Hit Like A Girl international drum contest reveals 2019 winners

The Hit Like A Girl drumming contest is back and better than ever this year. Now in its eighth year of competition, the international contest gives female drummers and percussionists a platform.

Following the April 12 deadline, Hit Like A Girl is now revealing the full list of winners in each category.

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As the contest’s name conveys, only those who identify as female are eligible to enter. There’s no age minimum as the contest is broken down into four age groups: under 13, 13-17, 18-39 and over 40.

There are five drum and percussion categories: drum set, marching percussion, world percussion, concert percussion and technology. The aforementioned age groups apply to the drum set category only. The marching, world, concert and technology categories consist of under 18 and over 18.

The prizes consist of $10,000 in items, scholarships and performance opportunities, which will be awarded to nearly 90 winners across all the categories and divisions. Berklee College Of Music, Drum Corps International, DW drums, DRUM! magazine, Musicians Institute, Sabian, School Of Rock, Sweetwater, Yamaha and many, many more all have contributed to the prize package.

Hit Like A Girl winners

This year’s contest received hundreds of entries from more than 50 countries. Nearly 100 women were chosen as winners. See who won below.

Drumset (under 13)

Champion: Bunga Ardina Purtri (Indonesia)
2nd Place: Milana (USA)
3rd Place: TangYu-Chiao (Taiwan)
Popular: Matilda Taylor (Australia)

Drumset (13-17)

Champion: Kristyna Sibinska (Czech Republic)
2nd Place: Giovanna Takaki Bottai (Brazil)
3rd Place: Stefanie Floriana (Indonesia)
Popular: Monica Kezia Bunga Keinanti (Indonesia)

Drumset (18-39)

Champion: Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez (Dominican Repuiblic)
2nd Place: Amanda Dal (England)
3rd Place: Minji Kim (Korea)
Popular: Jiaqi Wang (China)

Drumset (over 40)

Champion: Penny Larson (USA)
2nd Place: Karen Newell (USA)
3rd Place: Aya Iwata (Japan)
Popular: Rikki Woods (USA)

Drumset Weekly Winners (Week 1)

<13: Sophie Tracy (Ireland)
13-17: Dagmara Karandys (Poland)
18-39: Misaki Nakamichi (Japan)
40+: Juliana Lopes da Mata Novo (Brazil)

Drumset Weekly Winners (Week 2)

<13: Ashlyn Price (Canada)
13-17: Giovanna Takai Bottai (Brazil)
18-39: Camellia Akhamie Kies (USA)
40+: Jennifer Towns (USA)

Drumset Weekly Winners (Week 3)

<13: Tang Yu-Chiao (Taiwan)
13-17: Krystyna Sibinska (Czech Republic)
18-39: Anna Koniotou (Cypress)
40+: Rikki Woods (USA)

Drumset Weekly Winners Week 4

<13: Milana (USA)
13-17: Stefanie Floriana (Indonesia)
18-39: Roni Kaspi (Israel)
40+: Rasila Queen (USA)

Drumset Weekly Winners Week 5

<13: Ho Yen-Hsuan (Taiwan)
13-17: Yuuka Aoki (Japan)
18-39: Amanda Dal (England)
40+: Karen Newell (USA)

Drumset Weekly Winners Week 6

<13: Mana Fukuda (Japan)
13-17: Luana Brazzan (Peru)
18-39: Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez (Dominican Republic)
40+: Penny Larson (USA

Drumset Japan

Misaki Nakamichi (under 18), Mana Fukuda (over 18)

Drumset Mexico: 

Zoe Larios (under 18), Susan Badillo (over 18)

Drumset France

Lauréne (over 18)

Drumset China

Angela (under 18),  Emma (under 18), Larissa (13-17), Vicky (18-39)

Marching Percussion (under 18)

Champion: Tahlia Williamson (USA)
2nd Place: Trinity Forish (USA)

Marching Percussion (over 18)

Champion: Jamese Moses (UA)
2nd Place: Paige Durr (USA)
3rd Place: Asia M. Henery (USA)

Concert Percussion (under 18)

