About the Artists
Keila Wakao
Japanese-American violinist Keila Wakao was awarded the 1st prize and the Junior Composer Award in the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition. She was also the 1st prize winner of the Stulberg International String Competition and was awarded the Bach prize in 2021.
Keila has performed solos and recitals throughout the United States, Japan, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom in venues such as the Cadogan Hall (London), Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore), Jordan Hall (Boston), Carnegie Hall (New York), and Hibiki Hall (Japan). This season, Keila will be performing with the Reading Symphony, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Lexington Symphony, and the Eugene Symphony.
Keila Wakao began playing the violin at the age of 3. At age 6, the late Mr. Joseph Silverstein accepted Keila as a student. Keila is currently an eleventh grader at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and studies with Donald Weilerstein and Soovin Kim at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. She has also been receiving Kyoko Takezawa’s private instruction in Japan.
Keila plays on a 1745 fine old Italian violin by G.B Guadagnini, on generous loan from the Florian Leonhard Fellowship.
Ethan Murphy
Janice Lu
Born in Taiwan in 1996, pianist Yun Janice Lu made her orchestral debut with the Taiwan Youth Orchestra. She has appeared in recitals as soloist in Kaohsiung City Music Hall and Jhih-De Hall in Taiwan, Europe, and North America.
An avid chamber musician, Janice has appeared at numerous music festivals, including Walnut Hill Music Festival, Academie Internationale d’Ete de Nice, PianoTexas Festival, PianoFest in the Hamptons, Music Academy of the West, Taos Chamber Music Festival, and Four Season Chamber Music Festival. At the renowned Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival in California, she studied with Clive Greensmith of the Tokyo String Quartet and with Gilbert Kalish, Glenn Dicterow, Erin Keefe, Paul Neubauer, and Wu Han.
Janice obtained her Bachelor of Music degree at California State University Fullerton School of Music under the tutelage of Ning An. Janice earned a Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Wei-Yi Yang. While at Yale, Janice was awarded the Elizabeth Parisot Prize for outstanding pianists.
Janice is currently working on her doctorate at the New England Conservatory, where she studies with Alessio Bax and Alexander Korsantia.