Presenting a series of Concerts in Cooperation with M. Steinert & Sons

Saturday, November 20, 2022

2022 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

GOLD MEDALISTS – ADALIA WEN AND SOPHIA POPESCU

SILVER MEDALIST – NATHANIEL SU

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 I. Presto

Francis Poulenc Toccata from 3 Pieces, FP 48, No. 3

Adalia Wen is a sophomore at the Rivers School. She has been studying piano for ten years and her current teacher is Dr. Sandra Hebert at the Rivers Conservatory. Some of her previous notable first prizes include the 2018 Cremona International Piano Competition, the 2019 NEC Concerto Competition, the 2021-22 MTNA Competition in Massachusetts, the 2022 RSC Concerto Competition, and the 2022 Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition. Besides solo piano, Adalia also studies classical composition and plays in Rivers Conservatory’s chamber music program.

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2 I. Allegro

Mikhail Glinka and Mili Balakirev L’Aloutte The Lark

Sophia Popescu is 11 years old and a 6th-grader at Sharon Middle School, Massachusetts. She has been studying piano with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman since she was 5. Sophia loves music and enjoys performing at recitals and competitions. She has won top prizes at piano competitions including the 1^st place at the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition 2022, the 1^st place at International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington DC 2022, 1^st place at the IV Paderewski International Piano Competition, the 1^st place at the MMTA 51th Annual Bay State Piano Contest, the 2^nd place at XIII Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford CT, and the 3^rd place at the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition (2021 & 2020). Besides piano, Sophia also started learning to play cello. Outside of music, Sophia is active in sports. She is currently a Level 6 Rhythmic Gymnast. In her spare time, Sophia enjoys playing tennis, reading, and playing with her beloved puppy.

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2 I. Allegro vivace

Franz Liszt Transcendental Etude No. 12 in B-flat Minor, Chasse-neige

Nathaniel Su is a 16-year-old junior student from Winchester High School. He has been playing piano since age six, and showed exceptional talent on music and piano playing at a young age when he started to win top prizes and awards from AFAF International Music Competition, Bay State Contest, ENKOR International Piano Competition, Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford. In 2017, Nathaniel was selected as the MTNA Junior Piano Competition Massachusetts State Winner. Later, he won a second prize from NEPTA Mildred Freiberg Piano Competition, Great Composer Competition, and was a finalist from A. Ramon Rivera Piano Competition. Most recently, Nathaniel won Schubert Award from University of Rhode Island Piano Extravaganza Competition, and is a second prize winner of Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, Paderewski International Piano Competition at Farmington, and ENKOR International Piano Competition.

Throughout his music journey, Nathaniel has been building up his musicianship and piano playing skills by studying with some great teachers/professors in private studios, New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School, and Ithaca College Summer Piano Institute. He is currently studying piano with Ms. Niva Fried.

Nathaniel has performed piano solos in concert at famous venues such as Carnegie Hall, Shalin Liu Performance Center, as well as solos in outreach concerts at local senior centers and a benefit concert for Ukrainian children at NEPTA.

Besides solo piano performance, Nathaniel enjoys playing chamber music and is enrolled in the Studio Chamber Music program at the Rivers School Conservatory. He also plays piano and violin in his school’s symphony. In addition to music, Nathaniel loves reading, drawing, solving Rubik’s cube, and is on the cross country & indoor/outdoor track sport team at his school.

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Saturday, November 5, 2022

2022 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

GOLD MEDALIST – YIXIU LIN

SILVER MEDALISTS IAN LIN, JULIA ZHOU and KINGSLEY CHEN

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 I. Presto

Fryderyk Chopin Allegro de Concert, Op. 46

Yixiu Lin, from China, is a 17 year old pianist. Yixiu Lin’s playing is acclaimed as “accurate, but very musical.” His performances went through Asia, North America and Europe. Lin had his first orchestral debut at age of 12 , collaborating with the Brunensis Virtuosi Orchestra, under the batons of famous conductors such as Gaddiel Dombrowner and Uriel Segal.

Lin started his piano career at four, was admitted to the Colburn Music Academy at the age of eleven (2016) in Los Angeles, California, where he studied with Dr. Myong-joo Lee. At the end of 2018, his family moved to Philadelphia, where he studies with pianist Chenxin Xu and Jiacheng Xiong. He is currently a student of Matti Raekallio, highly acclaimed Finnish pianist and professor emeritus from the Juilliard School.

Lin was invited to music festivals such as the Music Fest Perugia. He received many competition rewards globally, he attended performances and international competitions in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou and other major cities and was given numerous prestigious awards in different continents. In 2022, Lin won The Spotlight International Piano Competition 1st Prize, The 10th Anniversary PYPA(Philadelphia Young Pianists Academy) Piano Festival / Philadelphia International Piano Competition 1st Prize, The Steinway Society of Massachusetts 2022 Piano Competition 1st Place, Quebec Music Competition Platinum Award, Chicago International Music Competition 2022 1st Place, The Medici International Music Competition (UK) 1st Prize, , Rocky Mountain Music Competition 1st Place and Audience Award, University of Miami Frost Young Artists International Piano Competition 1st Prize, IPPA (International Piano Professionals Associations) Conero International Piano Competition 1st Prize, Hellenic Muse 2022 International Music Competition 1st Prize, 4th WPTA (World Piano Teachers’ Association) FINLAND International Piano Competition Gold Award.

Fryderyk Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, 47

Sergei Prokofiev Suggestion Diabolique, Op. 4, No. 4

Born in summer 2009 in RI, Ian J. Lin is a pianist, a composer, and a violinist and studies piano under Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, the director of Sharon Music Academy.

At age 2, he demonstrated his love of music by playing nursery rhymes on the piano by ear. At 3.5, he started studying piano and made music for fun.  Around the same time (age 6) he started violin, he got more serious about composing and began private composition lessons.  

Ian’s piano awards include 1^st Prize at International Chopin Competition, Hartford, CT, Paderewski International Piano Competition, 1st place at Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, 3rd place at International Young Pianist Competition in D.C., and the Best Performance Award URI Piano Extravaganza.  He has performed at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, BSO Concert Hall.   Ian has also won composition awards including 3^rd place at MTNA National Composition Competition, 3 times MTNA Division winner, honorable mention at the ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) Young Composer Competition, NEPTA Alice Proctor Award for outstanding original composition in the classical style, New Tribeca Emerging Composer Award.  He became the youngest member of the RI Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra at age 10.

Ian gives solo concerts at local nursing homes every year around Holiday seasons and in springtime.  At the age of 5, he was accepted as a Davidson Young Scholar at Davidson Institute for Profoundly Gifted Children.  Besides music, Ian enjoys tennis, chess, and science.

J.S. Bach Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Minor, BWV 867

Fryderyk Chopin Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op.38

Julia Zhou is in 9th grade at Acton Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Massachusetts. She began playing violin and piano at age four and studied piano with Mr. Ronald Kmiec. She currently studies piano with Ms. Niva Fried at the Groton Hill Music school and violin with Ms. Xue Chen.

Julia won multiple first place prize in the MMTA Bay State Piano Competition (2022, 2019, 2018, 2015). She is a top prize winner of the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition (2022, 2021) and has performed with them at Boston’s Symphony Hall. She was the runner up for the Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition (2021), Metrowest Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competitions (2018) and Ehlers Young Artist Concerto Competition (2017). She was invited as soloist with the Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra (2019) and delivered a solo piano performance at the Concord Orchestra and at First Parish Holiday Concert. As a winner of the 2019 National Public Radio’s From the Top, she played in Show 376 at Boston’s Jordan Hall. Julia has performed solo and with orchestra at Boston’s Symphony Hall. She was a finalist in the 7th and 5th Tureck International Bach competition (2022, 2017) and was awarded top prizes. Julia also took top prizes from several international competitions including the Paderewski International Piano Competition, American Protege International Competition, and the International Chopin Piano Competition.

Julia is a member of New England Conservatory Preparatory School’s Youth Symphony and hopes to tour with NEC orchestras around the world. She previously played with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (BYSO) Petite Ensemble and performed at Symphony Hall in Boston as part of the “BYSO on Parade” concert, and at the Boston Children’s Museum.

Julia’s favorite composers are Fryderyk Chopin and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and she likes to watch the performances of Yuja Wang and Hilary Hahn. 

Outside of classical music, Julia enjoys reading, writing, gymnastics, watching figure skating, and traveling, and is an avid sports fan.

