On Saturday’s live broadcast, we feature 18 year old violist Kayla Cabrera.
Kayla began her music studies at age 13. She is currently a scholarship fellow at the Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago, where she studies with Roland and Almita Vamos. She is also principal viola of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
She has had several solo engagements at Oberlin Conservatory, Indiana University, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra’s Rising Star Showcase. and the Birch Creek Symphony, where she was acclaimed for “her elegant performance and her ability to make her instrument sing with a rich, soulful sound” (Peninsula Pulse). Kayla has performed in masterclasses with Yo-Yo Ma, Kirsten Docter, Peter Slowik, Cathy Basrak, and the Telegraph and Omer Quartets. Other collaborations include several performances with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center artist Matthew Lipman. She was also the first Robin Lipman Award recipient and the winner of the 16th Annual Burton Concerto and Joliet Symphony Orchestra concerto competitions. In 2016, Kayla was a semi-finalist in the junior division of the nationwide Sphinx Competition.
In addition to her solo work, Kayla is an avid chamber and orchestral musician. In 2016, Kayla joined the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) where she was co-principal viola for concerts at Carnegie Hall and throughout Europe. In 2017, she will join NYO-USA again on the orchestra’s first tour of Latin America.