STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: 2024 NEC FELLOWS
Having made successful solo debuts with orchestras including the HR Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonie Baden-Baden and the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra in recent years, FELICITAS SCHIFFNER has already shown herself to be an outstanding virtuoso. She has participated in prestigious festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Kronberg Academy Festival and the Matsumoto Festival in Japan and as a passionate chamber musician she is a member of academies including the Seiji Ozawa Academy in Geneva and the Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz.
Born in 1997 in Lübeck, Germany, Schiffner grew up in a music-loving environment and received her first violin lessons at the age of 4 from her mother. She studied with Erik Schumann before beginning her current studies with Donald Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory.
Schiffner won several top prizes in international competitions, including the Washington International Competition for Strings, the Schoenfeld International String Competition and the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition.
MAUREEN SHEEHAN is a first-year Master’s student at the New England Conservatory studying with Nicholas Cords. She holds the first prize title from Ohio Viola Society’s 2021 Competition for Young Violists, was awarded the 2023 Howard E. Leisinger Viola Prize at Tuesday Musical’s Scholarship Competition, and has served as principal violist in performance at Carnegie Hall with the Oberlin Orchestra. She earned Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Viola Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory studying with Peter Slowik.
Maureen’s summer experiences have included the Encore String Quartet Intensive, Blackburn Music Academy, and most recently the Carmel Bach Festival, where she was the violist of the Academy Quartet. In Boston, she plays with NEC’s premier unconducted Chamber Orchestra and the Harvard Baroque Orchestra. In addition to her classical endeavors, Maureen plays traditional Irish fiddle and is a member of NEC’s Ceol Ensemble, led by renowned Irish fiddler Liz Knowles-O'Hare.
NATHAN EMANS currently studies at New England Conservatory, pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance in the studio of Mai Motobuchi, with whom he has studied since 2016. He is a recipient of the Dean's Scholarship.
Mr. Emans started his musical studies in Seoul at age three, primarily in piano. He studied piano with Sergey Schepkin while in high school. He is an avid chamber musician and has worked in coachings or master classes with the Verona, Borromeo, Omer, and Parker string quartets, as well as with Kim Kashkashian, Harumi Rhodes, Astrid Schween, Norman Fischer, Don and Vivian Weilerstein, Soovin Kim, and others.
Mr. Emans spent the last summer at the Tanglewood institute and his current string quartet is one of the honors ensembles at NEC.
Korean-American cellist ANNIE SEEUN HYUNG deeply treasures the intimate connections fostered by music. Despite a late introduction to the cello, her most vivid life memories are closely intertwined with music, through both music-making and listening. Annie is particularly fascinated by the personal nature of the small ensemble, and an ever-growing desire to experience and learn through collaboration has led her to chamber music festivals including Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World, the Perlman Music Program, and the Taos School of Music. She has been fortunate to share performances alongside mentors such as Steven Isserlis, Christian Tetzlaff, Donald Weilerstein, and Tabea Zimmerman.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Annie previously studied with Hans Jorgen Jensen, Michel Strauss, and Sarah Koo Freeman, and is currently pursuing an MM at the New England Conservatory under the guidance of Laurence Lesser as a recipient of the Dean’s Scholarship.
