2021 Young Artists

Chih-ta, 23 won the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award at NEC in 2018, resulting in a performance with the Borromeo String Quartet. Chih-Ta is currently pursuing his B.M. degree at the Curtis Institute as a student of Hsin-Yun Huang and Misha Amory. His string quartet, the Nico Quartet, was selected to be the NEC Honors Ensemble for the 2018-2019 season, receiving special guidance and performance opportunities. He is passionate about the string quartet repertoire and aspires to play in a professional quartet one day. Besides music, he also enjoys playing badminton.

Po-Wei, 25 has a B.M from Manhattan School of Music, a M.M. and M.MA from Yale School of Music as a student of Melvin Chen.  His musical achievements include performing with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, being admitted into the Yale School of Music, and invited to attend Taos this summer. He aspires to organize a chamber music series with close friends and perform throughout Taiwan. Outside music Po-Wei likes video games and, although by no means a good one, likes to cook.

Abigail, 24 is currently pursuing her M.M. degree at The Juilliard School as a Dorothy Delay Scholarship Recipient and a student of Catherine Cho. She earned her B.M. from the New England Conservatory as the Presser Foundation Scholar of her class. Abigail won top prizes at the Fischoff and Plowman Competitions and is a Morse and MAP Teaching Artist at The Juilliard School. Abigail has performed at numerous festivals including Lucerne, Olympic, Norfolk, Yellow Barn, Music@Menlo, Spoleto, and Casals as well as with The Charleston Symphony, New Haven Symphony, New World Symphony, and A Far Cry. Abigail loves hiking, coffee, cutting hair, dogs, and being in a hammock. This is her second summer at Taos.

Annie, 21 is currently attending Northwestern University for her B. M. performance as a student of Hans Jorgen Jensen. She was a participant of the New York String Orchestra Seminar and toured with Michael Tilson Thomas and Marin Alsop as Principal Cellist of the National Youth Orchestra in 2017 and 2018. Her favorite musical memories are of touring abroad, sharing music with new audiences, and learning about different cultures and methods of communication through musical interaction. Annie loves cooking/baking and has always loved reading and writing and will enjoy traveling once it is safe to do so. Her family moved a lot during her childhood, so she has a lot to share about those geographical locations/homes. Her second favorite thing is her love of dogs and her dog especially which she confesses is “ridiculously spoiled.”

Evan, 22 is studying at the Colburn School as a student of Robert Lipsett. He was the recipient of the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Scholarship and his string quartet (The Hart Quartet) won the Ziering-Conlin Initiative for Recovered Voices Showcase and Competition in 2019. His musical goals is to perform with a string quartet in residency somewhere or be a concertmaster of a great orchestra. His favorite musical memory is a two-week tour to China with the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, under the direction of Charles Dutoit performing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Other than music Evan has many interests: watching NBA or playing a pick-up game at the court, fitness, and boxing. He rides a motorcycle to get around the non-stop traffic in L.A. His second favorite thing is tied with ice cream and traveling. This is his second summer at Taos.

Colin, 27 has earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), Glenn Gould School (A.D.) and will be going to Yale for a M.M.A. as a student of Ettore Causa. He hopes to pursue a diversity of professional experiences as a chamber musician, ranging from historical performances to contemporary art music. In addition to playing both violin and viola, Colin is a composer. His best musical memory is working with the pioneering minimalist composer Terry Riley on one of his compositions for string quartet. His second favorite thing, other than music, is cinema. His brother Orin, a violinist, is an alum of Taos from 2017.

Clara, 19 is currently studying at the Juilliard School as a student of  Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman.  She is a Kovner Fellow at Juilliard and winner of the National Young Arts Foundation competition. Clara seeks to forge authentic human connections through music-making. Her most recent music memory is “sight-reading Brahms B flat Sexted outside in Central Park in October of this year. It was my first time seeing or playing with some of my closest friends in many, many months, and my first time reading this masterpiece. I will never forget the overwhelming joy and energy of that reading! Outside music Clara love playing ping-pong and chess, and baking. She is an avid pancake enthusiast and loves sampling different types, especially Dutch Babies!!

Jasmine, 24  has degrees from Northwestern (B.M. as a student of Hans Jensen) and the New England Conservatory (M.M. as a student of Yeesun Kim). She as attended the Aspen, Sarasota, Great Mountains, and YAP@Ottawa National Arts Centre summer music festivals. She seeks a career in chamber music. Her favorite musical memory is returning to her childhood music school and mentoring young cellists. Outside music Jasmine loves photography and illustration. Second to music she loves cooking.

Jacob, 23 has degrees from New England Conservatory (B.M.) and Rice University Shepherd School of Music (M.M) as a student of Desmond Hoebig. His awards include 1st prize at the Shepherd School of Music Concerto Competition in 2020, a Fischer Prize named scholarship in ’19-’21, a Merit Scholarship at the New England Conservatory from ’15-’19, and Principal Cello at the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra ’19-’20. His favorite musical memory is flinging a loose baby tooth out of his mouth as a boy at the the Met while hitting a high note and watching the tooth soar into the audience during a live in HD taping of The Magic Flute. Outside music Jakob is a licensed sailor and scuba diver, avid reader, cyclist, and amateur chef.

Chaojun, 26 earned a B.M. and B.A. in French from Bard Conservatory. Her 80-page senior thesis focused on the relation of music and Henri Bergson’s philosophy. She has just completed her M.M. from the Juilliard School as a student of Hung-Kuan Chen. She will be collaborating with Grammy award winner and jazz recording artists, Bob James after attending Taos this summer.  She aspires to create more accessible platforms for people from various backgrounds to listen to classical music; to introduce great music from lesser-known composers and perform music from other sources to piano.  Her favorite musical memories are sharing/performing/teaching music in different countries for audiences of divergent backgrounds. Her hobbies include Bikram yoga and collecting reproductions of ancient Chinese landscape paintings. During the pandemic she began wroting reviews for movies, books, and music CDs.  Other than music Chaojun loves travel, visiting museums, exploring great food around the world, or just lying in Central Park with her two finches.