The Academy also provides special support and preparation to students who enter local, regional, national and international solo and chamber music competitions. Numerous Music Institute of Chicago Academy students are prize winners and matriculate to the nation’s top conservatories and universities.
Class of 2024 - 2025 Accolades
Class of 2024 - 2025 Accolades
November
Violinist Tristan Zhu, student of Almita Vamos, was named the winner in the Illinois MTNA Competition. Tristan won the state senior string division and will be moving on to the Division round this winter. He performed at Millikin University in Decatur last Sunday. Winners/Representatives will advance to the East Central Division Online-only Video Competitions. The three-tiered Junior Performance Competitions begin with State Competitions. The winners/representatives of each state’s competitions advance to a video-only division competition. All videos will receive comments from the judges. Division winners/representatives will compete in person at the National Finals during the annual MTNA National Conference. https://www.mtna.org/MTNA/Engage/Competitions/Junior_Performance_Competitions.aspx
Cellist Katarina Kenney, student of Cornelia Watkins, performed on Wisconsin Public Radio's Midday Show with Host Norman Gilliland. She performed works of Bach, Brahms, and Paganini. https://www.wpr.org/programs/midday
2024 Sejong Music Competition - The goals of the Sejong Music Competition are to discover talented young musicians and encourage them in their studies, and to also introduce traditional Korean music expressed through Western media. Through this competition they hope to increase the awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage amongst the younger generations growing up in the United States so as to promote harmony among people of various ethnic backgrounds and bridge Asian and Western cultures. https://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/music/current/index.php
Winner: Emily Chen, First Place and Best interpretation of Korean piece, Violin Senior Division, student of Injoo Choi and Almita Vamos
Finalist: Violin Senior Division - Elle Cho, student of Almita Vamos
Winner: Edie Park, First Place and Best Interpretation of a Korean piece, Piano Senior Division, student of Winston Choi and Marta Aznavoorian
The Hemingway Quartet, Elle Cho (Park Ridge, IL), Sebastian Manning (Quincy, IL), Romeo Vashishth (Menomonee Falls, WI), and Lucy Wu (Whitefish Bay, WI), performed Joseph Haydn’s Quartet No. 62 in C Major, Op. 76, No. 3, (“Emperor”), Mvt.1 -Allegro on MIC’s Fall Fundraising Concert in Nichols Concert Hall. All proceeds support MIC scholarships and merit awards. The ensemble is coached by Paul Zafer.
Violist Neena Agrawal, student of Sang Mee Lee, performed on the CMPI master class with artist Antoine Tamestit.
Sasha Varchenko, violin student of Dimitri Berlinsky, attended the Juventus Pro Musica Program, which offered chamber music performance opportunities for aspiring strings and piano students. This program allows rising musicians to enhance their skills by collaborating with professionals in ensemble settings. The final concert on November 3rd was performed in the Baryshnikov Arts Centre, NYC, and featured Shasha, six other students and artists Dmitri Berlinsky (violin), Yoram Youngerman (viola), Wolfram Koessel (cello) and Irina Nuzova (piano).
October
Midori Master Class – Esteemed artist Midori visits the Academy for a fifth inspiring master class.
Lauren Kim – Jean Sibelius: violin concerto, movement one: Allegro moderato; Sasha Varchenko – Maurice Ravel: Tzigane; Emily Chen – Erich Wolfgang Korngold: violin concerto, movement one: Moderato nobile
Pianist Edie Park performed Beethoven Concerto No. 3, I. Allegro con brio, on her orchestra debut with the Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Benjamin Firer. As a winner of the 10th Annual 2024 Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition for pianists and string players, Edie performed with the orchestra on Friday, Oct 25th at 7:30pm (location: NEIU Auditorium.) Edie studies with faculty member Marta Aznavoorian and Winston Choi.
