EDUCATIONAL BRIDGE PROJECT

FALL 2013, BOSTON, USA - 24th FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS


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Miriam Achildiev is a very positive, delightful and happy child.  Even being a baby, she always liked to listen to the classical music.  Miriam developed interest in learning how to play piano, and started taking lessons with Irina Y. Gelman.  Everytime Miriam practices and learns new composition, she enjoys the process of learning and perfecting her skills.  In addition to playing piano, Miriam loves drawing, acting and making clay sculptures.


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Grigoriy Amnuel, head of Moscow NGO, “International Friendship”, and producer of films on Russian musicians, was born in Moscow. From 1972 to 1976 he worked at the Moscow Theatre of Satire and at Taganka Theatre and in 1977 in motion pictures. He authored, produced and directed more than 30 political, musical, and sports movies. He is a prize winner of the international film festivals in Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, and actively politicizes all life. From 1996 to 1998 he worked in the Moscow City Council and from 1998 to 2010 in the State Duma of Russia. He worked at the Expertise Fund, on M. Khodorkovsky's project "Open Russia". He actively takes up the problems of foreign policy and participates in many international conferences and forums. He is the founder of "Schools of Social Management and Civil Initiatives" for representatives of the Russian regions in Poland and Latvia. He conceived the idea and produced the first and only history in Russia of a monument to Roman Pope John Paul II which earned awards from Russia, Latvia and the Catholic church of Poland. Grigory Amnuel is a member of the Film Union of Russia.

Григорий Амнуэль – продюсер, режиссёр, политик, публицист, общественный деятель. Автор и продюсер более тридцати публицистических фильмов премированных на международных кинофестивалях: « Галина Вишневская-возвращение», «Quiet an American Russian», «Редлих – люди с той стороны», «Christmas dream or a hockey portrait», «Душа грустит по небесам...», «When I remember you», «Русские против russkikh», «Футбол 1955 СССР-ФРГ» «ДО – Московская консерватория», «Age of Delirium», «Б...Т...Балет любви» и др. Постановщик спектакля «Убийство в Ларами»-театр Толерантности (проект Библиотеки Конгресса США), член редколлегии журнала «Посев» с 2007 по 2012 год, политик, работавший в Московской городской Думе и в Государственной Думе ФСРФ с 1993 по 2011 год, ответственный секретарь межфракционного депутатского объединения «Европейский Клуб», ответственный секретарь депутатской группы по связям с парламентами стран Африки, сотрудник «Открытой России», дистрибутор фильмa В. Герчикова «Реакция» (о реакции российского общества на дело Ходорковского), создатель и директор Школы социального менеджмента и гражданских инициатив в Польше с 2005 по 2010 год и в Латвии с 2010 по настоящее время, автор идеи и продюсер установки в Москве первого в истории России памятника Иоанну Павлу II (14.10.2011) и автор книги «Создать памятник». Общественный деятель - работавший в различных ипостасях почти в 60 странах мира. Награждён: «Медалью защитника Свободной России», Орденом офицера «Трёх звёзд» Латвия, Медалью Иоанна Павла II за заслуги перед Краковской Епархией, Премией «Польский Пегас» и др.

 

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Nikoma Baccus

Reviewed by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her "fine solo playing", Ms. Baccus performs locally with the Boston Opera Collaborative and on numerous occasions in Boston’s Symphony Hall as the principal flutist of the Boston University Symphony Orchestra. A versatile flutist, Ms. Baccus has had the pleasure of collaborating with Grammy nominated jazz composer Geoffrey Keezer. She premiered his work for solo alto flute and percussion ensemble entitled “Hakone in Spring” at the Nancy Zeltsman Marimba festival in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Ms. Baccus has been the winner and recipient of the Boston Woodwind Society “Flute Merit award in Excellence” honoring legendary flutist Doriot Dwyer. As the winner of the Lawrence University concerto competition she performed Charles T. Griffes’ Poemfor Flute and Orchestra with the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble. Ms. Baccus has twice been invited to perform at masterclasses given by the iconic British flutist, Trevor Wye in Boston in 2011 and 2009. Ms. Baccus has also attended the Banff Summer Music Festival where she had the pleasure of working with renowned british flutist Paul-Edmund Davies. In the spring of 2013, Ms. Baccus had the joy of performing Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano (orchestrated by Lennox Berkeley) with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the Boston University Soloists Competition. 

Ms. Baccus received her undergraduate training at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin under the instruction of Ernestine Whitman. At Lawrence, she was awarded the Trustee Scholarship in Music Performance, the highest scholarship awarded by the University. She received her Masters of Music degree from Boston University in 2010 while studying with Elizabeth Ostling, the Associate Principal Flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Baccus is currently a candidate in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program in flute performance and is a student of Linda Toote.

 

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Даша Чаховская родилась 23 августа 2005 года в г. Мытищи Московской области. Обучаться играть на скрипке начала в 5 лет, в Новосибирске (педагог Тарасян Татьяна Владимировна, музыкальная школа №6). В мае 2012 на международном детском и юношеском конкурсе-фестивале "Сибирь зажигает звезды", в финале всероссийского проекта в Новосибирске получила диплом лауреата первой степени в возрастной группе 5-8 лет ("соло") и диплом лауреата первой степени в той же возрастной группе в составе ансамбля скрипачей ("инструментальный ансамбль"). С сентября 2012 учится в средней специальной музыкальной школе при Санкт-Петербургской государственной Консерватории им. Н. А. Римского-Корсакова (педагог Коробкина Александра Анатольевна, ученица Шальмана Савелия Марковича). Даша общительна и дружелюбна, она занимается легкой атлетикой, любит кататься на самокате, горных лыжах, играть в настольный теннис. 

Dasha Chakhovskaya was born August 23, 2005 in Mytishchi, a city near Moscow. She started to study violin when she was 5, at a music school in Novosibirsk, with Tatyana Tarasyan. In May 2012, she was awarded two First Prizes, for solo and instrumental ensemble performance, among 5-8 year olds at the Novosibirsk final of the International Children and Youth Festival and Competition “Siberia Lights [New] Stars”. Since September 2012, she has been studying at the Special Music School-Lyceum of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (class of Alexandra Korobkina, a student of Savely Shalman). Dasha is sociable and friendly; she enjoys athletics, table tennis, mountain skiing, and riding her scooter. [Translated and edited by Maria Cook]


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Constantine Finehouse was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and attended New England Conservatory, Juilliard and Yale. His principal teachers included Fredrik Wanger, Natalia Harlap, Herbert Stessin, Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Berman and Bruce Brubaker.  Praised by Rhein Main Presse Allgemeine Zeitung for his "interpretations of depth and maturity,” Finehouse has performed extensively in the US (including in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Washington) and abroad (including in Lausanne, London, Odessa, St. Petersburg and Trieste).   His newest album with cellist Sebastian Baverstam features the universally-admired Brahms Sonata, Opus 38 for piano and cello as well as several new works in the High Romantic style by Boston composer Tony Schemmer.  His 2009 solo recording, Backwards Glance [Spice Rack Records 101-01], interweaves music of Johannes Brahms and Richard Beaudoin.

