Lillian Arnold Mages, violin

Meet Lillian

Lillian performs on Show 455.

Lillian Arnold Mages (violin/voice), 15, hails from Waltham, Massachusetts, and is in the tenth grade. She began playing Texas-style old-time fiddling at the age of five, soon discovering a love for classical music. Lillian started her classical violin studies at the City Music Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After relocating to Boston six years ago, she joined Anait Arutunian’s studio at the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School. This year, Lillian will study with both Soovin Kim and Anait Arutunian. She is a member of NEC’s Chamber Music Intensive Performance Seminar (CHIPS) program and is in her second year with NEC’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2022, Lillian won First Prize in the MTNA Massachusetts State Junior String Performance Competition. She also earned second place in the New England Conservatory Prep Virtual Solo Competition in 2020 and the NEC Prep Concerto Competition in 2024. Lillian was a finalist in the MTNA Eastern Division Junior String Performance Competition, the Beethoven Concours Nederland Junior Violin Competition, and the United Stars Music Competition. During the summers, Lillian has attended Greenwood Music Camp, Berkshire Summer Music, the Heifetz Institute Junior Program, and Luzerne Music Center. This past summer, she was accepted into the Senior division at Greenwood Music Camp, where she had the opportunity to work with and perform the work of renowned composer Kareem Roustom. Some of her most memorable performances include solo appearances with the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra and the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra. In addition to violin, Lillian studies voice at the New England Conservatory with Deborah Williams. She especially enjoyed singing with the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir and has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. As a vocalist, Lillian has won First Prize for four consecutive years in the South Shore Music Club Traditional Irish Ballad Singing Contest. Lillian still loves fiddling and has won numerous regional, state, and national titles, including the 2017 National Fiddle Championship (SF Division). When not playing music, she enjoys thrifting with her three sisters, sight-reading chamber music with friends, reading, and watching Freaks and Geeks and Stranger Things with her family. Lillian plays a violin made by Christian Schabbon, modeled after the Venus Stradivarius.