Young Artist Award

Violinist Lisa Ji ’27 has been named a winner of the highly selective 2025 YoungArts Competition.

Ji, a prospective chemistry and statistics double major from Overland Park, Kan., describes music as “both an outlet for creative expression and a source of personal joy.” She took up the violin at age 7 and has been performing ever since. At Williams, she plays in the Berkshire Symphony and studies with Joanna Kurkowicz, concertmaster and Lyell B. Clay Artist in Residence, Violin. Ji also volunteers with the Kids 4 Harmony program, which brings classical music education to underresourced communities in the Berkshires.

“Playing the violin provides an incredibly fulfilling balance to my academic life,” Ji says. “Through the music community here, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with so many amazing individuals from all walks of life.”

Ji’s award includes a lifetime of creative and professional support as well as opportunities to connect and share her work with other YoungArts artists. Past recipients include musician Jon Batiste, actor Timothée Chalamet and the first National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, Amanda Gorman.