The Bolcom Project, made in collaboration with his American Double partner, violinist Philip Ficsor, included a double-CD [Albany Troy 959/960] and a national tour. Fanfare praised the recording as “indispensable to any serious collector with an interest in later 20th century duo repertoire for violin and piano.” As part of American Double, Finehouse also toured Hungary, performing sonatas by Brahms, Bolcom and Ravel.  More recently, he collaborated with violinist Olga Caceànova at Lausanne Conservatoire and on a 5-concert tour of NC and GA as well as with cellist Sebastian Bäverstam at Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Merkin Recital Hall (Kauffman Center). In partnership with pianists Ursula Oppens and Christopher Taylor, Finehouse is currently recording Bolcom’s complete piano solo works for Naxos Records.

The 2013-14 season brings recitals celebrating William Bolcom's 75th anniversary in which Finehouse will be featured as a soloist as well as in chamber music performances across the United States.  He has been awarded the Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship from Juilliard, a 2004 St. Botolph Club Foundation Grant and 2006 Classics Abroad Project Award.  He serves on the faculty of New England Conservatory Preparatory and Extension Divisions in Boston and as a Visiting Artist/Faculty at Westmont College, Santa Barbara.
For more information visit www.cfinehouse.com or www.facebook.com/ConstantineFinehousePianist.


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Composer and pianist Anthony Green (USA, 1984) has received numerous commissions, readings, and performances by ALEA III (USA), Ossia New Music Ensemble (USA), Grupo Instrumental Siglo XX (Spain), Décadanse (France), Lukasz Klusek (contrabass) and Art-Oliver Simon (piano, Germany), the Playground Ensemble (USA), Guido Arbonelli (clarinet, Italy), the Zukofsky String Quartet (USA), the Providence String Quartet (USA), Ensemble Transmission (Canada), and Alarm Will Sound (USA), among others.

He has participated in many festivals as a composer and pianist, including the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (Boston), ic[cm] (Spain), the International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival (Cyprus), and the Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition (the Netherlands). He has received grants for composing, lecturing, and giving master classes from the Argosy Foundation, the Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation, and Meet the Composer. His works with electronics have been diffused in festivals and concerts in the United States, Spain, and Venezuela. He has studied at Boston University (Bachelors), New England Conservatory (Masters), and the University of Colorado at Boulder (DMA, ABD), where he was the first recipient of the ATLAS Fellowship, which funded his first multimedia work based on the Book of Job.


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Andrew Gritsevskiy was born at the dusk of the last millennium and by the start of the new millennium he already knew how to sing several loud notes. He started to play piano at the age of one, tirelessly disturbing music practice of his older sister. By the age of six Andrew finally started to practice piano with a teacher. Andrew even participated in a few music recitals playing music of many famous composers. About two years ago Matti Kovler took a risk to let Andrew compose his own music.

Andrew goes to middle school. He likes programming, playing tennis, playing board games with his friends, creating stop motion animation, jumping on trampolines and improvising on the piano when he has time free from other activities mentioned above.


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Ms. Mihe "Amy" Hong is a 17-year-old flute player under the tutelage of Mr. Jeffrey Khaner and Mr. Michael Maizels. A resident of California until August 2013, she has participated as principal flute in all major events of Las Lomas High School's musical and pep band for two years as well as in Wind Ensemble, Las Lomas high school's highest-level band. Also, she was part of Flock of Flutes, Northern California's premiere flute choir, and she started a chamber group with two college string players in 2012.

Ms. Hong has been the principal flute of the Contra Costa County Honor Band for two years, and her participation in the California Music Educators' Association (CMEA) Solo & Ensemble Festival earned her a superior rating and command performance. Furthermore, she participated in the CMEA Winter Conference Orchestra in 2011. She has succeeded in several competitions, including American Protege Flute Competition (June 2013), Areon Summer Flute Institute Solo Competition (July 2013), and Skyline College High School Competition (June 2013). In summer of 2013 Ms. Hong has participated in masterclasses of world renown flute performer Robert Dick, and she attended the Curtis Summerfest, led by Mr. Khaner, at the Curtis Institute of Music.

In August 2013, she relocated to the Philadelphia area to fulfill her dream of becoming a flute soloist and to continue her studies with Mr. Khaner (Principal Flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Professor of Flute at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia).


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Natasha Huss practices the piano enthusiastically since she started playing in 2013, following in her brother’s footsteps. She enjoys riding her bike, skiing, swimming, playing Lego, is an avid reader, and can spend hours drawing and painting. Natasha is 6 years old; resides in Medfield, where her family enjoys her joyful mood, caring attitude, and communicative energy.


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Marina Ivanova, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages, St. Petersburg Mining University and an experienced teacher with over 21 years of high school and higher education teaching. She is proficient in developing new approaches to conducting lessons and activities to expand learning opportunities, participates in committees and extra-curricular activities, employs diversified innovative teaching methods, incorporates audio and visual activities to address all learning styles and provides individualized instruction to keep all students at expected skill levels. M. Ivanova has experience in organizing scientific seminars, workshops and conferences. Currently, she carries out research for her doctoral degree. She has authored 100 publications: papers, textbooks for ESP. As a scientific supervisor she has trained several PhD students.

 

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Nelli Jabotinsky began studying the violin at the age of six with her father, Alex Jabotinsky, in Israel, where she moved from her native Russia in 1989. She continued her studies in Israel with Haim Taub, concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A recipient of annual scholarships and prizes from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, Nelli attended summer courses for chamber ensembles at the Jerusalem Music Center, founded by Isaac Stern and Pablo Casals, and participated in the Keshet Eilon Violin Master Courses, where she also played for famed violinist Ida Haendel. In the US, she attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival.

Nelli has performed in solo and chamber music concerts throughout Israel, she is a winner of the Young Talent Competition in Israel and has been a soloist with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. In the US, she appeared as a soloist with the Lynn University Philharmonia in Florida, Columbus State University in Georgia and the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra as winner of their Concerto Competition. She earned her BM degree in Violin Performance at the Schwob School of Music, where she studied with Turner Distinguished Violin Professor Sergiu Schwartz, and her MM degree in Boston University. Currently she is a student of Dana Mazurkevich, pursuing her DMA degree in Boston University.

 

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Currently residing in Boston, Foxman James has studied and performed across the United States and Europe. She holds a BM in Viola Performance from the Lawrence Conservatory in Appleton WI, where she studied with Matthew Michelic, and an MM in Viola Performance from the Boston Conservatory, where she studied with Rictor Noren. She has studied with Eric Shumsky, Erica Eckert, Emmanuel Vardi, and Jason Meyer.  A diverse performer, Foxman James embraces a well-rounded approach to the arts. In addition to classical music, she regularly records and performs with rock, pop, and jazz bands. Ms. James teaches both violin and viola, heading the String Department of the Boston School of Music Arts.


