Matthew Hakkarainen, violin

Matthew Hakkarainen, from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2018 and studies violin with Pamela Frank. All students at Curtis receive merit-based, full-tuition scholarships, and Mr. Hakkarainen is the Horace W. Goldsmith Fellow.

Mr. Hakkarainen has appeared as a soloist with the Jacksonville Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, and the New River Orchestra. In 2018 he won first prize and three special prizes for interpretation at the Premio Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition and previously won first prize in the New World Symphony’s concerto competition, where he performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony. Mr.
Hakkarainen has also received the grand prize at the Bach Festival Society’s Young Artist Competition held at Rollins College, third place in the Alhambra Concerto Competition, and first place in the American Protégé International Concerto Competition, where he performed as a soloist in Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Hakkarainen served as concertmaster for the National Youth Orchestra of the United States for its performance tour across five cities in Asia. He served as concertmaster of the Florida All-State Orchestra for six consecutive years, and he has attended festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Castleman Quartet Program, Ferme de Villefavard Summer Academy of Music, Orford Musique, Meadowmount School of Music, and Music@Menlo. He has been featured on NPR’s From the Top and performed as a guest artist at Festival South. Also a composer, he has studied with Donald Waxman and won first place in the Florida Federation of Music Clubs composition contest.

Mr. Hakkarainen began playing the violin at age three. His other teachers have included Charles Castleman, Huifang Chen, Mauricio Fuks, Borislava Iltcheva, and Maree Sawhney. Outside of music, he has been recognized for his academic achievement as a Sunshine State Scholar and as a recipient of the National Merit Scholarship.

Zach Hoi Leong Cheong, from Hong Kong and Macau, is a student of Robert McDonald and entered Curtis in 2018.

Avery Gagliano, from Washington, D.C., is a student of Robert McDonald and entered Curtis in 2016.

Anton Mejias, from Helsinki, Finland, is a student of Ignat Solzhenitsyn and entered Curtis in 2019.

Jenny Chen, staff pianist

The Edith L. and Robert Prostkoff Memorial Concert Series. The Curtis Institute of Music receives funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.