19-year old cellist Amelia Zitoun hails from Shorewood, Wisconsin, and will be attending the Heifetz Institute for the second time as a member of the Heifetz Chamber Music Seminar. Amelia is currently a student at the Colburn School, studying cello with Clive Greensmith. Most recently, Amelia won the 2nd prize at the 2024 Klein International String Competition. Last spring, she also was chosen as a finalist in the 2024 Concert Artists Guild competition. She is the Gold Medal prize winner of the 2023 Stulberg International String Competition. Amelia is also the winner of the 2023 Walgreens National Concerto Competition, the 2023 Bolz Final Forte Competition, the 2022 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Stars of Tomorrow Competition, and the 2021 and 2023 Schubert Club Competition. As a chamber musician, she has won the silver medal at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Gold Medal and Haydn Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. 

As a soloist, Amelia has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, among others. Earlier this year, she was an artist at the Rancho la Puerta Chamber Music Festival. Amelia has appeared multiple times as both a soloist and a chamber musician on Chicago’s WFMT: Introductions, a live radio program featuring young musicians.

Prior to studying with Mr. Greensmith, Amelia studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Horacio Contreras. Before attending Colburn, she was a Merit Scholar at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy for 5 years. Amelia has attended the Perlman Music Program for the past two summers. She will attend the Heifetz International Music Institute’s Chamber Music Seminar this summer.