Maya Buchanan
USA
Indian/Italian violinist, Maya Anjali Buchanan, 16, studies with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, an elite training program for advanced precollege musicians. She is an Academy Tenth Anniversary Fellow Laureate (2015/16) and receives a full-tuition merit scholarship. During the summer season, she studies with Paul Kantor at the Aspen Music Festival-and School.
In 2015, Maya was awarded top prizes in two international competitions: The 2015 Cooper International Violin Competition in Oberlin, Ohio and the triennial 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players held in Washington, D.C. where she was the only American violinist to be awarded a top prize. Daniel Hathaway of clevelandclassical.com described her performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as "displaying verve, direction and an excellent sense of musical architecture" and "a haunting tone which contrasted beautifully with color changes". The piece was "beautifully played and it moved my soul" wrote Glen Dicterow, previous concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has won grand prize and top prizes in many competitions including the Walgreen's National Concerto Competition, Luminarts Cultural Foundation Classical Music Competition, Collin County Young Artist Competition, Kearney Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Dallas Symphonic Festival and was the youngest Grand Prize winner in the history of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition which culminated in three performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at Washington Pavilion. She received Second Place nationally at the 2014 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior String Competition and advanced to the national finals by winning the South Dakota state and West-Central divisional performance competitions for two consecutive years.
A native of the Black Hills of western South Dakota, she began her violin studies at age three. Maya made her solo debut at age ten and has since performed as a guest artist with numerous orchestras performing works by Bruch, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Waxman, Sarasate and Vieuxtemps. She has performed at many diverse venues including the King's Summer Palace in Lyon, France, Aspen's Harris Hall, Ravinia's Bennett-Gordon Hall, Chicago's Symphony Hall and Harris Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, and other venues throughout Illinois and the Mid-West.
Since age nine, she has participated five summers in the Aspen Music Festival (2010-2013,2015) where she was named the Second Place winner in the 2015 Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Competition and nominated for the prestigious Delay Fellowship. She was one of twelve violinists selected nationally to participate in the solo-intensive Brian Lewis Young Artist Program (2011-2014). Recently, Maya was invited to participate in the student artist program at the biennial 2015 Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies held at The Juilliard School. She has also been featured in a live recorded performance at the National Music Museum on NPR's From the Top, showcasing America's best young classical musicians.
A passionate chamber musician, Maya currently performs as violinist of Quartet Degas. Degas was recently named a top prize winner in the A.N. & Pearl G. Barnett Chamber Music Competition, a finalist in the 2016 St. Paul National Chamber Music String Quartet Competition and a quarterfinalist in the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition to be held this May. She was previously a semifinalist in the 2015 Fischoff Competition as the violinist of Omorfia PianoTrio.
Maya has performed in masterclasses for Ida Kavafian, Pamela Frank, Sylvia Rosenberg, Robert McDuffie, Rachel Barton Pine, Brian Lewis, David Kim, David Updegraff and the late Stephen Clapp. In addition to playing the violin, she enjoys life on her family ranch in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest.
In 2015, Maya was awarded top prizes in two international competitions: The 2015 Cooper International Violin Competition in Oberlin, Ohio and the triennial 2015 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players held in Washington, D.C. where she was the only American violinist to be awarded a top prize. Daniel Hathaway of clevelandclassical.com described her performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto as "displaying verve, direction and an excellent sense of musical architecture" and "a haunting tone which contrasted beautifully with color changes". The piece was "beautifully played and it moved my soul" wrote Glen Dicterow, previous concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has won grand prize and top prizes in many competitions including the Walgreen's National Concerto Competition, Luminarts Cultural Foundation Classical Music Competition, Collin County Young Artist Competition, Kearney Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Dallas Symphonic Festival and was the youngest Grand Prize winner in the history of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition which culminated in three performances of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at Washington Pavilion. She received Second Place nationally at the 2014 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior String Competition and advanced to the national finals by winning the South Dakota state and West-Central divisional performance competitions for two consecutive years.
A native of the Black Hills of western South Dakota, she began her violin studies at age three. Maya made her solo debut at age ten and has since performed as a guest artist with numerous orchestras performing works by Bruch, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Waxman, Sarasate and Vieuxtemps. She has performed at many diverse venues including the King's Summer Palace in Lyon, France, Aspen's Harris Hall, Ravinia's Bennett-Gordon Hall, Chicago's Symphony Hall and Harris Theater, Chicago Cultural Center, and other venues throughout Illinois and the Mid-West.
Since age nine, she has participated five summers in the Aspen Music Festival (2010-2013,2015) where she was named the Second Place winner in the 2015 Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Competition and nominated for the prestigious Delay Fellowship. She was one of twelve violinists selected nationally to participate in the solo-intensive Brian Lewis Young Artist Program (2011-2014). Recently, Maya was invited to participate in the student artist program at the biennial 2015 Starling-DeLay Symposium on Violin Studies held at The Juilliard School. She has also been featured in a live recorded performance at the National Music Museum on NPR's From the Top, showcasing America's best young classical musicians.
A passionate chamber musician, Maya currently performs as violinist of Quartet Degas. Degas was recently named a top prize winner in the A.N. & Pearl G. Barnett Chamber Music Competition, a finalist in the 2016 St. Paul National Chamber Music String Quartet Competition and a quarterfinalist in the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition to be held this May. She was previously a semifinalist in the 2015 Fischoff Competition as the violinist of Omorfia PianoTrio.
Maya has performed in masterclasses for Ida Kavafian, Pamela Frank, Sylvia Rosenberg, Robert McDuffie, Rachel Barton Pine, Brian Lewis, David Kim, David Updegraff and the late Stephen Clapp. In addition to playing the violin, she enjoys life on her family ranch in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest.