Institute for Concert Artists (Artist Diploma)

Introducing New Generations of NEC Concert Artists to the Global Stage
The Institute for Concert Artists at NEC (ICA at NEC) offers a transformative experience for artists of extraordinary talent who are on the threshold of major performing careers. A dynamic pathway to launching a professional life, this two-year, highly selective program provides ICA artists with curated access to preeminent performers and innovative arts leaders, individualized mentorship from NEC’s esteemed faculty, and a dedicated advisor. ICA Artists are awarded NEC’s prestigious Artist Diploma and emerge from the program comprehensively equipped to navigate the demands of a professional career with confidence and vision.
The ICA at NEC focuses on three key pillars: complementing artistic excellence with comprehensive professional readiness; creating connections within the NEC community and the professional world; and introducing new generations of NEC concert artists to the global stage. Accordingly, ICA artists receive a full-tuition scholarship, stipend, and are eligible for support for travel and artistic projects. They are also featured on the newly launched NEC Concert Artists Series, a showcase for musicians in NEC’s professional programs.

Meet the Concert Artists
Audition for the ICA at NEC
The Institute for Concert Artists is home to NEC’s prestigious Artist Diploma program for musicians in the following disciplines:
Audition Requirements
All programs require a prescreening video recording or portfolio due at the online application deadline of December 1. Follow the repertoire and instructions below closely. Applicants who advance through the prescreening round will be invited to audition live at NEC or, in select situations, submit a final audition recording.
Take the Next Step
Are you interested in becoming a Concert Artist? Connect with our admissions team for more information about the application process, audition requirements, and benefits of an NEC education.

ICA Advisor: Gloria Chien
Concert artists will be advised by pianist Gloria Chien ’99, ’01 MM, ’04 DMA, who is also the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest, String Theory, and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.
Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by the The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a position she held for the next decade.
In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, OR in 2020. They were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.Most recently, Gloria released two albums – her Gloria Chien LIVE from the Music@Menlo LIVE label and Here With You with acclaimed clarinetist Anthony McGill on Cedille Records. Gloria received her bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and she is a Steinway Artist.
Advisory Council
As an essential component of the program, the Institute for Concert Artists Advisory Council is a group of industry experts and creative innovators who serve as thought partners for ICA leadership, providing perspective and counsel on programming and guidance for NEC Concert Artists to support and strengthen their success.
Council Members
Robert Ainsley
Artistic & General Director, The Glimmerglass Festival
Leif Ove Andsnes
Pianist
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Countertenor; General Director and President, Opera Philadelphia
Khori Dastoor
General Director and CEO, Houston Grand Opera
Hilary Hahn
Violinist
Anthony McGill
Principal Clarinet, NY Philharmonic
Aoife O’Donovan
Singer and Songwriter
Abhijit Sengupta
Director of Artistic Planning, Carnegie Hall
Event spotlight
NEC Concert Artists Series
Check back soon for upcoming events.
Past Fellows
Our alumni have emerged as some of the brightest stars, performing on the world’s most prestigious stages—from the Berlin Philharmonic and BBC Proms to the Hollywood Bowl. They hold teaching positions at renowned institutions such as the New England Conservatory, Juilliard School, Seoul National, Indiana University and SUNY Stony Brook, and are active members of esteemed chamber ensembles as well as influential artistic leaders in the classical music world.
