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The Atlanta Festival Academy is the first international music festival being hosted in the Southeast, attracting young musicians, instructors, and performers from the world.

04/13/2026

Applications for the AFA 2026 Summer Festival are open until May 1st! 🕊️💙

As always, the festival features two consecutive 1-week programs: The Chamber Music Seminar and Orchestra Intensive.

The Chamber Music Seminar is open to intermediate and advanced string students aged 10-19, while the Orchestra Intensive is open to advanced string, wind, and brass student musicians aged 12-19.

To our wonderful festival musicians, faculty, guest artists, and soloists, we look forward to welcoming new and old faces from all over the U.S. and Europe back to Atlanta this summer! 😊

Late applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Visit www.atlantafestivalacademy.org for more info 🔗

04/13/2026

We’re honored to welcome violist Amy Chang as AFA Co-Founder and Artist Faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. A distinguished musician with versatile talent spanning both violin and viola, Amy has enriched audiences worldwide throughout her 25-year professional career, performing with esteemed conductors and soloists while touring the US and Europe with the Houston and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.

Amy’s musical journey includes contributions to the Houston Ballet Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and later the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and Atlanta Opera Orchestra, where she served as Acting Viola Principal. Her recordings with these ensembles have been honored with Grammy Awards.

As an active chamber musician and educator, Amy has served as violin faculty at the Interlochen Music Festival, viola faculty at the Asian Youth Orchestra in Hong Kong, and viola coach at the Harpa International Music Academy in Iceland. In 2014, she co-founded the William Pu Music Academy with her husband William Pu, followed by the Atlanta Festival Academy in 2019. Her students have been admitted to Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Juilliard, and more.

In 2025, Amy was named one of Georgia Asian Times’ 25 Most Influential Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Georgia. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees on full scholarship from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Amy through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Amy’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

04/12/2026

Last but not least, our Co-Founders! We are honored to once again welcome violinist Wei Lin Sigurgeirsson as AFA Co-Founder and Artist Faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. A distinguished musician, educator, and arts leader, Wei Lin has dedicated her career to nurturing young talent and building bridges between musical communities across continents.

Wei Lin has served as a member of the 1st violin section of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra since 1990. She has also performed as concertmaster of the Hong Kong Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Washington Chamber Symphony Orchestra. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has appeared with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and ensembles across Europe, the United States, and Asia.

A passionate advocate for music education, Wei Lin founded and chairs the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation, the Lin Yao Ji Research Center for Violin Pedagogy in China, and the Harpa International Music Academy in Iceland. In 2019, she co-founded the Atlanta Festival Academy. Through these organizations, she has organized masterclasses and concerts at prestigious venues including the National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and Harpa Reykjavik Concert Hall, working with internationally renowned musicians and emerging artists. She has served as a juror at numerous international competitions including the Lin Yao Ji International Competition for Violin Composition and the 4th Schoenfeld International String Competition.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Wei Lin through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Wei Lin’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

04/02/2026

These are the soloists and team behind the 2026 AFA Summer Festival 😛

In the spirit of being “better late than never” to this trend, AFA is extending its festival application deadline to May 1st!

For everyone telling us they just found out about the festival, this is for you 🫵 All musicians who already submitted their applications can still expect to receive their application decisions by April 15th.

Thanks to , , , , , , , for the photos 🤭

03/18/2026

We’re excited to welcome horn player Nathaniel Silberschlag as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival! As Principal Horn of The Cleveland Orchestra since 2019, Nathaniel brings world-class orchestral expertise to our program.

From a family of sixteen professional musicians spanning several generations, Nathaniel made his debut in Italy at age 9. He became the youngest member ever to win a position with the Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center Opera House orchestra at just 19 years old. He is the third generation of his family to graduate from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Julie Landsman and received the Kovner Fellowship, Nathaniel has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Bulgarian Philharmonic and New York’s Little Orchestra Society.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Nathaniel through lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Nathaniel’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/17/2026

Welcome trumpet player Zachary Silberschlag to our artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival! As Principal Trumpet of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Assistant Principal Trumpet of the Israel Philharmonic since 2024, Zachary brings exceptional orchestral expertise to our program.

From a family of sixteen professional musicians spanning several generations, Zachary has performed as principal trumpet with leading ensembles including the American Symphony, American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony. He holds a Doctorate from SUNY Stony Brook and a Master’s from Manhattan School of Music, and can be heard on the soundtrack of Bradley Cooper’s 2023 film Maestro.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Zachary through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Zachary’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/06/2026

We’re honored to welcome violist Jay Liu as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. Jay has served as Associate Principal Viola of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra since 1993, bringing over three decades of orchestral excellence to one of America’s premier ensembles.

