Audrey Vardanega Audrey Vardanega, a sixteen year old pianist, violinist and composer from Oakland, California, began studying the piano at the age of six and soon followed up with violin studies at the age of nine. In 2002 she began formal piano training with acclaimed pianist Robert Schwartz. Audrey studies the violin with violinist Victor Romasevich as well as composition with Arkadi Serper. She has taken lessons with notable names like Gary Graffman, teacher of Lang Lang, Seymour Lipkin, and Meng-Chieh Liu of Curtis University. She attends the College Preparatory School in Oakland. She has played as a violinist in A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory production of “Bright Young People” which showcases “everything you love about Noel Coward”. With poised stage performance and extraordinary technique, Audrey captivated the audience and received a rapturous standing ovation at the summer 2008 the Festival del Sole held at Napa Valley, California for her solo performance that was presented by IMG Artists. In the spring of 2008 Audrey was selected as the Debut Artist for the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and earned acclaim from the San Francisco Classical Voice for her piano solo performance citing Audrey’s “ assurance and mastery” of Bach’s Piano Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056. At the beginning of the year 2008, Audrey performed the Brandenburg Concerto 5 at the Junior Bach Festival as a solo pianist with a Crowden school ensemble. In the summer of 2010, she performed as the youngest soloist in the history of the festival with the Midsummer Mozart Festival orchestra conducted by Maestro George Cleve. She was praised for her “dexterous keyboard techniques” and “[ways] with the music’s harmonic depths” by Joshua Kosman. By Ira Steingroot, Audrey was praised as a player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists”. Steingroot adds that he “ [doesn’t] believe [he has] ever heard a teenager play with both the facility and understanding that Ms. Vardanega displayed”. A frequent winner of many awards and sponsorships as a piano soloist, chamber musician, and composer, Audrey has earned top awards and performed at various musical events. She was awarded first prize in 2007 at the U.S. Open Music Competition Showcase Concerto in the Junior Piano Division and was a finalist at the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition. Audrey was the 2006 recipient of a full scholarship to the Vienna International Young Pianists Academy in Austria where she performed as a piano soloist amongst an international group of musicians and participated in master classes. Winning two awards in 2006, the first prize Gottfried Von Einem was awarded to Audrey and she was named the first prize in the U.S. Open Music Competition Showcase Solo division. An award winning composer, Audrey adapted Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Emperor’s New Clothes, composing a fresh musical score for her adaptation, which premiered at the Lower School at The Crowden School in 2006. In 2005 Audrey was the winner for the Music Teachers’ Association of California’s Composers Today for Sonata in G (for piano solo). Audrey was one of the winners in the Yamaha Junior Jamboree in 2004 and 2003 for her original compositions Folk Tale (for piano solo) and Peter Pan Suite (for violin and piano). At 6 years old, Audrey was one of the winners for her composition Beauty Of Heart (for piano solo, in honor of the people who died in 9/11) for the Music Teachers’ Association of California’s Composers Today. Currently, Audrey has just finished writing her eight movement Ballet Suite titled Zingara. In 2008, Audrey intensively studied the piano at the International Institute for Young Musicians at Lawrence, Kansas. By invitation from the Zephyr Chamber Music Course and Festival in Courmayer, Italy in 2004, Audrey studied and performed chamber music as a pianist. Starting in 2007 Audrey has been the second violin principle at the San Francisco Conservatory’s Prep Chamber Orchestra led by noted violist and conductor Benjamin Simon. During 2008 she studied the violin at Youth Music International. A gifted and hard-working musician and composer Audrey also has participated in master classes with Paul Hersh, Lang Lang, Barbara Nissman, John McCarthy, and Jon Nakamatsu. In addition to Audrey’s professional performances, she engages audiences with recitals at community outreach events. A passionate young woman with a refined sensitivity, she studies the piano and violin for personal enjoyment and desires to engage her audience. She has performed as an ensemblist and soloist for philanthropist Alba Witkin. Alongside her musical endeavors, Audrey and her friend have recently initiated an organization called Kids for Children which uses benefit concerts to raise money for the Childrens Hospital of Oakland. Audrey enjoys spending time with friends, listening to Michael Jackson, eating Indian food, and reading.