Rayna Chou
周昀
周昀 Rayna Chou 為來自台灣的旅美中提琴家，現持全額獎學金於耶魯大學音樂院（Yale School of Music）攻讀M.M.A.學位，師事 Ettore Causa 和 Steven Tenenbom 教授。長年專研中提琴獨奏與室內樂曲目，已曾於國家音樂廳，台中國家歌劇院，以及美國與歐洲等地演出。2017年於美國新英格蘭音樂院（New England Conservatory）取得雙學士碩士文憑。演奏之餘致力推廣古典音樂，其文章更曾由新英格蘭音樂院引薦發表於紐約 Huffington Post。周昀以藝術家的身份創作的「你我那一分鐘」社會實驗性展覽在2016年獲新英格蘭音樂院年度EM Grant，在台中展開後大獲成功。2019年獲選成為波士頓名家系列 (The Celebrity Series of Boston) 年度公共藝術項目，名為 Concert For One 並將在九月於波士頓開展。
1993年出生，從小學習鋼琴和中提琴。於員林國小音樂班畢業後2005年考取台中曉明女子高級中學音樂班，同年夏天成為NTSO台灣青年交響樂團年齡最小團員。 在台灣期間師事趙怡雯及陳宗成教授，並於多項比賽獲獎，包括2005年台灣中提琴大賽首獎、2007年台中市音樂比賽首獎及2008年台灣省全國學生音樂比賽第五名。在台期間曾接受 Nobuko Imai 今井信子、Scott Lee 李捷琦、Huang Hsin-Yun 黃心芸等於大師班指導。2008年十四歲時考取美國加州愛德華藝術學院（Idyllwild Arts Academy），師事南加大音樂系主任 Donald McInnes。在校內曾接受前任柏林愛樂中提琴首席/現任洛杉磯愛樂中提琴首席 Carrie Dennis 與 Roland Vamos 等於大師班指導。除了擔任學校樂團輪替首席外，每年皆偕 IAA 樂團至洛杉磯演出新音樂音樂會。畢業同年獲獎學金入學新英格蘭音樂院，在世界知名克里夫蘭弦樂四重奏(Cleveland String Quartet)創始團員 Martha Strongin Katz 以及 Dimitri Murrath 教授指導下完成學士與碩士學位。在校期間由 Borromeo quartet 成員 Mai Motobuchi 和 Christopher Tong 等指導室內樂。
2017年五月取得碩士學位畢業於新英格蘭音樂院，同年考取波士頓大學博士班以及耶魯大學音樂學院後入學耶魯音樂院。中提琴演奏之外，由Ani Kavafian、Misha Amory、Perter Serkin等知名教授指導室內樂演奏。同年夏天與同樣來自台灣的音樂家好友們於台灣舉辦「一百三十年」巡迴音樂會。2018年受奏出福爾摩沙協會邀約，與多位現今知名年輕華裔音樂家合作於台北國家演奏廳與台中歌劇院演出。隨後擔任由著名中提琴演奏家 Kim Kashkashian 發起的 Music For Food 慈善音樂會台灣場樂團首席。
假期間持續積極參加音樂節，2013 年夏天參加鮑登音樂營（Bowdoin International Music Festival）， 接受 Karen Dreyfus 及 Olga Kaler 等教授指導。隔年參加海飛茲音樂節（Heifetz International Music Institute），並受邀演出閉幕音樂會。音樂節期間接受 Barbara Westphal、Karen Dreyfus 及卡拉揚時期 柏林愛樂中提琴首席 Rainer Moog 等教授個別指導，並由 Mihaela Martin、 Ilya Kaler、Grigory Kalinovsky 及 Hagai Shazam 等大師指導室內樂演奏。2017年夏天至義大利參加音樂節，接受 Paul Cortese 與 Lars Anders Tomter 等教授個別指導，並受邀與挪威小提琴家 Bård Monsen 於音樂節閉幕音樂會合作演出。
專研演奏之餘，2014年創辦樂旅人，同年受邀成為台灣天下雜誌換日線專欄作家，並三度接受台灣古典音樂電台執行長葉欣專訪。2016年以「One Minute of Just Us 你我那一分鐘」展覽企劃通過校內企劃部以及聖地牙哥交響樂團合作評選，成為新英格蘭音樂院創業獎（EM Grant）得主。著手設計以及策劃所有展覽內容並獲多方支持與贊助，在台中展出後累積三千人參觀與多家媒體訪問。返校後受邀發表演講與紀錄片，擔任春季企劃部客座評審員之一，並為紐約哈芬郵報（Huffington Post）撰寫文章，文章發表後獲柯本音樂院（Culburn School）推薦分享。在學期間額外選修商業課程，於2016年夏天開始於哈佛大學 Extention School 攻讀行銷文憑。2017年秋天受聘於耶魯出版社（Yale Press）行銷部，並陸續於美國 World Journal 以及台灣MUZIK等刊物發表文章。同年十月創辦非營利留學資訊網站「漸快 accel.」網站，隔年以此企劃獲得新英格蘭音樂院GYA Grant。
2018年夏天，通過全球性的徵選後，波士頓名家系列（Boston Celebrity Series）將全額主辦並完整重現2016年「你我那一分鐘」展覽，將其作為2019年度公共藝術項目（Public Performance Projects）。為期一年的籌劃與贊助，周昀將以藝術家的身份與波士頓在地音樂家與建築師合作，於波士頓市內興建多座短期展覽空間，讓音樂家與觀眾在街角相遇。
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As a young violist, Rayna Yun Chou is widely praised for her musical sensitivity and creativity with performances in the United States, Taiwan, and Europe. A recent graduate of Yale School of Music and New England Conservatory, Rayna is also an aspiring artist who has been actively organizing and creating grant-winning projects. Her most recent project includes “One Minute of Us”, a social experimental interactive exhibition in Taichung city that successfully attracted thousands of visitors. Her next highly anticipated project is the Celebrity Series of Boston’s 2019 Public Performance Project, Concert For One, of which Rayna is the leading artist. Rayna has also written for several platforms, including the Huffington Post and MUZIK Air Taiwan.
