About

Amelia Zitoun is a scholarship fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college students. She has been a student there since 2019. She currently studies cello with Hans Jørgen Jensen.

Amelia was the Gold Medal prize winner of the 2023 Stulberg International String Competition. Orchestra experiences due to this win include soloing with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, performing the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto under the baton of Ankush Kumar Bahl, as well as an upcoming performance with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra in their 2024-25 season.

Most recently, Amelia won the 2023 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, performing the Barber Cello Concerto with the MYAC Orchestra. She also won First Prize at the 2023 Bolz Final Forte Competition where she played multiple times with the Madison Symphony, performing both the Barber Cello Concerto as well as Dvorak’s Rondo in their 2023 Gala event. In 2022, Amelia was the winner of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Stars of Tomorrow Competition, playing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations. As a result of this win, she performed the Barber Cello Concerto with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Yaniv Dinur. She was their featured soloist in their Family Subscription Concert, as well as on seven of their Community Outreach Concerts. She was also a winner of the 2022 Civic Music Association of Milwaukee’s High School Competition. In both 2021 and 2023, Amelia won First Prize in the Schubert Club Competition. And in 2020 she was a winner of the DePaul Concerto Competition, performing the Kabalevsky Cello Concerto with the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra.

Amelia is also an active chamber musician, currently performing as a member of Trio Callisto. As a member of the Pelios String Quartet, she won the Silver Medal at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Additionally, Pelios won the Gold Medal and Haydn Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. They were also awarded second prize in the Barnett Chamber Music Competition. In 2022, as a member of the Hermes Piano Trio, she competed in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In 2020, as a member of the Aurora Piano Quartet, her group won First Prize in the Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition.

In 2023, Amelia appeared as a soloist on Chicago’s WFMT: Introductions, a live radio program featuring young musicians. She has also appeared on the station multiple times as a member of the various chamber groups she has played with.

In the summer of 2023, Amelia attended the Perlman Music Program, a 7-week summer program led by Toby and Itzhak Perlman. She will return in the summer of 2024. In 2022, she attended the Heifetz International Music Institute, an intensive 6 week summer program located in Staunton, VA. She is also a regular participant of the Moulin d’Andé Cello Festival in France, where she studies with Jerome Pernoo. In 2019 Amelia attended the International Academy of Music in Nice, France, studying with Xavier Phillips, and chamber music with Jean-Marc Phillips of the Trio Wanderer.

Before studying with Mr. Jensen, Amelia studied with Horacio Contreras for 4 years. Amelia has had the honor of playing for David Finckel, Clive Greensmith, Lluis Claret, Richard Aaron, Steven Doane, Clara Kim, Natasha Brofsky, Astrid Schween, Julian Schwarz, Amir Eldan, Brandon Vamos, Vladimir Perlin, Anthony Elliot, Jesús Castro-Balbi, Yvan Chiffoleau, and Marie-Françoise Bloch, among others. Amelia has also had the honor of performing under the baton of Marin Alsop.