Geneva Lewis and Eric Lu Win 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grants

Geneva Lewis and Eric Lu

Current Artist Diploma student Geneva Lewis ’20, ’22 AD and NEC Prep alum Eric Lu ’13 Prep are among the five young musicians to receive this year's Avery Fisher Career Grants.

The Avery Fisher Career Grant honors solo artists with the potential for major artistic careers. Geneva and Eric join the ranks of many other NEC students and faculty to receive this honor, including:

  • 2020 winners Stella Chen ’16 Harvard/NEC (violin) and Zlatomir Fung ’13 Prep (cello)
  • 2019 winner Angelo Xiang Yu ’12, ’14 AD, ‘17 DMA (violin)
  • 2016 winners Alexi Kenney ’15, ’17 AD (violin), Tessa Lark ’10, ’12 MM (violin), George Li '10 Prep, ’18 Harvard/NEC, ’21 AD (piano)

Read more about past NEC Avery Fisher winners

About Geneva Lewis

New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis’s accolades include the Grand Prize at the 2020 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, First Prize at the 2019 NEC Concerto Competition, finalist at the 2018 Naumburg Competition and Performance Today Young artist-in-residence. After her debut at age 11 with the Pasadena Pops, she has gone on to perform with orchestras including the Pasadena Symphony, NEC Philharmonia, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, and Culver City Symphony. Lewis is currently in the Artist Diploma program as the recipient of the Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship at the New England Conservatory, studying with Miriam Fried.

About Eric Lu

In 2018 Eric Lu became the first American since Murray Perahia to win First Prize at The Leeds International Piano Competition. He made his BBC Proms debut the following summer, and is currently a member of the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. Recent concerto highlights include performances with the Detroit Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, The Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In the coming months, he will return to Wigmore Hall and the Chopin and his Europe Festival, and make his debut at Cologne’s Philharmonie. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Robert McDonald and Jonathan Biss. He is also a pupil of Dang Thai Son.