Geneva Lewis ’22 AD, Violin
Maria Ioudenitch ’22 AD, Violin
Inmo Yang ’19 AD, Violin
Alexi Kenney ’17 AD, Violin
Yoojin Jang ’15 AD, Violin
Xiang Angelo Yu ’14 AD, Violin
Karen Gomyo ’07 AD, Violin
Korbinian Altenberger ’07 AD, Violin
Susie Park ’06 AD, Violin
Stefan Jackiw ’06 AD, Violin
Yura Lee ’05 AD, Violin
Carolin Widmann ’99 AD, Violin
Irina Muresanu ’98 AD, Violin
Bing Jing Yu ’98 AD, Violin
Joanna Kurkowicz ’98 AD, Violin
Lara St. John ’96 AD, Violin
Jason Horowitz ’96 AD, Violin
Kanako Ito ’96 AD, Violin
Jennifer Shizuka Frautschi ’96 AD, Violin
Karen Eunjung Lee ’93 AD, Violin
Ben Sayevich ’84 AD, Violin
Joseph Scheer ’83 AD, Violin
Takako Masame ’82 AD, Violin
Fudeko Takahashi ’80 AD, Violin
Marietta Vogel Henny ’65 AD, Violin
Hiroko Abe ’64 AD, Violin
Ayrton Adelino Teixeira Pinto ’57 AD, Violin
Si Hon Ma ’52 AD, Violin
Marilyn Olson ’49 AD, Violin
Beth Guterman ’09 AD, Viola
Dimitri Murrath ’08 AD, Viola
Leland Ko ’24 AD, Cello
Jonathan Swensen ’23 AD, Cello
Timotheos Petrin ’21 AD, Cello
Brannon Cho ’19 AD, Cello
Narek Hakhnazaryan ’11 AD, Cello
Min-Ji Kim ’05 AD, Cello
Daniel Lee ’03 AD, Cello
Gavriel Lipkind ’01 AD, Cello
Alexei Romanenko ’00 AD, Cello
Rafael Popper-Keizer ’99 AD, Cello
Suren Bagratuni ’93 AD, Cello
Peter Stumpf ’90 AD, Cello
Paul Marleyn ’89 AD, Cello
Hillel Zori ’89 AD, Cello
Christopher Costanza ’89 AD, Cello
Andres Diaz ’87 AD, Cello
Kim Scholes ’85 AD, Cello
Satoshi Akitsu ’82 AD, Cello
Rebecca Seiver ’81 AD, Cello
Li Ke Chang ’81 AD, Cello
Young Chang Cho ’80 AD, Cello
Koji Yanagida ’80 AD, Cello
Imke Heitmann ’65 AD, Cello
Yutong Sun ’22 AD, Piano
Changyong Shin ’25 AD, Piano
Evren Ozel ’25 AD, Piano
George Li ’22 AD, Piano
Cristian Budu ’16 AD, Piano
Lukáŝ Vondráček ’12 AD, Piano
Christopher Guzman ’07 AD, Piano
Minsoo Sohn ’04 AD, Piano
Sonia S. Chan ’04 AD, Piano
Ning An ’03 AD, Piano
Roberto Poli ’02 AD, Piano
Eduardo Monteiro ’02 AD, Piano
Juyeon Kang ’01 AD, Piano
Jung Hee Shin ’99 AD, Piano
Hee-Sung Joo ’99 AD, Piano
Katherine Chi ’97 AD, Piano
Soojin Park ’96 AD, Piano
Max Levinson ’95 AD, Piano
Rina Dokshitsky ’93 AD, Piano
Ran Zemach ’93 AD, Piano
Tian Ying ’93 AD, Piano
HaeSun Paik ’92 AD, Piano
Sergey Schepkin ’92 AD, Piano
Kenneth Kelter ’90 AD, Piano
Hung-Kuan Chen ’88 AD, Piano
Norman Krieger ’86 AD, Piano
Stephen Drury ’85 AD, Piano
Yang Wang ’85 AD, Piano
Sally Pinkas ’84 AD, Piano
Janice Li-Yen Lin ’84 AD, Piano
William Lutes ’83 AD, Piano
Mihae Lee ’83 AD, Piano
Randall Hodgkinson ’82 AD, Piano
Carol Rankin ’81 AD, Piano
Christopher O’Riley ’81 AD, Piano
Stephen Lazarus ’81 AD, Piano
Benjamin Pasternack ’81 AD, Piano
Thomas Stumpf ’80 AD, Piano
Dragana Bajalovic ’80 AD, Piano
Lois Shapiro ’79 AD, Piano
Susan Elizabeth Lauck ’77 AD, Piano
Jack Gedzelman ’75 AD, Piano
Yasuo Watanabe ’73 AD, Piano
Guity Adjoodani ’73 AD, Piano
Edward B. Wood ’72 AD, Piano
Ronald Kmieć ’72 AD, Piano
Tibor Szász ’71 AD, Piano
Pola Baytelman ’71 AD, Piano
Prudence Choi ’70 AD, Piano
Chang Hyun Nam ’70 AD, Piano
Bang Sook Lee ’70 AD, Piano
David Crohan ’70 AD, Piano
Sandra Thidemann ’67 AD, Piano
John Willis ’64 AD, Piano
Yasuko Tsukamoto ’64 AD, Piano
David Tyler ’62 AD, Piano
June Hopps ’60 AD, Piano
Reginald Hachey ’60 AD, Piano
David Norton Beyer ’60 AD, Piano
Clara Lenuzza ’59 AD, Piano
Buckner Gamby ’56 AD, Piano
