Pre-concert talk with Artistic Director Barry Shiffman & artist, 2 PM

Recipient of the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant, American pianist Mackenzie Melemed’s international career continues to flourish. In the press, Melemed is consistently lauded as a consummate solo artist, a remarkably sensitive chamber musician and first-class soloist with orchestra. Melemed was also a winner of Juilliard’s 2019 Leo B. Ruiz Carnegie Hall Recital Prize and 2018 Arthur Rubinstein Prize, as well as the Jade Medal at the 2019 China International Music Competition and the first prize and chamber music prize at Finland’s 2017 Maj Lind International Piano Competition, among many others.

A Steinway Artist, Melemed has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, and the Helsinki Music Centre, as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and KBS Symphony. Melemed performed the world premiere of a new work he commissioned from Israeli-American composer Avner Dorman along with the Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach under Dorman’s baton to rave reviews.

"excellent young pianist" –New York Times
After completing both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at The Juilliard School, Melemed went on to complete his Artist Diploma there as well, where he studied with Robert McDonald and Emanuel Ax.

Melemed’s discography features world-premiere recordings: Avner Dorman’s “Three Etudes” on the Steinway and Sons label and Jeajoon Ryu’s Piano Concerto with Ralf Gothóni and Sinfonia Varsovia on the Warner Classics label.

At the age of three, Melemed’s grandfather bought him a keyboard at a yard sale, leading to his enrollment in a beginner piano course. By the time Melemed turned seven, he had given over 200 concerts for senior citizens and charitable organizations. A series of small local performances connected Melemed with Washington D.C. in 2004, and he was invited to perform at the White House Holiday Open House for five consecutive years. In 2007, only one year after beginning classical training, Melemed won the grand prize at the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition and gave his Carnegie Hall debut.