On Sunday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m., three students from Oberlin Conservatory will perform at the 15th annual Oberlin at Oakton music series in Oakton. The accomplished young artists include pianist San Jittakarn, violinist Mana Imaizumi, and flutist Katherine Ma, in collaboration with pianists Allison Freeman ’16 and Allie Su. Solo and duo works on the program feature composers André Jolivet, Robert Schumann, Igor Stravinsky, Sigfrid Kart-Elert, and Henryk Wieniawski.
A native of Guangzhou, China, Flutist Katherine Ma ’15 began her flute studies at the age of 11. She graduated from the Xinghai Affiliated Music School in Guangzhou and is now studying with Alexa Still. Her previous teachers include Yong Ma, Qiao Zhang, and Yizhen Ni. Katherine has participated in master classes with Carol Wincenc ’71, Mark Sparks ’82, and James Lyman ’75.
Violinist, Mana Imaizumi ’18 is a one-year exchange student from Doshisha University in Japan where she is majoring in politics. Imaizumi began her violin studies when she was five, and in 2012, became the youngest member of the Asian Youth Orchestra. She has won numerous awards in Japan, including second prize at the 2007 Student Music Competition of All Japan. Imaizumi has performed as a soloist with the Malaysia Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra, and participated in the Salzburg Music Festival. She currently studies with Marilyn McDonald.
A native of Thailand, pianist San Jittakarn ’15 began playing piano at age five and later studied with French pianist Sébastien Koch at Thailand’s Mahidol University. He has won numerous awards abroad, including first prize in the 8th National Piano Competition in Bangkok and the HRH Galyani Vadhana Award. At Oberlin, Jittakarn has won Oberlin’s John Elvin Piano Prize, the Arthur Dann Piano Competition, and the 2014 Concerto Competition. Jittakarn is a student of Monique Duphil.
The Oberlin at Oakton musical outreach series is designed to give conservatory student musicians an expanded "real world" performance opportunity for interested audiences beyond Oberlin. Students are selected through competitive auditions by Oberlin faculty members to perform in Oakton three times a year. The Jan. 25 performance, sponsored by local Oberlin alumni, will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Road in Oakton. Concerts on this series are free and open to the public. For more information, contact uucf@uucf.org.
Note: The numbers following the artist’s name designated Oberlin Conservatory class year.