Michelle Nam - 2015 Award Winner 

Pianist Michelle Yelin Nam has been praised for her “silvery clarity, brilliant talent with a highly overt and dynamic temperament,” (Montreal Gazette) playing “in the manner of the greats, before having their age” (La Presse).

She has a performance engagement with Jefferson City Symphony Orchestra in May with Prokofiev Concerto No.3. Her concerto credits include multiple performances with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kent Nagano, Heinrich Schiff, and Jacques Lacombe. She has also appeared with the Edmonton Symphony and ensembles in New York City, Seoul, and Halifax in repertoire spanning from Mozart and Beethoven, to Grieg, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff Prokofiev. She has played Mozart’s Triple Piano Concerto and the premiere of Jacques Hétu’s Triple Concerto with Andre-Laplante and Alain Lefevre with the Montreal Symphony; the latter is featured on the CBC’s Jacques Hétu’s symphonique disc.

As a recitalist she recently gave a twenty city Canadian tour throughout Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes featuring the music of Chopin, Mendelsohn and Schubert ; these performances were frequently simulcast on radio. She has also played recitals at Banff and Orford Art Centers, Houses of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, as well as venues in Calgary and Vancouver, among others. CBC Records has produced a live recital CD and DVD of Ms. Nam in 2007. This spring she presented a New York City recital of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

Also active as a chamber musician, her collaborations include a version of Ravel’s La Valse for dancers and duo piano that critics praised as one of Hartford, Connecticut’s best performances of the year. Her piano trio recently appeared in a master class with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She has also performed numerous community engagement concerts in Connecticut for churches, schools, and senior centers.

Ms. Nam recently moved to Kansas City to pursue her DMA with Dr.Weirich at UMKC. She completed an Artist Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Phillip Kawin and received the School’s Eugene Istomin Scholarship. She previously completed her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School, studying under Julian Martin and received Alexander Siloti scholarships. Ms. Nam also holds degrees from McGill University and the Hartt School of the University of Hartford where her previous teachers include Richard Raymond and Hae Sun Paik. She has also received awards from the Anne Burrows Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, Winspear Foundation for the Arts, Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer competition, International Stepping Stone, and first prize at the International Keyboard Institution and Festival in New York. A Canadian citizen now based in NYC, Ms. Nam grew up in Seoul until the age of 15. When not practicing she enjoys Moksha Yoga and cooking noodles in various ways.