Success Stories

Alumnus Ziqing Guo (BM ’18, MM ’20) has been appointed to the violin section of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO). He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music, studying with Sylvia Rosenberg and Nicholas Mann, and more recently a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.

Ziqing has been a guest violinist with Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Festival, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra.

Click here to learn more about Ziqing.

MSM violin faculty member Lucie Robert has been asked to return for to the international jury for the 11th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists being held in Weimar, Germany from November 7 to 29, 2026. It will be her second time on the jury.

Founded in 1995 at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, the International LOUIS SPOHR Competition for Young Violinists helps promote highly gifted musicians. The competition focuses on talented young musicians up to the age of 21, giving young talents an opportunity to attract the attention of an international jury at an early stage.

Learn more here.

Current MSM students Seiran Tozlian (BM ’26), piano, and Angelina Tozlyan (BM ’28), violin, as well as alumni Diana Gabrielyan (MM ’23), piano, and Karina Vartanian (PC ’21, BM ’25), soprano, will perform at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall on Friday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. They are all recent recipients of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Performing Arts scholarship and will join their fellow recipients for a program of traditional Armenian and Western classical music, dance, and poetry readings.

Tickets are currently available on the Carnegie Hall website as well as the box office at (212) 247-7800.

Photo collage: Diana Gabrielyan (top left), Seiran Tozlian (bottom left), Angelina Tozlyan (bottom middle), Karina Vartanian (bottom right)

Wynton Marsalis‘s new cello concerto premiered on March 7 with Yo-Yo Ma on cello at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. It was performed again on March 10 in Detroit featuring MSM faculty member cellist Tommy Mesa (DMA ’23) performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Tommy Mesa worked closely with Wynton Marsalis and Yo Yo Ma in preparation for the touring series of four concerts conducted by Cristian Măcelaru; the composition was also performed in Philadelphia on March 13 and Boston on March 15, with Yo-Yo Ma on cello.

Listen to the performance here.

Koshiro Takeuchi (BM ’28) is one of 24 violinists chosen to compete in the Montreal International Violin Competition this coming May, 2026. He was selected from among 250 applicants.

Mr Takeuchi is a prize winner of the Paganini and Long-Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competitions, as well as grand prize winner of the inaugural Ion Voicu International Violin Competition.

At MSM, he is a student of Koichiro Harada and Lucie Robert.

Violinist Siyi Li (MM ’26), a student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada has been invited to perform a series of concerts this summer by the Jiade Art Center Management.

He will be performing in Shanghai, Wuhan, Suzhou, Hongzhou and at the Jiade Artistic Center.

Violinist Risa Hokamura (BM ’24, MM ’26, in photo on top left), an MSM student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada, was featured in a Young Concert Artists on Tour chamber ensemble performance at Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City on February 5.

The Young Concert Artists series presents the debuts of exceptional young musicians, all winners of the annual YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions. In addition to Washington, D.C., and New York debuts, YCA winners are awarded ongoing management services, career guidance, education and community engagements, and concerts across the United States.

On Risa’s February 5 program: JOSÉ ELIZONDO – Latin American Dances, ERNST VON DOHNÁNYI – Serenade for String Trio in C Major, Op. 10, and FRANZ SCHUBERT  –  String Quartet in C Major, D. 956.

“This extraordinary chamber ensemble performs repertoire in unique instrumentation that spans a rarely heard range of musical styles and genres,” writes the concert organizers.

More information and tickets here.

Chia-Yu Kao (BM ’29), a student of MSM faculty member Lucie Robert, was a grand prize-winner of the Victory Solo Competition, and was invited to perform the Korngold Violin Concerto in D Major, op 35, on December 20, 2025, with the Victory Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Orchestra, conducted by Yi-Jen Wen.
The performance took place in the Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei.

On December 29 in Prague, Czech Republic, MSM alumnus Chase Park (PPD ’25; AD ’26) performed the Antonin Kraft (a contemporary of Mozart and Haydn) Cello Concerto in C Major, Op 4 with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Smetana Hall.