Franz Joseph Haydn Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI:23 I

Fryderyk Chopin Fantasie Impromptu in C-sharp Minor, Op. 66

Ten-year old Kingsley Chen was born in Hong Kong and began piano studies at the age of three with Ms. Ling Hui on the faculty of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, with whom he continues to work over the internet from time to time.  From the age of 5, Kingsley started winning local, regional, and international competitions — including The Hong Kong Asia Music Competition, The Chopin Memorial Prize of the Hong Kong International Piano Competition and the Singapore Zhongshan International Music Competition, among many others.  When the family emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Las Vegas, Kingsley had some lessons with famed Ukrainian virtuoso Mykola Suk of the University of Nevada faculty. 

In 2020, the family moved to the Boston area so that Kingsley start to study with Professor Victor Rosenbaum through the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division.  He has performed at NEC on numerous occasions, including in Jordan Hall along with college students of the Conservatory, and was featured in a video recital in the “Young Virtuoso Series” of the World Piano Teachers Association. 

In 2022, Kingsley was also invited to be the soloist with a chamber orchestra conducted by Mr. Rosenbaum in a benefit Concert for Ukraine and Yemen. The Boston Musical Intelligencer wrote:  Chen emerged with the tune impressing us with unassuming natural musicality.

Kingsley says his dream is to bring beautiful music to the world, and believes music is a “dialogue of the soul”. 

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Sunday, October 2, 2022

2022 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

BRONZE MEDALISTS – CHRISTOPHER TILLEN, LUCA DAPTARDAR, ARDEN QUAN, ETHAN WEI and KAILIN ZHANG

Prelude & Fugue in G Minor, BWV 885 WTC II      Johann Sebastian Bach

Rigoletto Paraphrase, S. 434                                     Franz Liszt   

   

Christopher Tillen began playing piano at age 6 and fell in love with music, his instrument, learning, and connecting with audiences. He has been a top prize winner in many competitions including the Steinway & Sons Piano Competition, Bay State MTNA Piano Competition, URI Piano Extravaganza Bach Award, American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music, US New Star Piano Composer Competition for both Bach and Russian Composer divisions and the A Ramon Rivera (ARR) Piano Competition.  He won 1^st place in the American Protégé International Competition of Piano and Strings and the United Star Competition for both Liszt and Prokofiev categories where he was additionally honored and recognized as the Grand Award winner.  In addition, he was named the Fall Rivers’ Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) Young Artist Concerto winner; the Doreen B Hertzog Concerto winner; the American Fine Arts Festival Concerto Competition winner; an American Protégé International Concerto Competition prize winner, Concerto Festival NYC Grand Prix winner; and the Sempre Musick Concerto first prize soloist.  He was finalist for the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition at the Boston Pops and the Orchestra 914 Concerto Competition.

Christopher’s highlights from last season include performances of the 2^nd Rachmaninoff concerto with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes under the baton of Maestro Toshiyuki Shimada and also as the soloist with the Fall Rivers Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Ray Daniels. 

Christopher is a From the Top fellow and will appear on NPR’s “From the Top” national radio program and podcast later this season. He is also scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York as a golden winner of American Fine Arts Festival, as the Concerto Festival NYC Grand Prix winner and at the Winners’ Recital as the first place winner of American Protégé International Competition later this year. Christopher has performed in many venues, community events, master classes and recitals. Christopher is Young Artist Diploma Level IV scholar at the Rivers Conservatory where he has been a three-time recipient of the annual Piano Department Award, recipient of the Director’s Award, and recipient of the David Beyer’s scholarship, the piano department’s highest merit award. He currently studies with Ms. Erin Lindsey.  

In his spare time, Christopher enjoys debating, writing, singing, musical theatre, community service and running. He is passionate about service work, social justice, equal access and community engagement. This summer, he was a middle school teaching assistant for the Summer Academy at Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester. He additionally interns at Teach for America and is a tutor with the ACHIEVE Program and the Immigrant Family Service Institute (IFSI). Christopher is the Editor-In-Chief of his school newspaper, the Captain of Nobles Model UN and debate teams, an active member in the Nobles Theater Collective, the President of his school gospel choir, Imani, and the Assistant Artistic Director of the Nobleonians male acapella group.  He sends much love to his friends and family and he is endlessly grateful to the Steinway Society for this wonderful opportunity!

Rhapsody in G Minor, Op. 79, No. 2             Johannes Brahms

Luca Daptardar started playing the piano at the age of five and is a student of Dr. Nilly Schilo. He is currently a 6th grader at the Chenery Middle School in Belmont MA.

Luca’s fascination with music began early on and first came in the form of singing as well as listening to various genres of music. Later on, the piano became an extension of his musical voice and expression and it continues to remain his most interesting area of exploration.

Luca has participated in the RCM program and scored the highest points for his level in MA and has twice received invitations to perform in the concert gala at Carnegie Hall, New York. Luca has won prizes in the MMTA Competitions, Piano Extravaganza Competition, the Chopin Competition in Connecticut as well as the Steinway Competition. 

Luca greatly enjoys studying and playing at his piano teacher’s studio and workshops, at home in front of his family and friends and on various stages and circumstances which allow him to share his love of music with all kinds of audiences. 

Besides music, Luca is a great car aficionado and loves simulator car racing, playing soccer, reading, drawing, writing, and spending time with his family and friends.

Concert Étude in F-sharp Minor S. 145 No. 2  Gnomenreigen                   Franz Liszt   

Sonata in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2, I. Allegro        Ludwig van Beethoven                    

Arden Quan, age 11, currently a 6th grader at The Meadowbrook School of Weston, began studying piano at the age of 5 and is a Student of Ms. Natalia Harlap. From early on, Arden has won many awards in solo piano competitions and concerto competitions. In addition, he began studying violin two years ago.

In his spare time, Arden enjoys solving challenging math problems, reading sci-fi books, playing soccer, and building Lego sets. 

Liebesträume No 3 in A-flat Major, S.541                  Franz Liszt

Sonata in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1, III. Allegro comodo            Ludwig van Beethoven              

                    

Ethan Wei, eleven years old, is currently a 6th grader in Robert Adams Middle School of Holliston, Massachusetts. He started studying piano with Mrs. Estelle Lin in 2018 when he was six and a half years old.

Ethan has participated in multiple piano competitions. His piano awards include second place and third place in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, two first place awards and one second place award in the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association Bay State Competition, first place in the 2019 Young Artist Piano Competition, the Excellence Award and the Mozart Award in the University of Rhode Island Piano Extravaganza, as well as third place in the 2022 Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, Connecticut. He received distinction in the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) piano Grade 8 exam in 2022. 

Ethan loves performing and enjoys exploring piano pieces of many musical eras and composers such as Beethoven, Grieg, Bach, Chopin, Joplin, Hummel, Liszt, Khachaturian, and Rachmaninoff. When not playing piano or learning about composers, Ethan can be seen playing soccer with his club and travel teams, building Lego sets and playing board games with his brother and sister, reading, playing clarinet, or spending time with his two guinea pigs.

Sonata in G Major, Hob. XVI, No. 27, I. Allegro con brio       Franz Joseph Haydn

Fantasie Impromptu in C-sharp Minor, Op. 66         Fryderyk Chopin

Kailin Zhang, from Newton, Massachusetts, started studying piano with Ms. Natalia Harlap right after her 6th birthday. As a highly motivated young pianist, Kailin practices with diligence and persistence.

Kailin has obtained first place in the 2022 Bay State Piano Competition Age 9 group, Honorable Mention in the XIII Chopin International Piano Competition Hartford, Connecticut 2022, First Place in the 2021 Bay State Piano Competition Age 8 group, Honorable Mention in the 2021 Steinway Society Piano Competition Division I and 2020 Steinway Society Piano Competition Division I, Honorable Mention in the International V Paderewski Piano Competition 2020 Young Talents (up to 10 years old), and 3rd Place in the StayHome International Piano Competition 2020.

Kailin is in the 5th grade French Immersion Program at the Holliston Fred Miller Elementary School. She also plays soccer with her school’s youth soccer team. Besides school and her dedication to her piano studies, Kailin enjoys hiking, reading, drawing, and scratch programing.

