BIOGRAPHY

American violinist Madalyn Parnas has firmly established her place on today’s concert stage having gained attention for her unique and comprehensive artistry. Easily recognized for her inimitable sound and style and a supremely musical vision, she is sought after as both a gifted soloist and consummate chamber musician. Born in 1991, Madalyn has performed fifty times as guest soloist with orchestra. She has concertized with the great artist Peter Serkin in the Parnas/Serkin Trio, and has earned three enthusiastic reviews in the New York Times for her performances. Madalyn has been named a 2012 Marshall Scholar.

This concert season Madalyn will be appearing as guest soloist numerous times while touring with the French Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. She will perform twice as guest soloist with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra as well as in several chamber music concerts as a featured performer at the El Paso Pro-Musica Festival. Madalyn has previously appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras including the New York String Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Georgia Philharmonic, Verde Valley Sinfonietta, and the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with such renowned conductors as Jaime Laredo, Randall Fleisher, and David Alan Miller, among others.

Madalyn has taken numerous top prizes in solo violin, piano, and voice competitions over her short career. With her life-long performing partner, sister and cellist Cicely, duo parnas earned 1st prize in international chamber music competition at Carnegie Hall. The sibling string duo’s first two albums received international recognition, and Gare du Nord was named on Gene Gaudette’s “Top Ten New Releases of 2010.” Their third CD, In Real Time, due for release in Fall 2012, will feature award-winning composers of the 21st century, including Lera Auerbach, William Bolcom, Paul Moravec, and Charles Wuorinen (Sheffield Lab). Also due for release in the fall is an album of works by composer Brian Fennelly, which includes duo parnas as the featured soloists with orchestra performing his double concerto, Fantasia Concertante (Albany Records).

Madalyn is one of 36 Americans chosen as 2012 Marshall Scholars. Receipt of this most prestigious award from the British Government recognizes her extraordinary achievements as a violinist, both academically and professionally. As a Marshall Scholar, she is currently pursuing a Masters degree at London’s Royal Academy of Music in the studio of world-renowned violinist, György Pauk. Madalyn holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She graduated summa cum laude majoring in Music Industry and French from The College of St. Rose. Her teachers include Jaime Laredo, James Buswell, Betty-Jean Hagen, and grandfather, legendary cellist Leslie Parnas. Ms. Parnas performs on a 1715 Alessandro Gagliano violin.
Last updated: 06/14/2012

REVIEWS

“Madalyn gave a fiery account of Lutoslawski’s “Subito” (1992), a work composed as a test piece for the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and packed with technical challenges meant to show which competitors had the goods. Ms. Parnas negotiated this minefield with assurance and vigor, but she also seized the opportunities offered by this changeable score’s lyrical interludes and fleeting touches of humor.”

-- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

“The Sisters Parnas, violinist Madalyn and cellist Cicely, are poised for potential major careers in an increasingly superstar-oriented classical music business. The winsome Stephentown, N.Y. duo made that perfectly clear in their performance with the Albany Symphony...”

-- Berkshire Living

“The Parnas sisters...could just as well have been gazelle and antelope, so thoroughly did they erase programmatic connotations with the suavity and assurance of their playing... They are real talents. There is nothing showy in their playing. Everything is for musical value...”

-- Andrew Pincus, Berkshire Eagle

“Remember the name Madalyn Parnas!  Surely, [she] is destined for a long and successful career on the concert stage.”

-- Times Herald Record

“Parnas executed with poise and mastery. Polyphonics of the andante were in hand and easily spent, and notes drawn in her instrument's highest tessatura carried with ghostly effect. A young mistress of the violin...”

-- Kingston Daily Freeman

“It truly was a breathtaking moment. Each soloist played with a flair and zest that seemed way beyond their years, and the sound quality and intonation was truly extraordinary. The result was a resounding standing ovation from the delighted crowd.”

-- Mid-Hudson Times

“teenaged musical phenom” who “showed strong rhythmic precision… captured the lyrical dance… played with much feeling and musicality.. and was not afraid to soar.”

-- Schenectady Daily Gazette