ABOUT

  Mackenzie Alan Melemed was born on February 27, 1995, in Newton, Massachusetts. He began playing the piano at the age of four and began classical training at the age of ten. Since 2000, he has performed over 600 concerts for the elderly, charitable organizations, and at local schools encouraging students to share their talents within their communities. Mackenzie was asked to perform for President Bush at a fundraiser in Boston in early 2004. Subsequently, he was asked to perform traditional holiday music at the White House Holiday Open House. He performed at the White House for five consecutive years. He won grand prize in the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition only a year after beginning classical training, resulting in a performance at Weill Recital Hall in 2006.
He placed in many competitions following his Carnegie Hall debut at age 11, and performed on the PBS television show, "From the Top: Live at Carnegie Hall" at Zankel Recital Hall in 2008, the day before his 13th birthday. In 2009, he performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with both the Seven Hills Symphony in Worcester, MA, and the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra, at Regis College in Weston, MA. Both of those performances were resulting from a first place win in both of the orchestras’ annual young artist competitions, admitting applicants between the ages of 13 and 18.
Also in 2009, he was the second place winner of the Steinway Society of Boston's Young Artist Competition. He was the second place winner the following year as well. Last year, Mackenzie won first prize at the A. Ramon Rivera Piano Competition at the Rivers Conservatory in Weston, MA. In addition, he won the Inge Holleck Prize for the best performance of a Bach Prelude and Fugue.
Later that year, he applied for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra II, an online orchestra competition created by Michael Tilson Thomas of the San Francisco Symphony. Mackenzie auditioned with Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude and the second movement from Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata. Mackenzie was the youngest finalist in the competition; he was one of twelve pianists chosen from over one hundred global piano applications. The judges were members of the London Symphony and the Berlin Philharmonic, basing their decisions on creativity, individuality and musicality. If he had been selected, he would’ve performed in the orchestra at the Sydney Opera House this past March in Australia.
In the past two years, Mackenzie performed Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto three times, with the Quincy Symphony (MA), the Wellesley Symphony (MA), and with the New England Philharmonic (two of the performances were resulting from a first place win in both the orchestras’ annual young artists’ competitions). However, Mackenzie was personally invited by Max Hobart to perform the concerto with the Wellesley Symphony, and played it in February, 2011. Mackenzie appeared again on "From the Top" in January of 2011, this time on the radio show at New England Conservatory's Jordan Recital Hall in Boston.
Mackenzie has attended PianoSummer at New Paltz for the past four years. PianoSummer is a three week institute and festival under the artistic direction of Vladimir Feltsman, featuring daily lessons, master classes, concerts, and lectures with distinguished pianists and guest artists including Susan Starr, Philip Kawin, Yefim Bronfman, and Alexander Korsantia, Mackenzie's current professor at NEC. Aside from music, Mackenzie enjoys rowing, spreading his love of computers and technology, and working towards getting his private pilot’s license. Mackenzie is a junior at the Bancroft School in Worcester, MA.