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Live on Introductions today is pianist Clara Zhang, a student of Matthew Hagle. She plays a recital of Bach, Chopin, Ravel, Haydn, Walker, Rachmaninoff, and Bowen. Clara Zhang, 16, is a Merit Scholar at the Music Institute of Chicago. She has won prizes and honors at the Illinois State Music Teachers Association Competition, the Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the Carmel Klavier International Piano Competition, the Piano Star International Piano Competition, the London Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition, and the Clara Schumann International Piano Competition. As a winner of the Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition, Clara has performed as a soloist with the Northeastern Illinois University Symphony Orchestra. In her spare time, Clara runs her Music Ambassadors program with her musician friends, bringing classical music concerts to the doorsteps of senior communities. She regularly performs at the Arbor Terrace in Highland Park, the Avidor in Glenview, the Dickinson Hall in Lake Forest, the Mather Place in Wilmette, and the Sedgebrook in Lincolnshire. Clara is a junior at Highland Park High School and she is the president of the school’s World Music Club. Outside music, Clara also enjoys ice skating, baking, zip lining and snorkeling. Her favorite performer is pianist Martha Argerich. Her elder brother Harry Zhang gave a live piano recital on Introductions in September 2021.

This week, the latest performance from the CYSO Symphony Orchestra in Orchestra Hall in downtown Chicago. Allen Tinkham conducts the Chicago premiere of a new Augusta Read Thomas piece, followed by works of Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler.

Following his win in the 2022 Crain-Maling Foundation CSO Young Artist Competition, Vernon Hills pianist Noah Kim returns to Introductions for a second solo recital playing Bach, Mozart, Schumann and Kapustin.

We’re featuring twin sisters on Introductions today: Isabel and Anna Edgcomb are 18 and they play flute and oboe respectively. They both hail from Long Grove, are seniors at Adlai E. Stevenson High School, and attend Midwest Young Artists Conservatory. They’re joined by pianist Lyudmila Lakisova in music of Telemann, Kalliwoda, Liebermann, Poulenc, Taffanel and Cimarosa. Isabel Edgcomb studies flute with Hideko Amano and is in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, where she has performed many major symphonies at Symphony Center in Chicago. Isabel is the 2023 Principal Flute for the ILMEA District 7 Orchestra as well as a 2024 All-State orchestra selectee. She won third place at the 2023 Chicago Flute Club Competition and second place in the Intermediate Flute Division of the 2022 Society of American Musicians Competition. She was a finalist for the Fox River Grove Concerto Competition for two concertos. She has also soloed for the Stevenson High School Patriot Orchestra as the winner of the Senior Solo Competition. Isabel has taken master classes or had lessons with Nancy Stagnitta and Jonathan Keeble. Anna Edgcomb, a student of Marisa LeFevre, has been playing oboe for seven years and in the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Symphony Orchestra for three. She was Principal Oboe of the ILMEA District 7 Band in 2021 and 2022, and of the 2023 District 7 Orchestra in 2023. In the Illinois All-State Honors Band, she was third chair in 2022 and Principal Oboe in 2023; and she has been selected for the 2024 Illinois All-State Orchestra. In 2021, she was winner of the Walgreens National Concerto Competition playing Pasculli’s Concerto on themes from Donizetti’s La Favorita, and she won the 2023 Charleston International Music Competition playing Kalliwoda’s Oboe Concertino in F.

Live on Introductions this morning is cellist Simon Updegraff from the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. He begins on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month with Elgar’s Cello Concerto, followed by works of Bach and Bloch; a cello suite of Chad “Sir Wick” Hughes, and Monti’s Csárdás. Sung Hoon Mo plays piano. Simon Updegraff, 16, is a Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, a program for advanced pre-college musicians. He began Suzuki cello lessons at age four and studies with Avi Friedlander. Simon is a winner of the Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition and has soloed with the Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra. He is a first-place winner of the Primary, Junior, and Intermediate cello division competitions of the Society of American Musicians. He received honorable mention in the 2022 Walgreens National Concerto Competition and was selected for the 2023 Illinois Music Education Association all-state honors orchestra. He has performed in the Young Steinway Concert series at the Skokie Public Library and played twice as assistant principal in the Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Biennial Conference. Simon has taken master classes with Natasha Brofsky, Richard Aaron, Melissa Kraut, and Benjamin Lash. Simon is a junior at New Trier High School where he is the co-captain of the Varsity Scholastic Bowl Team and founded the school’s Classical Music Club. He is a member of the New Trier Symphony Orchestra and performed with them at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Today we feature two chamber groups from Midwest Young Artists Conservatory – one piano trio, and one string quartet. The violinists of these groups have appeared previously on Introductions: – Ruth Kim played in the Ardente String Quartet in August 2020 and in August 2021; – John Lee gave a live solo recital in May 2023 and appeared previously in other chamber groups; – Vincenzo Zuppardo previously appeared with Quartet Feroce in August 2021.

On Introductions, we feature two chamber trios from the Music Institute of Chicago Academy in movements by Mendelssohn, Dvořák, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. See also: pianist Ethan Zheng gave a solo piano recital on Introductions in March 2023.

Today is the first live recital of the new school year. Amelia Zitoun is in her fifth and final year in the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, commuting every Saturday from Shorewood, Wisconsin to Lake Forest, Illinois. She’s joined by pianist Liang-yu Wang in music of Alfredo Piatti, Nadia Boulanger, and Johannes Brahms. Amelia Zitoun, 17, is a scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college students. She has been a student there since 2019. She currently studies cello with Hans Jørgen Jensen. She recently won the Gold Medal at the Stulberg International String Competition. As a result, she will play the Haydn D major Concerto with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra this year. She also won the first prize at the 2023 Bolz Final Forte Competition where she played the Barber Concerto with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. She was the winner of the 2022 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Stars of Tomorrow Competition, performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Barber’s Cello Concerto with the MSO as a result. Amelia is also an active chamber musician. As member of the Pelios String Quartet, she won the Silver Medal at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Additionally, Pelios won the Gold Medal and Haydn Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. She has appeared on Introductions previously in three different chamber groups, including Pelios, in June 2020, in August 2022, and in August 2023. She is also a student of the the Perlman Littles Program, a 7-week summer program led by Toby and Itzhak Perlman. In 2022, she attended the Heifetz International Music Institute. Amelia is an 12th grader at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, Wisconsin. In her free time she enjoys listening to music, painting, and playing board games with her family.

Today we’re featuring two piano trios from the Music Institute of Chicago Academy’s 2022-23 school year, in music of Beethoven, Esmail, Clarke, Mendelssohn, and Shostakovich. Members of these groups have appeared on Introductions previously, or are set to: – Sameer Agrawal gave a live solo recital in December 2022 and has appeared as a member of different string quartets. – Simon Updegraff will give a live solo recital on November 11, 2023. – Serge Kalinovsky appeared as a member of the Peresson String Quartet in August 2022. – Noah Kim gave a solo piano recital in March 2021; had his competition-winning performance with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago on air in April 2022; and will give a second solo piano recital on December 9, 2023.

Two brothers appear, both as soloists and as a duo.