Leila Fanien
Violin
Leila Fanien is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Her instructors have included Isabelle Perrin-Faussurier, Irene Cheng, Hong-Guang Jia, Mikhail Kopelman and Julianna Athayde. She began playing violin when she was eight and studied at the Conservatoire de Lyon at ages ten to thirteen, before moving to the United States in 2016. She received leadership awards in orchestra through middle school and high school and represented Pennsylvania at the 2019 NAFME All-State Music Festival after advancing through the district, and regional levels of PMEA. In her junior year of high school, Leila was the winner of the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition where she performed the Bruch Violin Concerto with an orchestra. She also received honorable mention at the American Prize National Chamber Competition. She was a member of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, where she was concertmaster for three years and since then, has performed in a handful of masterclasses led by violin masters such as David Kim, Kimberly Fisher, Julian Rachlin, Dara Morales and Lara St. John. During the summers, She has attended festivals such as the Philadelphia International Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival and is excited to be going to AIMS this summer!