Champion: Gina Moy (USA)
2nd Place: Dagmara Karandys (Poland)
3rd Place: Kalonica Nicx (Indonesia)

Concert Percussion (over 18)

Champion: Yun-Chen Chou (Taiwan)
2nd Place: Paige Durr (USA)
3rd Place: Hitomi Hosokawa (Japan)

World Percussion (under 18)

Champion: Hina Nishide (Japan)
2nd Place: Luana Brazzan (Peru)
3rd Place: Kimmy Moore (USA)

World Percussion (over 18)

Champion: Roni Bat-Or Parnass (Israel)
2nd Place: Daliz Marie (Puerto Rico)
3rd Place: Camellia Akhamie Kies (USA)

Technology (under 18)

Champion: Raylinne Garcia (USA)
2nd Place: Ellie Johnson (USA)
3rd Place: Abbie Schneider (USA)

Technology (over 18)

Champion: Aletta Dina (UK)
2nd Place: Sophea Sim (Canada)
3rd Place: Jessica Muñiz Collado (USA)
ROLI: Bash Saaid (Denmark)

Special Awards

Berklee “Aspire”: Isabella Lamberti (USA)
Drumeo “Debut”: Minji Kim (Korea)
GirlsMarch: Trinity Forish (USA)
Musician’s Institute: Elise Luna Burcham (USA), Leilani Torres (USA)
PAS Showcase: To Be Determined
Sam Ash #1 (TDWR): Camellia Akhamie Kies (USA)
Sam Ash #2 (TDWR): Giovanna Takaki Bottai (Brazil)
Sam Ash #3 (TDWR): Siddhi Rahul Shah (India)
School of Rock: Matilda Taylor (Australia)
The Sessions “Joe Hibbs”: Ania Tkaczyk (Poland)
Sweetwater Gearfest: Peiying Li (China)

Check out a video featuring some of the winner’s submissions below. You can also see the full list of winners and their videos on the Hit Like A Girl website.

More on Hit Like A Girl

Drum industry veteran and Hit Like A Girl Executive Director David Levine created the contest idea in 2011. Fueled by the belief that female drummers were both underserved and underrepresented, Levine teamed up with Tom Tom Magazine’s Mindy Abovitz and DRUM! magazine’s Andy Doerschuk and Phil Hood. From there, the contest took shape and launched its inaugural year.

The contest encourages drumming for girls and women regardless of their age or playing level. Since its first year, the contest has garnered more than 5,000 contestants across the globe in more than 50 different countries.

Contestants submitted a three-minute video of themselves drumming. Drum solos, covers and live gigs were all accepted. The video was then judged based on three categories: performance, presentation and story.

The performance accounts for the biggest chunk of the evaluation at 60 percent where groove, sound, technique, musicality and interpretation are judged. Presentation accounts for 30 percent as the panel judges production quality and effect. Story sits at 10 percent and includes personality, passion and detail.

Each week, HLAG chose one “weekly winner” from all the entries to advance. This is one participant in each age division as chosen by the judging panel consisting of Sabian Educators Network members.

The second way to make it to the finals is through public voting, which is held April 12-25. This takes place online for all contestants where people can register and then vote once per video per day. The person with the most votes in each age division advanced.

The third way to advance was as a Wild Card contestant. This unnamed amount of contestants were chosen based on skills and presentation.

The final way to advance was to impress the celebrity judges. This included a panel of nearly 80 people. Among them are Jess Bowen (the Summer Set3OH!3Tessa Violet), Hayley Cramer (Pop Evil), Nick D’Virgilio (Genesis, Tears For Fears), Emily Dolan-Davies (the Darkness, Cher Lloyd), Samantha Maloney (Hole, Mötley Crüe, Eagles Of Death Metal), Sarah Tomek (Steven Tyler) and more.

HLAG 2012 winner De’Arcus Curry was also on the panel. The drummer is currently out with Janelle Monae having most recently performed with her at the 61st Grammy Awards and Coachella. First runner-up in 2014 Fer Fuentes was also be on the panel, and her resume includes work with Lauren Jauregui and Becky G.

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