Rayna was born in the summer of 1993. She began learning the piano and viola at an early age with the encouragement from her mother. She was accepted into Taiwan Yuanlin Elementary school and Stella Matutina Junior high school’s music elite classes and where she studied with Prof. Yi-Wen Chao and Zhongcheng Chen. Since the age of 11, she had won many competitions in Taiwan, including the Taiwan National chamber competition first prize in 2004, Taiwan viola competition first prize in 2005. She also participated in masters classes with professor Nobuko Imai, Scott Lee, and Hsin-Yun Huang. After winning the National viola competition Regional first prize, and fifth prize in the final in 2008, she decided to leave home for the United States to study with former USC Thornton School of Music String Department Chair, Donald McInnes, at the Idyllwild Arts Academy.
During her four years in California, she performed regularly as a member and principal in the school orchestra, including annual New Music Concerts in Los Angeles. She also participated in several masterclasses, including one with former Los Angles Philharmonic principal violist, Carrie Dennis. Rayna graduated in 2011 and began her studies at the New England Conservatory in the studio of the founding member of the Cleveland Quartet, Martha Strongin Katz.
As a student at the conservatory, she was coached by members of the Borromeo Quartet and also participated in a master class with Professor Jeffrey Irvine. She attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival in the summer of 2013. In the following summer, she participated Heifetz Music Institute in 2014, where she was invited to perform in the Celebrity Series closing concert and received lessons from musicians including former Berlin Philharmonic principal violist Rainer Moog and violinists Mihaela Martin and Ilya Kaler.
In 2014, she graduated with B.M. in Viola performance and continued onto her Masters studies with Professors Martha Strongin Katz and Dimitri Murrath. She co-founded educational and lifestyle blog Music Traveler in the same year.
With the goal to promote classical music, she created the project “One minute of just us”, which received the New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Award in the fall of 2016. With her artistic skills and other support, she was able to create a successful social experimental exhibition that combined architecture, visual arts, and classical music. She was then given the opportunity to write about the exhibition for the Huffington Post, be a guest panel member of 2017 NEC EM Grant, and she later premiered the documentary film at her presentation in Boston.
In 2017, she received offers from New England Conservatory and Boston University’s Doctoral in Musical Arts programs. She decided to accept the full scholarship fellowship from Yale School of Music to study with Professor Steven Tenenbom and Ettore Causa.
She then traveled to Italy to participate in the Virtuoso & Belcanto Festival, where she worked with violist, Lars Anders Tomter. She was also invited to perform in the closing concert of the festival with violinist, Bård Monsen.
In September 2018, she won the GYA Grant from the New England Conservatory for her work on website, Accel. A non-profit educational website that provides organized admission information on music programs in the United States.
Her upcoming project is Celebrity Series of Boston’s 2019 Public Performance Project, Concert For One. Her proposal was accepted through a global RFP and it has been officially scheduled to premiere in Boston and Cambridge this coming Fall. She serves as the leading artist, selection committee member, and performing musician.
She often travels back to Taiwan to perform at the Yuanlin Performance Hall, National Taiwan symphony orchestra concert hall, Taiwan National Concert Hall, and Taichung National Opera House. In 2014, she was interviewed for the third time by the Taiwan Classical Music Radio for her works.
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Recitals and Recent engagements
2018 ＮEW HAVEN Yale School of Music Sprague Hall - MMA Degree Recital
2018 TAIWAN 台中中山堂 - Music For Food
2018 TAIWAN 台灣國家演奏廳 & 台中歌劇院中劇場 - 奏出福爾摩沙協會綻放 II
2017 TAIWAN 台灣國家演奏廳 & 台中歌劇院中劇場 - 130 Years 一百三十年
2017 BOSTON New England Conservatory Brown Hall - Masters Recital
2015 BOSTON New England Conservatory Brown Hall - Graduate Recital
2014 TAIWAN Yuanlin Performance Hall - Music Traveler 樂旅人
2012 TAIWAN National symphony orchestra concert hall - Dressed in Music 著樂
2011 USA Idyllwild Arts Academy - Graduate Recital
2011 TAIWAN Yuanlin Performance Hall - 旋 多媒體音樂會
2010 USA Idyllwild Arts Academy - Junior Recital