Cellist Chelsie Lim of Cresskill is making a name for herself on the national and international levels.
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Officials say the Academy of the Holy Angels sophomore recently earned a gold medal with high distinction in the young artist category of the Third Berliner International Music Competition. This fall, she received an honorable mention from the YoungArts Foundation, a non-profit that identifies accomplished teen artists and provides them with creative and professional development opportunities.
As a 2020 honoree, Lim was invited to participate in YoungArts New York.
“I sent in my audition tapes online in October,” Lim noted. “I played the first movement of Dvorak’s ‘Cello Concerto in B Minor,’ the first movement of Ligeti's ‘Sonata for Solo Cello,’ ‘Allemande’ from Bach’s ‘Cello Suite IV,’ and the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Cello Sonata No. 3.’ Among the winners are finalists, honorable mentions, and merit winners. This year, I was named an honorable mention winner.”
According to school officials, YoungArts honors student musicians from across the United States. Teens between the ages of 15 and 18 compete in the visual, literary, and performing arts categories. Discipline-specific panels of artists evaluate the competitors through a blind adjudication process.
“I have been studying music outside of school since I was in third grade,” Lim added. “I attend the pre-college program at the Juilliard School of Music every Saturday, and I have recently become a part of the Perlman Music Program community, which is an intensive seven-week summer program that also has events throughout the year.
I plan to continue to participate in both of these programs until I graduate, and although I have yet to decide if I want to major in music or not, I feel so grateful and blessed to have these opportunities.”
Officials say, at Holy Angels, Lim studies with Instrumental Music Director Mariann Annecchino. She plays her cello for the AHA Orchestra and the Select Strings ensemble. Lim was inducted into Tri-M, the Modern Music Masters National Honor Society, as a freshman.
Eligible Tri-M members must be excellent musicians who demonstrate scholarship, character, leadership, and service to others. Lim has been named to the AHA Principal’s List for maintaining a grade point average of 95 or above.