Mackenzie Melemed

Winner of The Juilliard School's 2019 Leo B. Ruiz Carnegie Hall Recital Prize and 2018 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Prize, and the 2018 Paris Recital Prize from Poland's Prix de Tarnów Competition, American pianist Mackenzie Melemed’s international career continues to flourish. Praised by the New York Times as an "excellent young pianist" he has performed throughout the United States, in China, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. He has been named to the 2020 roster of Young Artists at the Centre for Musical Excellence.

In May 2019, Mackenzie Melemed won 3rd Prize in the 1st China International Music Competition, performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in the final round with The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing. Additional honors include 1st Prize and Chamber Music Prize at the 4th Maj Lind International Piano Competition (August 2017), 1st Prize and Commissioned Work Prize at the 2017 Iowa International Piano Competition, 5th Prize at the 2012 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition in Utah, and the Commissioned Etudes Prize of the 2012 New York International Piano Competition.

? At the age of three, Melemed’s grandfather bought him a keyboard at a yard sale, leading to his enrollment in a beginner piano course. Performances at local senior centers soon became a weekly occurrence, and by the time Melemed turned seven, he had given over 200 concerts for senior citizens and charitable organizations. When Melemed appeared on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, she remarked, “what a bargain!” at the $1 price-tag for the instrument that ignited his passion for music. A series of small local performances connected Melemed with Washington D.C. in 2004, and he was invited to perform at the White House Holiday Open House for five consecutive years. In 2007, only one year after beginning classical training, Melemed won the grand prize at the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition and gave his Carnegie Hall debut

Currently studying in the highly selective two-year Artist Diploma program at The Juilliard School with Robert McDonald and Emanuel Ax, Melemed holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where he graduated from its prestigious accelerated five-year-dual-degree program. Former teachers include Dean Arvidson, Alexander Korsantia, Olga Rogach and William Smiddy. Additionally, Melemed has been honored to work with distinguished artists, such as Vladimir Feltsman, Stephen Hough, Pavel Gililov, Robert Levin, Susan Starr, Nelita True, and Arie Vardi, among many others. In addition to English and French, Melemed is fluent in Finnish and studied the language at Columbia University for three years.