Artist description The musicians heard on this site are the winners of RAMA's (Russian-American Music Association) annual competition. They are prodigious young talents whose ages range from 8 to 18.

Music Style Classical

Artist History It all began with a dream held by three Russian immigrants, Marianna and LeonidRashkovetsky and Vladimir Gurin. The dream was to let Russian and American musicians andmusic lovers learn more about the music, performance style and music pedagogy of bothcountries. From its first steps RAMA received strong support from prominent artists such as Bruce Marks, then Artistic Director of Boston Ballet; Victor Rosenbaum, Director of Longy School of Music; internationally acclaimed violinist Professor Roman Totenberg, and world-renowned violist Yuri Bashmet, among others. RAMA was born on March 22, 1997. Onthat day RAMA became a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization and on that same day RAMAgave its first concert. Since than RAMA has organized many concerts featuring world-renowned celebrities such as the Slobodyanik piano duo, violinist Oleh Krysa, the bright10-year-old prodigy Bronika Kushkuley and others. The Boston Globe published articles aboutmost of these concerts. Additionally, to eliminate the barriers between artists and audience andto revive the spirit of a wonderful European tradition - Hausmusik - RAMA has established aseries of concerts in private houses for the hosts’ friends and relatives. RAMA musicians, together with actress and singer Mary Arapoff, performed an educational program “The Magic of Russia” for over 2500 inner-city school children. Children were wide-eyed, totally enraptured and amused. They were extremely curious and asked millions of questions all of which greatly enhanced the performing artists’ enjoyment and satisfaction. The most important of RAMA’s activities is an international festival, YOUNG VIRTUOSOS AT CARNEGIE HALL, featuring outstanding musicians aged 6-23. This annual event was established in 1997 to demonstrate the achievements of Russian musical pedagogy in America. The next year(1998-99) RAMA made the Festival an international event. The best American students gave a recital at Moscow Conservatory and Gnessin Music Academy – two of the finest Russian musical institutions. Later a group of Russian virtuosos, recipients of Rostropovich and Spivakov scholarships, participated in one of our two Gala Final Concerts at Carnegie Hall. All the concerts were a great success; Russian and American listeners responded enthusiastically. The children came home with warm and excited feelings about the countries they visited. To put it in their words, “they can’t wait to perform there again”. The auditons for RAMA's Young Virtuosos at Carnegie Hall 2000 took place in Boston in March. The distinugished jury was chaired by pianist Marianna Rashkovetsky, who was joined by pianists John Bell Young and Oxana Yablonskya; violist and founder of the Juilliard String Quartet, Raphael Hillyer; conductor Yoichi Udagawa of the Boston Conservatory of Music; and violinist Yuri Mazurkevitch of Boston University.

Group Members Brynn Reece; Rebecca Kenney; Michelle Zhuravlev; Benjamin brookstone; Natasha Paremski; Lucy Tan; Jun Liu; Jannie Lo; Rujing Laura Wang; Brendon Conway; Gusan Kang; Olga Parsegov; Mimi Kim; Rebecca Azhdam; Jonathan Corey; Sam Post

Instruments Piano; violin

Location Boston, Massachusetts - USA

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