Jaia Alli
Biography
Jaia Alli is a 12th grader at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. She started her musical training on the piano at age five and added the cello ten years ago. Under the esteemed tutelage of Shirley Irek on piano, she has attained a Superior Rating for 9 consecutive years in the Concerto category and 11 consecutive years in the Solo category in the National Federation of Music Clubs festival. In the 5th grade, Jaia won 3rd place in the state in the Georgia Music Teacher Association (GMTA) competition. She also received Honorable Mention in the GMTA Grade 7 competition, the 2019 Steinway Jr Piano Competition DIV II, and Award of Excellence in the GMTA Grade 9 competition. In spring of 2021, she won 1st place in the East Cobb Music Club (ECMC) Senior Concerto Competition and the ECMC Bach Competition. Last summer, she attended the Reinhardt Piano Festival and Academy and won this spring the ECMC Chopin Competition.
On cello, Jaia currently studies with Daniel Laufer, Associate Principal Cello of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She has participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute summer camp, the Atlanta Festival Academy Orchestral Camp, virtual Sphinx Performance Academy, and the Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF), where she won 2nd place in the PIMF Concerto Competition. Additionally, she was in the Franklin Pond Chamber Music Program for the 2022-23 school year. This past summer, she attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, where she studied under Paul Katz, Professor of Cello at New England Conservatory and founder of the Cleveland Quartet. She has participated in the GMEA All-State Orchestra since 6th grade and was selected to perform the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto with the University of Georgia’s String Area Chair and Professor of Cello, Dr. David Starkweather at the 2020 GMEA All-State Conference. Jaia has participated in solo piano, solo cello, and chamber masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Anthony Elliott, Khari Joyner, Melissa Kraut, Roberta Rust, Lisa Stepanova, Itamar Zorman, Annie Fullard, and Johannes Moser. Most recently, she won 1st place in the 2024 Hilton Head Youth Concerto Competition. This summer, Jaia will go on a tour of South America following a concert at Carnegie Hall as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. Additionally, in the fall, she will attend Emory University.
In April of 2023, she gave her debut solo recital on cello, piano, and organ. This performance featured works by Bach, Brahms, Bonds, Chopin, and Elgar. This is her ninth year in the Westminster Schools Orchestras —in which she was a featured soloist in “It Takes One to Tango” by Brian Balmages— and her eighth year in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program. Additionally, this is her fourth year in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, where she currently is principal cellist. Jaia is a member of Westminster's Mu Alpha Theta chapter, the French Honors Society, and leads the Music Service Club. When she’s not behind the piano or the cello, you can find Jaia on the soccer field, in the gym, or perhaps even at a sneaker store.