Pre-Conservatory Signature Program

Daniel Eras ’16 has garnered numerous prizes and recognitions for performances in his native Costa Rica, Europe, the United States, and Russia, including six performances in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He left Costa Rica in 2013 to finish his high school education and continued his pianistic career at Shattuck-St. Mary’s under the instruction of Alexander Braginsky, professor of music at the University of Minnesota.

Success following success has continued for Daniel, as he won First Prize in the prestigious Schubert Club Scholarship Competition in 2015 and in 2017, finished first in the high school division, and later in the college division. Also, in 2015 he won the highly coveted Las Vegas First Prize and the Chopin Prize for the best performance of a Frederic Chopin work at the MTNA National Senior Piano Competition. Other acknowledgements include winning Third Prize in the 4th International Piano Competition of Slavic Music in Paris, Second Prize in the 33rd Ithaca College Piano Competition, and being selected as the feature artist in the International Academy of Music Festival 2015 in Italy.

Daniel has been honored to also perform in masterclasses with such renowned artists as Jan Michiels, pianist and professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Dr. Ana Maria Trenchi Botazzi, pianist and professor of The Botazzi School of Music, Dr. Bruno Botazzi, pianist and professor of The Botazzi School of Music, Dr. Victoria Mushkatkol, pianist and professor of the Juilliard School, and Professor Ala Bendoraitiene from Ciurlionis National Academy of Music.

Currently, Daniel is a student at the University of Minnesota. He is working toward several performances and competitions both in and out of the country, with a repertoire that includes works from J.S. Bach up to present artists such as Alberto Ginastera.

Magdiell Antequera ’15 was born in Coro, Venezuela in 1996. At the age of eight, he began attending the internationally recognized program of music, El Sistema. Since then, he has had the opportunity to participate in many chamber music ensembles and master classes with Claudio Abbado. Magdiell has also played in orchestras under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel and Daniel Barenboim. He began his experience as a soloist with the Falcon Symphony Orchestra at the age of 10 and has continued to develop his expertise as a solo musician. He has participated in multiple master classes with professors from the Academia Latinoamericana de Violin, New England Conservatory of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland, Curtis Institute of Music, and the University of Southern California.

Magdiell has participated in many music summer camps including Academia Latinoamericana de Violin, Bravo! in Minneapolis, and the Northern Lights String Camp in Duluth, Minn. Magdiell has won and received recognition from competitions such as the Bach Prize in the solo competition at the Academia Latinoamericana de Violin, Thursday Musical Competition, Schubert Club Competition, Saint Paul Chamber Music Competition, Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, and Texas Rising Stars.

Magdiell attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s School as a member of the Pre-Conservatory Program from 2012-2015, where he studied with Sally O´Reilly. He was also a member of the Artaria Chamber Music Program in 2013. Magdiell currently attends The University of Texas at Austin, where he studies with Brian Lewis and keeps an active solo career performing recitals and concerts in the U.S. and Venezuela. His work has been praised by legendary violinists such as Midori Goto and Glenn Dicterow.

Born in the Siberian city of Abakan to a family of musicians, Osip Nikiforov ’13 started studying piano with his father at an early age. While still in Russia, he participated in and won numerous awards at national and international competitions.

In 2008, Nikiforov shared 3rd Prize at the International e-Piano Junior Competition in Minnesota and was named the winner of the Dorothy McKenzie Award in New York City at the International Keyboard Institute and Festival Competition a few weeks later. He is also the 2011 First Prize winner of the Music Teacher National Association Competition in the Senior Division and the 2014 Second Prize winner in the Young Artist Division. Also in 2014, he was awarded First Prize at the Schubert Club National Piano Competition. In 2015, Osip was invited to perform at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago and became the recipient of the Adopt a Young Artist award. In 2016, he was awarded Third Prize at the San Antonio International Piano Competition and received the Best Performance Award for the commissioned piece written by composer Matthew Mason. 

Since 2010, Osip has resided in the United States, where he graduated from Shattuck-St. Mary’s School. He currently attends the University of Minnesota and studies piano with Alexander Braginsky. Most recently, Osip was admitted to the Manhattan School of Music to study with Yefim Bronfman, one of the world’s foremost concertizing pianists.

He regularly visits his homeland to perform, both as a solo musician and with national orchestras, including a recent performance of Prokofiev Concerto #2. In the United States, Osip performed Beethoven Concerto #3 with the Minnesota Orchestra. He has also been profiled by Minnesota Public Radio, the Star Tribune, and the University of Minnesota. Besides performing, Osip also enjoys making his own transcriptions for piano.

Magdalena Müllerperth ’10 was born in Pforzheim, Germany in 1992 and began piano lessons at the age of five. At seven years old, she was accepted as a junior student in the class of professor Sontraud Speidel at the University of Music Karlsruhe. While attending Shattuck-St. Mary’s as a Pre-Conservatory Program student, she studied with professor Alexander Braginsky and then went on to study with Jerome Rose at the Mannes School of Music in New York City. She is currently studying with Klaus Hellwig at the Berlin University of the Arts. Magdalena has performed at numerous distinguished venues, including Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Kissinger Sommer Festival, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Steinway Hall in New York.

She was a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Filarmonia George Enescu, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, and the Stuttgart Philharmonic.

Since 1999, this young artist has won more than 30 prizes and awards at national and international competitions. Notable recognitions include First Prize at the national level of “Jugend Musiziert” in the category piano solo, First Prize at the Minnesota Orchestra’s Young People’s Symphony Orchestra Auditions, First Prize, Audience Award at the Kissinger Klavierolymp 2012, and First Prize at the Nadia Reisenberg Auditions 2014 in New York City.

In 2011, she became a scholar of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and and the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg. She was also named Music Ambassadress of her hometown Maulbronn. Since 2016, she has been a recipient of the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund’s scholarship program.

James Zabawa-Martinez ’09 was born in Austin, Texas and had a strong desire to play the violin since early childhood. He began his studies at the age of 11 in his middle school orchestra. When James was 14, he met violinist Jennifer Bourianoff from the Austin Symphony and began to study with her. Shortly after, he moved to Faribault, Minn. to attend Shattuck-St. Mary’s Pre-Conservatory Program, where he studied with Sally O’Reilly. 

He continued his studies with her through earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. James has performed in various master classes for teachers including Joseph Silverstein, Pamela Frank, Ani Kavafian, Angie Fuller, Yair Kless, Jonathan Magness, Vijay Gupta, Bruce Coppock, and many more. James has performed throughout Europe and North America as a soloist and chamber musician, and has participated in national-level competitions such as the Sphinx Competition, Saint Paul Chamber Competition, Music Teachers National Association, and more. Currently, he is pursuing his master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin with professor Brian Lewis, and maintains an active teaching studio at Orpheus Academy of Music.

Zoie Reams '10 is an American mezzo-soprano who has performed with leading companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Minnesota Opera. Her repertoire includes roles such as Carmen, Maddalena (Rigoletto), and Suzuki (Madama Butterfly). A graduate of Lawrence University and Louisiana State University, she is also an alumna of the prestigious Houston Grand Opera Butler Studio and continues to build an international career on opera and concert stages.