Winner of the prestigious Primrose International Viola Competition in 2011, Ayane Kozasa also captured the Competition’s Mozart Award for the best chamber music performance, as well as its Askim Award for her performance of the Competition’s commissioned work. A winner of Astral Artists’ 2012 National Auditions, Ms. Kozasa has also been a prizewinner at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. She has been featured in The Strad and Strings magazines, and her performances have been broadcast on “Live from the Mayne Stage” for WFMT in Chicago, and on Philadelphia’s WHYY.
Ayane Kozasa has attended numerous festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire’s Young Artists Program, The Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Miss Kozasa’s interest in chamber music has led her to a number of concert appearances across the United States, including a national concert tour with pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn as a part of Curtis on Tour. She was a part of Ravinia’s 2012 Steans on Tour and has been invited to their 2013 tour as well. Miss Kozasa is also a founding member of the Philadelphia-based chamber group ensemble39.
Other accomplishments include being the 2012 S&R Grant award winner, an award given to individuals with aspirations in the arts and sciences. In the spring she will be soloing with the Augsburg Symphony in the opening gala concert of the Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition. This summer, she has been invited to the West Cork Chamber Music Festival in Ireland as a guest artist.
Since 2012 Ayane has been studying as a Young Soloist at Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai. These studies are funded by the Gingko-Stipendium. She recently graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with violists Misha Amory and Roberto Diaz. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music studying with Kirsten Docter. Ayane also studied violin with William Preucil while at CIM, and has worked with notable teachers such as Michael Tree, Nathan Cole, Cyrus Forough, and Philip Lewis.
