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Guest Artists visit SFCM to share their expertise with student musicians. 

Program 

Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63
     I. Allegro moderato
Ruby Ro, violin
Amy Chiu, piano

Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
     I. Allegro moderato
Sammi Chan, violin
Amy Chiu, piano

Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19
     I. Andantino
Cuna Kim, violin
Amy Chiu, piano

Reena Esmail: Darshan
Ava Pakiam, violin

About Melissa White

American violinist Melissa White has enchanted audiences and critics around the world as both a soloist and a chamber musician. Her February 2020 performance with the National Philharmonic was deemed “absolutely breathtaking” by Maryland Theatre Guide critic Katie Gaab, who cited the “grace, precision, and warmth” of her playing in Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Reviewing the same concert for The Washington Post, Matthew Guerrieri called her “an excellent advocate, prioritizing ease and fluency over intensity, suiting the music’s lyric and episodic nature.” 

The 2022-2023 concert season abounded with achievement for Ms. White, whose rapid rise as a soloist captured the attention of orchestras and audiences worldwide. Recent orchestral performances include return engagements with the National Philharmonic and the Chicago Sinfonietta, a debut performance with The Philadelphia Orchestra (with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting), and appearances with the Richmond, Cincinnati, and Midland Symphony Orchestras, the Northwest Sinfonietta, and the Brevard Music Center and Heartland Festival Orchestras.

Ms. White made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall in June 2023, kicking off what is sure to be a milestone season of performances. Recently named 2023-2024 Joyce C. Willis Artist in Residence with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Ms. White will perform next season both alongside the orchestra and in solo recital, will host panel discussions on pertinent topics in the arts, and will work closely with string students from underserved communities in the region. Ms. White will debut as soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic in the 2023-2024 season, in addition to appearances with the Charlotte Symphony, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

A first-prize laureate in the Sphinx Competition, she has performed with such leading U.S. ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Atlanta, Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. Internationally, she has appeared as soloist with Poland’s Filharmonia Dolnoslaska; with the Colombian Youth Orchestra in a tour of that country; with the Czech National Philharmonic; and as a recitalist in Baku, Azerbaijian, and Jelenia Gora, Poland. Her film credits include a violin solo in the soundtrack to Jordan Peele’s 2019 psychological thriller Us; and in addition to her numerous classical performances she has also performed alongside several pop artists including Pharrell, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys, and Lauryn Hill. 

Outside of orchestra and recital appearances, Ms. White relishes the opportunity to perform in chamber music settings alongside close friends and colleagues. She looks forward to a 2023-2024 engagement with Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, who will appear at Wigmore Hall with star violinist Hilary Hahn, as well as upcoming collaborations with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the DUBHE Ensemble, with whom she will appear at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival and the Harris Theater in the 2023-24 season. 

Ms. White is a founding member of New York-based Harlem Quartet, where since 2006 her passion and artistry have contributed to performances hailed for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent” (Cincinnati Enquirer). Together with Harlem Quartet, she has appeared in many of the country’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, the White House, and the Kennedy Center; and toured throughout the U.S., as well as in Europe, Africa, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Harlem Quartet has collaborated closely with leading jazz musicians including Chick Corea and Gary Burton with whom their recording , “Mozart Goes Dancing” won three Grammy Awards, including the Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2013. Harlem Quartet was named quartet-in-residence at Montclair State University in the fall of 2021, and has served as the visiting quartet-in-residence at the Royal College of Music in London since 2016.

A passionate educator, Ms. White currently serves as Music Artist Faculty at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and, as of fall of 2022, she is also Professor of Music at the University at Buffalo. She looks forward to her Sarasota Music Festival debut as a faculty member in June of 2023.

Born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, she received her BMus from The Curtis Institute of Music and MMus from New England Conservatory, where her teachers included Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Donald Weilerstein, and Miriam Fried.

In addition to her musical career, Ms. White has enjoyed practicing various styles of yoga for more than a decade, and completed training in both Vinyasa and Ashtanga at Sampoorna Yoga School in Goa, India. She is the co-founder of Intermission, a groundbreaking program that unites body, mind, breath, and music-making through yoga and meditation; the program comprises sessions for students and retreats for professionals.

Melissa is represented worldwide by Dinin Arts Management & Consulting. She is incredibly grateful to be playing a c1780 Ferdinando Gagliano violin, currently on loan from Strumenti. Patron- investors can help keep this violin in Melissa’s hands by investing in it online at strumenti.com.