channel, alongside performances from previous CIMC events.

Watch performances:
https://youtube.com/@charlestoncompetition

Musicians, parents, and teachers can also explore firsthand experiences shared by previous CIMC participants.

Read participant testimonials:
https://charlestoncompetition.com/testimonials/

Watch video testimonials:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgdkUhRgoAHrQmKn1dwO4qBX_vGCT7qkA

2026 World Music Competition Results
Official results for the 2026 World Music Competition will be released on September 10, 2026.

Results will be available at:
https://charlestoncompetition.com/results

What's Next at Charleston International Music Competition
CIMC's 2026 season continues with additional international music competitions throughout the remainder of the year:
2026 Autumn Music Competition
Application Deadline: September 15, 2026
2026 Instrumental Music Competition
Application Deadline: October 15, 2026
2026 Global Music Competition
Application Deadline: November 15, 2026
Competition categories, eligibility information, repertoire guidelines, and application details are available at:
https://charlestoncompetition.com

About Charleston International Music Competition
The Charleston International Music Competition (CIMC) creates international performance, recognition, and educational opportunities for musicians around the world.

Founded in 2020, CIMC has now organized 75 monthly international music competitions and recognized more than 8,000 musicians representing over 100 countries. Its programs welcome musicians across ages, instruments, backgrounds, and levels of experience while encouraging continued artistic development and engagement with music.

CIMC also supports musical development beyond individual competitions through Muselo, a music education platform where students can track practice, work toward mastery, build long-term musical transcripts, and stay connected with their private teachers.
Learn more:
https://charlestoncompetition.com
https://muselo.app

Charleston Competition
Charleston Music LLC
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