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Thursday, March 31, 2022

TANYA SCHWARTZMAN & ANN SEARS

PIANO DUO

Renowned pianists and educators Ms. Tanya Schwartzman and Ms. Ann Sears will present a program of piano duets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonin Dvorak and Ian Lin. This program will be followed by a lecture, demonstration master class on the art of the piano. Please join us at this wonderful event on Thursday evening, March 31st at 7 PM at M. Steinert & Sons Newton location. For information about this event please contact Christina Dietrich at christinad@steinwaysocietymass.org

TTanya Schwartzman is the Music Director of the Sharon Music Academy, which she founded in 1990. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, Master Teacher of the World Piano Competition, Steinway Educational Partner, and a faculty member of several international summer music programs. Tanya holds MA in Music Education from the prestigious Novosibirsk Conservatory (Russia) and conducted postgraduate studies at the Moscow Pedagogical University, where she subsequently taught piano pedagogy to future piano teachers. She is the author of several articles in the field of Music Theory and Pedagogy and the book “Klever Keys Scales – piano scales for the early beginner.”  Among her students are many winners of local, national, and prestigious international piano competitions, including the International Young Artists Competition in Washington, DC, Chopin Piano Competition in Connecticut, Young Promise International Music Competition, and Paderewski International Piano Competition. Tanya’s students have been selected to perform in Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, and France and on the famous stages in US, such as Carnegie Hall in New York and John. F.  Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  Her students have been featured in the popular PBS TV show “From the Top” and in WGBH radio show with Cathy Fuller.  Tanya is the former Vice-President of MMTA and is a board member of the New England Piano Teachers Association. She is frequently invited to serve as a judge at various piano competitions. In 2017 and 2020 Tanya became a recipient of the “Top Teacher of the Year” Award from Steinway & Sons.

Ann Sears is Professor of Music at Wheaton College (Massachusetts) where she teaches piano and music history and chairs the Music Department.   She has held Wheaton’s Mary Heuser Endowed Chair for the Arts.  She holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Arizona State University, and from The Catholic University of America.  Her principal teachers were Victor Rosenbaum, Linda Cutting, and Thomas Mastroianni.  She has presented papers and lecture-recitals at national meetings of the Society for American Music, CMS, and the American Matthay Association, and her writing appears in American Music, the Journal for Black Music Research, the International Dictionary of Black Composers, the Cambridge Companion to the Musical, and Blackness in Opera.  Her research interests are American art song, the concert tradition in African American music, and American opera and musical theater.  As a collaborative pianist, she appears on three compact discs of African-American song for Albany Records: Deep River:  The Songs and Spirituals of Harry T. Burleigh, with bass Oral Moses; Fi-yer!  A Century of African-American Song, with tenor William Brown; and, Swing Time:  The Songs of Will Marion Cook, also with tenor William Brown.   She has written and premiered two song cycles, entitled Red Kimono Songs: His/Hers.  She most recently appeared at the Oxford Lieder Festival in England with soprano Louise Toppin and baritone Alan Williams.  She is currently president of the Chaminade Music Club in Attleboro, MA, president of the Norton Institute for Continuing Education, and artistic director of the liveARTS concert series in Franklin, MA. 

Born in summer 2009 in RI, Ian J. Lin is a pianist, a composer, and a violinist.  At age 2, he demonstrated his love of music by playing nursery rhymes in piano by ear. At 3.5, he started studying piano and made music in piano for fun.  Around the same time (age 6) he started violin, he got more serious about composing and began private composition lessons.  He studies piano under Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, the director of Sharon Music Academy. He studies composition under William Cooper.  His piano awards include 1st Prize at International Chopin Competition, Hartford, CT, Paderewski International Piano Competition, 1^st place at Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, 3rd place at International Young Pianist Competition in D.C., and the Best Performance Award URI Piano Extravaganza.  He has performed at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, BSO Concert Hall.   Ian has also won composition awards including 3rd place at MTNA National Composition Competition, 3 times MTNA Division winner, honorable mention at the ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) Young Composer Competition, NEPTA Alice Proctor Award for outstanding original composition in the classical style, New Tribeca Emerging Composer Award.  He became the youngest member of the RI Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra at age 10. He gives solo concerts at local nursing homes every year around Holiday seasons and in springtime.  At the age of 5, he was accepted as a Davidson Young Scholar at Davidson Institute for Profoundly Gifted Children.  Besides music, Ian enjoys tennis, chess, and science.

Michael Karshis, Gold Medalist in the 2021 Steinway Society Piano Competition Division III, is a 17-year-old pianist and studies with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman at the Sharon Music Academy. He has performed in the Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage Hall as the First Place Winner for the 33rd International Young Artist Competition, Puerto Rico, Kurozweki Palace in Poland, and in Carnegie Hall. He is a Grand Prix Winner of the Young Promise International Piano Competition, 6 time first-place winner at the Bay State Competition, 3rd prize winner of the 2020 Chopin International Piano Competition, and is the winner of the Outstanding Performance Ruth Fish Memorial Award from Keys Music Challenge 2021. He has been involved in several productions of short films and music videos with the non-profit organization “From the Top.” He is currently a Senior at Xaverian Brothers High School with a trustee scholarship and is a piano tutor and assistant at Sharon Music Academy.  

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Thursday, January 20, 2022

2021 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

GOLD MEDALIST – BENJAMIN WOLFSON

SILVER MEDALIST – DAVID LIEBOWITZ

Benjamin Wolfson studies piano with Professor Natalia Harlap at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School. He has been playing the piano since age five, and gave his first solo recital when he was eight. Over the next five years Ben gave six more solo recitals and performed three concertos with chamber orchestras in Amherst, MA, where he lives with his parents. As the winner of the Rhodes Competition, he performed Mozart’s A major Piano Concerto, K. 488, with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Ben received top prizes at the Mildred Freiberg Competition, the Inaugural University of Massachusetts Young Artist Awards, and the Musicale Beethoven Festival. Ben is an active participant in NEC Prep’s piano seminar program, and in 2021 received the Seth Kimmelman Scholarship, awarded by the Prep’s faculty to a student who “combines a mature commitment to the piano with an intellectual curiosity in the broadest sense.”

Ben is an avid ensemble player, and has performed over two dozen chamber works since 2016 — at Greenwood Music Camp and with groups at NEC Prep and at Deerfield Academy, where he is in the tenth grade. He is an alumnus of the Summer Sonatina International Piano Camp in Vermont. In addition to the piano, Ben plays the cello, and currently performs with NEC Prep’s Youth Symphony and the Deerfield Orchestra.

David Heschel Liebowitz is a piano student of Professor Natalia Harlap at the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory Division. He is 17 years old and a 12th grader at the Roxbury Latin School (RL) where he performs regularly in the school’s Recital program, serves as a pianist for the Chamber Music Program, and participates in a leadership position in the Glee Club and in the school’s a cappella singing group “Latonics.” He is also on the school’s Cross Country and Track teams. David helped lead the Roxbury Latin Trio to 1st prize in the International Chamber Music Competition of the Great Composers Series with the Brahms Horn Trio.

David has received top prizes in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, the International Paderewski Piano Competition, the NEC concerto Competition, and the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association (MMTA) Bay State Music Competition. David has participated in the master classes of Boris Berman, Alexander Korsantia, Pavel Nersessian, Constantine Finehouse, and Dimitri Shteinberg.

For the capstone project of his Western Civilization course at RL, David replicated, with materials and tools similar to those used by Bach himself, the manuscript of the Bach C-sharp Major Fugue from WTC Book II.

David’s love of music is deep and constant. David is dedicated to lifelong learning, sharing, listening, composing, studying, and performing music and will continue his studies at Yale University next fall.

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

2021 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

GOLD MEDALISTS – MICHAEL KARSHIS, ROXANE PARK and MAGGIE BAI

Michael Karshis is 17-year-old pianist and studies with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman at the Sharon Music Academy. He has performed in the Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage Hall as the First Place Winner for the 33rd International Young Artist Competition, Puerto Rico, Kurozweki Palace in Poland, and in Carnegie Hall. He is a Grand Prix Winner of the Young Promise International Piano Competition, 6 time first-place winner at the Bay State Competition, 3rd prize winner of the 2020 Chopin International Piano Competition, and is the winner of the Outstanding Performance Ruth Fish Memorial Award from Keys Music Challenge 2021. He has been involved in several productions of short films and music videos with the non-profit organization “From the Top.” He is currently a Senior at Xaverian Brothers High School with a trustee scholarship and is a piano tutor and assistant at Sharon Music Academy.  

Ms. Roxane Park, 13, is a 9th grader at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, NH. She has been a student of Ms. Mila Filatova since age four. Roxane has received top prizes at numerous competitions, including the National MTNA Competition, Paderewski International Competition, and Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition.

In addition to performing multiple times at Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Symphony Hall, Roxane has also performed in public master classes with Simone Dinnerstein, Andreas Klein, Alexander Kobrin, John Perry, and Yuan Sheng. She has also performed the Haydn Piano Concerto in D Major as a soloist with the Sempre Musick Symphony Orchestra at MIT’s Killian Hall. Roxane performed at the International Chopin Piano Festival, “Lato z Chopinem,” in Busko-Zdroj, Poland. She was featured in episode 372 of NPR’s From the Top with guest host Jeremy Denk and in the From the Top Virtual Gala in 2020.

Most recently, she selected as an official competitor in the preliminary round of the Gina Bachauer Junior International Piano Competition and a finalist in the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition. In last year’s MTNA competitions, she placed first in New Hampshire Competition, first in the Eastern Division Competition, and second at the National Competition where she was also awarded the Chopin Award. Roxane and her sister Maxine are the only New Hampshire residents who have won the Eastern Division MTNA Competition.

