Pianist
Michael Bukhman (27) has been tracking steadily towards a career as a
musician of all disciplines, utilizing his instrument through all
possible social mediums and genres – as a soloist, chamber musician,
new music advocate, collaborator, and teacher – and is constantly
looking for new avenues to communicate his music in ways that stay
perpetually fresh.
Michael
is continuously interested in showcasing the music of our time,
performing and often premiering the solo piano and chamber music of such
composers as Jonathan Harvey, Osvaldo Golijov, Arlene Sierra, Judith
Shatin, Zvi Avni, Haim Shtrum, and others, in part as a recitalist, a
competitor of international competitions, and a participant in chamber
music festivals including Yellow Barn, The Music Academy of the West,
and Tel Hai (Israel).
Some
of Michael’s accolades and awards include being named Medalist in the
2009 Hilton Head International Piano competition, top-ranked winner of
the 2005 National Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 1st prize
winner at the 2006 Corpus Christi International Competition, and
laureate of the 2006 Gina Bachauer Competition at the Juilliard School.
His recital and chamber performances took him to Turkey, Israel, Canada,
and across the United States.
Violist Xinyi Xu started playing the violin at the age of 6 and graduated from the Music
Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she studied with
Professors Fei Wu, Zulian Wu and Horn-Sim Lam. Ms. Xu won second prize in the
China National Viola Competition in 2003 and participated in Morningside Music Bridge
in Calgary, Canada (2005). She later attended Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC) in
Melbourne, Australia as an exchange student (2006).
Ms. Xu enrolled in the Bard College Conservatory of Music in 2007, where
she studies with Ira Weller. She had previously participated in New York String
Orchestra Seminar under the direction of Jamie Laredo (2008 and 2009).
In 2010, Ms. Xu was invited to Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Salzau, Germany
and toured with the orchestra academy throughout Germany and Eastern Europe under
the direction of Christoph Eschenbach, Ivan Fischer, Christopher Hogwood and David
Geringas. In summer of 2011, Ms. Xu participated in the Aspen Music Festival and
School as a full scholarship and fellowship recipient, studying with James Duhnam and
Jeffrey Irvine; she appeared in Aspen’s Spotlight Recital and numerous orchestra concerts.
A prolific chamber musician, Ms. Xu had spent two summers in Kneisel Hall Chamber
Music Festival (2008 and 2009).
