Amelia Zitoun, 17, is a scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college students. She has been a student there since 2019. She currently studies cello with Hans Jensen. Most recently Amelia was the 1st place winner of the Bolz Final Forte Competition in Madison, WI. In October of 2022, Amelia played the Barber Cello Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra on their Family Concert and Youth Performance Series. In May of 2022 Amelia was the winner of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Stars of Tomorrow Competition. She was also a winner of the 2022 Civic Music Association of Milwaukee’s High School Competition. In 2021, Amelia won First Prize in the Schubert Club Competition, and in 2020 she was a winner of the DePaul Concerto Competition, performing the Kabalevsky Concerto with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra.

Amelia is also an active chamber musician. As a member of the Pelios String Quartet they recently won 2nd place in the 2023 Barnett Chamber Music Competition, and will be competing in the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as the St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In 2022, as a member of the Hermes Piano Trio, she competed in the Quarterfinals of Fischoff. In 2020, as a member of the Aurora Piano Quartet, her group won First Prize in the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition, as well as advancing to the Quarterfinals in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

This summer, Amelia will attend the Perlman Music Program. In the summer of 2022, Amelia attended the Heifetz International Music Institute, as well as the Moulin d’Ande Cello Festival in France, where she studied with Jerome Pernoo (Paris Conservatory). In the summer of 2019 she attended the International Academy of Music in Nice, France, where she studied cello with Xavier Phillips, and chamber music with the Trio Wanderer.

Amelia has been featured on WFMT: Introductions, as a member of both the Aurora Piano Quartet, and the Celeste String Quartet. Before studying with Mr. Jensen, Amelia studied with Horacio Contreras for four years. Amelia has had the honor of playing for David Finckel, Lluis Claret, Richard Aaron, Steven Doane, Clara Kim, Astrid Schween, Julian Schwarz, Amir Eldan, Brandon Vamos, Vladimir Perlin, Jesús Castro-Balbi, and Yvan Chiffoleau