MSM President James Gandre met up with Chase after the performance (photo above).

Violinist and MSM student Siyi Li (MM ‘26) studies at MSM with Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada. He won second prize in the Marine Iashvili III International Competition for String Instrument that was held November 7 to 14 in the V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire’s Grand Hall and Recital Hall in Tbilisi, Georgia.

In the finals, Siyi Li performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in the competition finals with Maestro Revaz Takidze and the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra.

More information on the competition can be found here.

On November 9 and 16, MSM alumna Kelly Hall-Tompkins (MM ’95, HonDMA ’17) performed the Wynton Marsalis Violin Concerto with Bnagor Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Music Director Lucas Richman and the Bangor Symphony. Before the concert, Kelly took part in a pre-concert interview with Lucas Richman and BSO Executive Director Renia Shterenberg; Kelly was interviewed by Maine Public Radio about the concert.

Kelly Hall-Tompkins will be touring with the North Netherlands Symphony in Leeuwarden, Groningen, and Utrecht from November 27 to 29.

Listen to the Maine Public Radio interview here.
Listen to the pre-concert interview here.

MSM faculty member and alumnus Tommy Mesa (DMA ‘23) is a 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant Award Recipient, and is currently featured on the Great Performances: Taking Note, a PBS digital series spotlighting rising instrumentalists who have received career grants from the Avery Fisher Artist Program. Each year, the Program awards up to five Career Grant Awards to talented instrumentalists and/or chamber ensembles with great potential for major careers.

The second season of the program showcases the Viano Quartet, violinist Joshua Brown, and cellist Tommy Mesa. The series features both performances and interviews with awardees sharing past and present inspirations, training and goals.

Watch an excerpt from the program here.

The American Composers Orchestra (ACO), the Sphinx Organization, and Concert Artists Guild have commissioned los quetzales—a brand new viola concerto written by Michael Frazier. On October 22, this new work will be brought to life by soloist and MSM faculty member Jordan Bak and the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra at the Eastman School of Music, and will be conducted by frequent MSM guest conductor Joshua Gersen.

More about Jordan Bak here.

MSM violin faculty member Lucie Robert is featured in the prestigious The Strad magazine giving advice from her perspective as a frequent judge on how to navigate competitions, offering “sage advice to young string players planning to step onto the competition path.”

Read the article here.

MSM piano doctoral degree student Annie Yu Cao (MM ‘24) this summer founded and directed the inaugural Pacific Opus Music Festival in her hometown of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.

Featured at the event were three distinguished MSM faculty members, Jeffrey Cohen (in photo on right) with whom Annie studies at MSM, Lucie Robert (second from right), and Olga Kern (second from left) who joined the festival’s faculty. They pose in the photo above with Annie Yu Cao, on left.

Learn more about the festival here.

Held biennially in Sion, Switzerland, the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition is dedicated to discovering and promoting new talented artists of all nationalities. Open to international violinists aged up to 30, the competition was held in Switzerland from August 22–30, 2025.

In the photo above, MSM Strings faculty member and violinist Lucie Robert (sixth person from the left) poses with other members of the jury of this prestigious competition.

The finals named three winners who preformed their chosen concerti with the South Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with Mo Valentin Uryupin. The competition consisted of four rounds including a chamber music section culminating with the finals with Orchestra.

Lucie Robert was also the jury representative for the competition during an interview with Television Suisse Romande.

More information on the competition here.

Violinist Risa Hokamura (BM ‘24, MM ‘26), a second year master’s student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada, as well as a Young Concert Artist, has been named Career Grant Winner of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi 2025 in New York.

The Salon has discovered and supported an outstanding array of superb young artists through generous grants and unforgettable concerts at some of New York’s most exclusive and beautiful venues, including the consulates in New York City of many countries from around the world.

Past winners include musicians such as Gil Shaham, The St. Lawrence String Quartet, and Lang Lang.