Outside of music, Roxane loves math, writing, art, and baking. She is the recipient of the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship, a full, merit-based high school scholarship.

Ms. Maggie Bai is 10 years old and is a 5th grader at Memorial Spaulding Elementary School in Newton, Massachusetts. Maggie started studying piano with her current teacher Ms. Kanako Nishikawa when she was 4. Maggie enjoys playing piano in her leisure time and also for competitions. She also regularly plays for her schoolmates at Memorial Spaulding.  This is the first time Maggie participates in a formal competition, and she has been really excited to see so many great pianists sharing wonderful pieces of music together. Maggie also enjoys studying chamber music at the New England Conservatory and being an active participant at the piano seminar. Maggie recently started experimenting with composing and is looking forward to learning it more systematically. Outside of music, Maggie is an avid tennis player and enjoys drawing and cooking.

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Thursday, November 11, 2021

THE NASHAWAY TRIO

On Thursday, November 11 THE NASHAWAY TRIO – Roy Imperio, pianist, Angel Hernandez Dominguez, violinist and Caroline Reiner Williams, cellist will present their program featuring the Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 32 by Anton Arensky and the Passacaglia – Duo for Violin & Cello by Johan Halvorsen

About the Nashaway Trio …

Formed in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 2009, the Nashaway Trio was co-founded by husband and wife: violinist Angel Hernandez and cellist Caroline Reiner-Williams, with pianist Roy Imperio. Since their debut at the Beveridge Webster Recital Series in Hanover, New Hampshire, they continue to perform in the New England area. The original Nashaway was a Native American tribe that inhabited the Nashua River valley during the 17th century. Marion Fuller Safford, Lancaster historian, offers the following description in her book, The Story of Colonial Lancaster: “Nashaway, or Nashawog, in the Indian tongue, means the place between, land in the angle made by two rivers.” The name with its triadic implication was chosen by the trio as being uniquely representative of the Lancaster region and its rich history, as well as the trio’s roots here. Mr. Hernandez moved to Lancaster from Mexico in 2006, Mr. Imperio from the Philippines via Michigan in 1986, and Ms. Reiner-Williams’ ancestors from England in 1600. Most recently, the trio recorded a live performance of Beethoven and Arensky Trios in the Shapiro Concert Hall at Worcester’s Joy of Music Program in May of 2021.

Philippine-born pianist Roy Imperio has performed as a soloist, collaborative pianist, accompanist, and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, France, Russia, Ukraine, Hong Kong and throughout the Philippines. Passionate about chamber music he co-founded ensembles such as the Windhammer Chamber Players, the Bulfinch Players, and he continues to perform in New England with Trio Orione, the Nashaway Trio, and Imperio in Stereo, a piano duo with his son, Kristjon. In 2001, he made his premiere CD album for flute, guitar and piano with the Bulfinch Players, “Holiday Music in New England” and in 2010 his first piano solo album, “Music of Fryderyk Chopin: a Life of Passion.” His recent CDs, “Seleksiyon” featuring piano arrangements of Filipino folk tunes by Augusto Espino and “Music from Four Continents” with cellist Ning Tien were released in 2017. He has served as music professor at Atlantic Union College and as a collaborative pianist at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Currently he teaches piano at the Thayer Conservatory, 77 Arts Academy in So. Acton, and the Fitchburg State University Community Music Lesson Program.

Angel Hernandez Dominguez has appeared as soloist with Mexico’s Aguascalientes Symphony Orchestra, the Queretaro Philharmonic, and the OFUNAM Philharmonic Orchestra in Mexico City. Born in Cuba, Mr. Hernandez relocated to the United States in 2006, and maintains an active performance schedule as a member of the Nashaway Piano Trio, the Orchestra of Indian Hill, and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, with whom he holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster. In addition to his private teaching studio at Indian Hill Music, he is currently on the faculty at Wachusett Regional High School and the Shrewsbury Public Schools. Mr. Hernandez is also active as a violin-maker: more than 30 of his fine handmade instruments are owned by professional musicians across the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.

Angel Hernandez Dominguez, Violin Maker http://www.facebook.com/ahdviolins

Caroline Reiner-Williams enjoys a busy schedule as both performing and teaching artist, as well as arts administrator. Prior to obtaining her masters degree in music performance and pedagogy from the Longy School of Music at the age of 21, Ms. Reiner-Williams toured the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Europe as a member of several chamber ensembles, including the Boston Youth Symphony. Today she is active throughout New England as a chamber and orchestral musician, performing regularly with the Nashaway Piano Trio and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. In addition to serving on the faculty at Indian Hill Music in Littleton, Ms. Reiner-Williams was recently appointed Program Director at Joy of Music, Worcester’s Community Music School.

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Thursday, November 4, 2021

2021 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

SILVER MEDALISTS – JULIA ZHOU, EUNHA BASU, AND ETHAN WEI

BRONZE MEDALIST – ALEXIS CHEN

Miss Julia Zhou is thirteen years old and is an 8th grader at the R.J. Grey Junior High School in Acton, Massachusetts. She has studied piano with Mr. Ronald Kmiec since age 6, continuing her lessons with him since his semi-retirement in September, 2021 while studying concurrently with Ms. Niva Fried. In addition, Julia studies violin with Ms. Xue Chen.

Julia is an accomplished pianist. She is the runner up for the 2021 Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra, 2017 Concord Orchestra, and Metrowest Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competitions. She was invited as the soloist to play with the Seven Hills Symphony Orchestra in 2019, and delivered a solo piano performance at the 2017 Concord Orchestra and at the 2018 First Parish Holiday Concert. As a winner of the 2019 National Public Radio (NPR)’s From the Top, she played in Show 376 at Boston’s Jordan Hall. She has won multiple first prizes in the MMTA Bay State Piano Competition and was awarded the 3rd Prize from Division 2 of the 2018 Steinway Piano Competition. Julia is also a top prize winner of several competitions at the international level, including the 5th Tureck International Bach competition in 2017, Paderewski International Piano Competitions, American Protege International Competition, International Chopin Piano Competition, and International Future Star Piano Competition. 

She has performed solo and with an orchestra at Boston’s Symphony Hall multiple times over the course of many years on both the piano and the violin. Julia’s favorite composers are Fryderyk Chopin and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and she likes to watch the performances of Yuja Wang and Hilary Hahn. 

Outside of classical music, Julia enjoys reading, writing, gymnastics, watching figure skating, and traveling, and is an avid sports fan.

Miss Eunha Basu is 12 years old and a sixth grader at The Winsor School.  Eunha has been studying the piano with her current teacher, Ms. Niva Fried, at the Indian Hill Music School for 6 years since the age of five.  Eunha enjoys performing as a soloist in recitals and participating in competitions.  She also devotes her time to chamber music at The Rivers School Conservatory.  

She has won top prizes since the age of six at numerous events including the Bay State competition (MMTA), the University of Rhode Island Piano Extravaganza (URI),  Steinway Piano Competition, the Chopin International Piano Competition, Aloha International Piano Competition, and Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition.  As a winner of various competitions, Eunha has performed at the Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall, and has also been invited to participate in a music festival in Poland.  She has also performed in masterclasses with Simone Dinnerstein, Krystian Tkaczewski, and Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome.  Recently, Eunha performed as a soloist with the Indian Hill Orchestra as the winner of the Indian Hill Music School concerto competition.  Outside of music, Eunha is an avid reader and nature lover.

Master Ethan Wei, ten years old, is currently a 5th grader in Fred Miller Elementary School of Holliston, Massachusetts. He started studying piano with Ms. Estelle Lin in 2018 when he was six and a half years old. Ethan has participated in several piano competitions and has received awards such as first place in the 2021 MMTA Bay State Competition, second place in the 2019 MMTA Bay State Competition, first place in the 2019 YAPC piano competition, as well as the Mozart Award in the 2019 URI Piano Extravaganza. Ethan loves performing and enjoys exploring piano pieces of many musical eras and composers such as Beethoven, Grieg, Bach, Chopin, Joplin, Hummel, Liszt, Khachaturian, and Rachmaninoff.

When not playing piano or learning about composers, Ethan can be seen playing soccer with his club and travel teams, building Lego sets with his brother and sister, reading, playing clarinet, spending time with his two guinea pigs, and playing board games.

Miss Alexis Chen, a 15 year old sophomore at Lexington High School, began piano lessons at the age of 6 in Arizona and is currently studying with Dr. Nilly Shilo.

As a young artist, Alexis has won multiple top prizes in the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association’s Bay State Competition. She recently played in a masterclass with Dr. Peter Mack in the Quad State Teachers Conference in Maine. She was also a winner of the 2016 Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition.

