French violinist Chloé Kiffer, - Kreeger Museum Bios...French violinist Chloé Kiffer, a 2014 Heifetz alumna, was born to a family of musicians and started playing the violin at the

French violinist Chloé Kiffer, a 2014 Heifetz alumna, was born to a family of musicians and started playing the violin at the age of six. She has been a top prizewinner in competitions and festivals all around Europe. Chloé won the prestigious “prix de la vocation” from the Bleustein-Blanchet Foundation in 2012. After coming to the United States to continue her studies, she won the 2013 Eisenberg-Fried String Concerto Competition at the Manhattan School of Music, where she performed Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto in

D at the school’s opening concert under conductor George Manahan. Chloé has performed as a chamber musician and orchestral soloist in concerts and at festivals all around Europe, as well as Israel, China, Canada, and the United States. She entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris at the age of 15 and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Violin Performance. She went on to earn an Artist Diploma from the Saarland Höchschule für Musik in Germany, and is currently attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York, pursuing a postgraduate degree as a student of Pinchas Zukerman and Heifetz Institute faculty violinst Patinka Kopec.

2013 Heifetz Institute alumna Katharina Kang has performed as a soloist in some of the world’s great orchestral venues, including the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Bolshoi Zal (Grand Concert Hall) of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Her performances have been broadcast by such prestigious European broadcasters as the BBC, West German Radio, and Magyar Radio of Budapest. Katharina has worked with such notable conductors as Dmitri Kitayenko, Alondra de la Parra, Ruben

Gazarian, and Neeme Järvi. During the past year, Katharina has appeared at a Visting-Artist-In-Residence as part of the Heifetz Institute’s “Heifetz On Tour” touring programs in the Shenandoah Valley, the Jamestown Arts Center in Rhode Island, and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Korea, Katherina grew up in Germany and attended the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf. She came to the US to study with Pinchas Zukerman and Heifetz faculty member Patinka Kopec at the Manhattan School of Music. She is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in studies with Jaime Laredo at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

As an avid chamber musician and soloist, violist Andrew Gonzalez (Heifetz 2012 and ‘13), has collaborated with such world-class musicians as Itzhak Perlman, and Heifetz Institute faculty members Daniel Phillips, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Nobuko Imai, and Amit Peled. He performed last summer at the prestigious Music@Menlo festival in California, and the last two seasons with New York City’s acclaimed Bargemusic series. In the spring of 2013, Andrew appeared as soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra in a performance of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote under the direction of the National Symphony Orchestra’s former conductor Leonard Slatkin. A former winner of the Sphinx competition for minority musicians, Andrew is currently a student of Heifetz faculty member Heidi Castleman at the Juilliard School of Music. He looks forward to pursuing a master’s degree at the Juilliard School under the direction of violists Michael Tree and Steven Tenenbom.

YiQun Xu, a native of China, is the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at the Juilliard School, where she enrolled in September 2014 after studying at the Heifetz Institute last summer. YiQun was a BM candidate at the Colburn Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Ronald Leonard. She graduated with honors from the New England Conservatory Preparatory program at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Massachusetts, where she was a student of Laurence Lesser, president emeritus of NEC, who will also be joining the Heifetz Institute cello faculty in 2015. YiQun came to the US from China’s Central Conservatory of Music Preparatory Middle School, where she won top prizes in China’s national cello competitions as well as first prizes in the 2008 Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Croatia and the 2010 ASTA National Solo Competition. She has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States.

Anton Smirnoff is a member of the Heifetz Institute’s outstanding piano and collaborative faculty, who prepare, coach, rehearse, and perform a dizzying range of repertoire with the Institute’s 80 string players each summer. Anton began his piano studies at age of seven, and has given more than 1000 public performances worldwide. Anton is a prizewinner of many international piano competitions, including the ���Moscow International Competition for Young Musicians, the Russian Music Competition, the Oberlin Concerto Competition, and in October 2014, the NTD International Piano Competition in New York. He has also been honored by the Russian Government with several special talent scholarships. He was selected to participate in Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 2010 and in 2013. His most recent performances include Zankel Hall of

Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anton has participated in many international music festivals including the International Program “New Names” in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Vladimir Spivakov Festival, Irkurtsk Jazz International Festival, Cassalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy, Banff master classes and most recently, the Sarasota International Festival. Currently Anton is finishing his Master of Music Degree at Yale School Of Music, studying with Professor Hung-Kuan Chen.