Youth, Tricksters, and Metamorphosis

Isabela Diaz is a 20-year-old violinist based in New York City and Miami who has been studying the violin since the age of six. In recent years, she has studied with Jose Guibert and Huifang Chen, and she is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at the Juilliard School under the guidance of Ronald Copes and Stella Chen. Isabela has performed with distinguished ensembles including the Juilliard Orchestra. These experiences have given her the opportunity to perform under the baton of renowned conductors such as Yannick NézetSéguin, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Louis Langrée, Stéphane Denève and James Judd, amongst others. She has earned recognition in several competitions, including the Sphinx Competition, Ocala Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, MMTA Concerto Competition, the Charleston International Concerto Competition, and the FSMTA State Violin Competition. As a soloist, Isabela has performed with the Alhambra Orchestra, the NWSA Symphony Orchestra, the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, and the Stamps Quartet, and has also appeared internationally in Spain, Portugal, and France. She has also had the privilege of working with distinguished violinists including Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Ida Kavafian, Ana Chumachenco, Kerson Leong, Régis Pasquier and Roland Daugareil, further shaping her artistic development and musical voice.

Ayra Karlin is a 16-year-old violinist from Miami, Florida who is part of the New World Symphony College Track program.  Ayra was born in Santiago, Chile, and started playing violin at the age of 7.  She studies at Coral Reef Senior High School, and is the concertmaster of the school’s Chamber and Symphony Orchestras. Ayra is in her second year of the New World Symphony College Track mentorship program, where she studies with professional orchestra musicians. She performed in the New World Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra in 2023 and 2024, an experience that has deepened her passion for music. Ayra won first place in the Carmen Seepersad Memorial Scholarship competition, performed with the National Pathways Fellowship Orchestra in Nashville, and earned recognition in the Florida All-State FMEA Orchestra from 2022 to 2025.  She has participated in summer programs such as the Sphinx Performance Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, VIA Music Academy, and UM’s Frost School of Music.  In these intensive programs, she developed her skills in solo and chamber music. Ayra is deeply committed to sharing her love of music, aspiring to attend a top-level conservatory, where she can continue to grow as an artist and perform as a professional musician.