In 2016, Alexis placed 3rd in the VII Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT. She also received a silver medal at the American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) Festival “Passion of Music 2016” and performed at Carnegie Hall as a winner.

In addition to playing the piano, Alexis enjoys reading, movies, and baking.

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Thursday, October 14, 2021

RANDALL HODGKINSON

“The finest performance I have ever heard of this very difficult piece. It was as if he was reading my mind…”

Aaron Copland on hearing pianist Randall Hodgkinson performing his Piano Fantasy in Jordan Hall.

Randall Hodgkinson studied at The Curtis Institute and the New England Conservatory of Music. While at the New England Conservatory, Mr. Hodgkinson achieved world-wide recognition as the Grand Prize Winner of the International American Music Competition for pianists sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation. His solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was presented in Boston, Philadelphia and in New York at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Hodgkinson has appeared frequently as soloist and chamber music artist in festivals throughout the United States, and as a featured soloist with major orchestras including those of Philadelphia, Atlanta, Buffalo, the American Symphony, the Orchestra of Illinois and abroad in Italy, Japan and Iceland. He has presented numerous recital programs spanning the repertoire from J.S. Bach to Donald Martino and Mark Berger.  

While a member of Boston Musica Viva, he performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, and his recordings on several labels have brought notable acclaim. His solo CD “Petrouschka and Other Prophesies” received a double five-star rating from the BBC Magazine. Other recordings include a live performance of the world premiere of the Gardner Read Piano Concerto with the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Morton Gould Concerto with the Albany Symphony. His CD of solo piano music on the Ongaku label has received critical praise. Mr. Hodgkinson also performs the Piano concerto of Bernard Hoffer in a recently released CD with the National Orchestra of Ireland.

Mr. Hodgkinson also performs four-hand and two-piano literature in duo recitals with his wife, Leslie Amper and is a member of the Gramercy trio and the Worcester Chamber Music Society. Festival appearances include Blue Hill-Maine, Bargemusic, Chestnut Hill Concerts in Madison Connecticut, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest (Portland, OR). Recent performances with the Gramercy trio have featured premiers of the Gunther Schuller trio, commissioned by the trio.

Professor Hodgkinson is a member of the piano faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music and Wellesley College. Mr. Hodgkinson is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner having completed the Boston Training in 2020. In addition to teaching Awareness Through Movement® lessons, he also gives private one-on-one Funtional Integration® lessons. 

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Thursday, September 30, 2021

2021 STEINWAY SOCIETY PIANO COMPETITION WINNERS

BRONZE MEDALISTS – SARA TARDIF, EMILY ZHOU, AND SOPHIA POPESCU

Ms. Sara Tardif began studying piano at age 5 with Ms. Julia Bernstein at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School.  Since the fall of 2019, Sara has studied with Ms. HuiMin Wang at the South Shore Conservatory. As a young, accomplished pianist, Sara has won multiple 1st prizes in Massachusetts Music Teachers Association’s Bay State Competition.  She was the 2nd prize winner in the 29th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington, DC.

In 2015, Sara received the First Degree Certificate in VIII International Competition for Young Pianists in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.  In 2016, she placed 3rd in Burgos International Music Festival Professional Competition with no age limit in Spain.  In 2019,  Sara was awarded the Overall Prize in the URI Piano Extravaganza. Additionally, Sara has performed several times at Carnegie Hall as a winner of various competitions.

In 2020, Sara received the 2nd prize in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition.  Most recently, she won the 2nd prize in the 2021 Bay State Piano Contest in addition to third place in the 2021 Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition. In August, she received an honorable mention in the 2021 Lancaster International Piano Competition as one of 98 participants from 16 countries and areas including Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and USA.

Ms. Emily Zhou is fourteen years old and a freshman at Lexington High School.  She studies piano with Ms. Niva Fried at Indian Hill Music Center and has been with her for nine years. Emily is also a student in the A. Ramon Rivera Senior Piano Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.

Emily loves various music forms and has a strong feeling of romantic period music. She has impulsive passion for learning and exploring new pieces. She enjoys sharing her music by performing in recitals, participating in chamber music, and attending competitions. She has been honored to win top prizes including the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, the NEPTA Mildred Freiberg Middle School Competition, the MTNA Massachusetts Junior Performance Piano Competition, and several times first place in the MMTA Bay State Contest. Emily has performed in venues such as the Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Symphony Hall. She has participated in the masterclasses of great pianists and pedagogues including Victor Rosenbaum, Dmitri Steinberg, and Krystian Tkaczewski. In addition to watching live performances and video clips of music recordings, Emily enjoys reading, skiing, scrapbooking, and playing with her five-year-old dog.

Ms. Sophia Popescu is ten years old, and she is a 5th-grade student at East Elementary in Sharon, Massachusetts. She has been studying piano with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman since she was five years old. Sophia loves music, loves performing, and learning about music. She loves challenges and has been participating in piano competitions since age six and in Rhythmic Gymnastics competitions since she was seven. Sophia has won multiple awards, including 3rd place at the 2020 Steinway Society Competition, 1st place at the IV Paderewski International Piano Competition, 2nd place at the International Young Artist Piano Competition, and 1st place at the MMTA 51st Annual Bay State Piano Contest. Outside of piano, Sophia is active in sports. She is currently a Level 5 Rhythmic Gymnast. In her spare time, Sophia enjoys playing tennis, reading, and drawing.

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Thursday, September 9, 2021

ARIANA FALK WITH RANDALL HODGKINSON

On Thursday, September 9, 2021 cellist Ariana Falk with pianist, Randall Hodgkinson will present a program of Manuel de Falla, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Franz Schubert.

Cellist Ariana Falk currently serves as Education Director for the Worcester Chamber Music Society and runs the Neighborhood Strings and ChamberFest programs. She is a former Fellow at Community MusicWorks, the Providence organization committed to creating an urban community through music education and performance. She combines performance with a passion for forging new paths in teaching artistry.

Ariana received a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University and Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she was recipient of the Aldo Parisot Prize. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale College. She has recently appeared as soloist with orchestras around North America, including Portland’s Columbia Symphony, the Olympia Symphony, Yale Bach Society, and the Banff Festival Orchestras. A recent review in Portland’sOregonian said “Falk was terrific; her tone was solid and appropriately dark, and she carefully calibrated her path from lyrically mysterious beginnings on to a blistering, biting climax.”

As a recitalist and chamber musician, she is a cellist with the Burlington Ensemble, and has appeared recently as a guest artist on the Marlboro College and Longy School of Music Faculty Artist series, live on WGBH Boston and WVPR, with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and as cellist of the Worcester Bach Consort. She has collaborated with distinguished musicians including Menahem Pressler and Paul Katz. Notable past performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Sprague Hall at Yale and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In addition, Ariana has toured with the Grammy Award-nominated Yale Cellos, and her discography includes their most recent CD, “Cello, Celli,” featuring the music of Bach and Dave Brubeck (Naxos).

Ariana was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany, and she now serves as Music Director of the Massachusetts Fulbright Association. She has served on the chamber music faculty of Brown University and on the faculty of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Other festival appearances include the Norfolk Music Festival, the Garth Newel Music Center, the Banff Centre, and the Juilliard, Great Lakes, and Deer Valley string quartet seminars.

A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Ariana has premiered dozens of new works and is committed to performing and celebrating the music of our time. She worked with Joan Tower, was a member of the Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble, and gave the Heidelberg premiere of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XIV .

A native of Portland, Ariana made her solo debut with the “Live from the Schnitzer” orchestra playing Elgar at age fifteen. As part of the Charivari String Quartet with her violist twin brother, she appeared on the pilot season of “From the Top” in Boston’s Jordan Hall.

Randall Hodgkinson, piano – is the Grand Prize Winner of the International American Music Competition sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation.  He’s performed with orchestras in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Boston, Cleveland and abroad in Italy and Iceland. In addition, he has performed numerous recital programs spanning the repertoire from J.S. Bach to Donald Martino. He is the newest member of the Worcester Chamber Music Society, and he performs the four-hand and two-piano repertoire with his wife Leslie Amper. Mr. Hodgkinson’s festival appearances include Blue Hill (Maine), Barge Music, Chestnut Hill Concerts (Madison, Connecticut), Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Recently, Mr. Hodgkinson gave the world premiere of the Piano Concerto by Gardner Read at the Eastman School in Rochester. He’s a faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.

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Thursday, July 8, 2021

THEODORE TENG

On Thursday, July 8, 2021 Theodore Teng, the 2019 Steinway Society Young Artist of the Year will present a program of J.S. Bach, Chopin, Albeniz, and Franck.