At the age of 10, Risa Hokamura began capturing top prizes in competitions in Japan. She won the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and First Prize in the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 17.

More about Risa Hokamura here.

MSM classical composition alumnus David Handler (BM ‘04), a contemporary composer and violinist, is featured this week in Entrepreneur magazine, talking about his successful and highly respected NYC music venue (Le) Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village “a place to experience music unlike any other in New York City”, which he started in 2008 with another MSM alumnus Justin Kantor (BM ‘02), who studied classical cello at MSM.

Read the interview here.

MSM student Siyi Li, a violinist from China who studies at MSM with Lucie Robert, won second prize with the “Violin and Soul” Salon Music Violin Competition 2025 in Vienna on June 30, part of the AMADEUS Festival Vienna. In addition Siyi Li won the audience prize.

Siyi Li was the resident artist of the Public Performing Space at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing during the 2023-2024 season. After receiving his B.M. Degree from the Central Conservatory of Music, Li has performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo, Kyoto, and Seoul.

In 2019, Li won First Place in the China-Korea International Violin Competition, as well as Second Place in both the Swiss International Music Competition and Global Music Competition in the US.

Learn more about the festival here.

Violinist SoHyun Ko (BM ’27) a student at MSM of Pinchas Zukerman and Patty Kopec, was selected from 107 applicants to participate in the Paganini Competition (Premio Paganini). Only 24 individuals were chosen to take part in the competition; the first prize winner will receive €30.000, a series of engagements at many prestigious concert venues both national and international, and, for the first time, a recording contract with the Platoon label.

The 58th Premio Paganini International Violin Competition will be held in Genoa, Italy, from October 14 –26, 2025.

Learn more about the competition here.
Learn more about Sohyun Ko here.

MSM Artist Diploma alumnus Itamar Zorman (AD ’10) appointment as Associate Professor of Music in Violin at The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington is effective on August 1. He was a 2013 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and silver medalist of the 2011 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition.

Itamar performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, New World Symphony, KBS Symphony Seoul, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and German Radio Philharmonic, among others. At MSM, he was a student of Sylvia Rosenberg.

Read more about the appointment in The Strad here.
Learn more about Itamar Zorman here.

Award-winning composer and violist Jessica Meyer has been commissioned by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to write a composition for their orchestra. The world premiere will be held on October 25 at Carnegie Hall.

Jessica’s works have been performed in venues from the Kennedy Center to Carnegie Hall, by musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and by orchestras around the country. Upcoming premieres include a work for MET Opera tenor Paul Appleby and the Claremont Trio, a viola and piano work commissioned by Juilliard Pre-college, a new orchestral piece “Turbulent Flames” to be performed by a consortium of orchestras across the United States.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is offering free tickets to all concerts in its 2025-26 season including the Carnegie Hall concert on October 25 featuring the premiere of Jessica’s commission. Visit the Orchestra’s website for more information here.

Learn more about Jessica Meyer here.

MSM violin faculty member Lucie Robert has been named president of the jury of the newly launched 2025 Bogotá International Violin Competition that will be taking place in Colombia from October 31 to November 7 at the Auditorio Fabio Lozano and the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo. The competition is open to violinists of all nationalities up to the age of 30 as of May 31, 2025.

The Bogotá International Violin Competition aims to promote excellence in violin performance, and position Bogotá as a leading classical music hub in Latin America; it also hopes to inspire the young people of Bogotá’s “Vamos a la Filarmónica” programs.

Lucie Robert has also been named president of the International Jury for Violin 2026 of the Concours International de Montréal, a prestigious competition where the international elite of the new generation of classical musicians compete.

Learn more about the Bogotá International Violin Competition here.
Learn more about the Concours International de Montréal here.

Koshiro Takeuchi, a student at MSM of Koichiro Harada and Lucie Robert, won first place with a 6,000-euro prize in the Ion Voicu International Violin Competition in Bucharest on April 12.

Pictured above: Koshiro Takeuchi (fourth from right) and Lucie Robert (center).

