July 24, 2009
The Bravura Young Virtuoso Trio

Performance at the Arts Council of Princeton

Featuring
Constance Lin Kaita, Pianist
Courtney Lin Kaita, Cellist
Christine Shieh, Violinist

Program
Schoenfield Cafe Music
Beethoven Piano Trio No. 4

Return to 2008-09 Season

Fourteen year old pianist Constance Lin Kaita is a student of Dr. Chiu-Ling Lin. Constance former teachers were her mother, Chiu-Tze Lin, and Ingrid Clarfield.  Constance made her orchestral solo debut at the age of nine with the Westfield Symphony.  She has also performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Biblical University Orchestra and the Shanghai Chamber Orchestra.  Constance has won numerous music awards, including 1st prize for three consecutive years for her age group in the New Jersey Music Teachers Association Young Musicians Competition, and first prize winner in the Steinway Scholarship Competition. Constance was one of the four students featured as the Rising Stars in the 2004 Beijing Music Festival, the first international exchange of its kind sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture.   She performed in the prestigious Forbidden City Concert Hall, and the People’s Congress Hall.  The performances ware broadcasted on National Television across China.   Constance has performed as a soloist on both piano and violin in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Weill Recital Hall.  

Cellist Courtney Lin Kaita, 19 years old, is a student of Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan.  Her former teachers were Julie Albers, Marnie Kaller, Irene Sharp, Katrina Kormanski and Qiang Tu.   Courtney was a first-prize winner of the New Jersey Music Teachers National Association Performance competition, and has represented New Jersey three times in the solo Strings Competition.  Courtney has appeared as the featured soloist with the Edison Symphony, Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra, High Mountain Symphony, and the Manalapan Battleground Symphony.   She has given solo performances in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall and the Merkin Concert Hall.  She has received an Honorable Mention in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, and was featured as a Rising Star at the first Beijing Music Festival, performing in venues including the Peoples Congress Hall at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City Concert Hall.  Her performances were broadcasted by CCTV across China. 

Violinist Christine Shieh, 18 years old, is the concertmistress of the 2008-09 New Jersey All-State High School Honor Orchestra. She is also a member of the 2009 MENC All-Eastern Honors Orchestra, a prestigious orchestra that selects top musicians of thirteen east-coast states. She has won the silver medal of the Bravura Philharmonic Young Artists Concerto Competition. Christine is a student of Hua-Yi Wang.  Her former teachers were Naoka Tanaka and Fei-Ni Xu.  Christine has won the Grand Prize at the Young People’s Music Program’s Twentieth Anniversary String Competition.   In 2007, Christine was invited by the Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival and International Children’s Cultural and Art Festival committee to perform as a featured soloist at various art centers in Shanghai including the Shanghai Grand Theater, the performance was broadcasted by CCTV.