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Guest Artists 2024-2025 |
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| PIANO | ||
| Charles Berofsky—equally at home as a pianist, collaborator, and composer—seeks to engage audiences through a myriad of styles and genres of music. From a musical family, he enjoys playing as pianist of the Berofsky Piano Quartet. Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he began piano lessons at the age of 6, developed an interest in composition from young, and started organ lessons at age 14. Among his many awards are 3rd prize at the 2022 New York International Piano Competition, 2022 New England Conservatory Piano Competition, 2021 Thousand Islands (1st prize and audience favorite), 2021 Chautauqua (2nd prize), and the 2020 Eastman School of Music piano concerto competitions. His festival participation includes Taos, Mozarteum, Solsona, Orford, Chautauqua, and Bowdoin. Charles received his bachelor’s degree from Eastman, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at NEC under HaeSun Paik. ~ www.charlesberofsky.com |  |
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| Michael Stephen Brown, winner of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Competition, has been described by the New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” As a soloist he has appeared with the Seattle, Albany, Maryland, New Haven, and Erie Symphony orchestras, among others. Since joining the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two in 2015, Michael continues as a CMS Artist on a U.S. tour, and plays recitals with his longtime duo partner, cellist Nicholas Canellakis. As a composer, Michael is in residence with the New Haven Symphony for the 2017-2019 seasons. ~ www.michaelbrownmusic.com Photo by Neda Navee |
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| Pianist Janice Carissa is a recipient of numerous awards including the 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Grant, a prize at the 2014 piano competition at the Aspen Festival, Star Performance Award of the 2012 American Protégé Music Talent Competition in New York, a top prize at the IBLA Foundation’s 2006 Piano Competition (at age 8), and she is a Young Scholar of Lang Lang’s Music Foundation. Born in Surabaya, Indonesia, Janice has been featured on several television and radio stations in Indonesia as well as Voice of America, WHYY TV Philadelphia, WXQR at New York’s Greene Space, and National Public Radio’s From the Top. Recent highlights include her debut as soloist playing a Mozart Piano Concerto with Orpheus, collaborating with Berlin Philharmoniker’s Scharoun Ensemble, and a solo recital tour in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and New York. Upcoming engagements include a performance of the Ravel Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, recitals with cellist Zlatomir Fung for YCA, Ravinia on Tour with Miriam Fried, and Caramoor Festival. She has also performed at the Louis Vuitton Foundation for the Paris Auditorium opening in 2016, with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2015 at age 16, at the 2014 United Nations Day Concert in New York with Lang Lang, at Oxford University, Ravinia Festival, and the Jay Priztker Pavilion at Milennium Park. And she has appeared at Kimmel Center, Weill Hall; Chopin University’s Grand Concert Hall in Warsaw; Lipinski Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland; and at Rimini, Casena, and Ragusa in Italy. In Indonesia, she performed for the President and other dignitaries at the Presidential Palace in Indonesia, and for Lady Dewi Sukarno in Bali. Together with her brother Ryan Ferguson, she played a duo recital in the “Fantastic Sound of Two Pianos” at the Sydney Opera House in 2011. Janice is currently studying at Curtis with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald. ~ janicecarissa.com |  |
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| Fei Fei, born in Shenzhen, China, is a winner of the Concert Artists Guild and a top finalist at the 14th Van Cliburn competitions. Praised by the Plain Dealer for her “bountiful gifts and passionate immersion into the music she touches,” she continues to build a reputation for her poetic interpretations, charming audiences with her “passion, piquancy and tenderness” and “winning stage presence” (Dallas Morning News). As as concerto soloist, she has performed with many orchestras in the U.S., Hong Kong, China, and Germany. Her festival participations include Bravo, Lake George, and Music@Menlo; and as a recitalist, she has played on the Dame Myra Hess and Gilmore Rising Stars series, at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, and the Louvre. Fei-Fei was showcased in the documentary, Virtuosity, about the 2013 Cliburn competition, which aired on PBS in 2015, and is a member of the Aletheia Piano Trio. ~ feifeipiano.com Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco |  |