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Analise Jia turned six in March 2013. Being a student of Sharon Music Academy with Ms. Tanya Schwartzman, she has been studying piano for two years. She performed in a number of  recitals, participated and won first place in the third Darrell Piano Competition, Piano Duet at the Steinert's, and recently performed on stage with Sharon Community Orchestra. She is a 1st grade student in Burrell School in Foxboro MA. She loves playing piano, ice skating, and gymnastics.

 

Abigail_Joseph

Abigail Joseph is a student of Winchester High School as well as a student council member.  She loves to play soccer and is on the freshman soccer team at her school and a referee in the Boston Area Youth Soccer League.  Last year Abigail was performing with the Jubilation Singers Show Choir and now she is a part of the All Girls’ Chorale.  In her free time Abigail enjoys reading, hiking, and riding her bike.  Abigail plays piano and is a student of Irina Y. Gelman.


David_Joseph

David Joseph is a student at the McCall Middle School in Winchester. He developed  interest in composition by improvising simple tunes, but the biggest challenge for him was creating a piece that had a jazzy essence with a concept behind it. David plays not only piano, but percussion as well, performing in the school band. He loves science, reading, painting pictures of scenery, and sculpting. He enjoys playing sports, especially football and soccer; recently he became a soccer referee.  David is a recipient of 2013 Louise Hodder Olsen Award for Creativity in the Jazz Medium.


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Emily Jung has been playing the piano for 12 years, and is currently a student of Dr. Tatyana Dudochkin at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She has played in various chamber music groups and in a piano duo, and is the student accompanist at her school. In the past summers, Emily has attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Eastern Music Festival. She has won numerous competitions in both solo and duo repertoire, and has performed in Carnegie Hall.

 

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Daphne Kalotay by Gretje Ferguson

Daphne Kalotay is the author of a fiction collection, Calamity and Other Stories, and the novels Sight Reading and Russian Winter—an international bestseller that has been translated into twenty languages. A MacDowell Fellow, she holds a PhD in Modern and Contemporary Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing, and has received fellowships from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, Yaddo, and the Bogliasco Foundation. She has taught at Boston University, Skidmore College, Middlebury College, and Grub Street and is co-president of the Boston chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.  More information at www.daphnekalotay.com or www.facebook.com/DaphneKalotay.


Michael_Karshis

Michael Karshis is a 9 year old fun loving happy boy who always has a smile on his face to cheer you up.  He began taking piano lessons when he was 5, and has had the privilege to be taught by Cynthia Stura and Tanya Schwartzman. Michael recently came in 3rd place at the MMTA Bay State Contest. Another interest he has is to perform on stage and has been involved with local theater companies over the years. During this time he has played parts in the performances of “Mulan Jr” and “Willy Wonka”.  Currently, Michael is studying at Saint Mary’s Sacred Heart School as a 4th grader. His favorite sport is the cross country.   However, at the end of the day, he relaxes by playing video games and Legos!


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Dr. Tatiana Kholostova, Professor at Baltic State Technical University ("VOENMECH"), was born in Leningrad, where she received a degree in teaching physics in English. Expanding the range of her interests, she has also studied philosophy, psychology, sociology with the faculty of St. Petersburg University, perfected her knowledge and practical experience in St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and enhanced her skills by frequent visits to the United States. Professor Kholostova has developed a universal approach to students that allows her to define their role as participants in the educational process and to establish the best ways of encouraging their interaction. She speaks at conferences, writes articles on philosophy, psychology, and educational theory. Her reference guide to English grammar published in 2009 and again in 2011 is used by students of technical specialties throughout the universities of Saint Petersburg. Tatiana is a great friend of the Educational Bridge Project and has taken an active part in this project almost since its inception. In recent years, her students have been involved in the conference, "Dialogue of Cultures," which she organizes in St. Petersburg, and actively participate in other festival events.

 

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Matti Kovler’s music has been described as “part mystical, part comical” (Grade A Entrepreneurs) and praised for its “emotive potency” (New York Times) and “bold colors of orchestration” (The Boston Globe). Called by Steve Smith of the New York Times “a potentially estimable operatic composer in the making,” Matti wrote his first opera at the age of 17. His works have since been performed worldwide by the Metropole Orchestra (Holland), Fox Studios Orchestra (Los Angeles), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the American Composers Orchestra, the Brillaner Duo (Berlin) and others. Recent performances included the premiere of Fanfare to Israel, by the Israel Philharmonic. 

Kovler’s musical influences include folklore research, improvisation, a deep fascination with Janacek and Bartok polymodality and the cult writings of the French theatre philosopher Antonin Artaud. From 2000 till 2008, Matti appeared as a singer, pianist and arranger in the productions of the Ha’Oman Hai Ensemble, led by composer André Hajdu. 

Inspired by his work with Ha’Oman Hai, upon moving to the US, in 2010 Kovler founded the Matti Kovler Ensemble specializing in creating new works of Jewish Music Theater http://www.jewishmusictheater.com. Kovler’s recent works bring sacred texts or melodies from the Jewish tradition in a contemporary context. 

Born in Moscow and educated in Israel and the US, Matti is a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship — he is a doctoral candidate at the New England Conservatory in Boston and a teacher at the Northeastern University. In 2013 Matti has been awarded Brother Thomas artist fellowship from The Boston Foundation. Among his other recognitions are fellowships at the Tanglewood and the Aspen Music Festivals, the Theodore Presser Award and two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards.


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Miroslav Kultyshev began his concert career at the age of six, and in four years debuted at the Grand Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in a performance of Mozart’s Piano concerto in D-Minor with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yuri Temirkanov. He started his musical education at the St. Petersburg Conservatory Secondary Musical School (class of Z. M. Tsuker) and continued his undergraduate and graduate studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Professor A Sandler.

In 1985 he became one of the winners of the Moscow H. Neuhaus International Festival of Young Pianists. In 2007 he won the XIII International Tchaikovsky Competition and in 2012 he became the winner of the Monte Carlo Piano Masters International Competition.

M. Kultyshev has given multiple performances at such prominent international musical festivals as Kissinger Sommer (Germany), Elba – Europe´s Musical Island (Italy), The White Nights Festival and Faces of Modern Pianism (Russia), Septembre Musical (Switzerland), The International Conservatory Week and Musical Kremlin (Russia), Mikkeli Music Festival (Finland), Festival Ruhr (Germany), Dushinki Fetsival (Poland), and Salzburg Festival (Austria).

M. Kultyshev performs at leading concert venues of St. Petersburg and Moscow and on such renowned  international stages as Musikverein in Vienna, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Lincoln Center in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokio, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, and many more.

He collaborates with outstanding musicians of our time: V. Gergiev, V. Ashkenasi, V. Sinaiski, M. Gorenstein, G Rinkyavichus, N. Alekseev, A. Dmitriev.

