Anna Bray, piano

Meet Anna

Anna performs on Show 460.

Anna Bray (piano), 17, lives in Sterling, Virginia, and studies with Professor Alexander Shtarkman at the preparatory division of Peabody Conservatory.

Most recently, Anna performed Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 with the MostArts Festival Orchestra under the baton of Yuval Zaliouk for the opening concert for the 2024 MostArts Festival. In 2023, Anna won first prize at the Claudette Sorel Piano Competition, as well as Grand Prize and Audience Award at the MostArts Festival Young Pianist Competition. Furthermore, Anna was twice selected to receive a scholarship by the Chopin Foundation of the United States.

Anna has performed at prominent venues such as the Kennedy Center, Washington Arts Club, Merkin Concert Hall, Linehan Concert Hall, Schlesinger Hall, and Friedberg Hall, as well as the Embassies of Russia, Germany, France, Hungary, Austria, and the Netherlands. In January 2023, the National Institutes of Health invited her to perform a solo recital. Anna had her orchestral debut with Montgomery Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a soloist with the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra.

Anna has won numerous awards, placing first in the Baltimore International Piano Festival Competition, East Carolina Piano Festival Competition, International Knabe Young Artist Competition, Steinway Competition in D.C., and Old Dominion University Classical Period Competition. Furthermore, Anna was a prizewinner at the Chopin International Piano Competition, Chicago International Music Competition, and Ylda Novik Concerto Competition, as well as a finalist at the International Kaufman Piano Competition.

Anna was invited to participate in the first Leon Fleisher Academy; in 2024, she was selected to participate in the Young Performers Program of the prestigious Music@Menlo festival, which is directed by Wu Han and David Finckel. She has performed in masterclasses for Gary Graffman, Jonathan Biss, Boris Slutsky, Boris Berman, Matti Raekallio, Alexander Kobrin, Emile Naoumoff, Kevin Kenner, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron, Chad Hoopes, the Viano Quartet, and the Emerson String Quartet. Anna’s chamber music endeavors have also enabled her to be coached by Ben Beilman, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Sterling Elliott, and Orli Shaham, among others.

In addition, Anna is a volunteer at the Tacy Foundation, where she leads concerts at senior homes; she recorded a 45-minute solo album for the foundation, which has been distributed to Fisher Houses, senior homes, and hospitals nationwide.