The Coral Gables Congregational Church (CGCC) Community Arts Program and Miami Virtuosi proudly presented 14-year-old cello sensation Anna Litvinenko in recital, 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 20. To a sizeable crowd, the recital took place in the CGCC Sanctuary. A candlelight courtyard reception followed.

Born in 1993 in Kherson, Ukraine, Anna Litvinenko emigrated to the United States at the age of three with her parents, Cuban-born pianist, Sahily Cánovas, and Ukrainian-born cellist, Konstantin Litvinenko. At the age of five, she began studying piano with her mother, and the following year began studying cello with her father. In 2007, Anna was awarded First Chair in the Florida Orchestra Association All-State Festival (for grades 7-8), and won First Prize in the Alhambra Orchestra Concerto Competition. This year, Anna was twice honored by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation; was heard, with Christopher O’Riley, on National Public Radio’s From the Top (a weekly radio showcase of America’s top young classical musicians) as one of its Young Artist Award winners and again as a winner of its prestigious Young Scholar Award, a multi-year scholarship aimed at helping “young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education.”

On the May 20, 7:30 p.m. recital, Ms. Litvinenko was joined by her mother, pianist Sahily Cánovas. The program delivered an intimate evening of music that included Robert Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces in a minor; Johannes Brahms’ Cello Sonata in e minor, and Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. An appreciative crowd lept to its feet and enthusiastically received encores by the young cellist.

The CGCC Community Arts Program is proud to support the development of young talent. It is enhanced when this can be shared with the general public to more fully realize the Community Arts Program mission of serving a diverse community with culturally-enriching experiences.