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About Us
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Why Do We Support Music Education?
Music and arts programs are often the first programs to get cut when school budgets are tight.
They’re often seen as extracurricular and nonessential, compared to core subjects like math, science, and English. However, research has shown that participating in music can boost student engagement, improve test scores, and develop important life skills like creativity, teamwork, and discipline. There are many school music programs in the Chicagoland area that could use financial support.
Founding Members
Matthew Hahn
Founder
Pianist Matthew Hahn, 18, is a student at Yale University studying Economics & Mathematics, and a pianist of the Yale Undergraduate Piano Collective.
From 2022-2025, he was a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college musicians. He studies piano with Winston Choi and Marta Aznavoorian. Matthew has won top honors in several regional, national, and international competitions: Matthew is a 2025 & 2024 National YoungArts Winner for Classical Music - Piano. In addition, he is a 2022 MTNA (Music Teachers’ National Association) National Winner of Chopin Award, granted by the Chopin Foundation of the United States. He is a Fellow of National Public Radio’s From the Top, and was also featured on NPR’s Daily Joy.
He is a First Place Winner of the Paderewski International Piano Competition and DePaul National Concerto Competition. Most recently, he was a Grand Prize Winner of the Chicago International Music Competition and First Place Winner of Enkor International Music Competition. He has been praised for his artistry and musical sensitivity and has performed at several prestigious concert venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, Gannon Concert Hall, Alice Millar Chapel at Northwestern University, Warner Concert Hall at Oberlin, Nichols Concert Hall, and Unity Temple.
Matthew made his solo orchestral debut at age 11, with the Trinity Community Philharmonic Orchestra, where conductor Eli Chen described Matthew as someone who “possesses a fine sound, musical touch, and nuanced sense of phrasing.” As a winner of the DePaul National Concerto Competition, in the fall of 2021, Matthew performed with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago Orchestra, conducted by maestro Mina Zikri.
As a first place winner of the International Grand Virtuoso Competition, Matthew was invited to perform at the Beethoven House in Bonn. In addition to performing as a soloist, Matthew enjoys playing chamber music. As a member of the Luminos Piano Trio, featured on WFMT, he was a semifinalist of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
Matthew has performed in masterclasses for renowned professors and world-class pianists, including Dang Thai Son, Jerome Lowenthal, James Giles, Sylvia Wang, Alan Chow, Christopher Harding, Marina Lomazof, Edward Auer, Jeffrey Biegel, Emile Naoumoff, Asaf Zohar, Jon Kimura Parker, among others.
Matthew is a junior at Lake Forest High School. He enjoys participating in math competitions and is president of his school’s Future Business Leaders of America organization, as well as vice president of LFHS Economics Finance Club. His hobbies include skiing, playing ping pong and chess, and hiking with his dog.
Jan Vargas Nedvetsky
Co-Founder
Cellist Jan Vargas Nedvetsky is a student at Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, previously a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago where he studies cello performance with Hans Jorgen Jensen and Oleksa Mycyk. Jan is a scholarship recipient at the Academy of Music in Lichtenstein where he participates in masterclasses with Jens Peter Maintz and takes part in the intensive music weeks and activities. Previously Jan studied with Gilda Barston, Richard Hirschl, Vladimir Perline, Horacio Contreras, JiHee Kim, and played in masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Jerome Pernoo, Richard Hirschl, John Sharp, Lluis Claret, Ivan Karizna, Brannon Cho, Brandon Vamos, and Edward Arron. As a solo and chamber performer Jan won numerous awards in competitions and soloed with orchestras in the US and Europe. Most recently Jan was a 2024 YoungArts winner with distinction in cello performance, the highest honor of the National YoungArts Foundation; First Place winner in the 2024 Central Oregon Concerto Competition, winner of the 2023 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, 2022 Society of the American Musicians Competition, 2022 Chicago Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, and 2021 Chicago International Music Competition; Finalist in the upcoming 2024 United States Marine Band Concerto Competition, Semi-Finalist in the upcoming 2024 Sphinx Competition. With his chamber groups (string quartets and piano trio) Jan was a winner in 2022 and 2023 St Paul National String Quartet Competition, 2020 Chicago International Music Competition, 2019 and 2022 Barnett competition, and was a semi-finalist in four consecutive Fischoff National Chamber Music Competitions. Jan participated in the 2016-2021 Musica Mundi International Chamber Music Festivals in Waterloo, Belgium, 2019-2021 Moulin D’Ande Masterclasses in Ande, France, and 2022, 2023 Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, NY. He was featured in the ABC and WTTW TV programs; WFMT Classical Radio, and TV Com Belgium. Recent performances include solos with Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra and Civic Orchestra, solo recital in Lake Placid, NY, and numerous solo and chamber concert appearances in the Chicagoland area, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jan is an 11th grader at the North Atlantic Regional High School. In addition to performing and composing music, Jan pursues advanced studies in literature, government, and economics.
Simon Updegraff
Co-Founder
Simon Updegraff, 18, is a student of Eric Kim at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music where he is majoring in cello performance and applied mathematics. He is a National Merit Scholar and a Wells Scholar at Indiana University. He was a Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago's Academy where he studied with Avi Firiedlander. He is a winner of the Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition and the New Trier High School Concerto Competition. He is a first-place winner of the Primary, Junior, and Intermediate cello division competitions of the Society of American Musicians and received honorable mention in the 2022 Walgreens National Concerto Competition. Simon has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician WFMT Chicago’s Introductions and was a Finalist on NPR's From The Top. He gave a solo performance in the Young Steinway Concert series at the Skokie Public Library and was selected for the 2025 and 2023 Illinois Music Education Association all-state honors orchestras, serving as principal cello in 2025. Simon has had the privilege of performing in masterclasses and music festivals for Natasha Brofsky, Richard Aaron, Sarah Kim, Allen Rafferty, Melissa Kraut, Benjamin Lash, Amy Barston, Leo Singer, and Horacio Contreras. As a chamber musician, Simon was a semifinalist at the 2024 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition with his piano trio, Trioscuro and was a Bronze Medalist in the 2025 St. Paul Chamber Music Competition with the Porphyrion Quartet.
Our Team
Edie Park
Execcutive Director
Edie Park (16) is a Merit Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a pre-college program for gifted musicians, where she studies piano with Marta Aznavoorian and Winston Choi. Edie made her orchestral debut with the Northeastern Illinois University Orchestra under the baton of Benjamin Firer after winning the 2024 Chicago Chamber Music Festival Concerto Competition. Her next orchestral performance is scheduled in October 2025 with the Fox Valley Orchestra. She has been invited to perform at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Beethoven Haus in Bonn, and Royal Albert Hall in London. In April 2025, her live performance was featured on Introductions, 98.7 WFMT. Some of her recognitions from international, national and local competitions include the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Music Competition, American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition, VSA International Young Musicians Program, Sejong Music Competition, Ruth Monte Bach Competition, and ISMTA and MTNA Piano Competitions. Edie has participated in select masterclasses with distinguished pianists such as Stanislav Ioudenitch, Jerome Lowenthal, John Perry, Alan Chow, Jean-Louis Haguenauer, James Giles, Norman Krieger, Steven Osborne, Wu Han and Sylvia Wang. A passionate chamber musician, Edie has been part of ensembles since 2017, including the piano trio Trois Amies, co-coached by Marta Aznavoorian and Richard Hirschl. She regularly visits Sunrise Senior Living to share her music. A junior at the Latin School of Chicago, she serves as News Editor for The Forum, the school’s student-run newspaper, and a school ambassador. As a history buff, she enjoys conducting history research and volunteering at the Chicago History Museum.
