Student Profile: Angeline Ma, Concerto Competition Winner
Angeline Ma, a 2025 winner of Northwestern's Concerto Competition, recently sat down for an interview about her upcoming concert. Angeline will be playing Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16 with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
How would you describe your experience at the Bienen School of Music?
The Bienen School of Music still feels like home to me today. Over my years there I built friendships and a sense of family with other musicians. I’ve learned so much from other artists who have now become lifelong friends and who have challenged and inspired me. I also owe so much to my wonderful teacher here, Dr. Giles, who taught me to value humility, inquisitiveness, and patience. The building itself feels quiet, personal, and spacious, and I’ll never take those qualities for granted as the perfect backdrop for the immensely intimate process of practice. Some of my fondest memories at Bienen are of watching the sky change through the windows as I practice, or of taking a walk along Lake Michigan with a friend during a practice break. What I like about the building is that it feels like it complements and bows its head to the nature it’s situated on; it invites us to take breaks from the physical act of practice, and to contemplate music instead as we contemplate nature. We’re reminded that the act of music-making cannot occur in a vacuum; it must be one with the world around it and requires solitude and thought. I never forgot this while at Bienen, and my closest friends were those who appreciated feeling small in the face of nature. In this way, Bienen feels like a haven.
What did your rehearsal process look like for this concerto, and how did you approach this piece?
I grew up listening to this piece in the car—specifically Yuja Wang’s recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela—and even as a child, I was always drawn to it. I first began learning this piece at the end of my freshman year in 2022; the initial process of learning it was such a challenge because of its wealth of technical difficulties. The next steps once the notes were learned were uniting all its elements and figuring out its architecture and how to manage it, particularly in the 1st movement’s mammoth cadenza, which is so texturally thick and unites so many motivic elements all at once. Beyond that, I spend a lot of time working on physical motions and playing the piece both effectively and efficiently. I always try to practice this piece with a fresh ear, so I can stay attuned to new ideas whenever they may cross my mind, and so I can always appreciate the rich and imaginative soundscapes that Prokofiev creates. I also like to study the full orchestral score because there’s always so much going on at once, and it would be a loss to only be aware of my part.
Rehearsing with Maestro Luis Aguilar and the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra has been so rewarding. We’ve spent time honing balance and character, and it feels like we’ve come together very naturally to create the music.
Is there anything in particular that the audience should listen for in this concerto?
This is early Prokofiev, so the orchestration still shows certain "flaws" in terms of balance, but it is so incredibly vivacious and fun. Listen for the woodwind parts in the second movement (lots of playful conversation, and some great clarinet lines especially) and the tambourines in the third movement.
This concerto is also somewhat unusual in that it lacks a slow and lyrical movement (the third movement is slow but not quite lyrical). The most lyrical material comes in the form of a folk tune in the 4th movement, after the chaotic and violent opening gives way. It’s simple and even childish, as folk tunes are, but Prokofiev develops it in a gorgeous way that penetrates the rest of the movement.
What have you been up to since graduation?
Since graduating, I’ve been pursuing my Master’s degree at the Juilliard School under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Robert McDonald. I’ve been really happy in New York, and I’ve been keeping busy playing chamber music, working on solo repertoire (current projects include Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto and Shostakovich’s Second Piano Sonata), making friends, and exploring the city. One thing I’m very aware of is that having nature and solitude so easily in Evanston taught me their importance, and sometimes I do miss that in the hustle and bustle of New York. I try to carve out time to find that for myself, even if only in small ways: strolling in the Ramble in Central Park, watching the sunset in Riverside Park, and finding other hidden pockets of calm throughout the city. These little things make me feel connected to some core part of myself that Bienen helped nurture.
What's a fun fact about yourself?
Some of my non-musical interests include birdwatching, reading, writing, visual arts, film, cooking, and running. One of my favorite commonplace backyard birds is the grey catbird, which has a small, bow-shaped body, a mew-like cry (hence the name), and a curious but cautious demeanor. I didn’t often see the grey catbird in Evanston, but a bird I fondly associate with Evanston (besides the notorious red-winged blackbird) is the cliff swallow, which builds its nests from mud pellets, resulting in a very distinctive appearance. There are an abundance of cliff swallow nests around the campus in springtime — I vividly recall my first time becoming aware of them sometime in mid-May; they cluster around the doors of the Regenstein building, and the birds would be constantly flitting back and forth holding either food for their young or more mud for the nest in their beaks. Keep an eye out for them!