Name: Jessica Ma
Age: 13
Born: May 21, 1994
Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio
Biography
Jessica Ma is an eighth grade GATE student at Pioneer Middle School in Tustin, California. Jessica started learning piano when she was five years old under the instruction of her great aunt. She has been studying piano at Opus119 from Ms. Jenny Shin for almost three years, during which she received awards in numerous competitions.
In March 2006, Jessica was selected to perform with 24 other pianists in a world record setting performance at the Barclay Theatre with classmate and composer Lyon Lazare. She was also a member of the piano ensemble at the Hollywood Ford Amphitheatre in the summer of 2006.
Jessica not only received many awards in music, but also in academics as well. She was part of the Columbus Tustin Magnet program for the first two years of middle school. She represented her school in the Orange County academic pentathlon where her school was the first place winner.
Jessica’s hobbies include: reading, tennis, drawing, origami, chatting, and video games.
Award History
Grand Prize Winner- 2008 Glendale Piano Competition
2nd Place- 2008 LA Sonata/Sonatina Festival
1st Place and Judges Award- 2008 Emerging Artist Piano Competition
3rd Place- 2007 Southern California Bach Festival Final Round
1st Place- 2007 SYMF Open Baroque
1st Place- 2007 SYMF Open American
1st Place- 2007 International Young Chinese Piano Competition
1st Place- 2007 Cypress Piano Competition
Winner- 2007 Southern California Bach Festival (Branch and Regional)
Current Repertoire
Franz Liszt- Mephisto Waltz
Lowell Liebermann- Gargoyles I-IV
Mily Balakirev- Islamey
J.S. Bach- French Suite No. 5 in G Major
Ludwig Van Beethoven- Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op 53
Fredrick Chopin- Etude Op. 25, No. 11