Category Archives: Amazing Performances

Clarissa Bevilacqua

International Performing Artist Clarissa Bevilacqua will perform a Solo Violin Concert at Catholic University of America’s Ward Hall on Saturday, September 24th, 2022 at 4pm.

All are invited to join us we welcome Clarissa back to the United States with a very special one day concert engagement before she returns to her performance schedule overseas.

The event is free, sponsored by Jordan Kitt’s Music and the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama and Art, and will feature Clarissa’s extraordinary talents in a unique setting on campus.

Clarissa debuted at the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago in front of ten thousand people when she was nine years old. Since then, she has performed solo recitals and concerto engagements at venues throughout North America and Europe.

Recent and upcoming soloist performances include the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Cape Symphony, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra Filarmonica di Benevento, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Orchestra UniMi, El Sistema Orchestra, and the Salzburger Orchester Solisten.

Get more information or RSVP for this event here!

Clarissa at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg

The Yamaha CFX takes the stage at the Washington International Piano Festival

Jordan Kitt’s extraordinary Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano took the stage multiple times during this week’s Washington International Piano Festival, going on now through August 6th in the nation’s capital.

The CFX is the centerpiece of Yamaha’s premier concert performance series, and Jordan Kitt’s was the proud provider of the instrument to the festival, as well as the first piano retailer nationally to sell and deliver one to a proud new owner.

More about these rare and amazing instruments can be found here, and for more information or tickets to the WIPF, visit here!

See worldwide concert artist Nikita Fitenko perform on the Bösendorfer Appassionata

The Bösendorfer Appassionata Grand Piano is the most unique, handcrafted piano in the world.

Now you can watch Dr. Nikita Fitenko, International Performing Artist & Artistic Director of the Washington International Piano Competition, put this one-of-a-kind piano through its paces during a unique performance event held at the Jordan Kitt’s Music Premium Piano Salon.

For more information about the Appassionata piano, visit here!

Jordan Kitt’s Music presents a virtual student recital!

Jordan Kitt’s Music is pleased to present a virtual student recital featuring students from our Virginia Beach Showroom & Music Education Center, led by Studio Manager Mun Lee Han!

We’re extremely proud of the perseverance of these students and teachers in the spirit of “The Show Must Go On”, using a virtual platform so that all can enjoy the hard earned fruits of their practice!

Find out more about Jordan Kitt’s lesson programs here!

Tony DeSare and the “Jordan Kitt’s Music Piano Song”

Here’s an interesting and entertaining video from international recording and performance artist (and our good friend) Tony DeSare coming to us from his studio with a recollection of writing the “Jordan Kitt’s Piano Song”.

It’s a piece he wrote to help us commemorate our 100th anniversary, and one you may have heard on the radio on stations like WTOP.

And here’s another performance of the song from the grand opening of our Rockville Showroom & Music Education Center:

See and hear more of Tony at his website here, and keep up to date on his area concert appearances!

Clarissa Bevilacqua in Salzburg

Clarissa Bevilacqua wins International Mozart Competition

Our good friend Clarissa Bevilacqua has won the first prize at the 14th International Mozart Competition of the Mozarteum University Salzburg.  Clarissa performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in the fall at a special event sponsored by Jordan Kitt’s Music and Howard County Plays as part of a series designed to bring music education and outreach to the general public.

Here are the details from thestrad.com:

The 18-year-old, from Italy, received not only the €10,000 first prize but also the €1,000 audience award and the special award for the best interpretation of a piece by Mozart – a copy of Bärenreiter’s New Mozart Edition. Bevilacqua, who has studied with Maria Luisa Ugoni, Daniele Gay, Olga Kaler and David Taylor, performed the composer’s Violin Concerto no.5 KV219 in the final round. Two years ago, aged 16, she became the youngest student ever to receive a Bachelor of Music in Italy.

Second prize and €7,000 went to Yun Tang, 27, from China. She has previously won prizes at the Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition, the International Yankelevich Violin Competition and the Schoenfeld International String Competition. Third prize went to 18-year-old Lorenz Karls, who was born in Vienna to Austrian-Swedish parents.

