Ziqi (Flavia) Jin, Cello
Born in Shanghai, China, Ziqi began receiving formal cello lessons when she was 7 years old. She studied at the Music Middle School affiliated with Shanghai Conservatory of Music from 2020 to 2023. She is a Kohl Scholar and has been studying with Clive Greensmith at the Colburn Music Academy since 2023.
She has been a laureate of various music competitions, such as the Melbourne International Piano and Stings Competition, the Bellagrande International Music Competition, the France Music Competition, the Manhattan Music Competition, the Gustav Mahler International Cello Competition, and the Zodiac International Music Competition.
In 2021, Ziqi successfully performed the Davidoff Cello Concerto, Op. 5, No. 1 with the Shanghai Opera House Symphony Orchestra conducted by renowned Chinese conductor Maestro Muhai Tang at Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra Concert Hall with over 1,200 people in attendance. It was the first time that the Davidoff Cello Concerto had been performed publicly with a professional symphony orchestra in China.
She also won a full scholarship for the 26th and 27th Morningside Music Bridge Program held at New England Conservatory. Besides playing the cello, Ziqi likes outdoor sports such as badminton, hiking, and bicycling. She also likes reading and painting.
Caden Lin, Piano
Caden Lin grew up in Los Angeles, California and started learning piano at age of 6. Currently, he is a sophomore in Venice Senior High and he studies with Fabio Bidini, HyeJin Kim, and Rodolfo Leone at Colburn’s Music Academy. He has won first prize in the 2024 Marine Band Concerto Competition in Washington D.C, 2023 Colburn Academy Concerto Competition, 2020 Steinway Virtual Piano Competition (Southern California), Aloha International Piano Competition in Honolulu, Oahu in 2018, and was awarded at the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Alice Kitchen Memorial Scholarship Competition, and the Los Angeles International Piano Competition in 2016. He was a finalist in NPR’s “From the Top” in 2020 and 2021 for his solo piano as well as piano duo performances. Caden was invited to the 2023 Hilton Head International Junior Piano Competition and 2023 Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark.
Also, an active chamber musician, Caden and his piano trio performed at the Thacher School in Ojai for a charitable Kronberg Academy project of the “Quartet of Hope” under the auspices of the ROME foundation Gottingen-Germany. The trio is invited to the Fishoff National Chamber Competition in May 2024. He has participated in masterclasses with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Jerome Rose. Caden has performed in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Orvis Auditorium at University of Hawaii, and he was a soloist in Zipper Hall performing the Mozart Triple Concerto with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Academy Virtuosi at the 2022 Colburn Gala Concert. He will be performing with the United States President’s Own Marine Chamber Orchestra in Alexandria, Virginia in April 2024. Along with music, Caden enjoys spending time with his friends and exploring nature in the California National Parks.
Margaret Batjer, Director, Academy Virtuosi
Margaret Batjer has served as concertmaster of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra since 1998. She is also renowned as a violin soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, and has established herself as a versatile and respected artist worldwide.
Batjer has appeared as soloist with America’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Batjer has also performed with leading European ensembles such as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (of Ireland), Berlin Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra. She has performed at many of the great halls across the continents such as La Scala, Carnegie Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Suntory Hall.
An esteemed chamber musician, Batjer was a longtime participant at the Marlboro Music Festival, and has often performed on tours with Musicians From Marlboro. Summers have found her performing in the La Jolla SummerFest, the Sarasota Music Festival, Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival and abroad at the Naples, Cremona and the Salzburg Festival.
Ms. Batjer also serves as Director of Chamber Music for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra establishing two series, Westside Connections and In Focus, over the last decade. Among Batjer’s most noteworthy performances have been traversals of the complete Beethoven and Brahms violin sonata cycles in partnership with pianist Jeffrey Kahane, at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles. Batjer has collaborated with such notables as Chris Thile, Salvatore Accardo, Maurizio Pollini, Radu Lupu, Peter Serkin, Wu Han, and David Finckel. In 2020, she formed the Los Angeles Piano Trio with colleagues pianist, Fabio Bidini and cellist, Andrew Shulman.
Ms. Batjer has had an extensive recording career over the last several decades. Her most recent recording with the LA Chamber Orchestra includes the live premiere of the Pierre Jalbert Violin Concerto, and works by Bach, Pärt, and Vasks released on the BIS label She recorded the Bach Concerto for Two Violins with Salvatore Accardo and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for the Philips label, and later a 2003 Deutsche Grammophon recording pairing Batjer and Hilary Hahn as soloists with Jeffrey Kahane conducting the LA Chamber Orchestra. She has also made numerous chamber music recordings on the EMI, Nuova Era and BMG labels.
Batjer is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Ivan Galamian and David Cerone. She joined the faculty of the USC, Thornton School of Music in 2005, and the Colburn Music Academy in 2014, where she teaches violin and directs the Academy Virtuosi.