ABOUT MELODY QUAH

Described as a “poet with titanium fingers” by the Vancouver Sun, Malaysian pianist Melody Quah has performed extensively on stages across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.  Her multifaceted career spans solo and collaborative performances, chamber music, education, adjudication, and artistic direction.

A prizewinner of the 7th International Paderewski Competition held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, she has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, and as chamber musician at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras internationally, including the Ku-Ring-Gai Symphony and Central Coast Symphony in Australia; the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Poland; and various ensembles in Canada and the United States, such as the Richmond Philharmonic, Academy Philharmonic, Vancouver Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, West Coast Symphony, Penn’s Woods Festival Orchestra, Williamsport Symphony, and Altoona Symphony Orchestras. In her native Malaysia, she has performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra at the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS.

Quah has premiered more than two dozen works by living composers, and has commissioned works for solo piano by Adeline Wong and Tazul Tajuddin (Malaysia), Parisa Sabet (Iran/Canada), Sidney Boquiren (Philippines), Marisa Hartanto (Indonesia), Emily Koh (Singapore), and Piyawat Louilarpprasert (Thailand). Recordings of their works are currently in production. Additionally, she has recorded music by Tom DeLio and Baljinder Sekhon, released on Neuma Records and the Blue Griffin label.

Spring 2025 Graduate Highlights

Eleftherios Chasanidis (DMA Vocal Performance ’25) served on the Examining Committee of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, May 2, 2025, to examine candidates for the Holy Cross Certificate in Byzantine Music. Holy Cross annually bestows a Certificate of Byzantine Music to graduates of its program in the Psaltic Art and other individuals who have received their training elsewhere and reached an adequate level of knowledge and skills in the sacred art of chanting.

ABOUT ROBERT MCDONALD

Pianist Robert McDonald has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. He has performed with major orchestras in the U.S. and was a recital partner with violinist Isaac Stern for many years. He has participated in the Marlboro, Casals, and Lucerne festivals, performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and for broadcasts over BBC Television. He has also appeared with the Takács, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets as well as with Musicians from Marlboro. McDonald’s prizes include the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition, and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award. His teachers include Theodore Rehl, Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman. He holds degrees from Lawrence University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Juilliard, and the Manhattan School of Music. McDonald has taught at the Curtis Institute, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in piano studies, since 2007. During the summer, he is the artistic director of New Mexico’s Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival.