MAYA ANJALI BUCHANAN

 

Recognized for her spirited performances and exceptional bel canto-like lyricism, Indian- American violinist, Maya Anjali Buchanan, is gaining wide appeal as an enchanting young artist with a unique musical voice. Named Yamaha’s 2020 Young Performing Artist for Classical Music/Violin she has performed on three continents garnering enthusiastic reviews.    Maya has performed in recital and as the featured soloist with numerous orchestras throughout the United States, in China and Europe. “The incredibly difficult Sibelius concerto performed flawlessly and with a passion one might expect from a veteran player twice her age. Opening the concerto with a silvery magical tone she forged forward with a deep understanding…A powerful performance not to be soon forgotten” blogger Li Zhicong, raved of her Chengdu debut with the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra. Maya has appeared as a guest artist at the Peninsula Music Festival, Harpa International Academy Festival , and made her Aspen Music Festival debut as the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Dorothy DeLay Fellowship Award performing the Glazunov Violin Concerto with the Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra. Describing her Aspen performance, Alan Fletcher, President of Aspen Festival writes, “an immensely appealing artist…with a deep musical understanding,… her [Glazunov Concerto] had great beauty of tone”. Highlights of forthcoming engagements include performances with the Highland Park Strings, Evanston Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, National Symphony in Montevideo, Uruguay, Symphony Orchestra of India in Mumbai, and recital debut at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago.      

 

At sixteen, Maya captured First Prize in the 2017 Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition and made her solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She is a top medalist of the 2018 Washington International Competition, 2018 Stulberg International String Competition, 2016 Stradivarius International Violin Competition, 2015 Johansen International Competition and was invited to participate in the 2020 Menuhin International Violin Competition, the “Olympics of the Violin”.        

 

Maya has performed at many diverse venues and concert halls including Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, Carneige Hall in New York City, The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, Chicago Symphony Center, Ravinia’s Bennett-Gordon Hall, Aspen’s Harris Hall and Benedict Music Tent, The Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia, Deluxe Music Hall in Chengdu, China, Door Country Auditorium in Wisconsin, and historic Chenery Auditorium in Michigan.  

 

Selected as an “exceptional young artist" worldwide to perform at the Starling-DeLay Sym-posium in NYC, Maya has been featured on numerous radio broadcasts including multiple performances on NPR’s “From the Top”, WFMT Chicago “Introductions”, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, WCLV Cleveland and KJAX Aspen Public Radio.    

 

In the effort to broaden Western classical music traditions, Maya begins her journey to show-case works of Indian influence (Hindustani and Carnatic) that reflect the form and improvisational quality of Eastern music, blending techniques of both cultures. She unveils the music of her heritage by presenting pieces unique to her Indian ancestry, bridging her Eastern roots with her Western classical training. An alumna of the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, she studied with Almita Vamos.  She currently attends the famed Curtis Institute of Music in the studio of pedagogue Ida Kavafian. Maya performs with a c. 1730 Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

 

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Jungeun Kim

 

RJungeun Kim began piano studies at age three and made her public debut at age eight. After winning a Presidential Prize in the Korean National Music Competition, she performed with the Korean National Philharmonic. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Juilliard School. Ms. Kim has won numerous awards, including the Young Musicians Foundation Competition and VOCE Competition in Los Angeles. She has performed as a recitalist and guest artist with orchestras and ensembles in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and the Far East; and she has appeared on CBS, CBC, Voice of America, and NPR broadcasts. She has been featured in the Philadelphia Orchestra's chamber music series and has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Sarah Chang, Ida Kavafian, Ruggiero Ricci, Aaron Rosand, Peter Wiley, Riccardo Chailly, James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Ms. Kim is the founder of the New York Summer Music Festival, where she serves as the executive director. She joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1999. 

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Zitong Wang

 

Zitong Wang, from Inner Mongolia, China, entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2012 and studies piano with Meng-Chieh Liu. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Ms. Wang is the Michael and Cecilia Iacovella Capuzzi Memorial Fellow.   Ms. Wang made her solo recital debut at age 13 in Beijing’s Zhongshan Music Hall. She has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hangzhou Philharmonic, Yakima Symphony, and Waring Festival Orchestras, among others. A first-prize winner of the Tureck International Bach and Virginia Waring International Concerto Competitions, she won second prize at the 2014 Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition.   Also interested in early music, Ms. Wang studies harpsichord as a secondary major at Curtis with Leon Schelhase, and has participated in a master class with Trevor Pinnock on antique harpsichords from the Flint Collection. She was invited to participate in master classes with Tamás Vásáry in 2016. Ms. Wang began piano lessons at age three and previously studied with Hua Chang and Yuan Sheng. She has also taken frequent lessons with Beatrice Long, Seymour Lipkin, Gary Graffman, Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and Robert McDonald.