Мирослав Култышев родился 21 августа 1985 г. в Ленинграде. Закончил Среднюю специальную музыкальную школу при консерватории (класс преп.З.М.Цукер), Санкт-Петербургскую консерваторию и аспирантуру (класс проф.А.М.Сандлера). В 2007 году стал победителем ХШ Международного конкурса им.П.И.Чайковского. В 2012 году стал победителем Международного конкурса “Monte Carlo Piano Masters” (Княжество Монако). 

Концертную деятельность начал с 6 лет. В 10 лет дебютировал в Большом зале С.-Петербургской филармонии,исполнив концерт ре-минор Моцарта под управлением Ю.Темирканова. В 1998 году стал лауреатом Московского Фестиваля молодых пианистов им. Г.Г. Нейгауза.

Мирослав Култышев неоднократно приглашался с концертами на международные музыкальные фестивали: “Kissinger Sommer” (Германия), Эльба-музыкальный остров Европы’’(Италия). Также принимал участие в фестивалях: «Звезды белых ночей», «Лики современного vier Festival Ruhr” (Германия), Фестиваль в Душниках (Польша), а также на Зальцбургском фестивале. 

М. Култышев выступает в лучших залах Петербурга и Москвы,а также в таких всемирно известных залах, как Музикферайн в Вене, Зальцбургский Моцартеум, Линкольн-центр (Нью-Йорк), Сантори-холл (Токио), Концертгебау (Амстердам), Вигмор-холл(Лондон) и т.д. Молодой пианист сотрудничает с такими дирижерами, как В.Гергиев, В.Ашкенази, В.Синайский, М.Горенштейн, Г.Ринкявичюс, Н.Алексеев, А.Дмитриев.

 

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A second prize winner of the 2012 International Young Composer V. Gavrilin competition in St. Petersburg, Russia, Rachel Kuznetsov is a seventh grader from Lexington, MA. Her works include suite for clarinet, cello and vibraphone; clarinet quintet; compositions for piano; harp and flute; "fairy-tales" for voice and piano; and iMovie videos combining together her poems, music and drawings.

In 2011 Rachel received an honorary mention at the ASCAP Morton Gould young composer competition, and she was a finalist in the 2013 and 2010 competitions. Her other awards include Award of Excellence and an Honorable Mention in the US National PTA Reflections competitions, and first prizes at the Massachusetts. In 2010 Rachel was featured in Kathryn Wyatt's article “On the Road to El Sistema” in Symphony Magazine, following the presentation of excerpts from her musical tale "Nadya and the B-jumpers."

Rachel's works have been performed at the Educational Bridge Project festivals in Boston at the Harvard Musical Association and at Steinert Hall in 2013, 2012 and 2011, as well as at the spring 2012 festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Rachel is in her eighth year of studying composition with Matti Kovler, a young composer at the New England Conservatory.

 

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Steven O. Laraia is a full scholarship viola student at the New England Conservatory pursuing his Master’s degree with Kim Kashkashian. Laraia was the recipient of the 2012-2014 Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship at NEC.  Steven has won the 2012 New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, 2nd Prize in the 2012 MUSICCAS International Young Artists Competition and was a 3rd place laureate in the 11th Annual Sphinx Competition.  Steve has played concerts with groups such as the Sphinx Virtuosi, A Far Cry, Discovery Ensemble and the Boston Philharmonic.  Steven’s past festivals include the Yellow Barn Music festival in 2011 and the in 2012 and 2013 Ravinia Festival.  Laraia's former teachers include Byrnina Socolofsky, Che-Hung Chen and Dimitri Murrath.


Aaron_Nave_smiling_II_by_Kelly_Davidson

Guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan is the founder of the New Lullaby Project¡Con Fuego!, and Greater Boston House Concerts.  He has commissioned and premiered over four-dozen new compositions, and can be heard on six different CDs including two solo CDs.  Aaron is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and is on faculty at the Boston Conservatory and UMass Boston. Visit his website at www.AaronLC.com


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Hailed as a “virtuoso” performer by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lisa Leong has worked with leading composers such as Pulitzer-Prize winners, Mario Davidovsky and Gunther Schuller.  From 2006-2009, she co-founded and served as pianist and artistic director for Sonic Generator, a leading new music ensemble based at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, performing collaborative and commissioned works that explore the intersection of music and technology.

In demand as a collaborator, she has worked closely with ensembles such as Boston Musica Viva, chamber players from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece, Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players, and Thamyris, at venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, the Institute and Festival of Contemporary Performance at Mannes College in New York, the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, the Keyboard 2000 Festival at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., and Victoria Memorial Hall in Singapore. She has been the recipient of awards from the Schubert Club, MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Wurlitzer Prize, and artistic grants from University of Texas-Austin, and the French-American Cultural Exchange, among others.  She has appeared as soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.  Her performances have been broadcast on Radio France, WGBH-Boston, Georgia Public Radio’s “Atlanta Music Scene,” and National Public Radio’s “Performance Today.” 

Lisa teaches maintains an active career in teaching, and performing in solo and chamber music recitals.  Currently, she is on the faculty at Sharon Music Academy.  She has taught as Artist Affiliate at Cornell University and Emory University.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Music from St. Catherine University, and an M.M. in Piano Performance from New England Conservatory.


Ming_Hui_Lin_photo_by_Teresa_Tam
Ming-Hui Lin by Teresa Tam

Hailed as one of the 100 Passionate People (Taiwanese American Project), Ming-Hui Lin is a versatile cellist and pianist, an enthusiastic chamber musician, and a devoted teacher and coach. Featured on Sound of Hope Radio Station and NYC Chinese American Voice, Ms. Lin’s performances have brought her to major cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia; venues have included Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jordon Hall, Royce Hall at UCLA, Boston Symphony Orchestra Hall, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Hall, Salzburg Mozarteum, and National Concert Hall in Taiwan.

As a founding member and cellist of the New England String Quartet, Ms. Lin performs extensively in the greater New England area and provides chamber music coaching at Harvard University's Dudley House where the Quartet has been recently appointed Ensemble-In-Residence. A native of Taiwan, Ms. Lin completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University (2013) and received degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (GPD, '07; MM, '05). Ms. Lin is a member of the music faculty of the Preparatory Division at the New England Conservatory and has served as an instructor for non-major lessons at Boston University. Her major teachers include Leslie Parnas, Amit Peled, and Victor Shipiller. She has performed in solo master classes for Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Aaron, Natasha Brofsky, Yvan Chiffoleau, Steven Pologe, M. Shepps, Alan Stapansky and has been coached by the Tokyo Quartet, the Peabody Trio, the Muir String Quartet, and the Audubon Quartet.