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| Avery Gagliano, winner of the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize at the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, is a young artist who captures audiences with her sensitivity, emotional depth, and musical expression. At her recital debut on NPR’s From The Top, music producer Tom Vignieri described her as “a compelling presence at the piano. She immediately draws you in—not because of histrionics… She has the technique and the musicianship, which is the ultimate combination of a young artist.” Other winnings include the Audience Prize at the 2019 Cliburn Junior Piano Competition, and First Prize at both the Aspen Concerto and MostArts Piano competitions. She was also a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang Foundation. Her success has taken her to venues such as Verbier, Ravinia, Aspen, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Chicago’s Millennium Park, WQXR Greene Space, and GRAMMY Salute to Classical Music at Carnegie Hall. As a soloist, she has collaborated with several orchestras in the U.S., and she is an avid chamber musician with appearances in noted festivals, including Verbier in 2019. Avery began playing the piano at age five and made her recital and orchestral debuts at age nine. Originally from Washington, D.C., Avery currently studies at Curtis with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald. ~ www.averygagliano.com |  |
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| Polish-American pianist Adam Golka has garnered widespread critical and popular acclaim for his “brilliant technique and real emotional depth” (The Washington Post); and is winner of the 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Award, first prize in the 2nd China Shanghai Competition, and the 2009 Max Allen Award of the American Pianists Association. In 2020–2021 Adam performed the cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Sonatas at the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park (Florida) and at Saint Thomas Church in New York, in socially-distanced and live-stream formats. His performances of each Sonata were complemented by 32 short films he created—32@32 (available on YouTube)—documenting his preparation for climbing the Everest of piano literature and featuring an amalgam of distinguished guests, from an astrophysicist to Alfred Brendel. With his extensive concerto repertoire, Adam has appeared as a soloist with dozens of orchestras in the U.S. and internationally. Among his recitals, he played at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Tonhalle Zürich for the “Sir András Schiff Selects” series. As a chamber musician, Adam has performed at Krzyżowa-Music, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Caramoor, and recently debuted at Wigmore Hall with violinist Itamar Zorman. His principal teachers were José Feghali at Texas Christian University and Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory. ~ adamgolka.com |  |
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| Pianist Maxim Lando has been described by the Berkshire Fine Arts as having an “ever so clear approach to the keyboard, and the molding and shaping of phrases straight from the musical angels.” Winner of the 2021/22 Vendome Grand Prize, 2020 Gilmore Young Artist Award, winner in the 2018 Young Concert Artists Auditions, Gold Medal at the 2017 Berliner International Competition, in 2015 he was the first American awarded the Gold Prize at the International Television Contest for Young Musicians in Moscow. He is also winner of the 2014 Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition. Maxim has been featured on CNN’s Best of Quest, NPR’s From The Top, CNC News, America’s Got Talent show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, as well as Bavarian Radio, Russian TV-Kultura, and television shows in Italy, Armenia, and Kazakhstan. Maxim is one of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation’s 5 Young Scholars, and has performed duets with Lang Lang on WQXR (broadcast live from Greene Space) and at the UN (sharing the stage with Sting). ~ maximlando.com Photo by Matt Dine |
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| Timur Mustakimov has been described by the Russian press in the Kamerton Magazine as “a pianist with his own style, recognizable and at the same time spontaneous.” Winner of the 2013 Heida Hermanns International Competition as well as prizes from piano competitions in Ufa, Russia and Kiev, Ukraine, and the Jacob Flier and 2011 Mannes College Concerto competitions in the United States, Timur won his first competition at age 12 in the Republic of Tatarstan. Born in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, Timur began his piano studies at the age of 8, then enrolled in the Special Music School for Gifted Children in Kazan (the capital of Tartarstan). |  |
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| Pianist Drew Petersen has performed as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in the U.S. and Europe since the age of five. He is a recipient of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2017 American Pianists Awards, and 4th prize winner of the 2015 Leeds International Piano Competition, 2010 Kosciuszko-Chopin, Hilton Head, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, and Manhattan School of Music Concerto competitions. As soloist, Drew has performed with many orchestras; among them, the Hallé Orchestra, the Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Tucson, and Hilton Head Symphony orchestras, and the Westchester Philharmonic. Leading up to a performance of a Mozart concerto under the baton of Lukas Foss when he was 11 years of age, Drew was the focus of a documentary, Just Normal, which was aired on Plum TV in the Hamptons, Cape Cod and Islands, Aspen, and Vail. His festival participation includes the Aspen, Taos, Verbier in Switzerland, Euro Arts in Leipzig, Musica e Arte Festival in Tolentino, Tanglewood, and Music Festival of the Hamptons. In New York City, he has played at Symphony Space, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, Steinway Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, and Tenri Cultural Institute. Drew’s performances have also been broadcast on many radio programs, such as France Musique, PBS’s “From The Top,” the McGraw-Hill Company’s Young Artist Showcase hosted by Robert Sherman and aired on WQXR, and various public radio stations in the U.S. A master’s graduate of Juilliard, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal on a Kovner Fellowship, Drew is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma with Robert McDonald, and is Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis. He has participated in master classes with Lang Lang, Emanuel Ax, Arie Vardi, Hung Kuan Chen, Claude Frank, and Menahem Pressler, among others. Drew also holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Harvard University. ~ drewpetersenpiano.com Photo by Dario Acosta |  |
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Roman Rabinovich made his Israel Philharmonic debut under the baton of Zubin Mehta before his 11th birthday, and he performed with the orchestra and Mr. Mehta again in 1999 and 2003. The Palm Beach Daily News recently noted, “Rabinovich has full technical command of the piano and plays with a great deal of sensitivity.” Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Roman now lives in Israel. He is also an award-winning artist, and his work will be exhibited at our Jupiter concerts. ~ www.romanrabinovich.net |
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| Albert Cano Smit, age 22, won First Prize at the 2017 Naumburg Piano Competition and was a finalist and CMIM grant recipient of the 2017 Concours International Musical de Montréal. With performances across Europe and America, Le Devoir affirmed, “a superb musician has spoken.” This season’s highlights include recital debuts at Carnegie Hall, L’Auditori de Barcelona, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Wissembourg, Rheingau, and Bravo! Vail festivals, a recital tour, collaborations with Will Hagen and Anthony Trionfo across Europe and the U.S., and concerto debuts with the San Diego, OBC, and Las Vegas Philharmonic. He has appeared at the Bozar in Brussels and Palau de la Musica in Barcelona, performing with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and the Manchester Camerata, amongst others. A passionate chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Ebène, Casals, Gerhard, Szymanowski and Zemlinsky Quartets, Andrej Bielow, Gary Hoffman, and Lev Sivkov. ~ www.albertcanosmit.com |  |
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| Chelsea Wang—praised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”—has won many awards including prizes at the Seoul, Washington, and New York International Piano competitions. She made her orchestral debut at the age of six and has performed as a soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony and Des Moines Symphony, among many others. As a chamber musician she has played with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Chamber Players, and Dame Myra Hess Series; and she is a 2-year Fellow of Ensemble Connect. Her numerous appearances have taken place at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Chamber Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic, Seoul Arts Center, and Kaohsiung Weiwuying Center. Her festival participation includes Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Bravo!Vail, Tippet Rise, Angel Fire, Four Seasons, and Banff. She has also been heard on “What Makes It Great” with Rob Kapilow, NPR’s “From the Top,” and WQXR. Among the numerous musicians with whom she has collaborated are Peter Wiley, Roberto Diaz, Anne-Marie McDermott, Anton Nel, Bright Sheng, András Schiff, Richard Goode, Seymour Lipkin, and Miriam Fried. A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Chelsea is a graduate of Curtis and Peabody, and is now pursuing a doctorate at Northwestern’s Bienen School. Her teachers include Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Leon Fleisher, and James Giles.~ chelseawangpianist.com Photo by Ken Kubota |  |
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| Keyi Wang, at age 17, is already a laureate of prizes and awards. Raised in Hainan, China’s southernmost island, she started playing the piano at age 4 and played her first recital at age 8. In 2015 she won the Pearl-River Kayserburg and Steinway International Competition in China. Upon moving to New York in 2017, at age 10, she has attended Juilliard Pre-College and is a student of Hung-Kuan Chen and Tema Blackstone. She won First Prize at the 2018 Princeton Steinway Youth Piano Competition, Juilliard Concerto Competition, 2019 Steinway Junior Competition, the Juilliard-Bachauer Scholarship Competition, and the 2022 Juilliard Liszt Competition. Keyi also is a Scholar of the Artemisia Foundation, where she received a prize for outstanding artistry; a Lang Lang Foundation Young Scholar alumnus; and a 2022 scholarship recipient of the Chopin Foundation of the United States. Her festival participation includes Aspen and the Shanghai Conservatory Piano Festival. Keyi attends the Dwight School and was featured in its Global Concerts at Carnegie Hall and at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall. |  |
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William Wolfram, winner of the William Kapell, Naumburg, and Tchaikovsky competitions, is recognized as an artist who combines powerful Romantic instincts with a truly formidable command of the keyboard. Millions have seen him on public television, where he was prominently featured throughout the documentary of the 1986 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. The noted piano authority Joseph Horowitz in his book, The Ivory Trade, characterizes him as a polished Romantic virtuoso, worthy of comparison to the young Van Cliburn and Vladimir Horowitz. Photo by Steve J Sherman |
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| VIOLIN | ||
| Joshua Brown has been praised for his unique musical voice and instincts. At his debut as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 15, ClevelandClassical reported that “Brown was spellbinding throughout his entire time on stage.” Since then he has performed with orchestras in the U.S. and Europe, including the Munich Radio Orchestra, Chicago Civic Orchestra, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, in concert halls such as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Severence Hall. He has made solo appearances on NPR’s “From the Top” and WFMT’s “Introductions;” and has been featured on WFMT and Fox5DC. He has also been featured in recitals on the Dame Myra Hess Series, Tchaikovsky Festival in Moscow, and Cincinnati’s Matinée Musicale. Joshua’s numerous winnings include the 10th Leopold Mozart Competition (at age 19); IX Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians; and the Grand Prize at the 2016 ENKOR Competition. As a member of the Kairos String Quartet, Joshua won First Prize at the Barnett and Rembrandt competitions, and Gold Medals at the 2018 Fischoff competition. Joshua currently studies violin with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory. He plays a 1679 Pietro Guarneri on generous loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. ~ www.joshuabrownviolinist.com |  |
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| Violinist Jennifer Frautschi, two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant winner, has garnered worldwide acclaim as an adventurous musician with a wide-ranging repertoire. Equally at home with classic and contemporary music, her recent seasons have featured innumerable performances and recordings of works ranging from Brahms and Schumann to Berg and Schoenberg. She has also premiered several works composed for her by today’s prominent composers. Jennifer has performed as soloist with Pierre Boulez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Christoph Eschenbach and the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia, and at Wigmore Hall and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, to name a few. Selected by Carnegie Hall for its Distinctive Debuts series, she made her New York recital debut in Weill Hall; and as part of the European Concert Hall Organization’s Rising Stars series, debuted at ten of Europe’s most celebrated concert venues, including the Salzburg Mozarteum, Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, La Cité de la Musique in Paris, and Brussels’ Théȃtre Royal de la Monnaie. She has also appeared in recital and in chamber music at Ravinia, La Jolla, the Phillips Collection in D.C., Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Beijing’s Imperial Garden, Monnaie Opera in Brussels, La Chaux des Fonds in Switzerland, and San Miguel de Allende Festival in Mexico. Her extensive discography includes several discs for Naxos, 3 widely-praised CDs for Artek, and 2 GRAMMY-nominated recordings with the Fred Sherry Quartet. Born in Pasadena, she began playing the violin at age 3, and has studied at Colburn, Harvard, the New England Conservatory, and Juilliard. She now teaches in the graduate program at Stony Brook University. Jennifer performs on the 1722 “ex-Cadiz” Stradivarius on generous loan from a private American foundation with support from Rare Violins in Consortium. ~ www.jenniferfrautschi.com |  |
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| Vadim Gluzman’s extraordinary artistry brings to life the glorious violinistic tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries. He appears regularly with the world’s finest orchestras, including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic, with such conductors as Christoph von Dohnányi, Andrew Davis, Neeme Järvi, and Michael Tilson Thomas. The Israeli has also performed at major festivals—Verbier, BBC Proms, Lockenhaus, Ravinia, and Tanglewood, to name a few. Accolades for his extensive discography under exclusive contract with BIS Records have been garnered from Diapason d’Or, Choc de Classica, and Disc of the Month (ClassicFM, Strad, and BBC Music Magazine). Vadim plays the 1690 ex-Leopold Auer Stradivarius, on extended loan through the generosity of the Stradivari Society of Chicago. ~ www.vadimgluzman.com |  |
