Biography
“...classical music without
pretence...” is Alissa Cheung’s approach to her multi-faceted career. A native
of Edmonton, AB, violinist and composer, Ms. Cheung (BSc ’07, BMus ’09, MM ’13)
is a tenured member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO, Violin I). She is
also involved with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble, and has performed as a soloist
and chamber musician in Canada, USA, Europe and Japan. Career highlights
include performances at Carnegie Hall and Suntory Hall, and solos with the ESO
and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra (KWCO). Ms. Cheung has been featured in
Vue Weekly Magazine and Edmonton Sun, and was aired on CKUA Radio (Edmonton), CBC Radio (Canada) and WPKN Radio (Bridgeport, CT).
Winner of the 2009 KWCO Concerto Competition and runner-up in the 2009 Shean String Competition, Alissa has also held principal violin positions in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2001, 2002), the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (2008), and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble (2008), and has also served as concertmistress for ensembles such as the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra (2010) and the McGill Symphony Orchestra (2009).
An adamant interpreter of new music, Alissa was an Artist in Residence at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival (2011) in North Adams, MA, at the Weill Institute 21st-Century American Contemporary Ensemble Workshop at Carnegie Hall (2013), and at the Lucerne Festival Academy (2013). As a composer, her works have been performed at the Tonus Vivus Festival of New Music (Edmonton), Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, Jordan Hall (Boston), and Morse Recital Hall (New Haven, CT). Upcoming projects include commissions by the Arx Duo and the Bass Line Road Ensemble. Ms. Cheung studied composition with Hannah Lash (Yale) and Piotr Grella-Mozejko (Edmonton).
In addition to private teaching, Ms. Cheung has been Sessional Instructor at King’s University College and faculty member of the Alberta College Conservatory of Music. Educational outreach initiatives include being a Teaching Artist with ESO’s Adopt-a-Player Program and with the National Arts Centre’s Music Alive Program.
Ms. Cheung’s principal violin teachers were Marian Moody, Ranald Shean, Broderyck Olson (Edmonton), Thomas Williams (McGill), and Ani Kavafian (Yale). Other influential coaches include Malcolm Lowe, Mark Fewer, Rafael Rosenfeld, Kyoko Hashimoto, Mark Gothoni and members of the Tokyo, Juilliard, and Concord Quartets. She is also a grateful recipient of financial support from the Yale School of Music, the Stuart Walker Fund, the Anne Burrows Music Foundation, the Edmonton Community Foundation Winspear Fund, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Schulich School of Music, and the Williamson Foundation for Music for her musical studies.
Winner of the 2009 KWCO Concerto Competition and runner-up in the 2009 Shean String Competition, Alissa has also held principal violin positions in the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2001, 2002), the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (2008), and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble (2008), and has also served as concertmistress for ensembles such as the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra (2010) and the McGill Symphony Orchestra (2009).
An adamant interpreter of new music, Alissa was an Artist in Residence at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival (2011) in North Adams, MA, at the Weill Institute 21st-Century American Contemporary Ensemble Workshop at Carnegie Hall (2013), and at the Lucerne Festival Academy (2013). As a composer, her works have been performed at the Tonus Vivus Festival of New Music (Edmonton), Conservatoire de musique de Montreal, Jordan Hall (Boston), and Morse Recital Hall (New Haven, CT). Upcoming projects include commissions by the Arx Duo and the Bass Line Road Ensemble. Ms. Cheung studied composition with Hannah Lash (Yale) and Piotr Grella-Mozejko (Edmonton).
In addition to private teaching, Ms. Cheung has been Sessional Instructor at King’s University College and faculty member of the Alberta College Conservatory of Music. Educational outreach initiatives include being a Teaching Artist with ESO’s Adopt-a-Player Program and with the National Arts Centre’s Music Alive Program.
Ms. Cheung’s principal violin teachers were Marian Moody, Ranald Shean, Broderyck Olson (Edmonton), Thomas Williams (McGill), and Ani Kavafian (Yale). Other influential coaches include Malcolm Lowe, Mark Fewer, Rafael Rosenfeld, Kyoko Hashimoto, Mark Gothoni and members of the Tokyo, Juilliard, and Concord Quartets. She is also a grateful recipient of financial support from the Yale School of Music, the Stuart Walker Fund, the Anne Burrows Music Foundation, the Edmonton Community Foundation Winspear Fund, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Schulich School of Music, and the Williamson Foundation for Music for her musical studies.