 

Laura_Liu_2013

Laura Liu, 21, began studying violin at the age of six in Texas, where she studied with Jan Mark Sloman and Emanuel Borok. She currently attends the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Miriam Fried. Laura is the full scholarship recipient of the George and Elsie Hodder Scholarship 2010-2014. Since age thirteen, Laura has frequently performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Meadows Symphony, Beijing Great Wall Symphony Orchestra, Plano Symphony Orchestra, San Angelo Symphony, Lewisville Lake Symphony, and Las Vegas Philharmonic. She has been invited by Maestro Hector Guzman to perform with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, and by Maestro Jaap van Zweden to perform in a subscription series with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. She is the first prize winner of the Juanita Miller Young Artist Competition 2009, Vernell Gregg National Competition 2009, Collin Young Artist Competition 2009, and the third prize winner of the MTNA National Competition 2008 and Blount Slawson National Competition 2009. Laura has been a featured artist on the NPR show From the Top. She was also invited to perform as a guest artist on the internationally-broadcasted CCTV for the Beijing Summer Olympics 2008.


Vasiliy_Medved_Photo_1

Vasiliy Medved was born in Mogilev-Podolskiy, Vinnitsa, Southwest Ukraine. His father, Grigoriy Nikolayevich Medved - a musician himself and  his first music mentor -  nourished and supported his son's growing interest in music. In the summer of 1985, Vasiliy entered the Elena Serbu School of the Arts in Soroky, Moldova, as a Choral Conducting major and in 1988 was accepted into the Moldova State Conservatory as a Composition and Jazz Performance major and graduated with a MM degree in Jazz Performance; half a year later, his family moved to the United States where he resumed Composition studies at the Mannes College of Music, New York, in the fall of 1995. His Bachelor's and Master's degrees were earned there (1999, 2001).

After teaching in New York, Vasiliy moved to Boston in 2002 to begin a Doctoral program in Composition at Boston University.  From 2004-08, he taught at Boston University.  After graduation in 2009, he taught at the Longy School of Music, and currently teaches at Northern Essex Community College. V. Medved’s composition teachers include Lukas Foss, David Loeb, Theodore Antoniou, Samuel Headrick, Richard Cornell, Leo Edwards, Peter Bellino, and Leon Shtirbu. His works have been performed in the United States, Ukraine, and Israel.

Василий Медведь. Aвтoбиография

Я родился в Могилеве - Подольском, Винницкой Области, на Юго-Западе Украины. Мой отец, Григорий Николаевич Медведь - музыкант и первый мой наставник - поощрял и поддерживал мой растущий интерес к музыке. Летом 1985-го года я поступил на Кафедру Хорового Дирижирования в Сорокскую Школу Искусств им. Елены Сербу, Молдова. В 1988-м году был зачислен в Молдавскую Государственную Консерваторию, Кишинев, где изучал Композицию и Джазовое Исполнительство. Летом 1993-го года окончил Консерваторию по классу Джазового Исполнительства; полгода спустя, моя семья эммигрировала в Соединенные Штаты. Продолжил изучение Композиции в Музыкальном Колледже Маннэса, Нью-Йорк, осенью 1995-го года; защитил в Маннэсе степени Бакалавра и Магистра Музыки (1999, 2001). В 2002-м году, после непродолжительного преподавания в Нью-Йорке, я приехал в Бостон, где приступил к занятиям в аспирантуре Бостонского Университета по классу Композиции. С 2004-го по 2008-й годы работал Ассистентом Профессора в Бостонском Университете. После окончания аспирантуры в 2009-м году, преподавал в Школе Музыки Лонжи; в настоящее время преподаю в Колледже Северного Эссекса. Моими учителями по Композиции были Лукас Фосс, Давид Лоэб, Теодор Антониу, Сэмюэл Хеадрик, Ричард Корнэлл, Лео Эдвардс, Питэр Беллино, и Ливиу Штирбу. Мои сочинения исполнялись в Соединенных Штатах, нa Украине, и в Израиле.


Alexey_Mikheyev

Alexey Mikheyev, PhD, is an Associate Professor and head of the Foreign Languages Department at the National Mineral Resources University (Mining University). He is responsible for the departmental administrative tasks as well as teaching and research duties. He is involved in new course development, assessment of students’ course work and final results of the learning process. His scientific interests are connected with teaching English for specific purposes. He has taken part in many International Scientific Conferences and has authored more than 100 publications, including papers, books and a monograph. As scientific supervisor he has trained a number of PhD students. Currently, he carries out research into “Humanities in engineering education: topical issues and prospects”.

 

Daniel_Mitnitsky_2013

Born in Israel in 1987, Daniel Mitnitsky began his cello studies with Zvi Harell in Tel Aviv. He graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he studied with Zvi Plesser. He later served in the Israel Defense Forces as an outstanding musician. Daniel went on to study with Zvi Harell at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he won the 2011 concerto competition and received first prize in the chamber music competition, graduating in 2012 with honors. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree under Natasha Brofsky and Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory as a recipient of the Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholarship and is a member of the Honors ensemble Veridis Quartet. Daniel is the winner of the Rachel and Dov Gottesman cello prize in the 2012 Aviv Competition.


Svetlana_Nesterova

Born in Yekaterinburg, Svetlana Nesterova studied music composition at the Saint Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory under B. Tishchenko from 1995 to 2000. She continued on at the Conservatory to pursue further post-graduate studies which she completed in 2002. During this time she performed as part of a student delegation in concerts in Moscow and Boston, Massachusetts. She also served as the concertmaster at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts.
In 1999 Nesterova was awarded the grant, "Muses of Petersburg," in the music category. In 2005 she was a prize-winner of the Mariinsky Theatre's Russian opera composition competition with her one act opera The Lawsuit. The work was one of three new operas selected by the Mariinsky Theatre for performance in the summer 2009 festival, receiving its premiere at the opera house on 21 June of that year. She was awarded first prize at the All-Russian Andrei Petrov Competition for her violin fantasy In the World of High Technology in 2007. Her children's opera, Semyon. Version 1.0 (composed with Vyacheslav Kruglik), was a prize-winner at the 2008 composition competition at the Bolshoi Theatre.

 

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Alexey Osipov, born in St. Petersburg in 1993, graduated from the Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory (classes of Vladimir Ovcharek and Vera Dobrinina). Alexey is currently studying with Pierre Amoyal at the Conservatoire de Lausanne – HEM in Switzerland.

Alexey has participated in Russian and International music festivals such as the Vladimir Spivakov festival in Moscow (years 2008, 2009), the "Kissinger Sommer" festival in Bad Kissingen, Germany (years 2003 - 2009), and the Abu Dhabi Classics concert season. He regularly performs concerts in Philharmonic Halls, the Mariinsky Concert Hall, the St. Petersburg State Capella and many other concert halls of St. Petersburg. He has given concerts in Holland, Spain, Germany and Switzerland and played with different symphony and chamber orchestras.