Sylvia Pine joined her mother, esteemed violinist Rachel Barton Pine, in WFMT's Levin Studio to make the Midwest premiere recording of a new Mozart piece, uncovered more than 230 years after the composer's death. Learn more about the discovery and the performance! https://www.wfmt.com/2024/10/14/video-brand-new-mozart-piece-on-period-instruments/
September
Violinist Sylvia Pine performed her own arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner for the Chicago Cubs, and Escape to the Light by Joe Deninzon, composed for Rachel Barton Pine and Sylvia, on the Violins of Hope, for JCC Chicago. https://www.jccchicago.org/growing-hope/concert/growing-hope-concert-2024/
Senior Jan Vargas Nedvetsky, cello student of Hans Jensen, was featured on the inaugural Back to School episode of Introductions on WFMT on Saturday September 14, 2024. Introductions is WFMT’s weekly Saturday morning program that features talented pre-college classical musicians in the Chicago area. Soloists and chamber ensembles perform live in WFMT’s Levin Performance Studio. Jan and pianist Liang-yu Wang performed music of Locatelli, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Judith Weir. His previous appearances on WFMT include an Introductions solo recital in January 2021; as a concerto soloist in April 2023; on WFMT’s 70th Anniversary Day of Celebration in December 2021; and further chamber music appearances in August 2020, in May 2021, in August 2022, and in December 2023. He appeared on the front cover of the WTTW-WFMT Program Guide in April 2023 in conjunction with the commemorative album Introductions Turns 15. https://www.wfmt.com/programs/introductions/
August
Violinist Lily Sullivan, student of Grigory Kalinovsky, one of 55 participants, advanced to the second round of the prestigious Kloster Schöntal Competition. The 20th International Competition for Violin in Kloster Schöntal concluded on 31 August at the monastery’s ballroom in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The competition was open to violinists of all nationalities up to the age of 21. https://www.violinwettbewerb.de/en/competition/
July
Violinist Emily Chen, student of Almita Vamos and Injoo Choi, and cellist Lucy Wu, cello student of Stefan Kartman, competed in the Chicago International Music Competition Rising Star Category, held in July. Emily received first grand prize and Lucy tied for second grand prize. The competition is sponsored by the International Institute of Piano Artistry and co-organized by Wheaton College, and aims to find and cultivate a new generation of music talents in the world and to promote the development of classical music and cultural exchange. Thousands of dollars in cash prizes, master classes, and recording opportunities are provided to the winners. Chicago International Music Competition (cimcusa.org) https://www.cimcusa.org/page/AboutUS.html
ALUMNI NEWS
Fall
MIC Alumna Isabella Brown Joins LA Philharmonic - At just 21, Academy alumna Isabella Brown has reached a remarkable milestone in her career, joining the LA Philharmonic as Assistant Principal Violinist under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. Academy violinist Isabella Brown joined the Academy in September 2015. Izzy, as we warmly know her, moved with her family from the East Coast to Chicago, with her brothers Nicholas and Joshua, who are also violinists—to study with esteemed violin faculty members Almita and Roland Vamos and join the Academy, MIC’s pre-college conservatory program. For six years, Izzy played a vital role in the program, evolving into a confident, eloquent, and expressive performer. She graduated in May 2021 and matriculated to the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles to study with violin and chamber music faculty member Martin Beaver.
In May, while still a student at Colburn, Izzy auditioned for the position of Assistant Principal at just 21 years old (and her first orchestral audition). Remarkably, she was offered the job at this young age. She assumed the position earlier this month and, under the leadership of Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, will work alongside some of the finest musicians in the world. Read her story: https://www.musicinst.org/news/mic-alumna-isabella-brown-joins-la-philharmonic
Violin soloist Maya Anjali Buchanan, who performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra two years ago, will play Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto on November 3, 2:30pm. Buchanan studied violin with Almita and Roland Vamos before attending The Curtis Institute. The program also includes Jessie Montgomery’s penetrating and stirring Soul Force, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Overture to King Stephen and is anchored by Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.”
Summer
Cellist James Baik, First Prize Winner of the 2023 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and recipient of the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Prize has advanced to the Final Round of the 2024 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions on Sunday, October 27, 2024. James was also a finalist at the 2019 Stulberg International String Competition and would go on to receive the first prize at the prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition. Raised in Houston, Texas, James’ early education included studies with Houston Symphony Associate Principal Christopher French and with esteemed pedagogue Hans Jørgen Jensen in Chicago at the Academy. James holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Colburn Conservatory of Music where he studied with Clive Greensmith.
Cellist Johannes Gray, won second prize in the XXIV International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition 2024 in Leipzig, Germany. He also received the GENUIN Special Prize for CD production. Gray studied with Hans Jensen and Gilda Barston while enrolled in the Academy. Though currently based in Paris, cellist Johannes Gray started his musical career in Chicago and has become an award-winning instrumentalist. His solo engagements have taken him across four continents, including performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, the festivals of Ravinia and Verbier, Lincoln Center, SuperCello (Beijing), and the Cello Biënnale Amsterdam. Johannes is passionate about performing contemporary works and plans to showcase a collection of new Parisian compositions along with Poulenc’s cello sonata on his proposed album with Cedille. https://www.cedillerecords.org/emerging-artist-spotlight-johannes-gray/
Violinist Julian Rhee received a 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, which recognizes instrumentalists and chamber ensembles with a $25,000 cash prize. Rhee studied with Hye-Sun Lee and Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy and received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree as teaching assistant of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory. Rhee came to international prominence following his prize-winning performances at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and Silver Medal finish at The 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Rhee joins accomplished Academy alumni Benjamin Beilman, Matthew Lipman, and the Calidore String Quartet (with the Academy’s Ryan Meehan), as Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients. https://www.julianrhee.com/full-bio-2
Academy alumna cellist Luka Coetzee, former student of Horacio Contreras, won the Paulo International Cello Competition in 2023. In July 2024, she performed her 1st prize-winning performance of Penderecki’s Cello Concerto No. 2, with Conductor Rumon Gamba and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Luka received numerous awards including First Prize in 2023 at the eminent 7th International Paulo Cello Competition. In November 2022, she was recognized as the First Prize Winner at the Pablo Casals International Award, and in September, she received the Frans Helmerson Promotional Award at the Kronberg Academy, as well as First Prize in the 2022 Johansen International Competition in Washington, DC, garnering further attention for her exciting introduction as an international soloist. https://youtu.be/h-shH2WKzJ4?si=fZmNWiy7Ku92pcWS