Ilkhom Mukhiddinov, violin

Uzbekistan-born violinist Ilkhom Mukhiddinov has won acclaim for his high professionalism. His extraordinary technical abilities transmit a fresh interpretation of standard and contemporary classical repertoire. Born in Tashkent in 2001 into a family of musicians, Ilkhom started his musical journey in the Uspensky Specialized Music Lyceum. Ilkhom made his debut with the Uspensky Symphony Orchestra at the age of 7. He also performed with groups including; the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, the Soloists of Uzbekistan Chamber Orchestra, the Turkestan Chamber Orchestra and the Young Talents Chamber Orchestra. Additionally he has performed with Orchestras in the United States such as the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and ICM Chamber Orchestra. He also recently performed with the Springfield Symphony in February.

Since 2012, Ilkhom has been named prize winner of over 10 competitions and festivals. Some of his recent awards include first prize at the Hellam Young Artist Competition, finalist and “Jury special mention” at the Leonid Kogan international Competition, and 1st Prize at the Naftzger competition.

Ilkhom has worked with a number of internationally recognized concert artists and pedagogues such as Miriam Fried, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Gil Shaham, Nicholas Kitchen, Ani Kavafian, Mark Kaplan, Danny Phillips, Francesca dePasquale and Jaime Laredo.

Currently Ilkhom is pursuing his bachelor of music performance at the at Park University’s International Center for Music, where he studies with Ben Sayevich.

James Farquhar

James Farquhar is currently a student of Daniel Veis, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance from Park University’s International Center for Music. He is formerly a student of Kurt Baldwin of the Arianna String Quartet at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Under Baldwin’s instruction, James attained 2019-20 UMSL Artist of the Year with the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky. During his time pursuing his undergraduate degree, James also organized numerous community concerts around St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City.

He has received invaluable instruction from the likes of the Arianna String Quartet, the Brooklyn Rider String Quartet, the Harlem String Quartet, the Jupiter String Quartet, the Rolston String Quartet, Dennis Parker, Scott Lee, Jackie Lee, Frank Huang, and Shmuel Ashkenazy, amongst numerous others. James has also participated in various chamber music festivals including the Arianna Chamber Music Festival, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, Heartland Chamber Music Festival (as a festival scholar from the 2017-2022 seasons), and Chamber Music in the Mountains (Mt. Lemmon, Arizona), to name a few.

James is a Cello Instructor for String Sprouts KC, a nonprofit that is specifically designed for underserved children ages 3 – 8, and is a free music education program created to support school readiness. He is also a Teaching Artist for Harmony Project KC, a nonprofit that provides year round music education for underserved students from the diverse Historic Northeast Community of Kansas City, Missouri. James also aspires to organize grant-funded outreach concerts for underserved elementary schools, hospitals and nursing home communities.

He grew up in a family surrounded by a love of music and the joy it brings to people’s lives. At the age of five, James would insist upon sitting at the piano for hours singing hymns with several family members. Inspired by the sound of music, James gained a passion for cello at the age of nine when he heard the main theme from Jaws played on the lowest string. Teachers he was fortunate enough to learn from making his way through young adulthood included the likes of Maria Maxwell, Meghan Weibling, Russ Berlin, Rebecca Berlin Doss, Michelle Davis, Dr. Carrie Turner, Dr. Steve Davis, and Chris Munce, amongst numerous others. He was heavily involved in choral groups and orchestras in his formative years (Kansas City Youth Symphony and Heartland Chamber Music’s Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra as well as Sounds of Summit Chamber Choir). In his free time, James enjoys listening to a wide variety of music, road bicycling, gardening, and running. He was born and raised in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

Victor Diaz, violin

Victor began his musical training in Bogotá, Colombia at the National Colombian Conservatory and finished his undergraduate studies at the UMKC Conservatory. He was a four-time winner of The Young Performer Competition from the Colombian Republic Bank. He has traveled the world several times with orchestras and organizations such as the Colombian Youth Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Americas, Sphinx Organization, Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy, and Allegro Vivo Music Festival in Austria. Currently, Victor is completing his graduate studies at Park ICM, and subs for the KC Symphony, teaches privately and for nonprofits such as String Sprouts and Base Academy of Music. Victor is developing outreach performances in Kansas City that include Latin American repertoire for the viola. When he is not performing or teaching, Victor spends time with his loved ones and takes long walks with his Dog: Maureen.

Michael Davidman

Michael started piano lessons at age five at the Greenwich House Music School, and continued piano studies with Efrem Briskin at the Manhattan School of Music. Michael completed his Bachelor of Music degree under the guidance of Robert McDonald, also with mentor and teacher Ford Mylius Lallerstedt at the Curtis Institute of Music, and his Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School with renowned pianists Jerome Lowenthal and Stephen Hough. Presently, Michael is pursuing an Artist Diploma studying with renowned pianist Stanislav Loudenich at the International Center for Music (ICM), Kansas City, MO.

Prodigiously gifted from early childhood, in his precollege studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Michael won First Place in the Precollege Concerto Competition in all three age categories: first at age ten, then at twelve, and again at age sixteen. At age thirteen, he was chosen by Lang Lang’s management to perform in the 2010 Lang Lang masterclass at Manhattan School of Music; his rendition of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 was warmly praised by Lang Lang: “You play beautifully and are technically brilliant!”

A dedicated and disciplined young musician, Michael has gone on to win numerous piano competitions, including 2021 American Pianists Association finalist award; winner 2019 Juilliard Gina Bachauer Competition; first prize 2018 New York International Piano Competition chamber ensemble; first prizes in both soloist and concerto categories at the 33rd Ithaca College of Music Piano Competition; Grand Prize at the LISMA Foundation 9th International Music Competition; and first place in the 2011 Mary Smart International Concerto Competition. Michael also received a four year scholarship from the Chopin Foundation of the United States.