Colburn Artists
Colburn Artists is a unique in-house management program for Colburn students on the cusp of professional careers. Created in order to provide guidance and support during the critical transition from the conservatory environment to a performance career, the Colburn Artists program is designed to prepare students to work with industry leaders and artist managers. In a supportive atmosphere linked closely with their individual performance studies, they receive personalized career advice and training, including guidance on building relationships with presenters, orchestras, and world-class musicians; developing repertoire; interview preparation; and creating a polished image and online presence.
Meet the Artists
Ray Ushikubo, Violin and Piano
Known for his “disciplined focus and clarity… and marvelous dynamic nuance,” (Arts Knoxville) Ray Ushikubo is a Japanese-American violinist and pianist who has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, and appeared on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He made his orchestral debut at age ten with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra in Los Angeles’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside conductor Teddy Abrams. A recipient of the prestigious Davidson Fellow Laureate Award in 2014, Ushikubo was named a Young Steinway Artist and won the 2017 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the 2016 Piano Concerto Competition at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Ushikubo was featured as a Young Artist-in-Residence of the national radio broadcast Performance Today with host Fred Child and he has been featured on NPR’s From the Top where he was named a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist.
Ryota Yamazaki, Piano
Japanese pianist Ryota Yamazaki is emerging as one of this generation’s finest musicians, both sensitive and commanding at the keyboard. A recent third prize and junior jury prize winner of the 64th Busoni International Piano Competition, Yamazaki’s prowess and “his flawless technique produced some fine pianistic fireworks” (Cleveland Classical). Yamazaki has performed with orchestras all over the world, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Jahja Ling and the Cleveland Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Chikara Iwamoto and the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and again with Takeshi Oi and the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No.1 with Joseph Stepec and the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Daiki Omori and the Virtuoso Youth Orchestra, among others.
Aleksandra Melaniuk, Conductor
Polish conductor Aleksandra Melaniuk is one of the leading young conductors of her generation. She has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra as a semi-finalist of the 17th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, and is one of the winners of the 2023 Das Kritische Orchester, led by Forum Dirigieren. Raised between Warsaw and Edinburgh, Melaniuk is currently a Britten-Pears Young Artist for the 2023–24 season and a Salonen Fellow in the Negaunee Conducting Program at Colburn Conservatory and the San Francisco Symphony, where she will assist Esa-Pekka Salonen internationally.
Despite her young age, Melaniuk has already conducted numerous orchestras in Europe, including the Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Moravska Filharmonie Olomouc, Lower Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra or the Orchestra of the Grand Theatre in Poznan. She made her professional debut with the Silesian Philharmonic in their ‘For the Young’ concert series.
Mert Yalniz, Conductor
Turkish-German conductor, pianist, and composer Mert Yalniz has been described as “extremely individual, charismatic and convincing” (Osthessen News), his piano playing as “passionate, enthusiastic and highly virtuosic” (Braunschweig Newspaper), and his compositions as a “statement from the new generation” (Heidelberger Frühling). This season, Yalniz will make his debut with the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hanover, where he will conduct Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with pianist Igor Levit, Weber‘s Clarinet Concertino, Chausson‘s Poème, and Wagner‘s Wesendonck Lieder. Yalniz will also become a Salonen Fellow in the Negaunee Conducting Program at the Colburn School and on the conducting staff of the San Francisco Symphony, assisting Esa-Pekka Salonen internationally.
Recent performances include Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Uniorchester Leibniz and Braunschweiger Kammerorchester; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Göttinger Symphonieorchester and Deutsches Juristenorchester, Bach’s Concerto in D Minor and Joaquín Turina’s Rapsodia Sinfonica with the Beethoven Orchester Hessen, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the chamber orchestra La Tempesta.
To inquire about artist availability, contact Nick Gianopoulos, Director of Artistic Administration, at ngianopoulos@colburnschool.edu or 213-621-1062.
Colburn Artists Alumni
- Trio Azura (2025) | Young Concert Artists
- Quartet Integra (2022–2025)
- Sonarsix (2022–2024) | Soloists & Orchestral Musicians
- James Baik, Cello (2022–2024) | Young Concert Artists
- Elias Peter Brown, Conductor (2023–2024) | Maestro Arts
- Ross Jamie Collins, Conductor (2019-2023) | HarrisonParrott | NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Conductor Fellow | LA Phil Dudamel Fellow 2023/24
- Molly Turner, Conductor (2021-2023) | HarrisonParrott | Minnesota Orchestra Associate Conductor | LA Phil Dudamel Fellow 2024/25 | New World Symphony Conducting Fellow 2023-25
- Vijay Venkatesh, Piano (2020-2023) Soloist and Recording Artist
- Aubree Oliverson, Violin (2019–2022) | Askonas Holt
- Viano Quartet (2018–2021) | Opus 3 Artists
- Faktura Piano Trio (2017–2019)
- Rodolfo Leone, Piano (2017–2019) | MKI Artists
- Blake Pouliot, Violin (2015–2018) | Opus 3 Artists | IMG Artists
- William Hagen, Violin (2014–2017) | MKI Artists
- Simone Porter, Violin (2012–2015) | Opus 3 Artists
- Calidore String Quartet (2012–2014) | IMG Artists
- Sang Yoon Kim, Clarinet (2012–2014) | Principal Clarinet, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
- Nigel Armstrong, Violin (2012–2013) | Soloist and Recording Artist
Buy the Calidore String Quartet’s debut album produced by the Colburn School
Want to Learn More?
Students
To find out how to be a part of the Colburn Artists program, speak with your applied faculty.
External Parties
For further information about the Colburn Artists program and to inquire about artist availability, please contact Nick Gianopoulos at ngianopoulos@colburnschool.edu.