HANNAH COLLINS, cello

Cellist Hannah Collins, winner of the 2007 Presser Foundation Music Award, is a devoted chamber musician and active performer in a variety of styles and genres. She is a founding member of the Hindemith Ensemble, a Yale University-based chamber group which has brought innovative programming and commissioned works to unusual venues in New Haven and on tour in Germany. Since 2002, Hannah has played with the Yale Cellos, an all cello ensemble conducted by legendary Brazilian cellist Aldo Parisot. With the ensemble, she has recorded a CD featuring music of Dave Brubeck and J.S. Bach entitled "Cello, Celli" (released by Naxos), performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill and Zankel Halls, and toured South Korea. Hannah is also an active performer of Baroque and continuo music, appearing regularly with the Yale Collegium Players, Yale Schola Cantorum (directed by Simon Carrington) and the Yale Temperament: A Consort of Viols.

A native of Geneva, New York, Ms. Collins began playing the cello at the age of four, studying primarily with Stefan Reuss, principal cellist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She has won top prizes in several competitions including the grand prize and Albright Award for Strings in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's League Young Artists Auditions, as well as first prize in the David Hochstein Memorial Recital Competition. She has performed in recital on public radio WXXI Rochester and as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Yale Bach Society Orchestra.

Since 2000, Ms. Collins has spent many summers at Greenwood Music Camp in the Berkshires as a student, counselor, and faculty member. She has also performed at the Kneisel Hall, Skaneateles, and Heidelberg (Germany) chamber music festivals and participated in master classes with Richard Aaron, Norman Fischer, Matt Haimovitz, Ron Copes, Joel Krosnick, and Yo-Yo Ma. In 2006, Hannah received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering summa cum laude from Yale College where she specialized in sensory perception research and studied cello with Ole Akahoshi. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree with Mr. Parisot at the Yale School of Music.