Congratulations to CYSO’s class of 2026! The end of the season is always bittersweet as we celebrate the achievements of our seniors and send them off into the world for their next adventures. Whether they’ve been with us for one season or ten, each graduate leaves a legacy of dedication, creativity, and music. And as always, we look forward to watching all the big things they’ll accomplish in the future. Read on to learn more about this year’s graduates.
Members of the Class of 2026
Nick Adams |Northwestern University, Music Performance, Environmental Engineering
Abd Rahman Al Zahabi | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Chemical Engineering
George Barkidjija |Amherst College, Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought
Chase Barrett | University of Michigan, Euphonium Performance and Political Science
Will Blomeier | University of Michigan, Biology
Noah Bradac | Belmont University, Commercial Music and Audio Engineering Technology
Aiden Burch | DePaul University, Environmental science
Peyton Chang | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Mechanical Engineering
Sungjun Cho | University of Illinois Chicago, Psychology and GPPA Medical Scholars
Christopher Chung | Carnegie Mellon University, Clarinet Performance
Harrison Cohen
Marlie Colness | Cleveland Institute of Music, Violin Performance
James Conley | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Music Performance (Bassoon) + Chemical engineering
Morgan Coolidge | University of Cambridge, History and Politics
Boston Desmond | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Civil Engineering
Olivia Detmer | Baylor University, Medical humanities
Samuel Deverman | Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, French Horn Performance
Olivia Doolin | McDuffie Center for Strings Mercer University, Viola Performance
Jordan Dowell Bates | Undecided
Lindsay Ernst | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Katherine Evans
Alexander Fallon
Dash Farbrother | Middlebury College, Environmental Studies
Kate Flint
Sasha Giannotti Guralnick | University of Miami, Frost School of Music, Piano performance and Jewish Studies
Sarah Gomez | Northwestern University, Horn performance and Mechanical Engineering
Abigail Hachim
Steven He | Yale University, Computer Science and Mathematics
Ava Hirschl | Gap year, Will audition to major in violin performance
Peter Hornstra | University of Chicago, Sociology (Pre-Med)
Daniel Johnson | Peabody, Jazz Performance, Audio Engineering
Kaylee Johnson | Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University, Flute performance
Everett Johnson | University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Music Education
Bogdan Jones | Harvard University, STEM
Anya Keblinskas | University of St. Andrews, International Relations
Andy Keller | St Olaf College, Environmental Studies, Statistics
Ethan Kim | Case Western Reserve University, Nursing
Ryan Kim | Northwestern University, Mechanical Engineering
Eugene Kim
Gyuri Kim
Bennett King | Northwestern University, Economics
Sam King | University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Oboe Performance
Julia Kipp
Karen Kobayashi | Curtis Institute of Music, Flute Performance
Victor Kramer | Conservatory of Milan “Giuseppe Verdi”, Viola Performance
Gloria Kravchenko | Rice University, Music Composition
Lily Kriek | Harper College, Emergency Medical Services
Jack Kujawa | Royal Academy of Music, Trombone Performance
Emigdio Lais | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Music Education / Physics
Jeffrey Le | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Information Sciences and Data Science
Kaitlin Lee | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Political Science and Global Studies in Human Rights
Merrill Lee | Stanford University, Human Biology and Economics
Eric Lee | Yale University, Ethic, Politics, & Economics and History of Art
Davin Lee
Esaiah Lewerentz
Claire Li | New York University, Communication and Business
Dathan Lidy | Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Horn Performance
Zev Lifshen | Lawrence University, Violin Performance
Sophia Lim | Northwestern University, Neuroscience
Brook Lingenfelter | Princeton University, Physics and Horn Performance
Christopher Lipscomb | Drexel University, Game Production and Design
Orli Littmann
Lucy Liu | UC Berkeley, Neuroscience
Jessica Liu | Stanford, Bioengineering
Morrison Luban | Northwestern University, Theatre
Ezrael Lukman | Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, Cello Major
Zadie Ma | Manhattan School of Music, Jazz Studies – Double Bass
Charlotte Maine
Timas Marchertas
Oleander Mecum | Carnegie Mellon University, Viola Performance and Biology
Jackson Medley | Northwestern University, Oboe Performance and Electrical Engineering
Charles Metzgar-Rugg
Ruby Mikulski
Danny Mokelke | DePaul, Music Performance
Dhruv Moorthy | University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Engineering (Undeclared)
Owen Myers | University of Southern California, Music Production
Chloe Nam | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering
Colin O’Brien | Oberlin, Psychology and Viola Performance
Anthony Olague | Peabody Conservatory of Music, Jazz Performance – Saxophone
Neel Patel | University of Chicago, Econ + Math
Angel Perez | Northeastern University, Computer Science & Computer Engineering
Emily Perez-Ojeda | University of Michigan, Clarinet Performance
Jack Polacek | DePaul University, Classical Trumpet Performance
Sabrina Qian | University of Pennsylvania, Chemistry
Grace Rhee | Wheaton College Illinois, Chemistry
Luke Rupert | Georgia Tech, Electrical Engineering
Sam Santore | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Music Education
Alexandra Schneider | Barnard College, English
Teddy Schweidel | University of Southern California, Chemistry
Evangeline Selking | Yale University, Philosophy or Chemistry
Arjun Shah | University of Michigan, Engineering
Jackie Sienicki | University of Michigan, Music Education and French Horn Performance
Henri Smolen | Carnegie Mellon University, Applied Mathematics, Cello Performance
Miles Stagman | UC Berkeley, Biology and Film
Gwendolyn Strickler | Queen’s University Belfast, Psychology
Jason Sun | Duke University, Biomedical Engineering
Noah Sykes
Caden Tam | EMORY, Chemistry
Wyatt Tiberia | Vandercook College of Music, Music Education
Jeffery Tong | Stanford University, Undecided
Max Vannopas | University of California, Los Angeles, Ethnomusicology
David Vasquez
Kristianne Villasenor | Rockhurst University, Molecular Biology on an 7-year BS/DO track
Aidan Villasenor
Tiannie Wang | Yale University, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Bryce Williams | Manhattan School of Music, Cello Performance
Dash Wilson | Yale, Music Composition, Computer Science
Josiah Wong | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Political Science
Jay Yang | Northwestern University, Economics and Clarinet Performance
Selina Ye
Aaron Zapol | University of Michigan, Double Bass Performance
Sophia Zheng | Columbia, Mechanical Engineering
Natalie Zhu | University of Illinois Chicago, Neuroscience (Medicine Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions)
