Israeli-born pianist, violinist, violist, composer, and conductor Amir Avsker performs internationally as a soloist, a chamber musician, and an orchestra player. He is the current Young Artist in Residence of All Classical Portland radio and a much sought-after accompanist, performer, composer, and arranger. His compositions have been performed by the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland and the faculty members of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.

Amir’s awards include the 2019 Oregon Music Education Association Composition Competition middle school division, the 2023 Portland Metropolitan Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, and the 2023 Cognizart Young Artists Debut! Competition. He has held several leadership positions in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony and is a participant in Fear No Music's Young Composers Project.

A polyglot, Amir speaks eight languages, including Hebrew, English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, and Portuguese. He hopes to use his linguistic skills in professional life as a musician.

Luke D’Silva is a junior at Westview High School. His musical journey began at 6 years old with the violin. Three years later, he decided to play the viola with Andrea Hawkins as his teacher.

Luke joined the Young String Ensemble of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) as the Assistant Principal Violist and became the Principal Violist the following year. Luke is currently the Co-Principal Violist of the PYP Orchestra and its string ensemble Camerata PYP. Since 2021, Luke has been a member of The Back to Bach Project. In summer 2022, he attended the Oberlin Viola Workshop led by Professor Peter Slowik. Luke also represented Oregon in NYO2 2022 and was selected as an Assistant Principal Violist. In 2023, he served as the Principal Violist of both All-State and All-Northwest Honor Orchestras. In addition, Luke is the 2023 Oregon state champion for the Viola Solo category. He is also a winner of the 29th Young Artists Debut! presented by Cognizart by MetroArts Inc. Moreover, Luke loves performing chamber music: he is a member of the Westview String Quintet which is the 2023 Oregon state champion for the Large String Ensemble category. When not playing viola, Luke can be found on the basketball court or hiking with family.

Ishan Ghosh is a senior at Westview High School. Ishan is an accomplished oboist and has been a member of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony (MYS) since sixth grade. He plays the oboe and the english horn in Symphony Orchestra and studies with Martin Hebert, principal oboist of the Oregon Symphony. Also a violinist, Ishan is a member of MYSfits, a self-conducted string ensemble focusing on repertoire outside the traditional classical realm, and has studied under Silu Fei for seven years. Outside of MYS, Ishan is a member of the Westview Wind Ensemble, teaches violin with Project Prelude at underserved elementary schools in Beaverton, and has been singing Hindustani classical music since second grade. He also played oboe, English horn, and clarinet with Westview’s pit orchestra in the Oregon premiere of Frozen: The Musical. Ishan regularly participates in various honor ensembles, including the All-Northwest Honor Band and Western International Band Clinic, and has been the principal oboe of the Oregon All-State Orchestra for the last two years. Ishan was recently featured on All Classical Radio’s ‘On Deck with Young Musicians’, a program that interviews talented young musicians who live and perform in the Pacific Northwest. He was the Runner-Up of the 2023 MYS Concerto Competition and placed second at the OSAA State Solo Music Championships on oboe.

Outside of music, Ishan is co-president of the nationally-ranked Westview History and Quiz Bowl Club. He takes an interest in economics and mathematics at school, and is fluent in English and his native languages: Hindi and Bengali. In his spare time, Ishan enjoys baking and hobby farming and is also an avid nature lover. He can often be found hiking and cycling in the scenic corridors of the Pacific Northwest.

16-year-old Colby Huneke picked up bass early in middle school, and has been playing with orchestras ever since. Throughout his time at Tualatin High School, he was able to find himself growing not only as a musician, but also as a person. Joining chamber groups has been a great help in making acquaintances and meeting many great people.

While participating in YMA (Young Musicians & Artists) in 2021, Colby worked with the music director of MYS (Metropolitan Youth Symphony), Raúl Gómez-Rojas, and was later invited to play with the orchestra. Colby plans to keep playing bass through college, and beyond.

Ian Ko is a 15 year old high school sophomore living in Portland, Oregon. He started playing cello when he was 7 years old and currently studies with Marilyn de Oliveira. He is in his second season playing with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony as a member of the Symphony Orchestra. He is also a member of MYSfits, a self conducted string ensemble focused on performing classical and contemporary music.

In addition to his participation in MYS, Ian plays with his school orchestra. He was accepted into the OMEA High School All-State Orchestra in 2022 and placed second in the Small String Ensemble category of the OMEA Solo and Ensemble contest. Outside of music, Ian enjoys reading new books and hanging out with friends. 

Asher Milman is a 16 year old violinist from Tigard, Oregon. He started playing violin at the age of 5 with Edie Bennett and currently studies with Nic Price.

He was a soloist with and later concertmaster of the Oregon Pro Arte Youth Chamber Orchestra, and has been a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association for the past 5 years, playing in its Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s chamber ensemble, Camerata PYP. Asher has competed in multiple festivals and competitions, winning the 2018 OMTA Ensemble State Competition with his sister, Michelle. He has also studied piano since the age of 6 with Alona Maizlin, finishing the OMTA's Syllabus Program in 2022.

Asher has been a member of Project Prelude since 2022, a student-run non-profit dedicated to growing accessibility to music instrumental education.

He is a junior at the International School of Beaverton, and in his spare time, enjoys playing tennis, cross-country skiing, and reading. 

Cyrus Ngan was initially attracted to the drum set as a child. Fortunately, his parents managed to convince him to take up piano instead. He later picked up the cello in middle school because “it sounded cool and he wanted to sit down.” Today, Cyrus studies piano with María García and cello with Erin Ratzlaf. 

In 2024, Cyrus is a winner of the 30th Cognizart Young Artists Debut! Competition and the Eugene Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition. On piano, he was the co-winner of the 2023 Metropolitan Youth Symphony Concerto Competition and has performed for renowned pianists such as William Chapman Nyaho & Janina Fialkowska. On cello, he had the privilege of serving as the principal cellist of the 2024 Oregon Music Education Association All-State Symphony Orchestra and currently holds the same position in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. 

Outside of music, Cyrus enjoys amateur photography and breadmaking. He’s also a varsity & club swimmer and often wonders if he has the lung capacity for a woodwind.

Andy Shin, age 14, is a freshman at BASE (Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering) in Portland, Oregon. He started cello at age nine and has been playing for four years. Since then, he has been involved in a variety of ensemble platforms such as PYP (Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra), Camerata PYP, and Portland Summer Ensembles.

Andy has participated in several competitions; he is a winner of the 2023 MetroArts Young Artist Debut! Competition and performed as a sololoist with members of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Andy is the second-place winner of the 2023 Eugene Symphony Young Artists Competition in the junior division and has played a solo with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra as well. He is a second-place winner in the 2023 American Protégé International Competition, winner of the 2022 Baroque Festival, finalist for the 2022 Oregon Mozart Player soloist competition, and was selected to perform at the 2022 ASTA National Conference master class. He also performed at masterclasses with guest artists such as Peter Prosser from the Mannes School of Music (NYC), Ben Hong, Joshua Roman, Seth Biagini, and Ted Nelson. As a winner of the MetroArts YAD, he has been interviewed by All Classical Portland radio station’s On Deck With Young Musicians program. Andy was selected for the 2023 OrpheusPDX pathways program and has participated in the performance of  Mozart’s The Royal Shepherd (II Re Pastore) in the summer of 2023. Currently, he is studying with Maria Shim.

Outside of music, Andy loves to cook, bake, hike, and also enjoys spending time with books, friends, and family. Andy is always ready and excited to share his music with others at any time.