Theodore Teng, age 17, strives to bring his listeners along an intimate journey through the vivid imagery of each work he performs. The classical music provided by his three older siblings inspired him to begin playing the piano, and he quickly grew attached to the instrument’s capability to communicate and express himself to others. He is a student of A. Ramón Rivera, whom he began studying with at the age of five, and Erin Lindsey at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and The Rivers School Conservatory.

Theo has earned top prizes at various competitions, including first prize at the Rivers Symphony Concerto Competition (twice), the International Paderewski Piano Competition, the A. Ramón Rivera Piano Competition, and awards at the Steinway Junior Piano Competition, the MMTA Bay State Piano Contest, and the Young Artist Piano Competition. These titles have led him to performances in venues such as Boston’s Jordan Hall and Symphony Hall. Theo also had the honor of attending the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Piano Program in 2019 and the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts Music Festival at Walnut Hill in 2018 and 2016. He is currently a member of the acclaimed NEC Prep Piano Seminars. 

An enthusiastic performer of contemporary music, Theo has premiered compositions by Dr. Larry Thomas Bell, Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee, Robert Paterson, and the 2018 MacArthur Fellow Matthew Aucoin at the annual Rivers Seminar on Contemporary Music.  Currently, Theo is a rising senior at the Roxbury Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to performing solo repertoire, he enjoys playing chamber music with friends, transposing movie and video game soundtracks for the piano, and competing as a member of the school cross country and debate teams. He also leads the Roxbury Latin Piano Seminars, a group that he created to encourage collaboration and discussion among the numerous talented pianists at the school. An aspiring architect, Theo wishes to design structures that will change people’s lives in the same way that music has changed his own.

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Thursday, June 10, 2021

LOGAN SHERWIN

On Thursday, June 10, 2021 Young Artist, Logan Sherwin will present a program of Beethoven, Chopin and several of his original works for piano.

Logan Sherwin, an aspiring young pianist and composer, was born and grew up in the Boston area. Coming from a family that gave him a wide exposure to many musical styles, his love for music began at an early age. Although he didn’t start piano until he was nearly eight years old, he quickly developed a passion for playing and sharing music and was performing in public in just under two years.

Later, Logan began taking private lessons from internationally acclaimed pianist and pedagogue, Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome, director of the M. Steinert and Sons Piano Academy. Her nurturing teaching style has opened new horizons for Logan in so many ways, bringing his understanding of music to a whole new level, both technically and artistically. Logan was accepted to the New England Conservatory Prep School both as a pianist and as a composer. There he participated in piano seminars led by highly acclaimed pedagogue A. Ramón Rivera, and regularly attended masterclasses for piano and composition. He was also a member of the young composers’ chamber group led by the chairman of NEC Prep’s composition department Dr. John Rodney Lister and was invited to perform his compositions in the NEC Contemporary Music Festival.

Logan’s numerous competition credits have led him to play in prestigious venues such as NYC Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and the Prague Conservatory. In the past few years, he has been a top winner in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, won first prize in the MMTA Bay State Piano Competition, became a laureate of the Prague Conservatory International Piano Competition, and took first place in the Soloists of New England (SONE) Piano Competition.

In the summer of 2020, Logan was accepted to Curtis Institute of Music’s Young Artist Summer Program, where he was honored to be chosen as one of only four to participate in a masterclass with world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax. He was privileged to work with the Curtis Summer Program’s world-renowned faculty members including Anna Polonsky and Amy Yang. Driven by Ms. Yang’s passion for teaching and performing, he continues to work with her to this day. She has inspired Logan to ask questions and listen to music from new perspectives and challenged him to find new meaning and forms of expression.

During the pandemic, Logan has continued to perform in virtual venues.

His uploads inspire followers on YouTube and Instagram.

Outside of music, Logan’s biggest passion is linguistics. He likes to study languages’ roots, history, and evolution in-depth. He especially enjoys studying a wide spectrum of endangered languages, or ones that have recently become extinct and potentially could be revived and spoken once more. In the meantime, he contributes by editing and writing Wikipedia articles on the subject of endangered languages and linguistics in general. Recently, he has been contributing to Wikipedia articles on the Evenki language, a Tungusic language from Siberia (Russia and Northern China). He is passionate about one day doing as much as he can to promote multilingualism and helping all languages thrive.

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Thursday, May 13, 2021

RASA VITKAUSKAITE WITH ALEKSANDR POLYAKOV

On Thursday, May 13, 2021 Steinway Artist, Rasa Vitkauskaite with Aleksandr Polyakov will present a program of excerpts from her latest album of Mozart and Beethoven Concertos

Internationally acclaimed multiple prize-winning Lithuanian pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite has been hailed for “artistry of poetic and observant sensitivity” (Gramophone) and dubbed as “a Beethoven interpreter of penetrating insight” (Fanfare). She is quickly establishing herself as one of the leading recording artists of her generation. Her latest CD including Mozart Concerto No. 20 in D Minor and Beethoven Concerto No. 3 in C Minor was praised as comparable to Rudolf Serkin and the New York Philharmonic. Rasa released her debut solo CD Reflections on Ongaku Records in 2014, featuring works by Beethoven, Ravel, Guastavino and Liebermann. Fanfare highlighted the release on its cover, praising her “scintillating pianism.” Her debut recording as soloist with orchestra performing Liszt/Weber Polonaise brillante recorded at the Hungarian National Radio was released as a digital single in 2016. Last season featured a solo recital on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in the Chicago Cultural Center that was broadcast live on WFMT radio and hundreds of affiliated stations nationwide. Next season will highlight Rasa’s recording of Mendelssohn Double Concerto with Tchaikovsky Gold Medal violinist Ilya Kaler.

Winner of the Grand Prix at the Mendelssohn Cup Piano Competition in Italy, Rasa Vitkauskaite was recently named a Steinway Artist. She has won top prizes at numerous prestigious international piano competitions including First Prizes at Les Rencontres Internationales des Jeunes Pianistes (Belgium), the competition in Taurisano (Italy), and the Rubinstein Piano Competition (Paris). Other awards include the Westmont Fellowship at the Montecito International Music Festival in Santa Barbara, California, and a Kathryn Wasserman Davis $10,000 grant supporting a tour of Israel. Rasa has also won top prizes at six national competitions in her native country of Lithuania. 

Recent recital tours have taken Rasa to China, South Korea, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, and across the United States. Her solo engagements include the Budapest Sinfonia, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Anima Musicae, Kaunas, Latvian and Kaliningrad Philharmonic orchestras, I Solisti di Perugia, and the Boston Conservatory Orchestra. Last season featured her debut recording as soloist with orchestra performing Liszt/Weber Polonaise brillante recorded at the Hungarian National Radio. She has appeared at festivals in Assisi (Italy), Madrid (Spain), Mexico City, Caracas (Venezuela), Taiyuan (China), Porto (Portugal), and Moscow (Russia).

An avid chamber musician, Rasa performs regularly with world-renowned clarinetist Jonathan Cohler. The duo has recorded three critically acclaimed CDs – Rhapsodie Française, Romanza & American Tribute. She has also collaborated with world-renowned violinist, chamber musician and teacher James Buswell, cellist Julia Bruskin of the Claremont Trio, and long-time Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinetist Franklin Cohen among many others.

Having graduated from National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania and United World College of the Adriatic in Italy, Rasa completed her Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Boston Conservatory. Her teachers include Jūratė Karosaitė, Alberto Miodini, Michael Lewin and Randall Hodgkinson.

In addition to her active performing career, Rasa is a dedicated teacher and adjudicator. She teaches a large number of students at her private studio in Cambridge, MA, where she also offers lessons for Conservatory level pianists and college students. A frequent guest teacher, Rasa has recently given masterclasses, private lessons, and chamber music coachings at institutions and festivals around the globe such as Ohio University, University of Akron, National University of Rosario in Argentina, Carlos Gomes State Institute in Belém, Brazil, “Ciutat de Xàtiva” International Music Festival in Spain, just to name a few. Rasa is a highly sought-after adjudicator having most recently judged the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the University of Rhode Island Piano Competition, the Westfield State University Young Artist Piano Competition, and the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association Bay State Contest and Musical Achievement Evaluations, among others.

Rasa is the long-serving, critically acclaimed pianist of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Meiningen Trio.

For more information, visit: http://rasapiano.com.

Aleksandr Polyakov is a Ukrainian-American pianist and conductor who is rapidly establishing an international reputation for his remarkable virtuosity, command of sonority, and communicative powers.

The winner of more than 20 international competitions, his notable prizes include third prize at the ninth International Liszt Competition (Netherlands), second prize at the sixth International Liszt Competition (Germany), and first prize at the Steinway Society Competition (Boston).

