Mini Violini 2023

Mark Chia (10 years old) – SINGAPORE

Mark Chia started playing the violin at 3 years old. He has been a top prize winner in several competitions including 2nd prize in Il Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition 2022, as well as top prizes in Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists 2021, Concorso Internazionale per Giovani Violinisti Festival 2020 and Alessandro Giuliani Violin competition 2019.

He has also participated in masterclasses with Evgeny Sinaiski, Professor Simon James, Soovin Kim, Dr. Robin Wilson, Aleksey Igudesman, and Roby Lakatos. He has been under the tutelage of Min Lee in Singapore since the age of 5.

Away from the violin, Mark also composes and improvises, and plays the piano. He also enjoys reading, playing chess, and various sports.

Mark Chia is generously sponsored by Jean Claude Baudinet.

• Listen to Mark Chia

Sofia Demetriades (14 years old) – UNITED KINGDOM

Music has been a huge part of Sofia Demetriades, since she was 4 years old. From the time she was 2, she would run into her elder sister’s violin lessons, wanting to play as well!

Sofia Demetriades gave her first public performance at 5 and her first solo performance with an orchestra at 8. Since then, she took part in many national and international violin competitions, such as the Leonid Kogan in Brussels, the Ilona Feher in Budapest, the Lipinski-Wieniawski in Lublin, and the Il Piccolo Violino Magico in San Vito al Tagliamento, winning top prizes.

She is currently playing on a violin loaned by the family of the late French luthier Georges Ambros. She has studied at the Junior Guildhall of Music and Drama in London with Anna-Liisa Bezrodny for the past five years, and now, she is attending the Junior Academy at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her music studies are supported by the British Government bursary and the A. G. Leventis Foundation, under the patronage of Maestro Marios Papadopoulos.

Sofia Demetriades is generously sponsored by Lise and John LeBoutillier.

• Listen to Sofia Demetriades

Corina Deng (15 years old) – CANADA

Corina Deng began playing the violin at 3 years old. She is studying with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music. From 2017 to 2022, she was under the tutelage of Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Corina Deng was the national winner of the 2021 MTNA competition in the USA, and one of the semifinalists in the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition. She has also won first place in the Canadian National Music Competition in 2014 and 2017.

She made her orchestral debut at 8 years old and gave her first solo recital at 10. She has played with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Vancouver Academy Orchestra, and the Richmond Orchestra & Chorus. She has been invited to play in many important events such as the Cleveland ChamberFest, NPR’s From the Top, and the Stars of Tomorrow Concerts in Heifetz Institute of Music.

She was also awarded full scholarship in the Heifetz International Music Institute, the Chamber Music Northwest Young Artist Institute, and the Morningside Music Bridge.

In her spare time, Corina enjoys ballet, reading, visiting museums, and playing duos with her sister and other forms of chamber music.

Corina Deng is generously sponsored by Nadia Moretto and David B. Sela.

• Listen to Corina Deng

Born in Japan, Himari began her violin studies at 3 years old under Koichiro Harada and Machie Oguri. She gave her professional orchestral solo debut at 6. Since 2022, Himari has studied with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Himari has won top prizes at international competitions, including grand prize in the International Competition for Young Violinists in Honour of Karol Lipinski and Henryk Wieniawski, the first prize and special grand prize at the 12th Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition in Belgium, the first prize and special prize at the 26th Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Italy, and the first Prize at the 2nd Leonid Kogan International Violin Competition in Belgium.

In 2019, she participated in the International Summer Academy held by the Mozarteum University Salzburg. She is an award winner of the concert the academy held during the 2019 Salzburg Festival, where she was the youngest participant.

Himari has played with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra, the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gunma Symphony Orchestra.

Himari plays the 1717″Hamma” Stradivarius Violin on loan from Mr.Yusaku Maezawa. These days, Himari’s hobby is making pancakes! What she is very interested in now is playing in an orchestra!

Himari is generously sponsored by Charles Parent.

• Listen to Himari

Edna Unseld (11 years old) – SWITZERLAND

Edna Unseld comes from a Swiss-German musical home where both her parents are professional violinists. She began playing the violin at 4 years old, and due to her special talent, she was soon given Anne-Sophie Mutter’s children’s violin.

In 2021, many doors opened for Edna. Maxim Vengerov invited her to his online masterclass; she won 3rd prize at the Leonid Kogan International Competition in Brussels; she played with the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gilbert Varga, in concerts for Tibor Varga in Pécs in Hungary, and in the Liszt Academy in Budapest.

In 2022, she won the international violin competition Il Piccolo Violino Magico in Italy, and the prize for special achievements at the International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists in Germany.

Edna studies at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich. She also plays in the youth orchestra Stringendo Zürich for talented young musicians. She plays on an old Italian violin by Camillo Camilli on loan from a private collection. In her free time, she dances ballet, reads a lot, and listens to recordings of her favorite violinists: Itzhak Perlman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Maxim Vengerov.

Edna Unseld is generously sponsored by Pierre-Michel D’Anglade and Amalia de Saint-Louvent.

• Listen to Edna Unseld