Guest Artists 2024
Elizaveta Miller
Guest artist Elizaveta Miller is a true and inspired multi-instrumentalist, who plays harpsichord, fortepiano and piano; as well as clavichord and organ. Her repertoire covers five centuries of music, from late Renaissance to contemporary music. In 2013, she was awarded First prize at the Bruges Musica Antiqua Competition. She has performed throughout Europe and Russia, taking part in the Bruges MA Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Bozar Music, Dubrovnik Music Festival and The Homecoming Music Festival. As a continuo player, she has collaborated with numerous conductors, including Václav Luks, Reinhard Goebel, Maxim Emelyanychev, Robert Hollingsworth, Christian Curnyn, and others. Elizaveta studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and at Yale School of Music. She held a teaching position at the Moscow State Conservatory in the Historical Instruments Department for nine years but resigned and left the country in March 2022 after the beginning of the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine. In May 2022 she was invited to teach at McGill University in Montreal, where she is presently holding a position of Assistant Professor of harpsichord.
Jiayan Sun
Praised by the New York Times for his “revelatory” performances, and by the Toronto Star for his “technically flawless, poetically inspired and immensely assured playing,” pianist Jiayan Sun has performed with many orchestras, including the Cleveland Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra, and he has conducted from the keyboard the Meiningen Court Orchestra. He has performed at and participated in the Verbier Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, and PianoTexas. Under the mentorship of Sir András Schiff, he was invited to give a number of solo recitals in Europe as part of Schiff’s “Building Bridges” project. Originally from Yantai, China, Sun has been awarded prizes at many of the major international piano competitions, including third prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition and second prize at the Dublin International Piano Competition. Playing early keyboard instruments and studying historical performance practice have played a significant role in Sun’s musical activities, with critically acclaimed appearances with the American Classical Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. As the Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in piano at Smith College, he presented Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in chronological order, in addition to yearlong series devoted to the music of Schubert and Chopin.
Cynthia Roberts
Cynthia Roberts is one of America's leading baroque violinists and has appeared as soloist, leader, and recitalist throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. She is returning to AFP as teacher and chamber music coach following her participation in the Hunter workshop in 2018. She has served as concertmaster of the New York Collegium, Apollo's Fire, Concert Royal, and Les Arts Florissants. She performs regularly with the Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, and American Bach Soloists. She has appeared with the London Classical Players, Taverner Players, Clarion Music Society, and Smithsonian Chamber Players. Her playing was featured on the soundtrack of the film Casanova and she has performed live on the "Late Show with David Letterman." She recently appeared as guest soloist and concertmaster with the New World Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Ms. Roberts teaches at the Juilliard School and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute. She has given master classes at Eastman, Cleveland Institute, Cornell, Rutgers, Minsk Conservatory in Belarus, and Jeune Orchestre Atlantique in Santes, France. Her recording credits include Sony, Analekta, BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Eclectra