Ava Hirschl
Director of Marketing and Communications
Violinist Ava Hirschl, 17, is a senior at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago. She began her violin studies when she was ten years old. Prior to becoming a violinist, she studied piano since the age of seven. Her first violin teacher was her stepmother, Laura Hirschl, and she subsequently studied with Gerardo Ribeiro and Matous Michal. She currently studies with Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Lei Hou. Ava has been a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras since 2018. In 2024, she was a prize winner in the CYSO Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition. She is currently a member of the Symphony Orchestra, which recently returned from an international tour to Spain, where they performed in Valladolid, Granada, Seville, and Cordoba. Ava also plays in the Whitney Young High School Chamber Orchestra. Ava has been a member of Tri-M (Modern Music Masters) since 2022 and will serve as the president this fall. In 2024 and 2025, she was selected to participate in both the ILMEA District and All-State Honors Orchestras. In addition to her orchestral playing, Ava is an enthusiastic chamber musician. She has performed a number of string quartets with her sister, cellist Vivian Hirschl, and also a number of piano trios with Vivian and their friend Edie Park in their trio, “Tois Amis”. In the summer of 2022, Ava attended Credo Chamber Music Institute at Oberlin College. Last summer Ava spent a month in Burlington, Vermont playing string quartets at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, where she enjoyed learning from master teachers and making new friends. She will return there this summer. Outside of music, Ava is an avid reader, and she enjoys skiing, running, and calligraphy.
Oliver Mah
Director of Development
Cellist Oliver Mah is a junior at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. He began lessons at age 4 with Nina Wallenberg at the Music Institute of Chicago and currently studies with Philip Lee; he has also studied with Hans Jensen and Oleksa Mycyk. Oliver made his concerto debut at age 9 with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and has won multiple awards in the Walgreens National Concerto Competition. He has appeared in recital on the Young Steinway Concert Series at the Skokie Public Library, serves as the assistant principal cellist of both Midwest Young Artists Conservatory’s Symphony Orchestra and Stevenson High School’s Patriot Orchestra, has given solo recitals at numerous retirement homes across the Chicagoland area, and has twice been selected to participate in the Illinois Music Education Association District 7 Orchestra. Earlier this year, he performed as a member of the Honors All-State Orchestra at the Illinois Music Education Conference in Peoria. Outside of music, Oliver is an avid mid-distance runner and sports car enthusiast.
Vivian Hirschl
Director of Programs and Events
Cellist Vivian Hirschl, 15, is a sophomore at Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago. She began her cello studies when she was four years old. Her first cello teacher was Janet Janz, and she subsequently studied with Julia Wen and Tanya Carey. She currently studies with her father, Richard Hirschl. Vivian has been a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras since 2018 and has been a member of the Symphony Orchestra since 2024. In 2023, Vivian was the first prize winner in the CYSO Concert Orchestra Concerto Competition and played the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in May of 2024. In February of 2024, Vivian won the CYSO Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, and performed the Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in December of 2024. Vivian also plays in the Whitney Young High School Chamber Orchestra. In 2025, she was selected to participate in both the ILMEA District and All-State Honors Orchestras. In addition to her orchestral playing, Vivian is an enthusiastic chamber musician. She has performed a number of string quartets with her sister, violinist Ava Hirschl, and also a number of piano trios with Ava and their friend Edie Park in their trio, “Tois Amis”. In the summer of 2024, Vivian spent a month in Burlington, Vermont playing string quartets at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, where she enjoyed learning from master teachers and making new friends. She will return there this summer. Outside of music, Vivian is an avid skier, skateboarder, rock climber, ice skater, and runner.
Ingrid Updegraff
Director of Community Outreach
Ingrid Updegraff, 15, is a Scholarship Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago's Academy, where she is a student of Davis King. She began Suzuki violin lessons at age three. Ingrid was the first place and best interpretation winner of the 2024 Sejong Music Competition, Junior Division. She was the 2024 Junior Division winner of the Midwest Young Artists Concerto Competition and a winner of the 2024 Chicago Chamber Music Competition. She won first place in the Society of American Musicians Primary Division competition in 2021. She often performs at outreach events such as the MIC Gala, MIC Families in Concert, and Musicians for Hope fundraising concerts. She played monthly concerts with her family and friends at Norwood Crossing, a senior living community, from 2017-2020. She is a member of the New Trier High School Symphony Orchestra. In her free time she likes to crochet.
Our Board Members
Dan Hahn
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President
Michelle Lee
Treasurer
Ross Updegraff
Secretary
Marta Aznavoorian
Board Member
Axel Vargas