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| William Hagen is the third prize winner of the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition (the highest ranking American since 1980). Having captured the attention of the Belgian press and public during the competition, he has been hailed as a “brilliant virtuoso…a standout” (The Dallas Morning News) with “an intellectual command of line and score, and just the right amount of power” (violinist.com), who “plays with an obvious and sincere love for the very act of music making” (North Texas Performing Arts News). He also won second prize at the 2014 Fritz Kreisler Competition. At age 22, he is already a seasoned performer on concert stages in the U.S. and abroad, and has played with conductors such as Marin Alsop, JoAnn Falletta, and Keith Lockhart. Recent performances include a tour of Belgium with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and Brussels Philharmonic. William has spent summers at Verbier in Switzerland, and at Aspen. A native of Utah, he began violin lessons at the age of four. At age 10, he studied with Robert Lipsett at the Colburn Community School, commuting to Los Angeles for lessons. William plays on an Andrea Guarneri violin made in Cremona, circa 1675. ~ www.williamhagen.com |  |
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| Violinist Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed by the Boston Globe for his “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity,” Stefan has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others. Recent highlights include his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and Juraj Valcuha, with subsequent performances in Dallas, Detroit, and Luxembourg; performances of Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Mikhail Pletnev as part of a multi-city tour with the Russian National Orchestra; as well as performances with the St. Louis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Netherlands Radio Symphony with Ludovic Morlot at the Concertgebouw. In Asia, Stefan has appeared with the Tokyo Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic; he also toured Korea, playing chamber music with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica. In Australia, he toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra play-directing Mendelssohn. Recital highlights include playing the complete Ives violin Sonatas with Jeremy Denk at Tanglewood and Boston’s Jordan Hall, and the performance of the complete Brahms violin sonatas, which he recorded for Sony. He also recently recorded the Beethoven Triple with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Stefan has performed in numerous festivals and concert series such as Aspen, Ravinia, Caramoor, Schleswig-Holstein, New York’s Mostly Mozart, Philharmonie de Paris, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with the likes of Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham, and forms a trio with Jay Campbell and Conrad Tao. At the opening night of Zankel Hall, Stefan was the only young artist invited to perform, playing alongside Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Evgeny Kissin, and James Levine. Born to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of 4. His teachers include Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a B.A. from Harvard and an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Stefan plays a violin made in 1750 in Milan by G.B. Guadagnini, on generous loan from a private collection. He lives in New York City. ~ www.stefanjackiw.com |  |
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| First-Prize winner of the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, prizewinner of the 2018 Menuhin Competition held in Geneva, and Violin Channel’s “Rising Star” Hina Khuong-Huu has been playing the violin since the age of three. Hina has performed as a soloist with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Geneva, Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Mittel Europa Orchestra, and the Musica Mundi Orchestra, and she was recently a recipient of the Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant. Additional concert highlights have included a performance of Sarasate’s Navarra at the Juilliard Pre-College Division’s Centennial Gala with her sister Fiona and a performance with Maxim Vengerov at Buckingham Palace for Princess Alexandra. Throughout the spring and summer of 2021, Hina worked with violinist Jennifer Koh in her “Alone Together” series, and she has appeared on the NPR radio show From the Top. A native of New York, Hina studies under Professor Li Lin at the Juilliard Pre-College and attends the Spence School. In the summers, she has studied with artists such as Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program, Shlomo Mintz at Crans Montana Classics in Switzerland, and Ivry Gitlis and Menahem Pressler in Belgium. ~ www.hinakhuonghuu.com |  |
