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In this concert, 3 of 6 competitors will each perform concertos with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Taiwanese pianist Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao is a dynamic performer who is in demand as a chamber musician. She has collaborated with several internationally known artists such as Lynn Harrell and Robert McDuffie, and members of the Tokyo, Emerson, and Juilliard String Quartets, among many others. She has performed at Carnegie Weill Hall and can be heard with cellist Bion Tsang on his album The Blue Rock Sessions.

After Vitaly Starikov completed his studies at the Ural Special Music School in his native Yekaterinburg, his “dream came true” when he began studying with Vera Gornostayeva, one of the world’s most venerated teachers, at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At that time, her student, Vadym Kholodenko, had just won the 2013 Cliburn Competition, which “greatly inspired” Vitaly: “and it was then that the thought was born to someday participate in this competition.”

In this concert, 3 of 6 competitors will each perform concertos with Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Kate Liu

Get ready for the ultimate buddy adventure! Bee-est friends Betty Bee and Billy Bee (no relation) are lost in the bee-autiful Fort Worth Botanic Garden and need your help to get back home. Bring the whole family to the Fuller Garden this spring for an ALL-NEW storybook exploration of nature and sound, with a classical music soundtrack sure to leave you buzzing!

Yangrui Cai began his piano studies at age 4, though none of his family had any music- or art-related background. When he was 15, a first-place finish in the national auditions earned him a spot in China’s Xinghai Conservatory of Music Middle School. Upon his graduation with distinction in July 2019, the Hunan native was admitted to several prestigious conservatories in the United States with full scholarships. He is currently a third-year undergraduate student at Oberlin Conservatory, under the tutelage of 2001 Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch.

Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, pianist Anastasia Markina started playing piano when she was 4 years old and, after winning her first competition, gave her debut public performance at the age of 10. Since then, she has received top prizes from many respected competitions in Europe, Russia, and the United States.

In this concert, 4 of 12 competitors will each perform a Mozart concerto with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

2023 Junior Festival Artists