Anna Bray

$10,000 Grand Prize Winner
2023 Young Pianist Competition
Sterling, VA

Anna is a 16 year old from Sterling, Virginia and is a student at Trinity School at Meadowview. She currently studies with Professor Alexander Shtarkman at Peabody Conservatory. Most recently, Anna was selected to receive a scholarship by the Chopin Foundation of the United States. She has performed at prominent venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Washington Arts Club, Merkin Concert Hall, Linehan Concert Hall, Friedberg Hall, as well as the Embassies of Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

Anna Bray, sixteen and a student at Trinity School at Meadowview, is from Sterling, Virginia. She studies piano with Professor Alexander Shtarkman at Peabody Conservatory. Recently, the Chopin Foundation (USA) selected her to receive a scholarship.

Anna has performed at prominent venues such as Kennedy Center, Washington Arts Club, Merkin Concert Hall, Linehan Concert Hall, and Friedberg Hall, as well as Embassies of Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, and Netherlands, and she was featured at the Fulbright Austria reception at the Austrian Embassy. She had her orchestral debut with Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and has performed as soloist with Long Bay Symphony Orchestra in Myrtle Beach. Anna has won numerous awards, placing first in Baltimore International Piano Festival Competition, East Carolina Piano Festival Competition, International Knabe Young Artist Competition, Steinway Competition (DC), Old Dominion University Classical Period Competition, Cogen Concerto Competition, Musicians Inspiring Change Competition, and all competitions of Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association. Furthermore, a prizewinner at Chopin International Piano Competition and a finalist at International Kaufman Piano Competition, Anna was also invited to participate in Leon Fleisher Academy. She has performed in masterclasses for Gary Graffman, Jonathan Biss, Wei-Yi Yang, Boris Slutsky, Boris Berman, Matti Raekallio, Alexander Kobrin, Emile Naoumoff, Gila Goldstein, and Emerson String Quartet. In addition, Anna is a volunteer at the Tacy Foundation, leading concerts at senior homes. In January, the National Institutes of Health invited her to perform a solo recital as a representative of the Tacy Foundation; she also recorded a 45-minute solo album for the Foundation, donating one of the CDs to the Patient Library at NIH. 

 “I have always loved music for its sheer beauty and ability to heal; anyone can appreciate the beauty of music, and anyone can be touched by it,” Anna writes. “I love the sunny character of Mozart Concerto No. 21. The piece is in C Major, a key which I usually associate with late afternoon sunshine: warm and full, yet not too bright. Mozart allows the character of C Major to shine through (no pun intended) in this concerto. He maintains a balance of lyrical, playful, and reflective sections throughout the piece.”