The Ion Voicu International Violin Competition is open to violinists of all nationalities and is organized by the Ion Voicu Cultural Association. The competition took place April 7-12, 2025, at the National University of Music in Bucharest, with the finals held in the Grand Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum. The finalists were accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Gabriel Bebeșelea.

Learn about the winners here.
Learn more about the competition here.

Dr. Christopher Jenkins (PC ‘04) has been named the new dean of Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Writes the University in a post announcing the news: “In this role, Jenkins will oversee all aspects of Lawrence’s music degree programs and contribute significantly to the university’s academic mission. Reporting directly to the provost, Lawrence’s chief academic officer, he will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the institution.”

“We are delighted to welcome Chris to Lawrence,” said Provost and Dean of Faculty Peter Blitstein. “Chris is deeply qualified to lead the Conservatory. His vision and expertise will enrich the experiences of our students, faculty, and the broader community.”

Learn more here.

Cellist and MSM alumnus Tommy Mesa (DMA ‘23), who recently joined MSM’s College faculty, has been named one of three recipients of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grants awarded for 2025. Tommy Mesa is an acclaimed performer, recording artist, and educator.

The Avery Fisher Artist Program was created by the late Avery Fisher as a gift to Lincoln Center in 1974. The program’s Avery Fisher Career Grants support exceptional instrumentalists and chamber groups who are citizens or permanent residents of the U.S.

In addition to receiving $25,000 for career advancement, the winners will get unrestricted use of a professional recording of their performances at the award ceremony, and a custom-designed rosette as a symbol of the Career Grant.

The awards ceremony on March 18 will be streamed live at 6 PM EST on the Violin Channel.

More information here.

Chantal Poulin and Shira Gilbert, the Executive and Artistic Directors of the Concours International de Montréal, have announced that Lucie Robert will be President of the International Jury for Violin 2026.

The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is a prestigious competition where the international elite of the new generation of classical musicians compete.

“I am deeply honoured to serve as President of the International Jury for Violin 2026. It is with great pleasure that I will welcome the selected violinists to my hometown of Montreal. Their participation in this major competition will undoubtedly represent a meaningful milestone in their musical careers,” said Lucie Robert in a statement. “I look forward to being together with my colleagues on the jury and with the Montreal public to discover these young musicians, and to be moved and transported by their artistry.”

Learn about Lucie Robert here.
Learn about the Concours International de Montréal here.

The Only Girl in the Orchestra won the Oscar at the Academy Awards on March 2 for Best Documentary Short Film.

The documentary tells the story of former MSM bass faculty member Orin O’Brien who, in 1966, was the first woman to be hired in the then 125-year history of the New York Philharmonic. The documentary is by Orin’s niece, Emmy-award-winning producer/ director Molly O’Brien.

Portions of the documentary were filmed at MSM’s Neidorff-Karpati Hall with recording assistance provided by MSM sound engineers.

For more about the documentary, click here.

MSM classical violin alumna Jihye Sung (BM ’14, MM ’16) was named Associate Concertmaster of the Bozeman Symphony. She joined the Symphony in 2022 as a section violinist, also at times serving as Principal Second Violinist, and as guest Associate Concertmaster.

Jihye also performs regularly with the Montana Chamber Music Society and the String Orchestra of the Rockies and has taught violin, viola, and chamber music at Montana State University. She also has performed as a soloist with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Strings, and the Korean and American Youth Orchestra.

To read more about Jihye and her appointment, click here.

Violinist Risa Hokamura (BM ‘24), a first year master’s student of Lucie Robert and Koichiro Harada as well as a Young Concert Artist, will be performing the Six Eugene Ysaye Sonatas for Solo Violin op 27 on March 7, 2025 at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo.

Risa Hokamura had her recital debut with Young Concert Artists at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall in New York City on February 8, 2023 and at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C. on March 23, 2023.

At the age of 10, Risa Hokamura began to capture top prizes in competitions in Japan. She won the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and First Prize in the 2018 Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 17.

More about Risa Hokamura here.