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| Born in New York City, fourteen-year-old violinist Fiona Khuong-Huu is a recipient of the 2022 Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund, along with the prestigious career grant award from Salon De Virtuosi. Additional accolades include first prize at the 2017 Grumiaux Competition; second prize at “Il Piccolo Violino Magico” in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy; and third prize and best virtuoso interpretation at the 2019 Louis Spohr Competition. In 2019, Fiona and her sister Hina were invited to perform at Buckingham Palace, where they played Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins with Maestros Maxim Vengerov and Marios Papadopoulos. Fiona has also been honored to perform for Juilliard’s Pre-College Centennial Gala at Alice Tully Hall, at the Bozar Concert Hall in Brussels with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, and as a soloist with the Oxford Philharmonic, Musica Mundi, Mitteleuropa, and Juilliard Orchestras. Fiona has appeared on the NPR show From the Top on multiple occasions. Fiona studies the violin under Professor Li Lin, Kenneth Renshaw, and Stella Chen at the Juilliard Pre-College division, and she has taken lessons and masterclasses with artists such as Menahem Pressler, Ivry Gitlis, Shlomo Mintz, Maxim Vengerov, and Vadim Gluzman, among others. Fiona is a student at the Spence School in New York. ~ fionakhuonghuu.com |  |
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| Geneva Lewis, born in Auckland, has forged a reputation as a musician of consummate artistry whose performances speak from and to the heart. Lauded for “remarkable mastery of her instrument” (CVNC) and hailed as “clearly one to watch” (Musical America), Geneva won a 2022 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and Grand Prize of the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Competition. She was also named a Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Musical America’s New Artist of the Month, and BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist. The Kiwi performs throughout the U.S. and Europe—after her solo debut at age 11 with the Pasadena POPS, she has appeared as soloist with many orchestras, such as Orpheus, Pasadena Symphony, and the Auckland Philharmonia. Recital highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Tippet Rise, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Dame Myra Hess Concerts. Geneva is also a founding member of the Callisto Trio, a Bronze Medal winner at the Fischoff Competition. Her festival participation includes Marlboro, Ravinia, Perlman Chamber Music Workshop, Holland Music Sessions, Taos, and the Heifetz Institute. She plays a composite violin by G.B. Guadagnini, c1766, generously on loan from a Charitable Trust. ~ www.genevalewisviolinist.com Photo by Donald van Hasselt |  |
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| Lun Li, born in Shanghai, has been described as having an “admirable command of all the possibilities of the bow, and uses it with delightful musical sense” by a Ludwig van Montréal critic. He is a First Prize winner in the 2021 Young Concert Artists Auditions, as well as the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, and was named the John French Violin Chair at YCA. He is also the joint First Prize winner at the recent Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition. Traveling between Shanghai and Philadelphia has brought him experience and honor. In 2012, as a result of winning second place at the 2nd Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Shanghai, his quartet was invited to perform at the Helsinki Music Centre Festival. His festival appearances include Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Music from Angel Fire, and Verbier. Lun recently graduated from Curtis with a bachelor’s degree under Ida Kavafian, on a Jean Sterne fellowship; he is now pursuing a master’s degree at Juilliard, studying with Catherine Cho and Joseph Lin. ~ www.lunliviolin.com Photo by Tam Photography |  |
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| Stefan Milenkovich is recognized internationally for both exceptional artistry and his life-long commitment to humanitarianism. Winner of the Indianapolis, Paganini, Tibor Varga, Queen Elisabeth, Yehudi Menuhin, and Young Concert Artists competitions, he has performed for President Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II, and at the age of 16, played his 1000th concert in Monterrey, Mexico. Stefan was appointed a “Child Ambassador” and received the 2003 “Most Humane Person” award in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, the city of his birth. He is member of the Corinthian Trio ~ www.stefanmilenkovich.com |  |
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| Oliver Neubauer currently studies at Juilliard on a Kovner Fellowship in the studios of Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin. He had previously been at the Perlman Music Program and PMP Suncoast as a student of Perlman, Catherine Cho, and Sean Lee. A recipient of the Gold Award at the 2018 National YoungArts Competition, he is also winner of the 2017 Young Musicians Competition at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a soloist, Oliver has appeared with the National Repertory Orchestra, Sound Symphony, and Symphony of Westchester. He has also performed at the Neue Galerie, American Museum of Natural History, Great Performers Series in Palm Beach, Weill Hall, and the Asian Cultural Center. His festival participation includes Mostly Music, La Jolla, Music@Menlo, Lake Champlain, Chamber Music Northwest, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, Angel Fire, and Art in Avila in Curaçao. In 2013, Oliver made his debuts with the New York Philharmonic as the narrator for Britten’s Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra, and at Lincoln Center with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Ensembles Concert. Outside of music, Oliver has competed in dozens of national chess tournaments. ~ www.oliverneubauer.com Photo by Jiyang Chen |  |
