institute

Chamber Music Institute Alumni Updates
(December 2010)

Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute offers students daily interaction with world-renowned musicians, multiple performance opportunities, and an engaging series of classes and lectures. This immersive, personal, and rigorous approach to teaching is paying off, and we are pleased to share with you some recent accomplishments of our talented alumni. We will add new updates to the Web site quarterly, so please check back often. If you have alumni notes you’d like to share, please submit them online here.

Violinist Nigel Armstrong (Young Performers Program ’04 and ’05), currently a student at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, won Second Prize in the Senior Division of the Menuhin Competition in Oslo in April 2010.

Pianist Michael Brown (International Program ’10) won First Prize and the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Award at the 2010 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in October 2010. Michael received a two-year management contract and has joined the CAG artist roster.

The Amphion String Quartet (International Program ’10) was a First Prize winner at both the Sixth Annual Hugo Kauder Society International Music Competition and the Plowman Chamber Music Competition in the Strings and Piano category.

Clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois (International Program ’09) is actively performing in the New York City area in winter 2010 and will be appearing as a member of the Pivot Chamber Soloists, Sospiro Winds, and the Atria Ensemble and with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in its Chamber Music Series and at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In March of 2010, pianist Adam Golka (International Program ’08) performed the Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto with the New York Youth Symphony at Isaac Stern Auditorium. Adam currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is studying with the legendary Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute.

Violinist Bella Hristova (International Program ’06) has been selected to participate in the 2011 Young Performers Career Advancement (YPCA) Program by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), as part of its Arts Presenters Classical Connections initiative dedicated to helping classical musicians in the formative stages of their careers. The 2011 YPCA musicians will be showcased in a recital on January 10, 2011, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Pianist Hilda Huang (Young Performers Program ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, and ’10) won First Prize in the Suites and Partitas category and was additionally awarded the Special Jury Prize at the Second Tureck International Bach Competition held in New York City in October of 2010. In March 2010, Hilda won the top prize at the J. S. Bach International Piano Competition in Würzburg, Germany.

Violinist Alexi Kenney (Young Performers Program ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, and ’10) was named Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra for the 2010–2011 season.

Pianist Fan-Ya Lin (International Program ’09) took first place at the 2010 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Finals, held in New Mexico. In addition to the trophies, certificates, and accolades, Fan-Ya was awarded a new Steinway piano.

Violinist Kenneth Renshaw (Young Performers Program ’07 and ’08) recently won First Prize in Category II (ages fifteen to seventeen) at the Sixth International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists. In addition, Kenneth was recognized for best interpretation of a violin concerto and best interpretation of a Beethoven sonata. The competition took place in early November 2010 at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar, Germany.

Yoko Rosenbaum (Young Performers Program ’10) and her piano trio made their debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall on April 11, 2010, as part of a chamber concert organized through Junior Chamber Music.

In May 2010, cellist Camden Shaw (Young Performers Program ’05 and ’06) and his quartet, the Old City String Quartet, won the Grand Prize
at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Gold Medal in the Senior String Division. In addition to prize money, the quartet participated in a winners tour of the Midwestern United States in October 2010 and will perform several concerts at the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy in 2011.

Also at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, pianist Liza Stepanova (International Program ’08) and her ensemble, the Lysander Piano Trio, won the Bronze Medal in the Senior String Division.

Violinist Stephen Waarts (Young Performers Program ’06, ’07, ’08, and ’09) won Second Prize and the Ole Bull Prize in April 2010 at the Menuhin Competition in Oslo. In November 2010, Stephen won First Prize in Category I (up to fourteen years old) at the Sixth International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Weimar, Germany. In addition, Stephen was recognized for best interpretation of a Romantic-era concerto. His performance of Waxman’s Carmen Fantasie with pianist Christopher O’Riley was nationally broadcast in March and July of 2010 on NPR’s From the Top. In California, Stephen’s 2010 awards included First Prize in the Young Artist Competition of the Fremont Symphony Orchestra and First Prize in the Young Artist Concerto Competition of the Prometheus Symphony Orchestra.

Multiple Music@Menlo alumni received awards at the Fifth Annual Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition at the University of California, Davis. The California-based Soleil Trio, composed of violinist Kenneth Renshaw (Young Performers Program ’07 and ’08), cellist Will Chow (Young Performers Program ’06, ’07, and ’08), and pianist Rieko Tsuchida (Young Performers Program ’09), won the Chamber Ensemble Award in the Senior Division. The trio performed on an episode of NPR’s From the Top that aired nationally in April 2010. Violinist Alexi Kenney (Young Performers Program ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, and ’10) won the Grand Prize in the Senior Division. Pianist Hilda Huang (Young Performers Program ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, and ’10) won the Grand Prize in the Junior Division.

Read past alumni updates:
January 2010
Summer 2009
December 2008
Summer 2008