Philina and her sister, Nickita, appeared on Show 405, airing November 1, 2021.

Philina Zhang (piano), 14, is from New York, New York, and in the ninth grade at Special Music School. She studies piano with Irina Morozova. Philina has won many national and international piano competitions, including the 13th International Piano Competition in memory of Vladimir Horowitz, the International Lev Vlassenko Competition, the New York State Music Teacher National Association Music Competition, the Villahermosa 16th International Festival-Competition, and the New York Solo Concert Competition. Philina has performed at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and Merkin Hall in New York City, in addition to several international concert venues. Philina is a recipient of the Chopin Foundation Scholarship. A composer as well as a pianist, Philina has composed piano solos, four-hands, violin solos, trios, and quartets, and she is also a frequent accompanist for soloists and choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and performing original pieces with her sister, Nickita, who plays violin. Outside of music, Philina’s hobbies include running, swimming, karaoke, and going to museums.

Nickita appeared with her sister Philina on Show 405, airing November 1, 2021.

Nickita Zhang (violin), 14, has studied violin with Viktor Basis at Special Music School in New York City since she was 5. She was featured on From the Top at age 11. Nickita has won many national and international competitions, most recently the 1st place at 2023 Westchester Young Artist Concerto Competition and performed with Symphony of Westchester. In 2023, Nickita participated in the “International Summer Academy” at Mozarteum University, the “Summer Music in the Upper Nagold Valley” festival, and the “International Holland Music Sessions.”  In 2021 and 2023, Nickita was a semi-finalist in “Il Piccolo Violino Magico” International Competition for young violinists and played with the Orchestra D’Archi Arrigoni. In 2020, she was awarded 3rd place at the International Grumiaux competition for young violinists and 2nd place at the Rudolf Barshai Competition. She was also a top prize winner at the NY Solo Competition, Vivo International Music Competition and Crescendo International Music Competition. During the summer of 2018 in China, she won the grand prix in the Fujian Provincial String Music competition. She was invited to the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians in September 2022. Nickita has had master classes with Maxim Vengerov, Boris Garlitsky, Dmitri Berlinsky, Kirill Troussov, Ning Kam, Pavel Vernikov and Michael Vaiman. She has performed in Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and the National Bohemian Hall in New York City. Nickita is an active chamber musician, performing regularly with her trio. She has played in a duo with her pianist sister Philina for seven years. In 2024, they won the grand prize at the Ukrainian Music Competition in New York. In her spare time, Nickita enjoys learning math, writing poetry, and making music with her pianist sister, as well as playing acoustic and electric guitar.

2021 Bio:

Nickita Zhang (violin), 11, is from New York, New York. A sixth grader at Special Music School in Kaufman Music Center, she has studied violin with Mr. Viktor Basis since age 5. Nickita has won many national and international competitions, including VIVO International Music Competition, Crescendo International Music Competition, the International Arthur Grumiaux Competition for Young Violinists, Rudolf Barshai International Strings Competition and the X International Music Festival competition “The Night in Madrid”. In 2021, she was selected to participate in “Il Piccolo Violino Magico ” International Competition for young violinists and to play with the Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni Orchestra. Nickita had the honor to have masterclasses with Mr. Maxim Vengerov, Ms. Ning Kam and Mr. Boris Garlitsky.  Nickita has participated in the Cremona International Music Festival for three years, the Prague String Festival in 2019, and has played in numerous chamber music ensembles. She has performed in Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in New York City. In addition to violin, Nickita also enjoys composing, songwriting, singing, and playing guitar. Outside of music, some of her favorite pastimes are jumping rope, playing chess, writing stories, and dreaming.