Adriana “Tan” Crone ’55 AD, Piano
Alain Bernheim ’53 AD, Piano
Mireya Arboleda ’53 AD, Piano
Sarah Lombardi ’52 AD, Piano
Allen Barker ’52 AD, Piano
Takouhi Chorbajian ’50 AD, Piano
Noël Lee ’48 AD, Piano
Dorothy S. C. Wang ’82 AD, Harpsichord
Hatsumi Miura ’97 AD, Organ
Martin Hofmann ’93 AD, Organ
Paul Tegels ’86 AD, Organ
James David Christie ’78 AD, Organ
Deane S. Place ’71 AD, Organ
Douglas Stuart Risner ’64 AD, Organ
Yuko Hayashi ’62 AD, Organ
Akal Sharonne ’77 AD, Flute
Sharon Zuckerman ’77 AD, Flute
Trix Kout ’71 AD, Flute
Linda Jane Burlingame ’71 AD, Flute
Sadako Yokoyama ’69 AD, Flute
Ildefonso Torres Lauron ’65 AD, Flute
Marion Valasek ’63 AD, Flute
Lois Schaefer ’47 AD, Flute
Daniel McKelway ’89 AD, Clarinet
David D. Seaton ’71 AD, Clarinet
William George Wrzesien ’66 AD, Clarinet
Hee-Sun Lee ’83 AD, Oboe
Hu Li ’95 AD, Bassoon Performance
Jeffrey Work ’95 AD, Trumpet
Julie Josephson ’87 AD, Trombone
Franziska Huhn ’05, Harp
Adriana Anca ’72 AD, Harp
Alice Terlanday Norton ’71 AD, Harp
Evelia Romero ’65 AD, Harp
Luiz Carlos Mantovani ’02 AD, Guitar
Ruggero Allifranchini ’92 AD, Chamber Music, Violin (The Borromeo Quartet)
Nicholas Kitchen ’92 AD, Chamber Music, Violin (The Borromeo Quartet)
En Sik Choi ’92 AD, Chamber Music, Viola (The Borromeo Quartet)
Yeesun Kim ’92 AD, Chamber Music, Cello (The Borromeo Quartet)
Kenneth Sarch ’70 AD, Chamber Music
Tibor Pusztai ’70 AD, Chamber Music
Yael Orbach ’70 AD, Chamber Music
Edward J. III Humeston ’70 AD, Chamber Music
Pasquale Lawrence Prencipe ’63 AD, Chamber Music
Tristan Rais-Sherman ’21 AD, Orchestral Conducting
Eiji Oue ’81 AD, Orchestral Conducting
Josie Larsen ’25 AD, Opera Studies
Yeonjae Cho ’24 AD, Opera Studies
Anthony León ’22 AD, Opera Studies
Philippe L’Esperance ’22 AD, Opera Studies
Elaine Daiber ’21 AD, Opera Studies
Erica Petrocelli ’18 AD, Opera Studies
Joshua Quinn ’17 AD, Opera Studies
Nataly Wickham ’16 AD, Opera Studies
Soyoung Park ’14 AD, Opera Studies
Jaime Korkos ’13 AD, Opera Studies
Hae Ji Chang ’12 AD, Opera Studies
Dong Won Kim ’11 AD, Opera Studies
Elizabeth Keusch ’01 AD, Voice
You-Mi Cho ’94 AD, Voice
Christopheren Nomura ’94 AD, Voice
Mary Ann McCormick ’93 AD, Voice
Cory Miller ’90 AD, Voice
Lisa Saffer ’86 AD, Voice
Cheryl Cobb ’82 AD, Voice
John Fiorito ’82 AD, Voice
David Arnold ’82 AD, Voice
David Evitts ’74 AD, Voice
David Arnold ’74 AD, Voice
D’Anna Fortunato ’72 AD, Voice
Marsha Vleck ’70 AD, Voice
Linda Phillips ’68 AD, Voice
Judith Curtis ’68 AD, Voice
Robert Hale ’67 AD, Voice
Michaline Chomicz ’64 AD, Voice
Anne Sousa ’61 AD, Voice
S. Jeanne Grealish ’61 AD, Voice
Ann Myongsook Lee ’60 AD, Voice
Donna Jeffrey ’59 AD, Voice
Annabelle Bernard ’59 AD, Voice
Betty Giles ’58 AD, Voice
Darlene Miller ’58 AD, Voice
Corinne Curry ’58 AD, Voice
John L. Hornor ’57 AD, Voice
Douglas Barton Jr. Miller ’56 AD, Voice
Norma Cleary ’56 AD, Voice
Jean Kraft ’55 AD, Voice
Anne English ’54 AD, Voice
Emmalina DeVita ’53 AD, Voice
Albert Basso ’53 AD, Voice
Albert William Henry Hirsch Jr. ’52 AD, Voice
Marguerite Willauer ’48 AD, Voice
Arthur Schoep ’48 AD, Voice
Mildred Mueller ’48 AD, Voice
Janet Hayes ’48 AD, Voice
Patrice Munsel Williamson ’97 AD, Jazz Studies
Grisha Wade Alexiev ’91 AD, Jazz Studies
Dominique Eade ’89 AD, Third Stream Studies