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| Sueye Park was born in South Korea in 2000 and began violin lessons at the age of four. Her musical gifts were recognized early on, and at the mere age of nine she began her studies with Ulf Wallin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, and later at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Clive Brown. As a soloist, Sueye has performed with the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, Staatskapelle Weimar, and Korean Symphony. And she has played at various festivals and concert halls in Europe, Israel, and Asia; appeared with such artists as Adrian Brendel, Ralf Gothoni, and Gary Hoffman; and participated in numerous radio and television broadcasts in Europe, Israel, and South Korea. In 2017 her debut disc was released—a critically acclaimed recording of the 24 Paganini Caprices—followed by a recital disc, “Salut d’amour.” In 2021 her album “Journey Through a Century” was selected “Editor’s Choice” by Gramophone. In 2022/23 her recordings of Isang Yun’s 3rd Violin Concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic conducted by Osmo Vänskä and the complete works for violin and piano of Karol Szymanowski with pianist Roland Pöntinen were issued. Sueye plays a G. B. Guadagnini “ex Hamma” made in 1753 in Milan, generously on loan from the Samsung Foundation. ~ www.sueyepark.com |  |
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| Julian Rhee is fast gaining recognition as an outstanding musician and performer in the U.S. Already a seasoned soloist, he made his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony at the age of 8, and has since performed with orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Aspen Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Madison Symphony, Wisconsin Philharmonic, and Avanti Symphony, among others. In June 2017, he toured across Argentina and Uruguay performing the Brahms Concerto. Venues where he has played include the Kennedy Center, Teatro El Círculo in Argentina, the Musikverein in Vienna, and Bartok Hall in Hungary. Julian has also appeared on NPR’s From The Top and WFMT’s Introductions. A laureate as well, he won First Prize at the 2020 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, First Prize at the 2018 Johansen Competition; 2018 Aspen Violin Concerto Competition; 2nd Prize at the Irving Klein competition; and a 2018 Presidential Scholars in the Arts medal (received at the White House). An avid chamber musician, Julian’s performances on violin and viola earned him and his String Quartet First Prize at the 2018 Barnett and 2018 Rembrandt chamber music competitions, and Gold Medals at the Fischoff and M-Prize competitions. He is currently studying with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory. ~ www.julianrhee.com |  |
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| Danbi Um, a native of Seoul, Korea, captivates audiences with her virtuosity, individual sound, and interpretive sensitivity. She has been described as “utterly dazzling” by The Strad, and the New York Classical Review has noted her “superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace.” A Menuhin competition Silver Medalist, winner of the 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, a top prizewinner of the 2018 Naumburg, and a winner of the 2015 Astral Artists Auditions, she showcases her artistry in concertos, recitals, and in collaboration with distinguished chamber musicians. As soloist, she has appeared with the Israel Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, and the Vermont and Dartmouth Symphonies, among others. And she has performed at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, Harris Theater in Chicago, and Tel Aviv Museum of Art. An avid chamber musician, Danbi is an artist member of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and violinist with the Escher String Quartet. She has also participated at such festivals as Moritzburg in Dresden, Marlboro, Ravinia, and Yellow Barn. A graduate of Curtis and Indiana University, Danbi started playing the violin at age 3, then moved to the U.S. in 2000 to continue her studies. She plays on a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati on loan from a private collection. ~ www.danbium.com |  |
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| Itamar Zorman, winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition and the 2010 Freiburg Violin Competition, has been cited by the press as a “virtuoso of emotions.” He has performed as soloist with conductor Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra, Philharmonie Baden-Baden and Jerusalem Symphony, among others; and has been featured on WQXR’s “Young Artist Showcase” and performed a solo recital broadcast by Radio France at the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier. Itamar plays on a 1737 Pietro Guarneri violin from the private collection of Yehuda Zisapel. ~ www.itamarzorman.com |