His numerous concerto performances include the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine under Volodymyr Sirenko and Allin Vlasenko. In the United States he gave nine performances of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Boston Ballet Orchestra under Mischa Santora, and has had numerous performances with the Brockton and Newton Symphony Orchestras with James Orent.

In addition to his work as a pianist, Polyakov has an international conducting career. He is frequently guest conducting, leading opera productions and collaborating with vocalists. In Ukraine, he has performed both Liszt Concertos and Beethoven’s Emperor while conducting from the keyboard. He has participated in conducting master classes with Harold Farberman and Riccardo Muti.

Polyakov is also a dedicated and sought-after pedagogue. He has taught at Music Fest Perugia and given masterclasses in the U.S., China and Europe. He often incorporates modern technologies in his teaching.

Polyakov was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and studied piano performance and orchestral conducting at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. He earned his A.D. at Boston Conservatory at Berklee under the instruction of Michael Lewin.

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Thursday, April 29, 2021

HEEYEON CHI & VICTOR CAYRES

On Thursday, April 29, 2021 Boston Artists Heeyeon Chi & Victor Cayres will present a program of solos and duets by Dvorak, Liszt and Debussy

Korean pianist Heeyeon Chi has performed in Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Russia, and in the United States, where she recently appear at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. She has been awarded the Outstanding Performance Award from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal, and the Piano Department Award from Boston University, as well as prizes at International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival & Competition, Brandshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Canadian Music Competition, Burnaby Clef Society Competition, and Burnaby Concerto Competition. Highlights of her previous engagements include appearances as a soloist with the New England Repertory Orchestra conducted by Tiffany Chang, performances as an artist-in-residence at Banff Centre Arts Program as well as a guest artist at Interlochen Center for the Arts and Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Program, where she also had an opportunity to give a masterclass. While performing at the Chicago Piano Duo Festival in 2011 Ms. Chi was invited to coach young piano duo students in preparation for their recitals. Further appearances in festivals include the Vianden International Music Festival in Luxembourg, the Ruza International Piano Festival in Russia, the International Keyboard Festival in New York, and the Orford Music Festival in Canada.  Ms. Chi had the privilege of performing in masterclasses for such pianists as John Perry, John O’ Connor, Andre Laplante, Ian Hobson, Willem Brons, Atanas Kurtev, Maxim Mogilevsky, Stefano Miceli, Yong Hee Moon, Richard Raymond, and acclaimed Beethoven’s scholar Lewis Lockwood.    

Ms. Chi started piano at age 4 at the Sun-Hwa Art School in Seoul, South Korea. In Canada she studied with David Bulmer and later with Marina Mdvani at McGill University, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree as a recipient of such awards as McGill Entrance Scholarship, M.E. Choquette Scholarship, James McGill Award, and McGill University Scholarship. In the U.S. Ms. Chi studied with Victor Rosenbaum at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, earning a Master of Music degree with Academic Honors, and a Graduate Diploma degree as a recipient of New England Conservatory’s Entrance Scholarship. Ms. Chi completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Boston University as a recipient of Boston University College of Fine Arts Scholarship, where she studied with Boaz Sharon.

In 2014, she has joined the piano faculty at New England Conservatory Preparatory School and Continuing Education in Boston.

Hailed as “spirit of a leader!” by La Liberté (Fribourg, Switzerland), Brazilian pianist Victor Cayres has earned praise for concerts with the Sine Nomine string quartet and as soloist with such orchestras as the Boston Pops and Brno Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. He has been a guest artist at Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Claflin University, Western Washington University, and has released CDs for Albany Records, Parma Records, Centaur Records, with works by American contemporary composers David Owens, Joseph Summer, and John H. Wallace. Mr. Cayres frequently performs in Brazil, Europe, and in prestigious venues in the U.S., such as Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall, and Chicago’s Preston Bradley Hall. His concerts have been broadcast live at Brazil’s TV Cultura channel, Boston’s WGBH 99.5 All Classical, and Chicago’s WFMT Fine Arts Radio.

Victor Cayres has appeared as a soloist with the NEC Philharmonia, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Pro-Musica, Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Petrobras Pró-Música, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Orquestra Sinfônica and Orquestra de Câmera at University of São Paulo, collaborating with such conductors as Ronaldo Bologna, Mark Churchill, Marc David, Ryan Haskins, Gil Jardim, Keith Lockhart, Norton Morozowisk, Donald Palma, Roberto Tibiriçá, and Jan Zbavitel. Under the direction of Theophanis Kapsopoulos he has toured Czech Republic and Switzerland with the Orchestre des Jeunes de Fribourg.   

Mr. Cayres has gathered several prizes in national and international piano competitions, including the 8th Iowa Piano Competition, Boston University Concerto Competition and Richmond Piano Competition, 18th Leoš Janáček International Piano Competition in Brno (Czech Republic), Gina Bachauer South American Competition, Nelson Freire International Competition, Petrobras International Competition, Magdalena Tagliaferro Competition, Artlivre International Competition, as well as European competitions such as Sommerfestspiele Klavier Wettbewerb in Murten, Switzerland.

Mr. Cayres studied with Brazil’s leading pianists: Roselys Alleoni, at the school of music Maestro Ernst Mahle, and Gilberto Tinetti and Eduardo Monteiro at the University of São Paulo. He also studied for one year at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, while appearing in concert venues in Switzerland. He has performed in master classes for John O’Connor, Steve Drury, Philippe Entremont, Stephen Kovacevich, Dai Uk Lee, Ronan O’Hora, and John Perry, among many others. He currently serves on the piano faculty at New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Boston University School of Music, Eastern Illinois University, and also serves as Associate Director at Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Piano Program.

B.M., University of São Paulo, with Gilberto Tinetti and Eduardo Monteiro; independent studies at Staatliche Hochschule für Muzik in Karlsruhe, Germany; M.M. and G.D., New England Conservatory, with Wha Kyung Byun, chamber music with Richard Stoltzman; D.M.A., Boston University, with Anthony di Bonaventura; D.M.A Dissertation advisor: David Kopp, “The Piano Works by Leopoldo Miguez (1850-1902).” 

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Thursday, April 15, 2021

JAMES KIM

On Thursday, April 15, 2021 Young Artist James Kim will present an All Chopin Program

Seventeen-year-old pianist, James Kim has performed extensively throughout the United States. He made his national debut at the age of 9 when he performed a concerto with the Palisades Symphony Orchestra and later appeared with concert pianist Lang Lang on the Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno. James has been a winner of many local, regional, and international competitions, including 1st place finishes in the 2015 Los Angeles Young Musician International Competition, the Statewide Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Competition, and the Glendale Piano Competition. He was also selected as a finalist for the 2018 Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition, the 2019 Waring International Piano Competition, the 2019 Kaufman International Piano Competition, and the 2020 New York International Piano Competition. In addition, James has been recognized with multiple scholarships from the Westside committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, SOL-LA Music Academy, and the Chopin Foundation of the US.

James began his piano studies at the age of five under Anders Martinson, a Gilmore Foundation Young Artist Awardee. Since moving to Lexington, MA in 2016, James has studied under Max Levinson, Chair of the Piano Department at Boston Conservatory. He currently is a senior at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA and participates in the Piano Seminar at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. In the future, James hopes to further his concert career and travel the world whilst performing, experiencing different foods and cultures, and meeting musicians from around the world. 

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Thursday, March 25, 2021

TANYA SCHWARTZMAN STUDIO CELEBRATION

On Thursday, March 25 we are celebrating the accomplishments of master teacher, Ms. Tanya Schwartzman.

In celebration of Ms. Schwartzman’s accomplishments, we have invited three of her students to perform on this evening’s concert. They are in the order of appearance, Ms, Sophia Popescu, 9, Master Ian Lin, 11, and Mr. Michael Karshis 16.

Photos of Ms. Schwartman’s Studio by Kenneth Berman Photography (781) 784-9600
www.kennethbermanphoto.com

Tanya Schwartzman is the Music Director of the Sharon Music Academy, which she founded in 1990. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, Master Teacher of the World Piano Competition, Steinway Educational Partner, and a faculty member of several international summer music programs. Ms. Schwartzman holds an Masters Degree in Music Education from the prestigious Novosibirsk Conservatory (Russia) and conducted postgraduate studies at the Moscow Pedagogical University, where she subsequently taught piano pedagogy to future piano teachers. She is the author of several articles in the field of Music Theory and Pedagogy and the book “Klever Keys Scales – piano scales for the early beginner.”  Among her students are many winners of local, national, and prestigious international piano competitions, including the International Young Artists Competition in Washington, DC, Manchester Young Artist Competition in Connecticut, Young Promise International Music Competition, and Paderewski International Piano Competition. Tanya’s students have been selected to perform in Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, and France and on the famous stages in US, such as Carnegie Hall in New York and John. F.  Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  Her students have been featured in the popular PBS TV show “From the Top” and in WGBH radio show with Cathy Fuller.  Tanya is the former Vice-President of MMTA and is a board member of the New England Piano Teachers Association. She is frequently invited to serve as a judge at various piano competitions. In 2017 and 2020 Ms. Schwartzman became a recipient of the “Top Teacher of the Year” Award from Steinway & Sons. 

Michael Karshis is a 16-year-old piano student of Ms. Tanya Schwartzman at Sharon Music Academy. He is currently a Junior at Xaverian Brothers High School with a trustee scholarship and is a piano tutor and assistant at Sharon Music Academy.

Mr. Karshis has performed in the Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage Hall as the first place winner of the 33rd International Young Artist Competition, Puerto Rico. He has performed at the Kurozwęki Palace in Poland, at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Symphony Hall Boston.

He is a 2nd place winner of the 2020 New England Piano Teachers Association, 6 time first-place at Bay State Competition, 3rd prize winner of the Chopin International Piano Competition, and a 2nd prize winner of the 2020 Steinway Society Piano Competition. In addition, he has been involved in several productions of short films and music videos with the popular show “From the Top.”

Ian J. Lin is from South Kingstown, Rhode Island. He is 11 years old and a 7^th grader at Curtis Corner Middle School.  Ian is a pianist, a composer and a violinist. He studies piano with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, the director of Sharon Music Academy, and winner of many outstanding teacher awards.  an has won many piano awards and music composition awards. Most recently, he was the 1st Place Winner in Division 1 of the 2020 Steinway Society Piano Competition. He has performed at Carnegie Recital Hall, and at Symphony Hall Boston. He gives solo concerts at local nursing homes every year around the Holiday season and in the springtime. He currently studies composition under Dr. Stephen Halloran, faculty member at the Boston Conservatory and the head of the composition department at Rivers School Conservatory in Weston, MA. He studies violin under Dr. Alexey Shabalin, a member of the RI Philharmonic Orchestra.

At the age of 5, he was accepted as a Davidson Young Scholar at Davidson Institute for Profoundly Gifted Children.  Besides music, Ian enjoys tennis, basketball, math, robotics, and science.

Sophia Popescu  is a nine year old 4th-grade student at East Elementary in Sharon, Massachusetts. She has been studying piano with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman since she was five years old. Sophia loves music, loves performing, and learning about music. She loves challenges and has been participating in piano competitions since age six and in Rhythmic Gymnastics competitions since she was seven. Sophia has won multiple awards, including 3rd place at the 2020 Steinway Society Piano Competition, 1st place at the IV Paderewski International Piano Competition, 2nd place at the International Young Artist Piano Competition, and 1st place at the MMTA 51st Annual Bay State Piano Competition. Outside of playing piano, Sophia is active in sports. She is currently a Level 5 Rhythmic Gymnast. In her spare time, Sophia enjoys singing, reading, and drawing

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Thursday, March 11, 2021

DUO AMIE

On Thursday, March 11 Duo Amie – Ellyses Kuan, pianist and Julie Reimann, cellist will present their program – Songfest

About Duo Amie…

Duo Amie is a cello & piano duo dedicated to inspiring and bringing diverse people together with programs that capture the imagination through musical expression and visual thematic elements, and to supporting the mission of non-profits by organizing and performing benefit concerts.

A native of Hong Kong, Ellyses Kuan began playing piano at age 3. She received a full scholarship for her master’s degree, studying with Barry Snyder at Eastman School of Music, and was selected to represent Hong Kong at the International Kirishima Music Festival, Japan. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed throughout the United States, and in Canada, Japan and Hong Kong, and in 2017 performed at the 42nd Annual Classical Music Festival at Esterhazy Schloss (Austria). Ellyses is also founder and music director of EKS Music School (Quincy, MA). Her goal is to build community, promote performing arts awareness, and support local young musicians through advocacy and performances (including through a music scholarship fund for students in need, at her school).  In 2014, she was an invited panelist on the Boston Guitar Fest Roundtable on Making a Career in Music Work, and her school was featured in the Boston Globe the same year. In 2017, she was an invited speaker at the Piano Seminar Teacher’s Roundtable at the Eisenstadt Summer Academy. She received a Steinway & Sons Top Music Teacher award 2 years in a row (2017 & 2018) and is also immediate past president of the Massachusetts Music Teacher Association.

Julie Reimann started playing the cello at age 9, and was a student of Aldo Parisot, performing throughout the United States, Canada, and Brazil, and winning a number of competitions, including Gold Medal (New Haven Youth Symphony Young Artists Competition), 1st Prize (Connecticut Chamber Orchestra Young Artists Competition), and 2^nd Prize (Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition Junior Division). She earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Curtis Institute of Music, studying with David Soyer. During Curtis, Julie performed in the Nationale Academie de Violoncelle in France, Banff Music Festival, Rencontres Musicales d’Evian, Musicorda Music Festival, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and won 1st Place in the Alliance Auditions National Music Competition. Julie graduated from Bryn Mawr College’s Post-baccalaureate Premedical Program, and received the Horace Alwyn Prize for music there. Julie continued to perform recitals while pursuing her M.D. and Ph.D. in Biophysics, at Stanford University, and during her residency and fellowship in Boston. She continues to perform as a soloist and chamber musician in various venues, including as soloist with the Waltham Symphony Orchestra (2016), soloist with Longwood Symphony Orchestra (2018), and as a guest artist with Boston Music Institute, and Lyra Music Festival. She is also a dermatopathologist in the Boston Area, and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.

www.duoamie.org

This performance by Duo Amie is dedicated to Richard (Dick) Regan, beloved father of cellist Julie Reimann, who passed away in 2019. The son of Irish immigrants and a lifelong educator and learner, he was a high school chemistry teacher for over 30 years. Dick had a generous heart, cherished nature, and loved music, a gift he shared with his daughter Julie. He loved many different varieties of music, inspiring the duo to create this Songfest spanning multiple musical genres.

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February 11th, 2021

Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome

On Thursday, February 11th, Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome Performed program of Bartók and Lecuona.

M. Steinert and Sons’ Artist-in-residence, and director of the Piano Academy since 2014, Sonya Ovrutsky Fensome is an internationally acclaimed concert pianist, known for her fresh, imaginative, and passionate interpretations. Her extraordinary artistry brings new life to a wide array of piano repertoire – from Baroque to the 21st Century.

In 2020, Sonya’s journey has taken her to performing, recording, and teaching from her own piano room in the Boston suburbs, where she lives with her husband and son. 2020 has changed all our lives – and yet, the music goes on with musicians around the world finding new ways to share it. Sonya’s new YouTube project “From My Piano Room” takes listeners
into her world of music. Behind each tune there’s a story, and behind each composition there’s a mind and soul of a person who created it, the people and events that inspired and influenced it, and the history and culture surrounding the piece. When you immerse yourself in the world behind the music, listening to music becomes a much richer experience, you form a deeper connection with what you’re hearing.

Sonya’s first teachers were her mother and father, Alexandra and Ilya Ovrutsky, who met while studying at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Learning music at the earliest age. Sonya first performed in public for her friends at preschool at age 5. As a child and early teenager, Sonya continued her study at the Moscow School for Gifted Children (Tchaikovsky Conservatory Pre-college). At age 15, she gained world recognition upon winning the International Piano Competition in Senigalia, Italy, and was consequently invited to study at the Juilliard School of Music as a full scholarship recipient. There she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in piano performance, studying with legendary professors Herbert Stessin for piano and Felix Galimir for chamber music.

Ms. Ovrutsky Fensome has performed in major venues in the United States, Europe, Russia, and South Africa – including Weill Carnegie Concert Hall, Lincoln Center in NY, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Aspen Music Festival, Palace de Beaux Arts in Brussels and the Lucerne Music Festival. She performed as a soloist with the Aspen Festival Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, and Neuchatel Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. She has performed in recitals with world renowned musicians including Sarah Chang and Vladimir Spivakov, and continuously collaborates with her brother Mikhail Ovrutsky. Earlier in her career she worked as a collaborative pianist in the master classes and private lessons of professors Zakhar Bron, Dorothy DeLay, Mauricio Fuks, Itzhak Perlman, Vadim Repin, and Pinchas Zukerman. Her numerous competition awards include the Aspen Music Festival Competition and Concert Artist Competition in New York. Her duo CD with Mikhail Ovrutsky “Turning Points” recorded for Berlin Classics® has earned outstanding reviews and was selected as “CD of the Week” by RBB Kulturradio. Sonya’s YouTube channel and her project “From My Piano Room” is quickly growing and getting support and recognition.