Alexey has been a prizewinner of the following competitions: International Violin Competition in Paris (2005, first prize), International Violin Competition in Lvov, Ukraine (2006), International Festival Competition "Window to Europe", St. Petersburg (2008, first prize), International Chamber Music Competition named after Dmitry Shostakovich, Moscow (2008, third prize), International Chamber Music Competition "Charles Hennen Concours", The Netherland (2008, First prize), International Competition "New Names", Moscow (2008), International Violin Competition "Premio Rodolfo Lipizer" in Italy (2009, Diploma and special prize).

He is a grant holder of the Russian Fund of Culture, the Foundation of St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society, and the Maestro Yuri Temirkanov International Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.

Алексей Осипов родился в 1993 году в Санкт-Петербурге, в семье музыкантов. В 2000 году поступил в Среднюю Специальную музыкальную школу-лицей при Санкт-Петербургской государственной консерватории им. Н. А. Римского-Корсакова в класс народного артиста России, профессора В.Ю.Овчарека. C 2008 по 2011 год учился в классе В. А. Добрыниной. Сейчас учится в Академии г. Лозанны (Швейцария) у профессора Пьера Амойяля.

Алексей Осипов лауреат конкурсов:  2005 г. I премия на Международном конкурсе скрипачей, Париж, Франция; 2006 г. Победитель Международного конкурса скрипачей, Львов, Украина;  2008 г.:  I премия на Международном конкурсе «Окно в Европу», Санкт- Петербург;  III премия на Международном конкурсе камерных ансамблей имени Д.Д.Шостаковича, Москва;  I премия на Международном конкурсе камерных ансамблей Charles Hennen Concours, Голландия;  I премия на Международном конкурсе камерных ансамблей Charles Hennen Concours, Голландия. Также, в 2008 г. - победитель Международного конкурса «Новые имена», Москва.  2009 г.  Диплом и специальный приз Международного конкурса «Premio Rodolfo Lipizer», Гориция, Италия.

Алексей выступает в таких залах Санкт-Петербурга, как Большой и Малый Залы Филармонии, Концертный зал Мариинского театра, зал Государственной Капеллы;  в Москве - в Оружейной Палате Кремля (концерт фонда Владимира Спивакова), 2008 г..  В Германии участвовал в фестивалях "Kissinger Sommer", 2003-2009 гг.  В Российском посольстве в Гааге, Голландия, 2005 г.; в Российском посольстве в Мадриде, Испания, 2005 г.;  в Швейцарии (Цюрих, Берн, Женева), 2007 г.  В Москве принимал участие в фестивале Владимира Спивакова, май 2009 г.  В Голландии (Алкмаар, Берген), 2009 г.;  в Объединенных Арабских Эмиратах участвовал в концертных сезонах «Abu Dhabi classics», ноябрь 2009 г.

Алексей Осипов стипендиат фондов: «Русское исполнительское искусство», Международный фонд культурных инициатив Маэстро Юрия Темирканова, Санкт-Петербургское Филармоническое общество.

 

Nicole_Parks_2

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, Nicole Parks is a Boston based violinist. She holds a BM in violin performance from St. Olaf College, and MM and PSC degrees from The Boston Conservatory where she studied violin performance and pedagogy with Sharan Leventhal. As a chamber musician, she performs in multiple string quartets, including the Urthema String Quartet, of which she is a founding member. She was also the original artistic director and a founder of The Lirica Chamber Ensemble of Minneapolis.  Nicole is a member of the American String Teacher's Association and has held a violin faculty position at The Community Music Center of Boston since 2010, where she teaches violin and viola, conducts the Junior String Ensemble, and is assistant conductor of the Chamber Orchestra. She has taught and participated in many summer performance and education workshops including BIMA at Brandeis University and a Junior Faculty Member for the chamber music festival, Stringwood. With a particular passion for contemporary music, she collaborates with many living composers and other performers to bring rarely heard and new music to a wider audience.

 

Phuong_Nghi_Pham_2

Phuong Nghi Pham began piano lessons at the age of five in Vietnam, where she won many prizes, including First Prize in the Yamaha Cup 2004. She moved to the United States with her parents in 2004. Phuong Nghi is enrolled in the full Certificate program at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School since September 2006, where she is currently studying with Heng-Jin Park. She appeared on From the Top in 2010 and is a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist recipient as well as a JKC Young Scholar recipient. In 2011, she received the Seth Kimmelman Award from the NEC Preparatory School. Phuong Nghi is a two-time Prizewinner of the Fidelity Investments Young Artists Competition and performed with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in 2011 and 2012. She recently performed at Weill Recital Hall as a First Place winner in the International Crescendo Competition in Jan 2013. Recently, she received Second Prize in the Steinway Society Piano Competition for Division 5.

 

Nick_Rommel_2

Nick Rommel is 12 years old and lives in Lexington, MA. He has been playing piano for seven years and takes lessons with Artem Belogurov. For two years he has been studying music theory and composition with Matti Kovler. Apart from music, he is a big soccer fan and plays for his town. He also enjoys running, skiing, and biking. In school he likes reading, writing, math and history. He has been working on today’s piece since mid-September. This is his second time preforming at an Educational Bridge Project Festival.

 

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Juan Ruiz became involved in music at the tender age of 11. He learned to play Latin American percussion in his hometown of Caldas in Colombia. At the age of 14 he was handed a clarinet, not a saxophone like he wanted, so here began his clarinet study. While in Colombia, Juan performed folkloric colombian music, classical music, and latin american music in various festivals. In 2006 he earned a scholarship to study English and Music in the United States. This gave him the opportunity to perform clarinet and saxophone with prestigious groups such as The Pacifica Quartet and great musicians such as Marco Granados, Oscar Stagnaro, Gregorio Uribe to name a few. As a composer, Juan has several pieces that were commissions by the New England Conservatory faculty Kenneth Radnofsky and has worked as arranger for the New England Conservatory wind ensemble. His recent music is being performed in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, and around United States. One of Juan’s big challenges is to picture his homeland ‘’Colombia’’ in his music but also to create a fusion that is influenced by all the music from Latin America and the American jazz. Currently Juan is working with guitarist Jose Allende on various projects around the Boston area and as a Resident artist at Conservatory lab charter school in Brighton.

 

Rebecca_Salganik_2

Rebecca Salganik,16, attends Newton North High School. She started music lessons when she was four years old. She began writing music after attending the Berklee Summer Programs for Songwriters in middle school and has enjoyed doing it ever since. Currently she studies composition with Matti Kovler and piano with Artem Belogurov. Rebecca is a member of the New England Conservatory Youth Camerata. She was a semi-finalist in the 2012 International Songwriting Competition (ISC).

 

Michael_Sandler_2

Michael Sandler was born on January 24, 2004 in St. Petersburg.  He began his violin studies with Professor Saveliy Shalman at the age of 5 and participated in master-classes and concerts in Italy, Spain, and Germany. Since September of 2011 he has studied at the Central Special Music School-Lyceum of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. Misha is always cheerful and very curious; he likes animals, and  rollerskating.