This year’s jury was chaired by Benjamin Schmid (Austria) and comprised Pierre Amoyal (France), Lars Anders Tomter (Norway), Jan Vogler (Germany), Andre Mijlin (Spain), Hanna Weinmeister (Austria) and Gerhard Schulz (Austria). A total of 182 applicants from 37 nations registered for the 2020 competition, with 28 violin candidates admitted. Each of the three finalists performed with the Salzburg Orchestra Soloists under the direction of Tibor Bogányi.

Clarissa Bevilacqua

Jordan Kitt’s & the DCACC host Clarissa Bevilacqua backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Howard County Plays, a partnering of Jordan Kitt’s, the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission, and the Columbia Festival of the Arts, hosted international violin phenom Clarissa Bevilaqua backstage at Merriweather Post Pavilion this week.

As part of an outbound effort to bring local and international artists to the Howard County community, this marks the first community concert of 2019 featuring one of the world’s great, young violinists, accompanied by master pianist Terry Lowry.

Praised for enchanting the audience with her musical interpretation and style, Clarissa has always had a passion for music. She started playing the violin at age five, and debuted at the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago in front of ten thousand people when she was nine years old. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, and has given solo recitals and concerts in the United States and Europe.

Chris Syllaba

Chris Syllaba, President & CEO of Jordan Kitt’s Music introduces Clarissa to a near capacity audience this week.

The audience was also presented with a preview of “Hear Us”, a reality series focused on the lives, struggles and successes of three young artists seeking to attain the top tier of international musicianship in their respective disciplines.

To learn more about events like this in Howard County, visit Howard County Plays, Jordan Kitt’s Music, The Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture Commission, or the Columbia Festival of the arts.

Blind prodigy

Blind 6 year old piano prodigy plays Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody

Avett Ray Maness is a 6-year-old piano prodigy from Dayton, Ohio, who not only taught himself to play piano by ear – but he’s also blind.

“The moment he could pull himself to reach the piano, he was playing the melody to ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,'” Avett Ray’s mom, Sara Moore, told CBS News. That was when he was just 11 months old. Avett Ray has since gotten a piano teacher, who helps him learn new techniques and classical tunes.

“Music is in his body,” Moore said. “He’s really practicing on performing now. Since his talent is so amazing, people are asking him to perform.”

One of his upcoming events includes a performance for a Ronald McDonald House fundraiser in April. He also performed for the entire faculty and staff of Centerville, Ohio schools, Nine hundred people were in attendance and it was his biggest performance to date, Moore said.

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody Piano Cover with Crossover by Avett by Avett Ray on YouTube

Avett Ray’s first viral video was one in which he asked his mom to send his songs to superstar Adele. She was Avett Ray’s favorite singer at the time and the cute video of the boy asking his mom to text Adele spread like wildfire online. It was even picked up by the local news.

Now, Avett Ray loves to perform “Queen” and the “Turtles.” The Oscar-nominated movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” intrigued Avett Ray, who did his own cover of the title song. It’s the latest video to go viral for the young piano prodigy.

Happy Together by The Turtles Cover by Avett by Avett Ray on YouTube

Avett Ray was also inspired to try rapping by his mom’s fiance. His musical preference is always changing, Moore said.

What makes this musical prodigy so inspiring is that he was born with optic nerve fibroplasia. “He’s completely blind in one eye but has a little bit of vision in the other,” Moore said. “He’s significantly visually impaired. He walks with cane and he reads braille.”

Moore wants to teach others to be accepting and understanding of people with special needs. She visits Avett Ray’s school to teach students about his condition. She also wrote a book called “Cotton Candy Clouds” to raise awareness and show support for visually impaired and blind people.

“He’s the character in the book,” Moore said. “Basically, he couldn’t see the clouds in the sky, so I wrote this book so he could see them.” The book serves as “a chance to talk about diversity and how everybody’s made special and we’re all born with our own gifts,” Moore said. “I teach people how to engage with blind and visually impaired people.”

Moore says the amount of resources available to blind and visually impaired people is still somewhat limited — considering how many people are affected by these conditions. “If every company would focus on inclusion … what a difference it would make for so many Americans,” she said.

Avett Ray is an old soul, his mom said. And with a talent this extraordinary, it’s clear he was born with a ton of soul.