In 2015 classical musician Amy Tcheupdjian decided to broaden her horizons and undertook a Professional Studies Diploma at the Mannes School of Music in New York. Her background in music is well noted in her native land Australia. She has performed with the likes of The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, The Australian Youth Orchestra, Monash String Sinfonia, Melbourne Youth Music and The Melbourne String Ensemble.
She was able to complete her Masters of Arts (Music Performance) at Monash University after she was awarded Allans Music Prize and the Monash Hiroyuki Iwaki Orchestral Scholarship. This led to her desire to round off her studies in New York. Besides building on her music knowledge her true desire to head to New York was an opportunity to study with well-renowned cellist Jeffrey Zeigler.
Amy has taken the stage as a soloist at many shows like Music in the Round Concert Series, Emerging Artist series and Timeless Concert series. In addition, she has performed many times on 3MBS radio. While she studied her art she had the opportunity to tour with different ensembles. During that time she performed in Scandinavia, Italy, Brazil, and Australia. Prior to studying with Jeffrey Zeigler she also studied under Sandra Belic at the Belgrade Academy of Music. Even though she has graced many stages across the globe none have come close to her performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. She also performed at the Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall, Arnold Hall.
“I’ve been so fortunate to enjoy performing in some of the best venues in Australia and Europe however as a classical musician I think my most memorable performance would have to be when I performed in Carnegie Hall. Moving to NY and knowing of this venue my whole life, I was so happy to live out this dream.”
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She also plays the violin which she utilizes her talent of that instrument in her teaching. Besides being an accomplished cellist, she also teaches others her art form. She teaches at The Noel Pointer Foundation and Midori & Friends. There she teaches string instruments to both public and private school system students throughout New York City. She teaches both individual and group lessons. Typically group lessons can consist of fifteen or more students. Amy focuses on technique yet the most important element for her is that the students enjoy the lessons and have fun.
In addition, to classical music Amy also enjoys jazz and often visits live shows around the New York music scene. Visiting these shows has enabled her to try something new with different sonorities and rhythms. Even though she has not composed her own piece she has many un-written compositions that she has experimented with on her cello. At the moment Amy is planning to start a string collective within the year so she can put on various performances around Manhattan. Her desire is to make classical music exciting for all ages and hopes the collective can achieve that. Besides that, she has chamber and solo performances in the pipeline aside from her work with Pacific Duo.
Pacific Duo is a cello and flute duo with flautist Kaitlin Barbo. Kaitlin and Amy specialize in contemporary works composed for this combination, and have performed many concerts around New York since 2016. They share an interest with different timbre and effects and have enjoyed exploring these and making music together. They plan on releasing dates in April for their concert series for 2020. The lady from “down under” has established herself in the States and plan to keep developing as a classical artist.