Violinist Isabella Brown and collaborative pianist Milana Pavchinskaya present a program of Beethoven, Beach, Howard, and Saint-Saëns live from the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center.
American violinist Isabella Brown has recently been making a name for herself on the classical music scene. Isabella was awarded a top prize in the 2019 Cooper International Competition and consequently had the privilege of debuting with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of sixteen. Her performance was praised by critics who wrote that Isabella exhibited “complete control” and “delivered an intensely lyrical and scintillating performance of the Dvořák Violin Concerto.”
More recently, Isabella was named the Winner of the 2020 Crain-Mailing CSO Young Artist Competition, and as such, she will be debuting with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the upcoming season. She was also awarded First Prize in the Professional Division of the 2020 Chicago International Music Competition, from a pool of over 400 musicians from 22 countries.
Prior to this, Isabella received First Place in numerous competitions, including the Alexander and Buono International Competition, the Asian-American International Competition, the Rockville Competition, the Confucius Competition, the Sejong Competition, the Open Junior String Division of the MYA Walgreens National Concerto Competition, and the DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers. Additionally, Isabella was named a 2019 National YoungArts Foundation Winner, and she won the 2019 Lakeview Orchestra Competition, the 2019 DuPage Symphony Orchestra Competition, and the 2020 Kishwaukee Symphony Montzka Young Artist Competition.
Isabella made her solo debut with orchestra at the age of ten, performing with the Capital Symphonic Youth Orchestra on the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater stage, and has gone on to play with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra, the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra, the New North Shore Symphony Orchestra, the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, the Lakeview Orchestra, the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, the Kishwaukee Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Cleveland Orchestra. Additionally, has been featured on radio and television, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Chicago Cultural Center, Severance Hall, Harris Theater, Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall, and Chicago’s Symphony Center.
Isabella studies violin with Almita Vamos as a Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. She is very thankful to be playing on a Dom Nicolo Marchioni detto ‘Amati’ of Bologna circa 1740, generously on loan to her from Kenneth Warren and Son, Ltd.
Milana Pavchinskaya is a well-known concert pianist, teacher, and experienced vocal and instrumental accompanist. She was born in Odessa, Ukraine, where she graduated from the famous Special Music School of Stolarsky. She continued her music education in Moscow, Russia, in the Gnessin Institute of Music with her teacher Maria Gambarian, where she got her degree in piano performance, chamber music, and accompaniment. When Milana Pavchinskaya moved to Chicago, she got her masters of music in pedagogy and performance from Northwestern University, where she was the recipient of the Hoverson Piano Award because of her musical and academic excellence.
Mrs. Pavchinskaya performs in various venues around the Chicago area, and especially enjoys collaborating with other musicians. She participates in many chamber music festivals, and can be heard at local venues, including WFMT, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Chicago Art Institute. She also made an appearance on the Oprah Show with a student, and is a frequent collaborator with members of the CSO. Currently, she is on the faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, where she teaches piano and coaches advanced string players.
Biographies courtesy of IMF Chicago.