(BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ) -- Six piano students from the Wharton Performing Arts School (PAS) have earned top honors at the 2026 Golden Key Music Festival, an international competition that provides young musicians the opportunity to perform on some of the world's most prestigious stages. All six students study under faculty member Margarita Sturman.
Award recipients include:
* Athena Chakrabortty of Summit and Keara Hettiarachchi of Chatham — Gold Award. Invited to perform at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
* Trisha Sant of Skillman and Yuting An of New Providence — Silver Award. Invited to perform at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Trisha was also selected for an additional performance opportunity in Vienna, Austria
* Emily Bu of Berkeley Heights and Evangeline Tang of New Providence — Super Bronze Award
Invited to perform at Lincoln Center
These invitations represent a significant milestone for the Wharton Performing Arts School students, offering the opportunity to perform on internationally recognized stages as part of the festival winners' concerts.
"This level of achievement reflects not only our students' dedication and artistry, but also the strength of early music education and mentorship," said PAS Director Debra Joyal. "It's incredibly rewarding to see their hard work lead to opportunities on such renowned stages."
Said PAS faculty member Margarita Sturman, "Each of these students has put in consistent, focused work over time. It's been a joy to guide their development and see it culminate in these performance opportunities."
The students are currently preparing for their upcoming performances, continuing their studies and rehearsals in New Jersey while looking ahead to their appearances in New York City and abroad.
Wharton Arts' mission is to offer accessible, high quality performing arts education that sparks personal growth and builds inclusive communities. Wharton Arts' vision is for a transformative performing arts education in an inclusive community to be accessible for everyone.
Wharton Arts is New Jersey's largest independent non-profit community performing arts education center serving nearly 2,000 students through a range of classes and ensembles. The 5 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Chorus, an auditioned choral ensemble program for students in grades 3–12, encourage a love and appreciation of choral music while nurturing personal growth and creative development. The 15 ensembles of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, which serve over 500 students in grades 3–12 by audition, inspire young people to achieve musical excellence through high-level ensemble training and performance opportunities.
Based in Paterson, the Paterson Music Project is an El Sistema-inspired program of Wharton Arts that uses music education as a vehicle for social action by empowering and inspiring young people to achieve their full potential through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing. From Pathways classes for young children to Lifelong Learning programs for adults, the Wharton Performing Arts School has a robust musical theater and drama program and offers both private and group classes for instruments and voice for all ages and all abilities. With the belief in the positive and unifying influence of music and that performing arts education should be accessible to all people regardless of their ability to pay, Wharton Arts offers need-based scholarships.
Wharton Arts is located in Berkeley Heights, New Providence, and Paterson, NJ and reaches students from 12 counties. All of Wharton Arts' extraordinary teaching artists, faculty members, and conductors hold degrees in their teaching specialty and have been vetted and trained to enable our students to achieve their personal best.
