Twelve year old Karisa Chiu is a seventh grader at Plum Grove Junior High School in Palatine.  She started the violin at the age of two and studies with her father Cornelius Chiu who is a violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 

Karisa was the first prize winner in the 2007 youth division and the 2010 junior one division in the Chinese Fine Arts Society Competition. She was awarded second place in the 2008 and 2010 primary division and the 2010 junior division in the Society of American Musicians Competition.  In 2010 she also received high honorable mention in the DePaul University Concerto Competition, third prize and best interpretation of a Korean piece in the Sejong Competition, and was the winner of the string category of the open junior division of the Walgreen’s National Concerto Competition.

She has performed with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in outreach programs and in Parties of Note Concerts.  Karisa is an avid soccer player and enjoys playing the piano, reading, and playing with her dog.   

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