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| Hao Zhou from Southern California has been captivating audiences worldwide with his unique exuberance and unbridled enthusiasm. Described as “dynamic” and “striking” by the Los Angeles Times, he was the Grand Laureate of the 2019 Montreal competition. As a member of the Viano String Quartet, which he cofounded, he has also won First Prize at the 2019 Banff, Grand Prize at the ENKOR, and Third Prize at the Wigmore Hall competitions. An accomplished soloist and chamber musician, Hao made his debut with the Four Seasons Symphony performing Vivaldi’s Double Concerto at age 9. More recently, he has performed with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Colburn Orchestra, and Downey Symphony. Future engagements will feature a debut in Florence, Italy with the New Generations Festival, a recital debut in Switzerland, and an artist residency at Banff. During the pandemic, Hao was active with Viano (Ensemble-in-Residence at Colburn in 2019-2021), presenting numerous virtual concerts with various organizations. Dedicated to drawing audiences from outside of classical music, Viano has collaborated with actors and scriptwriters in a comedy theater show called “Over The Top,” and performed for thousands of elementary school children. Hao’s festival participation includes Kronberg, Ravinia, Norfolk, and Kneisel Hall, among others. A graduate of Colburn, he studied with Martin Beaver. Hao plays on a violin made in 1783 by Giuseppe and Antonio Gagliano, on generous loan from the Aftergood Family. ~ www.haozhouviolin.com |  |
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| VIOLA | ||
| Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led the New York Times to call him “a master musician.” He recently made his Chicago Symphony subscription debut with conductor Riccardo Muti and his Mariinsky Orchestra debut with conductor Valery Gergiev. He also gave the U.S. Premiere of the newly discovered Impromptu for viola and piano by Shostakovich with pianist Wu Han. In addition, his recording of the Aaron Kernis Viola Concerto with the Royal Northern Sinfonia was released on Signum Records, and his recording of the complete viola and piano music by Ernest Bloch with pianist Margo Garrett was released on Delos. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21, he has appeared as soloist with over 100 orchestras including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras; the National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth symphonies; and Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version of the Viola Concerto), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower and has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded on numerous labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical. Mr. Neubauer performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College. ~ www.paulneubauer.com Photo by Rosalie O՚Connor |  |
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| CELLO | ||
| Mark Kosower, Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, plays with a “signature sound” and distinctive style that embodies the concept of the complete musician. He performs the traditional and contemporary repertoire throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia as a concerto soloist, in solo recitals, and as a much admired and sought-after chamber musician. His performance repertoire and discography are testaments to a deep devotion, not only to frequently heard works such as Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and concertos of Haydn, Walton, Elgar, and Dvořák but, significantly, to lesser-known concertos of Alberto Ginastera, Miklos Rozsa, Frederich Gulda, and Victor Herbert. His recordings for Ambitus, Delos, Naxos, and VAI include the first complete music for solo cello of Ginastera, described as a “powerful advocate of Ginastera’s art” by MusicWeb International; and Strings Magazine noted of his Hungarian album that “the music allows Kosower to showcase his stunning virtuosity, passionate intensity, and elegant phrasing.” His festival participation includes Santa Fe, North Shore, and Aspen, to name a few. He is also a scholar and teaches master classes. |  |
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| SOPRANO | ||
| Korean-born soprano Hyunah Yu was a prizewinner at the 1999 Naumburg Competition and a finalist in both the Dutch International Vocal and Concert Artist Guild competitions. She also received the coveted Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award upon the nomination of pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Known particularly for her performances of the music of Bach, Hyunah appears regularly with esteemed conductors such as Valery Gergiev, David Zinman, Jaime Laredo, and Blanche Moyse; at well-known opera houses and festivals, and with orchestras throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A highlight of her career has been her title role in Mozart’s Zaide in New York, London, and Vienna under the direction of Peter Sellars, conducted by Louis Langrée. She is also an avid chamber musician and recitalist. Her debut CD on EMI was released in 2007, and of her two solo recitals recorded and broadcast for the BBC Voices program, one was named Radio 3’s Best of 2004. The Washington Post wrote that she was “absolutely captivating...with exceptional style and effortless lyrical grace. The audience, to judge by the general swooning, was helplessly in love by the end.” |  |
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