Norah Fong began piano lessons at age 3 and cello lessons at age 5. Although she became an accomplished pianist, having won multiple awards from the Japan Musicians’ Association of California festivals from 2010-2014, her affection for the sound of the cello grew. In third grade, she was invited to sit in on a master class taught by Lynn Harrell. She knew the cello was for her. Since then she has twice been a finalist in the American String Teachers Association Competition, and took second place in a Southwestern Youth Music Festival competition in 2014. She is among just a handful of privileged students having been accepted into the studio of Sarah Koo Freeman. Norah studies at the Colburn School of Music, where she takes college level classes in music theory and is the youngest cellist accepted into the Colburn Youth Orchestra. Norah’s other interests include computer coding, robotics, fine arts, and Model UN. She is part of the Gifted and Talented Education program at her school and has recently won first place in the Reflections Art Contest at Richardson Middle School. Additionally, over the summers, Norah has enjoyed taking classes at the National Cello Institute as well as the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program.
