Born To Play

Natural Classical Musician

Combining energetic performance with raw talent, Michelle Yelin Nam is an influential Classical Musician. Since embarking on her career, she has entranced her fans with her signature sound. Michelle has been praised for her “silvery clarity, brilliant talent with a highly overt and dynamic temperament,” ( Montreal Gazette) playing “ in the manner of the greats, before having their age’ (La Presse).

Bio

A Passionate Performer

Korean-Canadian Pianist Michelle Yelin Nam has been praised by the Montreal Gazette for her “silvery clarity, brilliant talent with a highly overt and dynamic temperament,” she plays “ in the manner of the greats, before having their age’ (La Presse). In 2019, She was chosen as one of the “top three pianists” by Music Cinema, during the Chopin Project in Sorel-Tracy, QC and appeared as a soloist in American Liszt Society. Recent performances include the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on Theme by Paganini with Symphony Song Orchestra (Seoul) in addition to performances with the ASU Symphony Orchestra. Michelle's concerto credits extend back to include multiple performances with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kent Nagano, Heinrich Schiff, and Jacques Lacombe, as well as with the London Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony and Jefferson Symphony. Michelle also performed with chamber orchestras in New York City, Seoul, Toronto, and Halifax, Connecticut, Kansas City, Vancouver, Phoenix, Delaware in repertoire spanning from Mozart and Beethoven, to Grieg, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff Prokofiev. She has played Mozart’s Triple Piano Concerto and the premiere of Jacques Hétu’s Triple Concerto with Andre-Laplante and Alain Lefevre with the Montreal Symphony; the latter is featured on the CBC’s Jacques Hétu’s symphonique disc. An active recitalist, Michelle gave a twenty city Canadian tour throughout Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes featuring the music of Chopin, Mendelsohn and Schubert, frequently simulcast on radio. In the 2018-2019 season, she performed her first recital series in China at the National Art center in Harbin City, and Tianjin. Her solo recitals include multiple performances at Banff and Orford Art Centers, Houses of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, and Zipper Hall in LA, as well as venues throughout USA, Canada, Asia, Spain, France, and England. CBC Records has produced a live recital CD and DVD of Ms.Nam in 2007. In 2014, she presented a New York City recital of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Also an active chamber musician, Michelle’s collaborations include a version of Ravel’s La Valse for dance and duo piano. Critics praised this performance as one of Hartford, Connecticut’s best of 2012. Her piano trio appeared at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She also performs at numerous concerts for churches, schools, senior centers, and community orchestras. Dr. Nam holds her DMA from ASU where she served as a Teaching Assistant to teach keyboard studies to both music major and non-music major. Her doctoral dissertation was focused on theoretical and performance aspects of pedagogical works of renowned Canadian composer, Alexina Louie. She holds two Artist Diplomas from the Manhattan School of Music under full scholarship as well as from Hartt School. She previously completed her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School under Alexander Siloti scholarships and holds Bachelor’s degrees from McGill University. Her previous teachers include Robert Hamilton, Phillip Kawin, Haisun Paik, Richard Raymond and Robert Weirich, Wolfram Linnebach, Mi-Kyoung Kim. She has also received top awards from numerous international competitions including Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer competition, Hastings International piano competition, International Stepping Stone, OSM Standard life Competition, and International Keyboard Institute and festival(IKIF), and also foundation such as Canada Council for the Arts, Winspear Foundation for the Arts, the Anne Burrows Fund, Eugene Istomin Capital Foundation. Upon recent moved to Georgia, Dr. Nam became a mother and actively serves as a pedagogue and is a member of GMTA.

CONTACT

Michelle Nam - Ondine from 'Gaspard de la nuit'