Михаил Сандлер родился 24 января 2004 года в г. Санкт-Петербурге. С 5-ти летнего возраста начал обучаться игре на скрипке. Неоднократно принимал участие в мастер-классах и концертах в Италии, Испании и Германии. С сентября 2011 года учится в Средней специальной музыкальной школе при Санкт-Петербургской государственной консерватории им. Н.А. Римского-Корсакова, ученик проф. Шальмана Савелия Марковича. Миша очень веселый, любознательный, любит животных, кататься на роликах и коньках.


Tony_Schemmer_Photo_1

Tony Schemmer, born in New York City, was graduated from Yale College, with honors in Theory and Composition of Music. He subsequently studied jazz with George Russell and conducting with Richard Pittman at New England Conservatory, and popular music at Berklee College of Music. His pop opera Phaust premiered in 1980 at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, under Philip Morehead (currently Head of Music Staff, Lyric Opera of Chicago). ’Bus, a play with music for kids, was produced for the Columbus quincentennial by the noted Boston area children's music and theater group, “PALS.” His incidental, chamber and choral music has been presented in St. Petersburg, Russia; Odessa, Ukraine; Salzburg, Austria; in Italy, Ireland, and throughout the USA. Over the past decade, Mr. Schemmer has enjoyed collaborations with notable young “emerging” talents. With pianist Constantine Finehouse and ‘cellist Sebastian Bäverstam, he just released the CD “Brahms/Schemmer,” featuring Brahms op. 38 and three original compositions for ‘cello/piano duo. Tony serves as a Director of the Harvard Musical Association, a member of the Advisory Board of the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School and as Overseer of New England Conservatory. His music is tonal with clear reference to American jazz idiom as well as Western classical traditions.


Tanya_Schwartzman

Tanya Schwartzman is the Music Director of the Sharon Music Academy, which she has founded in 1990. She is Nationally Certified Teacher of Music in Piano, Master Teacher of World Piano Competition and is a faculty member of several international summer music programs. Tanya holds MA in Musical Education from the prestigious Novosibisrk Conservatory (Russia) and conducted postgraduate studies at the Moscow Pedagogical University, where she subsequently taught piano pedagogy to the future piano teachers. She is the author of several articles in the field of Music Theory and Pedagogy. Among her students are many winners of local, national and prestigious international piano competitions, including International Young Artists Competition in Washington, DC, Manchester Young Artist Competition in Connecticut, Young Promise International Music Competition. Tanya’s students have been selected to perform in Holland, Switzerland and France, as well as 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. She is frequently invited to serve as a judge at various piano competitions.

 

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Yevgenia Semeina-Maroyan studied organ and piano performance at the St. Petersburg Conservatory’s Special Music School with professors D. Zarezkij (organ), and N. Ushakova (piano). In 2000 she was admitted to the Master of Music program at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, to the organ class of Peter Sykes. She graduated with distinction in 2002. In 2003 she returned to Russia to continue her education at the Moscow State Conservatory with Professor N. Gureeva. She received an Artist Diploma in Organ Performance in 2005.

Since 1994, Yevgenia has given solo concerts in various cities of the former USSR, Europe (Estonia, Germany, England, France, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland), and the United States. She is also active as a pianist in chamber groups and as an accompanist. In 2002 Yevgenia won the annual Honors Competition of the Longy School of Music. In 2004 she won a special prize at the Concours Internationaux de la Ville de Paris, Paris (France). In 2005 she won a special prize at the Fourth International Mikael Tariverdiev Organ Competition.

She was a faculty member of St. Petersburg State University’s Organ Department from 2006 to 2008. Currently Yevgenia is the organist at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills.

 

 

Matthew_Shifrin

Matthew Shifrin is 16 years old and is a sophomore at the Newton North High School. He has been studying classical singing with Normma Giustiani and Mikhail Svetlov for the past several years. Matthew has won several singing competitions, including Golden Voices of America and Caribbean Gold. Matthew has an absolute pitch, loves writing music, and has been studying composition with Мatti Kovler for two years. He is now also learning Italian and French. Most of Matthew’s extracurricular activities revolve around music.


Nina_Siniakova_photo_1

Composer, pianist and music manager Nina Siniakova was born in Minsk, Belarus. She received her education at the Minsk Glinka Music College, the St-Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory and the Musikhochschule, Cologne. Besides music she also studied acting. While studying she received a special stipend from the Industrial Bank, St. Petersburg, a grant from the St. Petersburg government and a stipend from DAAD (German Foreign Exchange Service).

Nina Siniakova is the winner of the Melodia Women’s Choir NYC Commission Competition. Her music is published by “Compozitor” (St-Petersburg) and “Four Fourth” (Minsk) and has been performed in the United States and European countries. Krzystof Meyer calls her “One of the most interesting composers of her generation".

As a pianist she has performed at such venues as the Chamber Music Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Moscow Conservatory and the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn. She is known for her energetic appearances and profound understanding of music, which make her performances and compositions unique and impressive. Nina Siniakova currently resides in Queens, New York, works as a pianist at the New York City Ballet and at the Juilliard School and runs her own music management business.

 

Matthew_Smith

Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, cellist Matthew Smith graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from Arizona State University. While in Arizona he organized and taught a full studio of private students. Matthew also plays with the Arizona Opera Orchestra on a regular basis. In June 2013 he had the opportunity to work closely with the St. Lawrence String Quartet during their string quartet seminar in Stanford. Recently, he has been invited to be a guest chamber coach at the Verdi School of Music in Beijing, China. Currently, Matthew is pursuing a Master’s degree at The Boston Conservatory studying with cellists Andrew Mark and Rhonda Rider.

 

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Han Nah Son is a South Korean born pianist and doctoral student in Boston University. At age 9, she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia with her family. In 1994, Han Nah Son began to take piano lessons with her Russian teacher, Olga Terentyeva. She later received 1st prize at the Tchaikovsky Young Piano Competition in St. Petersburg. Han Nah Son studied with Vladimir Souslov at the Rimsky-Korsakov Pre Conservatory and continued to study at the Rimsky Korsakov Conservatory with Galina Feodorova. In 2003, Han Nah Son moved to Germany and studied at Freiburg Musikhochschule under Professor Vitaly Berzon. She moved to Hannover and studied with Professor V. Krajnew in Hannover Musikhochschule. In 2010, Han Nah Son completed the Master’s Degree program at the College of Music at Mahidol University in Thailand. Since 2011, she has been pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance at the College of Music, Boston University under Prof. Boaz Sharon.

In April 2013, Han Nah appeared as a guest pianist for National Public Radio WBUR On Point “Boston After the Bombings: A Public Conversation of Hope & Healing”.  Affirming her interest in putting music in the service of others, she regularly visits the Hebrew Senior Life of Gloria Adelson Field Health Care Center and teaches piano courses at Boston University.

