Ming Xie took first place in Lee University’s annual piano competition, the final phase of the International Piano Festival and Competition held June 17-23. Second place went to Wan Lin Yu, and Phoebe Pan received third.

Finalists were chosen from a field of 10 outstanding young pianists, most of whom also participated in the weeklong festival. The festival’s 16 participants enjoyed master classes and performances by judges and other renowned guest artists.

Xie, a rising senior, has performed in concert halls throughout China, Germany, France, and the U.S., and currently studies with Matti Raekallio in the Pre-College Division of The Juilliard School. He received second place in the 2012 Crescendo Music Awards, and second place in the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition in Beijing. Xie earned a full, pre-college scholarship from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Yu started her piano studies at the age of 5, and by 16 was enrolled in the Taiwan University of Art. She placed second in the 2012 Taiwan ROC Piano Competition and won first prize in the 2010 New Art Music Star Piano Competition.

Yu also won other prizes in her native Taiwan and recently gave a recital in the Taipei National Recital Hall. She will be attending Lee University this fall where she will be studying piano under assistant professor of music Ning An.

Phoebe Pan has performed at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. She is a freshman at Pacific Academy in Irvine, Calif., and studies with Yi Dong. Pan won first prize in the 2012 David D. Dubois Piano Competition and grand prize in the Music Center Spotlight Program in Los Angeles. Pan has soloed with Southwestern Youth Music Festival Orchestra and Seraphim Symphony.