Performance practice

Violin

Nadia Karpenko is a violinist whose performance practice combines technical precision with expressive intensity and versatility. A concerto competition winner and former concertmaster of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, she is an experienced solo, orchestral, and chamber performer. Her work also extends to improvisation, chamber music coaching, and community performance. She currently studies violin performance with Professor Fabiola Kim at the University of Michigan.

Biography

Technical precision in service of musical expression.

Nadia Karpenko began playing the violin at age five and has since developed a musical voice characterized by projection, intensity, and excitement, tempered by moments of softness and lyricism. She has appeared as a soloist, orchestral musician, chamber musician, and improviser.

In 2024, Nadia won the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Concerto Opportunity with her performance of the third movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, featuring an original cadenza, and was also a prizewinner in the Diablo Valley Young Artist Competition. She has served as concertmaster of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and performed in numerous chamber ensembles, with appearances across California as well as in Hawaii, Texas, Washington, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Italy, including performances through Center Stage Strings and at the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Community performance and music education are also central to Nadia’s work. She has performed extensively at senior centers, both independently and with chamber ensembles, as well as at Dawn Farm through Center Stage Strings. She currently participates in PACO Encore, through which alumni volunteer to perform at senior centers. As a chamber music coach, she has taught at PACO Camp and Presto PACO and has coached eight ensembles of musicians ages 7–16 through the Pedagogical Ambassadors program.

Beyond traditional violin performance, Nadia has performed improvised solos as a concertmaster and has studied both viola and piano, reaching ABRSM Grade 6 on piano. A longtime student of Elbert Tsai, she currently studies violin performance with Professor Fabiola Kim at the University of Michigan.

Listen

Recordings

These recordings reflect Nadia’s personal connections to two composers central to her musical development. Her Beethoven performance features her own original cadenza, bringing composition into her interpretation, while Prokofiev—her greatest compositional influence—offers a musical language whose intensity, contrasts, and character have profoundly shaped her own approach to music.

Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63, Movement I

Sergei Prokofiev · Dr. Bogum Park, collaborative pianist · July 17, 2026 · Britton Recital Hall

I performed the first movement of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63 at the final Young Artist Concert of Center Stage Strings after two and a half months of studying the work. The movement juxtaposes dark lyricism and introspection with passages of rhythmic intensity and virtuosity, embodying many qualities I admire in Prokofiev’s music. As one of my greatest compositional influences, Prokofiev made performing this concerto especially meaningful to me as both a violinist and composer.

10 minutes

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, Movement III

Ludwig van Beethoven · Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra · June 1, 2024 · Cubberley Community Theatre

I performed the third movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 with the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra after winning its concerto competition with my own original cadenza. The spirited Rondo finale balances elegance and playfulness with moments of brilliant virtuosity. For this performance, I incorporated my original third-movement cadenza, combining Beethoven’s musical language with my own harmonic and violinistic ideas and bringing my work as a performer and composer together onstage.

8 minutes

Repertoire

Selected repertoire

Concertos

Beethoven — Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 (with original cadenzas)
Dvořák — Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53
Prokofiev — Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63
Sibelius — Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
Mozart — Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219

Solo Violin

J. S. Bach — Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
J. S. Bach — Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006
Ysaÿe — Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, “Ballade”
Ysaÿe — Sonatas Nos. 4–6
Paganini — Selected Caprices, Op. 1: Nos. 1, 5, 9, 13, 20 & 24

Chamber Music

Beethoven — Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1, “Ghost”
Beethoven — Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, “Kreutzer”
Beethoven — String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18 No. 1
Brahms — Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 101
Haydn — String Quartet in C Major, Op. 76 No. 3, “Emperor”
Mendelssohn — Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49
Shostakovich — String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110
Caroline Shaw — Blueprint

Orchestra experience

University Philharmonia Orchestra, University of Michigan — Violinist, 1 year
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra — Concertmaster, 2 years
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra — Principal Second Violin, 1 year

Chamber music

Center Stage Strings — Chamber Music Performances & Study
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra — Chamber Ensembles & Performances
Viola Chamber Performance — Beethoven String Trio, Op. 9 No. 3 & Mendelssohn String Quartet, Op. 44 No. 1
Pedagogical Ambassadors — Chamber Music Coach, 8 Ensembles
PACO Camp & Presto PACO — Chamber Music Coach

Competitions

Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Concerto Opportunity — Winner, 2024; Beethoven Violin Concerto, III, with original cadenza
Diablo Valley Young Artist Competition — Prizewinner, 2024

Performances

Center Stage Strings — Solo & Chamber Performances
Cherry Blossom Festival — Performance
Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra — Solo, Concertmaster & Orchestral Performances
Dawn Farm — Community Performance
Senior Centers & Community Venues — Solo & Chamber Performances
International & U.S. Performances — Italy, California, Hawaii, Texas, Washington, Chicago, Ann Arbor