William Pereira (15) and Eliana Kirkup (17) are current students at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College. They were paired in a full-semester chamber course together, coached by Minyoung Kwon, and prepared works by Debussy, Bach, and Hoddinott over the course of the year, ultimately culminating in their first-prize win in the King’s Peak International Music Competition. William is a fifteen-year-old oboist of five years, who has had the opportunity to serve as principal oboist in numerous youth orchestral groups, and is an active soloist and chamber musician within his community. Eliana is a seventeen-year-old harpist with an extensive musical career, having participated in prestigious performing ensembles and won various regional competitions.
You can find the duet’s 18th Century Music Competition 2024 performance here.