Alissa Cheung

A member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since August 2010 and the runner-up in the 2009 Shean String Competition, Alissa Cheung began playing the violin at the age of four. In Edmonton, she studied with Marian Moody, Ranald Shean and Broderyck Olson. After attaining a BSc (Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Alberta in 2007, Ms. Cheung began musical studies at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University with Thomas Williams. In May 2009, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music Degree with High Distinction in Violin Performance, and in September 2009, she began a Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Ani Kavafian. As the winner of the 2009 Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra (KWCO) String Concerto Competition, she performed Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto with the KWCO in March 2010. Ms. Cheung has 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). She has also served as concertmistress for the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra, the University of Alberta Academy Strings, the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, and the Opera Nuova Orchestra. While in Connecticut, she was a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Alissa has received coachings from Glenn Dicterow, Pamela Frank, Malcolm Lowe, Mark Fewer, Matt Haimovitz, Kyoko Hashimoto, Denise Lupien, Douglas McNabney, Jonathan Crow, Tanya Prochazka, Guilliaume Tardif, and members of the Tokyo, Juilliard, Concord (former), and Ying Quartets. She is also a grateful recipient of financial support from the Yale School of Music, 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.