Carter Medina is a 17 year old cellist from Kansas City, MO. He is the co-principal of the Youth Symphony of Kansas City and the Missouri All State Orchestra. Carter is a Sphinx Performance Academy Student and will be returning this summer to the Juilliard School for SPA, after Ascent. This year, Carter was chosen as an NPR From the Top Fellow and he recorded a performance of Seven by Andrea Casarrubios, which will air on an upcoming episode of the national radio show/podcast. He has also been featured in an Intel International Market commercial as a cello soloist and has won awards at several concerto competitions, including the Heritage Philharmonic and National Federation of Music Teachers. Carter currently studies with Susie Yang from the Kansas City Symphony and is a former student of Avi Friedlander from the Music Institute of Chicago. He will be a senior in high school this year and then plans to study cello performance in a conservatory setting.