Born in Shanghai, Jay began his violin studies at age 5 and later entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he was named assistant professor of viola upon graduation. He came to the United States in 1986 to study with Professor Donald McInnes and Alan De Veritch at the University of Southern California. In 1989, he won his first orchestra position as Principal Viola of the San Diego Symphony, and a year later was invited by Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich to join the National Symphony in Washington DC.

An active chamber musician and soloist, Jay regularly performs in venues across New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Washington DC, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Since 2014, he has served as Viola Professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Jay through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Jay’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/06/2026

We’re delighted to welcome cellist Dr. Martin Gueorguiev () as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. An accomplished soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Dr. Gueorguiev has participated in numerous chamber music festivals including the Sarasota Music Festival, Musicorda Music Festival, South Carolina Chamber Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, where he worked intensively with Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, and Paul Katz.

Dr. Gueorguiev holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Georgia, a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from Lynn University. He currently serves as Artist-Affiliate and teaches cello at Oxford College of Emory University.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Dr. Gueorguiev through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Dr. Gueorguiev’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/05/2026

We’re thrilled to welcome violinist Jessica Wu () as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. As a founding member of the acclaimed Vega Quartet, Jessica has performed extensively throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.

The Vega Quartet’s distinguished career includes critically acclaimed debuts at Lincoln Center (The New York Times) and Los Angeles (Los Angeles Times), performances at all three Carnegie Hall concert halls, and an appearance at Amsterdam’s prestigious Concertgebouw in 2018. The quartet has graced stages at Vienna’s Musikverein, Museum d’Orsay in Paris, and numerous prestigious concert series across the United States. In 1999, they were awarded four of six prizes at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France, including the International Music Critics’ Prize.

An established concert artist and chamber music performer, Jessica currently serves on the faculty of Emory University as violin and chamber music professor and is the Artist-in-Residence with the Vega Quartet ().

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Jessica through chamber music coachings and lessons during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Jessica’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/05/2026

We’re thrilled to welcome trombonist Nathan Zgonc () as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. Nathan joined the trombone section of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2011 and currently serves as Acting/Associate Principal Trombone, holding the Terence L. Neal Chair, honoring his dedication and service to the A*O, and The Home Depot Veterans Chair.

A native of Fairview, Oregon, Nathan has received numerous awards throughout his distinguished career, including special prizewinner at the Budapest International Trombone Competition and first place at the Zellmer, Frank Smith Memorial, and Robert Marsteller solo competitions. He has performed with prestigious ensembles including the San Francisco, Cincinnati, National, and Houston symphony orchestras, as well as the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra.

Nathan studied at Indiana University, San Francisco Conservatory, and Manhattan School of Music under renowned teachers David Finlayson, Mark Lawrence, and Keith Brown. He is featured on recordings with the Vancouver Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, U.S. Navy Band, and Seattle Symphony.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Nathan through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Nathan’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/05/2026

We’re delighted to welcome violinist Yi-Wen Jiang as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. Born into a musical family in Beijing, Yi-Wen’s exceptional talent led to his concerto debut at age 17 and top prize at the first China Youth Violin Competition. He is a former member of the internationally acclaimed Shanghai Quartet, where he performed over 3,000 concerts in 37 countries during his 26-year tenure with the ensemble.

Throughout his distinguished career, Yi-Wen has collaborated with legendary artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, Menahem Pressler, and the Tokyo, Juilliard, and Guarneri Quartets. As an accomplished composer and arranger, his most celebrated work is Chinasong—a collection of 24 Chinese folk songs reflecting his childhood memories of the Cultural Revolution, recorded by the Shanghai Quartet and released on the Delos International label.

Yi-Wen currently serves as a founding faculty member at The Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Yi-Wen through chamber music coachings, lessons, and masterclasses throughout the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Yi-Wen’s full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

03/04/2026

We’re excited to welcome clarinetist Alcides Rodriguez (.s.rodriguez) as artist faculty for the 2026 AFA Summer Festival. Currently serving as Acting Associate Principal/E-flat Clarinet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 2005, Alcides is a versatile musician known for his performances on clarinet and bass clarinet in chamber, orchestral, and concerto settings. He is also a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players.

A native of Venezuela, Alcides received his musical training through the prestigious System of Youth Orchestras of Venezuela before earning his Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University. Throughout his career, he has earned prizes in competitions including the Young Texas Artist Music Competition and the International Clarinet Association’s Orchestral Excerpts Competition.

An avid advocate of Venezuelan music, Alcides also performs on maracas and cuatro, and his album The Venezuelan Clarinet (2010) showcases his versatility and pays tribute to the music of his native country. He is an Artist and Clinician for the Buffet Group and Vandoren.

Students at the 2026 AFA Summer Festival will have the incredible opportunity to learn from Alcides through private lessons and coachings during the festival.

For more information about the 2026 AFA Summer Festival and Alcides’ full bio, visit the AFA website at the link in our bio. Applications close on April 1st.

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Atlanta, GA

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+14045188891

Website

http://atlantafestivalacademy.org/

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