Nadia Azzi (born August 11, 1998 in

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin ( ) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa Bay Area, Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater ...

) is an American classical pianist of Lebanese-

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

origin. Fluent in Japanese and English, she began playing piano at age four and a half and has won many awards since then. She currently resides in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Studies

Currently a student of the

Colburn School The Colburn School is a private performing arts school in Los Angeles with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Trudl Zipper Dance Instit ...

, Azzi studies with

Fabio Bidini Fabio Bidini (born 11 June, 1968) is an Italian pianist. He was a top prize winner at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in 1992 and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. He is currently on the faculty at the Co ...

. She had previously been a pre-college student of

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, studying with

Yoheved Kaplinsky Yoheved "Veda" Kaplinsky (born March 23, 1947, in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine Israel.html" ;"title="ow Israel">ow Israel is a lecturer and professor of music at the Juilliard School. She heads the Pre-College department at Juilliard. ...

, and graduated high school at the

Professional Performing Arts School The Professional Performing Arts School, colloquially known as PPAS, is a public middle and high school specializing in the performing arts, located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. PPAS maintains professional pa ...

. Azzi had studied during the summer at the

Aspen Music Festival and School The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a European classical music, classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music stu ...

, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, among others. She is on the

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Talent Identification Program The Duke University Talent Identification Program (commonly referred to as "Duke TIP") was a gifted education program based at Duke University. Founded in 1980 as one of the first pre-collegiate studies programs offered by an American university, ...

(Duke TIP) listing for the most academically gifted students and is a member of the

American Mensa Mensa International is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa ...

. She actively promotes music through numerous outreach programs and community services both in solo and chamber music performances.

Career

In 2010, she made her

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

debut performing at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

. She later returned to Carnegie Hall for performances on two other occasions. In the summer of 2010, Azzi had her European debut at the Teatro Communale in

Sterzing Sterzing (; ) is a comune in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It is the main town of the southern Wipptal, and the Eisack River flows through the medieval town. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Hi ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She also performed in many places in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. Azzi's Canadian debut was featured on

Radio Canada International Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Prior to 1970, RCI was known as the CBC International Service ("CBC IS"). The broadcasting service was also previously ref ...

. She was also featured exclusively on the "Impromptu" program on 98.7

WFMT WFMT (98.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, with a classical music radio format. It is part of Window to the World Communications, Inc, in the same company as Chicago's PBS member station WTTW. WFMT seeks donations ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, carrying classical music programming. Her orchestral debut at the age of 12 led her to perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Boston Neapolitan Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge, MA under the baton of conductor Jon Ceander Mitchell. She has been a soloist with several other orchestras since then, including the Tampa Bay Symphony, Northwest Indiana Symphony, New Philharmonic Orchestra, and Juilliard Pre-College String Ensemble under distinguished conductors. She performed in Montreal in July 2014 at the Salle Bourgie with the

Orchestre de la Francophonie The Orchestre de la Francophonie is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal. It was founded in as temporary orchestra to play at the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie (Francophone Games) in Canada. However, it went on to become a permanent orche ...

under conductor

Jean-Philippe Tremblay Jean-Philippe Tremblay (born 1978) is a Canadian orchestra conductor. In addition to an international career as guest conductor, he is the founding Artistic Director and chief conductor of the Montreal based Orchestre de la Francophonie The Orch ...

. In 2012, she made her debut at the

Newport Music Festival Newport Classical, previously known as Newport Music Festival, is an annual chamber music-oriented music festival and year-round classical music arts organization in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in July 1969. The festival consists of dozen ...

. Also in 2012, Azzi played on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

From the Top From the Top is an independent nonprofit organization known best for its longstanding NPR radio and PBS television programs with the same name. Co-founded by Gerald Slavet and Jennifer Hurley-Wales in 1995, the organization showcases and devel ...

radio program. In 2013 and 2014, she performed at the Junior Piano Academy Eppan in Italy, the Bravo Niagara International Music Festival in Canada, the 15th

Youth America Grand Prix Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is a non-profit international youth ballet and contemporary dance competition and scholarship program established in 1999. Overview Each year, over 10,000 dancers participate in the competitions and auditions YAGP ...

Anniversary Celebration at

David H. Koch Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet and dance at Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally named the New York State Theater, the venue has been home to the New York City Ballet sinc ...

in Lincoln Center,

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...

, and in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

by an invitation from the Florida House on Capitol Hill. Nadia appeared on ''

Arabs Got Talent ''Arabs Got Talent'' () is an Arab reality television talent show broadcast by MBC 1 in the Arab world; it is produced by the MBC and was first broadcast on 14 January 2011. The show features contestants with a variety of talents, such as singin ...

'' in 2015 and got the golden buzz from MBC Group TV Director

Ali Jaber Ali Jaber () (born 1961) is a Lebanese journalist, media consultant, TV personality and the Group TV Director of MBC, the Arab world's largest satellite broadcaster. Academic and leadership Mr. Jaber completed a bachelor's degree in business ad ...

, automatically qualifying her to the semi-final round. Co-host

Raya Abirached Raya Abirached (, born 12 May 1977) is a Lebanese TV presenter and celebrity journalist at MBC. She is best known for co-hosting the hit TV talent show, Arabs Got Talent. She also hosts ''Scoop with Raya'', a show which provides news and ...

dubbed her the "golden girl." Jaber told her, "Nadia, you are magnificent, you raise the name of

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

and of Lebanon. I am so very proud of you." She placed in the top 3 in the semi-final round.

Awards

* Gold Medal at the 2010 and 2012 "Passion of Music" Festival by the American Association for the Development of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) * Youngest winner of the 2010 Orfeo International Music Festival Competition in Italy. * First prize in the Overall and the ART New Music Awards at the 2011 New Music National Young Artist Competition in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. * Winner of the 2011 Tampa Bay Symphony Young Artist Competition. * Grand Prize Winner of the 2012 Crescendo International Music Competition. * First Prize Winner of the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition * Second Prize and Audience Prize Winner of the 2013 Thousand Islands International Chopin Piano Competition * First Prize of the 2014 Nordmann Scholarship Competition, which gave her a full tuition merit scholarship to continue her study at Juilliard Pre-College Division * First Prize at the Western instrument category of 2014

Sinovision SinoVision () was a U.S.-based Chinese language television network. SinoVision has offices in Lower Manhattan, Flushing, and Brooklyn. It has correspondents in Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston. SinoVision ...

Teen's Talent Show

References

External links

official website

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Interviews

NBC News interview

Channel 14 interview

St. Petersburg Times ArticleTampa Tribune ArticleDunedin Beacon ArticleFrom the Top broadcast Pasco Tribune ArticleTalent Notesiaam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azzi, Nadia 1998 births Living people American women classical pianists American classical musicians of Japanese descent American women musicians of Japanese descent American people of Lebanese descent People from Dunedin, Florida Mensans 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American classical pianists