Emerging Artists
Emerging Artists are talented young professionals who are mentored by Core Artists, and present their own public recitals and workshops at Boston Court and the Colburn School.
Thomas Mellan: 2024/25 Emerging Artist
Emerging Artist Thomas Mellon presents the Piano Sonatas of Pierre Boulez. Boulez is synonymous with music of era-defining extremes, showcasing brutal violence and sensual tenderness often in the same breath. What unifies these three pieces is their tremendous virtuosity and concern with revolutionizing musical form and rhetoric. Premieres of new 30 for 30 piano pieces by organist/composer Rashaan Allwood, underground death metal legend Colin Marston and Ukrainian virtuoso violinist Orest Smovzh round out this provocative program.
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2023-24 Emerging Artists
Emerging Artists are talented young pianists, guided by Piano Spheres’ Core Artists to present their own public recitals and workshops at Thayer Hall, Colburn School. Each artist will commission a new work from a local composer to present a world premiere. This year’s Emerging Artists are pianists Katelyn Vahala and Ashley Zhang. Each will commission a new work from a local composer and work with their mentor and composer to present a world premiere.
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2022/23 Emerging Artist: Mari Kawamura
Mari Kawamura is a concert pianist whose curiosity has taken her in a variety of directions ranging from improvisation and dance to biology and physics. Kawamura is drawn to music which utilizes the entirety of the piano as an expressive device…
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2022/23 Emerging Artist: Daniel Newman-Lessler
Noted by the LA Times for his “luxuriant theatricality”, Daniel is a composer, pianist, installationist, conductor, singer, and educator. Daniel is pursuing a DMA at California Institute of the Arts, where he directs the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble and studies composition with Nick Deyoe and Andrew McIntosh and piano with Vicki Ray.
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2021/22 Emerging Artist: Leonard Hayes
Piano Spheres presents Emerging Artist Leonard Hayes, a doctoral candidate at USC and student of Antoinette Perry, Mr. Hayes will be mentored by our Leonard Stein Resident Artist, Dr. William Chapman Nyaho. His concert, Statements, Spirituality and Sentiments, will include a commission by Leonard Hayes presents musical gems of the European and African Diaspora. This program explores the cultural and musical idioms of piano works by George Walker, Florence Price, Ellis Marsalis, and Johannes Brahms along with anecdotes. Also, this program will include a commissioned work by Dr. Bongani Ndodana-Breen.
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2021/22 Emerging Artist: Paul Cornish
Los Angeles based pianist Paul Cornish strives to inspire freedom and collaboration in his music and community.
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2020/21 Emerging Artist: Andreas Foivos Apostolou
Pianist-composer Andreas-Foivos Apostolou will be performing works by Leo Ornstein, Carl Vine, Hiromi Uehara, Tigran Hamasyan, and his own original works.
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