Her musical awards include 1st prize of Ingrid Martin Foerder Foundation, 3rd prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Italy, special prize in the Rotary-Rotaract International Piano Competition in Spain, 1st Gold Prize at the ASEAN International Chopin Piano competition in Malaysia, 1st prize at the Thailand Beethoven Piano Competition and many others.

 

Catherine_Song_2013a

Catherine Song is a sophomore at Canton High School and has been studying at the Sharon Music Academy with her teacher Tanya Schwartzman since she was six years old. With her excitement for performing, she loves taking lessons and takes every chance she gets to show her undeniable passion for playing on stage. Most recently, she earned First Prize at the Massachusetts Bay State Contest in May 2013 and also received the opportunity to play the famed Grieg Concerto in A Minor with the Sharon Community Orchestra. Throughout the years, Catherine has earned the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall multiple times and has won numerous awards at international competitions and annual URI Piano Extravaganzas. At school, Catherine excels in every subject, even earning one of the top ten GPAs in her class. Never one to shy away from trying new things, she also plays the flute in her high school band. Outside of her academic life, she loves volunteering, meeting new people, as well as running cross country and track for her school. Catherine also has a passion for skiing, hiking, and even riding her bicycle to piano lessons every week. After a long day at school and at the piano, you'll usually find her watching the Food Network or spending time with friends and family.

Katarina_Stephan_2

Katarina Stephan, age twelve, has been playing piano for almost her whole life. She enjoys many activities, some of which are ski racing, hockey, and reading. Katarina has been surrounded by music in almost everything, if it is playing trumpet, or going to the BSO for a concert. Her favorite pastime on the piano is inventing little tunes or songs. She tends to change them often, never playing one of her creations the same way again. Katarina loves music very much, and she hopes all people in the world will someday love music as much as she does.

  


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Zora Tsuker
Recently in celebrating the 70th jubilee of renowned Russian musician Zora (Zoriyat) Tsuker, the whole city of St. Petersburg became a month-long feast of music and piano pedagogy. A spate of concerts by her students and their students honored her outstanding contributions to her many years of training of young artists. Zora Tsuker has taught piano at one of the most prestigious of Russian music schools, the famous Central Special Music School-Lyceum of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.  Among her students are International Tchaikovsky Competition 2007 Laureate Miroslav Kultyshev, as well as Inga Dzekzer and Alexey Zuev, Laureates of the Géza Anda piano competition, the Monte Carlo Piano Masters competition, the Prokofiev Competition, and many others.

Ms Tsuker studied at the Lvov Conservatory with Professor Alexander Edelman who, as a young musician, was a classmate of Vladimir Horowitz in Professor Blumenfeld's class. An Honorable Member of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society since 2000, Zora Tsuker was awarded the title "The Best Teacher of the Year" by the Government of St. Petersburg.

Зора Цукер

Зора Цукер преподает в Санкт- Петербургской Средней специальной Музыкальной школе-колледже консерватории имени Н.А. Римского- Корсакова по классу специального фортепиано. Закончила Львовскую консерваторию у профессора Александра Эдельмана, который учился в Киеве с Владимиром Горовицем у профессора Блюменфельда. Много лет преподавала в Городской детской музыкальной школе имени Софьи Ляховицкой.

Ее ученики (Мирослав Култышев, Инга Дзекцер, Алексей Зуев и многие другие) выросли в ярких музыкантов, которые концертируют и преподают в разных странах, участвуют в известных фестивалях, являются победителями престижных международных конкурсов, таких как конкурс имени Чайковского, Géza Anda piano competition, Monte Carlo Piano Masters competition, имени Прокофьева и др.

«Педагогика - это способность приникнуть к душе и суметь заразить ее той любовью к музыке, которую ты испытываешь сам. Если тебе это дано, значит и твои ученики начинают играть с тем же обожанием музыки, которую ты несешь в себе. Зоре Цукер, которую я знаю с ее ранней юности, в полной мере присущ этот редкий дар» - говорит профессор Московской консерватории, народная артистка СССР Вера Горностаева.

Зора Цукер - Заслуженный работник культуры Российской Федерации. Правительством Санкт-Петербурга ей было присвоено звание «Лучший учитель года». Почетный член Филармонического общества Санкт-Петербурга с 2000 года.

 

Zhenya_Van_2

Zhenya Van began studying classical piano at age 10 and is a current student of Tatyana Dudochkin. Zhenya is a student at Brookline High School and participates in various musical groups. Originally from Moscow, Russia, and after living for four years in Eastern China, he moved to Brookline in the summer of 2012. Zhenya is also a part of BYSO (Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra) playing the bassoon.

 

Thomas_J_Wible_2013a

Thomas James Wible, First Prize winner of the 33rd Annual James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition, has been a concerto soloist throughout the USA and Europe, including appearances at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany; Dvorak Hall in Prague, Czech Republic; Franz Liszt Hall in Budapest, Hungary; Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA; and the Maurice Gusman Concert Hall in Miami, FL. He gave his Carnegie Weill Recital Hall debut in October of 2011. 

Recent awards include First Prize Atlanta Flute Club Young Artist Competition, First Prize Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition, Second Prize New York Flute Club Competition, Second Prize NFA Piccolo Young Artist Competition, and Semi-Finalist in the Concert Artist Guild International Competition. In the summer of 2011 he was a guest artist at the International Festival of Music in Santa Fiora, Italy.  Thomas is a founding member of the Boston Harp Trio, a substitute flutist with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and currently Artistic Specialist at Flutistry Boston.  He received his Artist Diploma from the Boston University College of Fine Arts where he studied with Geralyn Coticone.  In the Fall of 2013 he will begin his Master of Music degree at the Longy School of Music studying modern flute with Robert Willoughby, and baroque flute with Na'ama Lion.


Andrew_Yang_1a

Hello, my name is Andrew Yang.  I am 10 years old. I live in Brookline, MA with my parents. I have an older sister who is in college. I started playing piano when I was 5 years old. My hobbies are drawing, reading, and playing computer games. I am pretty good at drawing (not trying to brag), so that’s why I like it. In school I like to do math, science, and social studies. My favorite food is tofu, and for people who don’t like that food, I like other foods too!

 

Quan_Yuan_2013

Born in Beijing, China, 1984, Quan Yuan began his violin studies at age 4 with Muyun Yang. At age 13, he studied with Wei Zhao in the Central Conservatory of Music. After graduating with special distinction, he traveled to the United States to become a student of Joseph Silverstein at the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Yuan has graduated from Curtis and continued his violin studies with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2012, Mr. Yuan got his Bachelor's degree from NEC with academic honor and is now continuing his studies at NEC for Master’s degree. Quan Yuan is the first prize winner of China International Young Artist Competition in 2006, winner of the 2006 Delaware Symphony Orchestra young artist competition, winner of the 2000 Denmark International Young Artist Competition, second prize winner of the 2001 China Classical Sonata Competition and the 2001 Central Conservatory of Music Violin Competition.

He has played concertos with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, the China Youth Chamber Orchestra, and the Taipei Youth Symphony Orchestra.