Zandieh Trio
Cameron Zandieh began his Suzuki violin training with Ms. Marilyn Smith at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University at the age of 4, where he also participated in group classes, music theory education, chamber music and orchestral training. Beginning in September 2008, Cameron commenced his training with Ms. Ekaterina Gerson at the School for Strings in Manhattan. He advanced very quickly, taking on repertoire such as Zigeunerweisen, the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto, Max Bruch Violin Concerto #1, and several other works by composers such as Wieniawski, Sarasate, Mozart, Bach and Kreisler. In the meantime, he was a very active participant in the music program’s orchestra and chamber music activities. At age 12, Cameron was accepted to the Juilliard School’s Precollege Division as a student of Dr. Ann Setzer. During his 5 years at Juilliard, he served as the Concertmaster of the Precollege Orchestra for two seasons and was the winner of the Juilliard Precollege Violin Concerto Competition in May 2016. He is presently a violin performance major and a student of Dr. Aaron Berofsky at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where, as a freshman, he was selected as the Principal 2nd violin in the University Orchestra. Most recently, Cameron was the featured soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra during several performances of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, as well as a finalist in the 2018 MASTA Solo Competition in Michigan.
Charles Zandieh also began his cello studies at age 4 with Alex Croxton at C.W. Post on Long Island. He later transferred to the School for Strings in Manhattan at age 7, where he continued his studies with Mr. Croxton. Charlie was also exposed to theory, chamber music and orchestral performance at a young age, which catapulted him into the musical world. At age 10, Charlie was accepted into The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Program, where he currently studies with Clara Minhye Kim. He is currently a senior at Syosset High School on Long Island. At age 12, Charlie won Juilliard’s 2014 Pre-College Cello Concerto Competition and performed the Lalo Cello Concerto with the Pre-College Orchestra that February. Soon thereafter, he was featured on News 12 Long Island, the Daily News, and a special entertainment documentary on Ovation TV titled “Young Marvels.” Two years later, Charlie placed runner-up in Juilliard’s 2016 Cello Concerto Competition. Since then, he has been a winner of the Great Composers Competition and twice a merit winner in the National YoungArts Competition. Charlie also sat principal chair in the 2017 NMEA All-State Symphony Orchestra in Rochester, NY, and has been the principal seat of the Nassau County All-County Orchestra for the past 6 years. This past season, Charlie was the winner of the Senior Cello Division of the 21st New York Music Competition by YWCA of Queens, which led to a performance at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well as the 2nd prize winner in the Senior Division of the Adelphi Orchestra 2018 Competition and the 2nd place winner of Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition, performing Haydn’s D major Cello Concerto with that orchestra. This past season, Charlie again won Juilliard’s Pre-College Cello Concerto Competition and performed the Kabalevsky Cello Concerto with the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony.
Christopher Zandieh also began his Suzuki piano studies at age 4 on Long Island, and, by age 6, enrolled at the School for Strings in NYC as a student of Marina Obukovsky. He is presently 14 years old, in his fourth year of study at the Juilliard School as a student of Ernest Barretta, and a 9th-grade student at Syosset High School Long Island, where he is also the principal alto saxophonist in the Jazz Band. Christopher had his first performance at Carnegie Hall at age 6 and returned there three years later as the Grand Prix Winner of the Concert Festival International Competition. He has participated in several masterclasses within the past few years with renown pianists, including Lydia Artymiw, Andreas Klein and international virtuoso Lang Lang. In October 2014, Christopher was chosen from among 100 pianists as the featured soloist to perform for Mr. Lang as part of the international 101 Pianists Program at the Tilles Center on Long Island. In 2016, he was the 1st prize winner of the Great Composers’ Competition, and, last year, was a semi-finalist in the Kaufman International Youth Piano Competition. In December 2016, Christopher was a featured soloist at the Piano Showcase in Rochester, NY, for the annual NYS School Music Association Conference. In the same month, Christopher won the annual piano competition at Juilliard’s Pre-College Division and performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony at Peter Jay Sharp Theater in Lincoln Center. A month later, he was chosen as a finalist for the Chappaqua Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Ensemble 212 Young Artist Competition, and the NY Chamber Players Orchestra Competition. Most recently, he was the 2nd prize winner of this year’s Chappaqua Orchestra Concerto Competition. Last year, Christopher was the Grand Prize winner of the 2018 MostArts Festival, which has led to this year’s performance of the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 at the 2019 opening Gala.
All 3 brothers have performed extensively, both as soloists, as well as in chamber ensembles, across the Tri-State Area, with performances at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and Bruno Walter Theater, Steinway Hall, Ithaca College, the Tilles Center in Long Island, and all of Juilliard’s Concert Halls.
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Lisa Lantz
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MostArts Festival
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