NYIPC Winner Mackenzie Melemed Performs at Temple Emanu-El Today

The accomplished young pianist Mackenzie Melemed, winner of The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation's 2012 New York International Piano Competition (NYIPC) will be heard in recital this afternoon, December 15th at 3:00 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El, 1 East 65th St., New York, NY. The concert is part of The Stecher and Horowitz Foundation's 2013-14 Young Artists Series.

The complete program follows:

Scarlatti:
Bach: Beethoven: Brahms:
Liszt: Rachmaninoff: Avner Dorman:

Sonata in G Major, K. 55, L. 335
Aria Variata alla Maniera Italiana in A minor, BWV 989 Sonata No. 12 in A flat Major, Op. 26
Four Piano Pieces, Op. 119
Fune?railles
E?tudes-Tableaux, Op. 33
3 E?tudes

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, visit stecherandhorowitz.org.

Mackenzie Alan Melemed was born on February 27, 1995, in Newton, Massachusetts. He began playing the piano at the age of four and began classical training at the age of ten. Since 2000, he has performed over 600 concerts for senior citizens, charitable organizations, and at local schools encouraging students to share their talents within their communities. In May, 2003, Mackenzie portrayed the young Mozart in a Discovery Channel "Medical Mystery" series. Mackenzie was asked to perform for President Bush at a fundraiser in Boston in early 2004 and subsequently performed traditional holiday music at the White House Holiday Open House. He performed there for five consecutive years. In the summer of 2004, he spent seven weeks at the Tropicana Resort in Atlantic City, NJ, where he performed 62 shows alongside other performers from around the world in a production called "Prodigy."

Mackenzie won the grand prize in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition only a year after beginning classical training, resulting in a performance at Weill Recital Hall in 2006. In November of that year, he was the only child to be named an "Everyday Hero" from Anna Maria College in Massachusetts. The following year, he won the ASCAP Irving Berlin Summer Camp Scholarship, and was asked to perform at the awards ceremony held at Lincoln Center in New York City. He placed in many competitions following his Carnegie Hall debut at age 11, and performed on the PBS television show, "From the Top: Live at Carnegie Hall" at Zankel Recital Hall in 2008. In 2009, he performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra. Also in 2009, he was the second place winner of the Steinway Society of Boston's Young Artist Competition. He was the second place winner the following year as well.

In 2010, Mackenzie won the first prize at the A. Ramon Rivera Piano Competition held at the Rivers Conservatory in Weston, MA. In addition to winning the first prize, he also won the Inge Holleck Prize for the best performance of a Bach Prelude and Fugue. Later that year, he applied for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra II, an online orchestra competition created by Michael Tilson Thomas. Mackenzie was the youngest finalist in the competition, and was one of twelve pianists chosen from over one hundred piano applications worldwide. In late 2010, Mackenzie, through "From the Top", was asked to perform at the opening gala for the "American Wing" at the MFA in Boston. Mackenzie performed Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto three times during the 2010-11 season: with the Quincy Symphony (MA), the Wellesley Symphony (MA), and with the New England Philharmonic. Mackenzie appeared again on "From the Top" in January of 2011, this time, on the radio show at New England Conservatory's Jordan Recital Hall in Boston.

Last summer, Mackenzie won the Special Prize for the Best Performance of Required Commissioned Etudes written by Avner Dorman at the 2012 New York International Piano Competition. He also won the 5th prize at the 2012 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the highest ranking competitor from the United States. In previous years, Mackenzie has attended PianoSummer, a three week institute and festival under the artistic direction of Vladimir Feltsman, for four years. In May, Mackenzie gave multiple solo recitals throughout the Czech Republic in partnership with the American Spring Music Festival. In June, Mackenzie gave multiple performances in China with a group of high school students from the New England area. Later in the summer, Mackenzie attended the Banff Piano Masterclass Festival in Alberta, Canada; there, he studied with Tamas Ungar and Hamish Milne.

Mackenzie previously studied with Alexander Korsantia, a professor at the New England Conservatory. He is currently attending the Juilliard School and studying with Robert McDonald. Aside from music, Mackenzie has a passion for foreign languages and also hopes to someday get his private pilot license. He is a graduate of the Bancroft School in Worcester, MA.

Melvin Stecher and Norman Horowitz, Executive Directors of the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, have devoted a lifetime to the musical education of young people. Internationally recognized as one of the most distinguished duo-piano teams of their generation, Stecher and Horowitz are equally renowned for their multi-faceted activities as performers, teachers, composers, and educational consultants - activities that have earned them a unique position in the world of music. Having been co-directors of the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts for 39 years, (1960-1999) it was apparent to both principals that the most important years for developing interested young musicians were the pre-teen years and into the early twenties, a good decade of concentrated and formative development. The New York Piano Competition was originally founded on this premise.

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