Our bonus concert features 22-year old violinist Sirena Huang, the first prize winner of the 2017 inaugural Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition and the 2017 NY Concert Artists Debut Auditions. Ms. Huang made her orchestral solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra at age nine. Since then, she has performed in thirteen countries across three continents and has been featured as soloist with more than forty orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany, Russian Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Sinfonietta, and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. She performed as a guest artist at the Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Verbier Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, and “The Great Music for a Great City” series in New York City. She was also the first artist-in-residence of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.
Pianist Robert Koenig has established a reputation as a much sought-after collaborative pianist and chamber musician. He performs regularly in major centers throughout the world with many of this generation’s most renowned musicians. Recent engagements have included performances at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Louvre Museum, and Royal Festival Hall in London. He has performed with many of today’s leading artists including Sirena Huang, Sarah Chang, Hillary Hahn, Pamela Frank, Zuill Bailey, Roberto Dias, Elmar Oliveira, Aaron Rosand, and the Miro String Quartet. Mr. Koenig has appeared at many festivals including Aspen, Ravinia, Banff, Saratoga, Caramoor, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York City. In the Fall of 2007, he assumed the position as Professor and Head of the Collaborative Piano Program at the University of California Santa Barbara. Mr. Koenig has recorded for Artek, Ambassador, Biddulph, Cedille, CRI, Decca, Eroica and Naxos labels.
