River Brown is a 7-year-old violinist who surprises and delights audiences with her passion, determination, and musicality. River is a student of Hirono Oka, of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and occasionally travels to study with Brian Lewis, of the University of Texas at Austin. River began her musical studies with Shelley Beard Santore through the Music School of Delaware Suzuki Academy, and currently participates in the Temple University Center for Gifted Young Musicians (CGYM) where she is a member of the Baroque Players orchestra directed by Aaron Picht. River regularly has attended the Ithaca College Suzuki Institute where she has received instruction from renowned pedagogues such as Teri Einfeldt. Through the Carolina Philharmonic and Flow University’s Music Leadership Academy, River has been honored to receive masterclass instruction from Maestro David Michael Wolff.
River has won top prizes in international classical music competitions including American Protégé, Beethoven Young Musicians, France Music, Grand Prize Virtuoso, London Young Musician, New York Young Virtuoso, Opus, Prima Volta, the UK Elizabeth Competition, for which she won a special prize for Iconic Performance, and the Vivaldi Competition, in which she received a Nomination for Excellence. Most recently, she was the first-place winner for her division for the Carl Reinecke Competition, the Charleston Music Competition, and the Irvine Conservatory of Music Competition. As a result of competition wins, she has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall.
River enjoys traditional fiddle and has won top prizes in Pennsylvania and Maryland championships, including first place for her age group at the 2023 Berks Fiddle Festival. She performed on Dave Kline’s Mountain Folk Stage at the 2022 Berks Fiddle Festival, the Fresh Fest stage of the 2023 Kutztown Folk Festival, the Main Stage of the 2023 Waterford Fair, and for 2023 and 2024 Kutztown Music Society concerts. River has loved performing with The Ragged Edge at the 2022 and 2023 Galax Old Fiddlers Conventions. She enjoyed collaborating with her brother on an album titled, “Max and River Brown: Lockdown,” which featured live performances from the COVID-19 quarantine.
When she is not playing the violin, River often can be found reading, drawing, playing pretend, climbing trees, horseback riding, learning about science and math, and enjoying time with her family and friends.
You can listen to River’s music on YouTube @swellstrings
