A 15-year-old Yorktown High School sophomore has become the first from Arlington to win a regional competition spotlighting youth pianists.
Sam Brose was selected as the winner among eight finalists in the 2025 Nancy Peery Marriott Young Artist Competition. He and two other young honorees will be spotlighted at the upcoming holiday concert of the National Chamber Ensemble.
“I am so honored to be a part of this wonderful concert, and I am especially looking forward to it since it is a holiday show,” Brose told ARLnow. “Maurice Ravel’s ‘Une barque sur l’océan’ is probably my favorite piece, so I am very excited to be playing it.”
Performances at the Young Artist Competition were evaluated by National Chamber Ensemble artistic director Leo Sushansky and Nikita Fitenko, professor of piano at the Catholic University of America.
“The level of performance was exceptionally high, and all participants are to be warmly commended for their artistry, preparation and musical maturity,” Sushansky said.
For Bose, performing with the National Chamber Ensemble will cap two years filled with successes in piano competitions.
“I have really been trying to branch out in terms of the competitions I enter,” he said.
A student of Jamila Tekalli Hanner at Levine School of Music, Brose recently won the state competition for the Music Teachers National Association.
He also won the grand prize at the Cogen Concerto Competition, and made his orchestral debut in 2024. He was awarded first prize in both the concerto competition and solo competition at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
“My first musical memory was singing Adele into the microphone on my miniature Casio keyboard as a toddler,” he said. “I had the keyboard, a tiny plastic trumpet, some bongos, a harmonica and a dog-shaped guitar. Jamming alongside my stuffed animals one-man-band style was one of my favorite things to do.”
Piano lessons began with Mary Leonino, “a wonderful teacher in my neighborhood,” Brose said.
“I loved piano instantly — it was not at all an acquired taste,” he said. “The greatest lesson that I took away from Mary’s studio was that performing music is a gift to your audience. It motivates me and calms my nerves before I perform.”
How does he juggle school, music and other facts of teenage life? It represents a challenge, Brose acknowledged:
Especially now that I am a sophomore, my classes have gotten so much more demanding and time-consuming. To balance, I have to stay on top of my schoolwork and be as efficient as possible, while still maintaining my mental health. When I get home from school, I have a break and a snack, and then I go to my second job, music. I have to do both every day, with a prioritization on piano since that is my passion. It’s difficult because, unlike school where grades can serve as motivation to work hard, all motivation for piano has to come from within. On days when my energy is low or stress is high, I rely on pure drive to keep me practicing.
Asked if he sees himself as an introvert or extrovert, Brose said his personality represents a middle ground.
“I would say that my personality includes both. I consider myself an introvert since I get energy from being alone and in small groups,” he said. “Being on stage is one of my favorite things, so I do not equate being introverted to being shy.”
Other students joining the National Chamber Ensemble on stage will be Minjae Jeon, a 14-year-old pianist from Potomac, Md., and Jude Bruce, a 13-year-old who attends Trinity Christian School in Fairfax.
The “Holiday Cheer!” concert will be held on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. Works by Vivaldi, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns will be featured, along with Leroy Anderson’s iconic “Sleigh Ride.”
Joining the Ensemble for the concert are the Voce Chamber Singers, under the direction of David Mann. The concert will close with a holiday sing-along.
(Updated to correct name misspelling.)
